Where do i start?
This past weekend we had 8 women competing on the sunny Gold Coast for the masters Oceania, Commonwealth and Pacific Rim Weightlifting Championships, A feat alone that i am very proud of and something that makes our club so special.
Of course i travelled up with them to ensure all our training and hard work went to plan on the platform and on pretty much every occasion it did, minus a few speed bumps, BUT it wouldn't be a competition without some.
Our girls lifted, PB'd, Won medals, Learnt valuable lessons on competing, Grew as a group, Laughed, Cried but most of all made memories. I am not here to talk about individual performances as i am proud of each and every one of our lifters but rather to talk about the experience in itself.
I sit here writing this reflecting on the weekend and all i can feel is absolute pride in our lifters, pride in our club, and pride in the community that we have. We represented Shred with professionalism, comradery & displayed exactly what this club is all about. The fact that we had 8 female lifters representing our club really makes me smile.
I read a post from one of our lifters today and one of the things that really caught my attention was the line " Shred is a safe place for us to do what we love & feel confident & strong while dealing with the outside noise of judgemental comments regarding our bodies, our defined muscles and rough hands".
This made me feel an incredible sense of achievement reading this as an owner and coach of the gym as this represents exactly what i set out to achieve when growing this gym. Creating a place that removes the negative stigma of gyms, the negative stigma of lifting weights and being strong, building a place that is encouraging for both men and women to express them selves through strength. The fact that we have some incredibly strong beastly males in our gym and i can still read such amazing comments like this just leaves such an amazing feeling in my heart. The fact that i can feel like i have created a gym where both men and women can train, perform and encourage each other in every day with out the negative bullshit that goes on in other gyms is a good feeling.
As a coach the fact that i can continue to let these women express them selves with the barbell, let them build and express them selves in a sport of strength and build enough confidence in them to deal with the bullshit that goes on in the fitness industry and the world itself that is constantly bringing down strong women every day and making anyone that isn't a size 8 or lower feel like shit is an amazing feeling.
I mean this is the type of people we have in our club. We found ourselves in a weird situation where we were watching a street performer in cavil avenue when all of a sudden two alpha douche bags high and drunk turn up in the crowd and try to destroy this amazing performers act by intimidating him, swearing at him. To the point that he had to stop his show, i love that our women were the first to stand up and build a human wall around this man so that these alpha douche bags couldn't get near him while we all help him get on with the show!
This competition like every other brought out exactly the feeling that i chase as a coach. The sense of accomplishment for my athletes as they battle trial and tribulation and always come out on top no matter the outcome because you either win or you learn, there is no failing. You can always get better at something and competition reminds you of that every single time.
Running between two platforms that were operating at the same time while i had 4 lifters separated amongst the 2 platforms brought out a challenge in itself but i can truly say i learnt plenty from this, i know i will be ready for anything next competition!
Competition bring our something special in people, something that cannot be replicated, so if you are reading this and have never competed in anything i urge you to find something you love and challenge yourself, put yourself out there and see what you are made of. It is not about being a champion but about the self growth, learning more about yourself then you ever will, something that you should experience and see for yourself what it is all about.
If you are reading this i just want to thank all of my lifters for the hard work you dedicated to getting ready for this, it is only the beginning for you all! I would like to appreciate all of the other lifters that came out to the comp, the coaches and the organisers for building such a great event.
We will continue to push, continue to grow, and continue to become a force in weightlifting and all sports as our hunger and drive is strong amongst this amazing community of athletes.
Until the next one!
Ciao
Coach Yannick.