I F the walls of Kilmarnock Amateur Weightlifting Club could talk they would likely regale many tales of blood, sweat and tears.

It is a place steeped in history, with ageing photographs and yellowed newspaper cuttings hanging in pride of place, each marking the world-beating feats of champions past and present. Among them is Georgi Black who, at the age of 23, is already an eight-times Scottish senior champion. She gained the 2014 Commonwealth Games qualification standard in April, lifting 184kg - "I snatched 81kg, then clean and jerked 103kg," she says - surpassing the required total by 20kg.

Black is a force of nature, possessing the kind of infectious enthusiasm that makes lifting the equivalent weight of a large adult above her head seem effortless. When she speaks, it is clear next summer can't come around fast enough.

Her tenacity can be traced to a pivotal moment when she was an ambitious teenager. "I missed out on a place at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo, Australia," she recalls. "I was only young - just 14 - but still gutted at the time. It made me determined not to let that happen again. I vowed to work hard and never miss training sessions. Now, 10 years later, hopefully I'll get my chance."

Black, who holds 46 Scottish and British records, won gold in the 75kg at the 2011 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in South Africa. It provided a tantalising taste of what it might feel like to stand atop the podium in Glasgow. "When I achieved that I started to believe: 'This is possible'," she says.

But it has been a road that has included hard work and sacrifice. "My main goal ahead of next summer is moving down weight categories," she says. "I was at 75kg, but I'm now at roughly 66kg and for the Commonwealth Games I'm aiming to come down to 63kg.

"The way things stood I would have been in the top eight based on the last Games, but if I can keep my lifting totals up and continue to move down the categories, my ranking should improve and bring me closer to winning a medal."

To that end, Black is working with Nikos Jakubiak, a performance nutritionist at the sportscotland institute of sport. "He is helping me with what foods I should and shouldn't eat," she says. "Nikos knows what foods are good and what ones will put fat on. Portion size is a big factor.

"I'm getting skin fold measurements done every couple of weeks. It's about making sure I'm losing body fat, but not muscle which would affect my strength. When someone has dramatic weight loss most of the time it is purely muscle and fluid, but because we are carefully monitoring exactly what I eat for every single meal we are able to specifically target body fat."

While now evangelical about what she eats, Black admitted it took a period of adjustment. "It was tough. In the beginning there were days I would think: 'Man, I want a bar of chocolate'," she says. "But I just had to remind myself why I was doing this and that it would all be worth it. I'm very focused on losing weight and I definitely feel far better for it: I'm faster, less fatigued, training is easier and I'm sleeping better at night.

"My taste buds have completely changed, too. I don't crave the same foods and can't see myself ever falling back into the old habits of drinking fizzy juice or eating things like white bread.

"I do all the shopping for my gran and papa, so I'm always looking out for healthy choices for them, too. The same when my mum comes home from the oil rigs. I cook all her meals so she definitely eats well for those three weeks."

Black trains at a gym housed in Shortlees Community Education Centre, only a stone's throw from the Kilmarnock home she has lived in her entire life. "Born and bred," she says, proudly. As the clock ticks down ever closer to Glasgow 2014, Black is finding herself recognised around her hometown with increasing regularity.

"People will come up, shake my hand and say: 'Hey, you're that Georgi who does the weightlifting'," she laughs. "They ask: 'If you're on the telly, will you mention my name?' It's still quite strange and takes a bit of getting used to, but it's nice people are getting to know me. Although I sometimes do get mistaken for a cyclist because of my thighs..."

Ah, the famous thighs. An enduring misconception is that weightlifting requires strong upper body strength. After a decade in the sport, Black has lost count of the times she has had to debunk that myth. "I get asked all the time: how much can you bench press? I definitely need to get a T-shirt that says: 'Weightlifters don't bench!' Or people will say: 'Bet I could beat you at an arm wrestle'. Aye, you probably could because I don't do many biceps curls. All the power comes from my legs and backside."

Alongside Black, Peter Kirkbride, who won silver in Delhi three years ago, has gained the Glasgow 2014 qualification standard in the men's 94kg, while her younger cousin, Sophie Smyth, has achieved it in the women's 58kg.

All three are coached by Charlie Hamilton - or Chick as he is better known - who competed in the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Hamilton has been the guiding hand behind Black's career since she was a 12-year-old tomboy who turned up at his gym with a vague notion of being a weightlifter.

"It's going on 11 years now," she says. "Chick's always been a huge inspiration and support to me. He's given up so much to coach me over the years - even if he's been out working the night shift he'll be in the gym with us the next day. He'll send me a text to make sure I'm doing OK after training or if it's a rest day that I'm going for a wee sauna and swim to relax. It's a lot as he has his own family, a full-time job and a new grandchild. Chick has never let me down and I'm so grateful for that."

Another who has been there every step of the way is Jim Holland, the manager of Weightlifting Scotland. "He's the one who got me and my fellow weightlifter Craig Carfray into the Achieve 2014 programme," she says. "He's helped me apply for funding and does all the paperwork. I don't know what we'd do without him and Chick behind the scenes."

While funded by sportscotland institute of sport and East Ayrshire's Talented Athlete Support Programme, Black is a qualified personal trainer and juggles her weightlifting with working part-time, teaching everything from general fitness classes to cycling lessons for adults with disabilities.

"It would get boring if I was just doing weightlifting all the time," she says. "The age range I work with is from babies right up to pensioners. I go to schools, prisons and support groups for recovering addicts. It's something I really enjoy."

But while Black is undeniably made of tough stuff, even she has her limits. Her team-mate Kirkbride famously has a cold water-filled wheelie bin outside his back door that he uses as an ice bath to rid his muscles of lactic acid after tough sessions.

Black exhales sharply when asked if she ever follows suit. "No chance," she says, laughing. "I've had cold showers for recovery and did try an ice bath once but it was awful - instant brain freeze. You can't even breath properly. Never again."

Today, will see Black compete in the Western District Championships at Scotstoun in Glasgow. Her next focus will be the Scottish Championships in Pitlochry on November 9, before heading to the 2013 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Penang, Malaysia, a fortnight later.

She has recovered well from a recent bout of tendonitis in her knees. "Once I got the qualification standard, we made the decision for me to take it easy for a few months to help my recovery and ease the inflammation. I'm back to full fitness and feeling great."