As i reported to you earlier in our Blog - VikingR are to host its first Strongwoman competition this year and since there doesn`t seem to be a Englands Strongest Woman to be held in 2012 we will rename the competition just that .. So please spread the word that Englands Strongest Woman is to be held at Olympic Sports Gym ..... 8th July 2012 ..
Ladies, are you ready?
Sally Moss has been writing about strength sports since 2007 at her blog gubernatrix.co.uk She runs a weight training course for women called Ladies Who Lift (weareladieswholift.com) and has competed in Powerlifting, Strongwoman and Olympic weightlifting. She also runs the Women’s Strength Training Network on Facebook, an open group for anyone interested in supporting women’s lifting.
Over the years that I have been involved in female strength sports, I have met increasing numbers of women keen to lift heavy weights.
So if you’ve just started lifting or you are interested in doing so, you are part of a growing number of strong or soon-to-be-strong women eschewing the treadmill in favour of the weight room.
Often, though, it doesn’t seem like you are part of any trend. Chances are, you’re the only woman in your gym who lifts ‘properly’. You probably train with the guys, having struggled to get any of your mates interested.
Maybe you’ve noticed changes to your body composition – less fat, more muscle, a bit of shape where there was only blubber before. It might have worried you at first: am I turning into a massive bodybuilder? Hopefully you stopped worrying about that and went back to thinking about how to get your deadlift numbers up.
I am willing to bet that you feel better about yourself now that you’ve started lifting. You feel a great sense of achievement watching those numbers going up, getting stronger, getting leaner. You love going down the gym – the banter, the atmosphere, the exciting heavy toys!
But have you ever thought about doing a competition?
I know what you’re thinking: I’m not strong enough.
Really? I didn’t ask if you’d thought about winning a competition, just if you’d thought about doing one. Everyone has to start somewhere; ask yourself, are you strong enough to take part?
Can you competently do a deadlift, a squat and an overhead press? Can you carry, drag and haul stuff? Do you enjoy a challenge? Do you want to meet other women who share your crazy love of lifting?
If the answer is yes to all those questions, you are ready to compete!
The great thing about entering a competition is that it focuses your training in a way that nothing else does. You have a date in the diary, you have a set of events to train for and you might even have a weight class to make. You go to the gym with a renewed sense of purpose. You quit making excuses, drinking too much the night before, wasting time chatting by the water fountain. But best of all, you make progress.
As the competition gets closer, the excitement builds. Last minute arrangements, testing out newly-acquired bits of kit, sorting out your travel. You start to get nervous but there’s no going back now; the last thing you’re going to do is bottle it!
The day arrives, you have a blast, and afterwards you realise that it doesn’t really matter whether you came first or last, it was the experience that counted and you can’t wait to have another go!
So have I whetted your appetite?
It’s always been a challenge to find many decent strongwoman competitions to enter; it’s a small sport, let’s face it. But this July VikingR is putting on a dedicated strongwoman competition suitable for all who are interested. For those who want to go for the win, there’s prize money on offer. For those who just want the experience of taking part, it’s a reasonably accessible competition and a great opportunity to have a go.
Don’t worry about whether you can do all the events – you don’t have to! Unlike powerlifting or weightlifting, you don’t have to complete all events in order to stay in the competition. Just have a go and do your best! Plenty of people – men and women – have not been able to complete a strongman event. I remember the tyre flip at England’s Strongest Man a couple of years back: it was so heavy that only two competitors managed to flip the thing!
Don’t worry about events you’ve never done before or haven’t had a chance to practise. This, too, is not an unusual experience. I once did a farmer’s walk with a weight I’d never lifted before; I had no idea whether I’d be able to do it or not, I just had a go.
And don’t, on any account, worry about what other people will think of you. You will get nothing but support, whatever your level. Strongman crowds are very supportive, as are your fellow competitors. Lord knows, we’ve all been there, when that weight appears to have been nailed to the floor!
So, I look forward to seeing you at a strongwoman competition soon!
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