Female athletes and MM Weightlifting House
Female athletes and MM Weightlifting House, the theory behind why we have attracted so many female lifters to our garage.
When Ann and I decided to open MM Weightlifting House as a business we never expected the outcome of what we have today in a short 3 months.
When we started, we already had 4 lifters, 3 which compete under MMWH Banner and 1 under Illawarra Weightlifting, since going live with our website we don’t have a spare afternoon/night free, whether its one-on-one sessions, a group class or couples session in the garage with people also on waiting lists for spots to free up.
But here’s the kicker.. from what has grown from 4 lifters is now close to 30 regular lifters in this short time, that attend these classes, and over 90% of these are female. Our females age from 11yrs old to 72yrs old. Out of the 30 lifters currently only 5 compete, all the others are doing it to improve themselves, help with other sports they do, or just because they love it and want to learn more.
So why MMWH and why so many females, there is a few reasons that come to mind, firstly both Ann and I are in our 40s, so we are very relatable, and we have life experience outside the fitness world. Secondly in the Camden and Macarthur area there is no specific weightlifting gym, nobody that consistently holds classes multiple times a week like we do, we cater to small groups only so we can spend time with everyone unlike large group classes. This enables us to focus and build that relationship with each and every lifter, breaking their movements down piece by piece, with aids such as blocks of various sizes, and movements that typically they would have never done at there local functional fitness gym to isolate different sections of the lift to help them improve and gain more confidence under a barbell.
With a lot of the MMWH females over the age of 40 this is also something we take into consideration in how we run program our classes. Most masters athletes can’t bare the loads in which the younger aged can, so when it comes to programming this needs to be highly considered. We also encourage our ladies to attend the Women In Weightlifting Events held by Vanessa Kerr and NSW Weightlifting to which they have speakers and athletes talking specifically about women and training around the female body. The last event which was held in June, 6 of our athletes attended with very high recommendations to all the other females they talk to regarding these events.
We have had the discussion with many of our regulars and the same thing is always said “there is no pressure”, “we don’t rush the warmup”, “we aren’t forced to add more weight, its about getting right technique”, “we can be ourselves here”, “we get coached in a way we understand what is being told to us”.
These last 2 points directly link back to our core values:
To create a nurturing environment to foster self-development and health allowing members to thrive in all aspects of their lives outside of our garage.
To provide a space of encouragement and acceptance without judgement.
To approach weightlifting, strength, and conditioning without blinkers
To value longevity over today’s performance.
To challenge self-imposed limitations.
MMWH will only continue to grow within the Camden, Macarthur region bringing weightlifting to all those who want it in a hassle-free environment.
