British Weight Lifting partners with Her Spirit

British Weight Lifting is delighted to announce it has partnered with Her Spirit to launch Couch to Kilos, a simple and effective six-week programme for women of all abilities to help boost their strength, body composition, stability and mobility.

Couch to Kilos is free via the Her Spirit mobile app and has been launched in response to data that shows a staggering 80% of women are not meeting the recommended government guidelines for 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week PLUS two strength training sessions every week. 

British Weight Liftings strategic vision for 2021 – 2025 is to educate, inspire and create greater weightlifting and para powerlifting opportunities that appeal to a more diverse and inclusive audience resulting in greater levels of activity for a fitter, healthier and stronger nation.

The development of partnerships and practical collaboration with others in the health, fitness and wellbeing sector is key to this success and the partnership with Her Spirit is a great way of showcasing strength as a lifestyle.

Support from the newly founded charity, the British Weight Lifting Foundation, has enabled six brand new Her Spirt coaches to attain both Level 1 and Level 2 British Weight Lifting qualifications in coaching Olympic weightlifting, which will allow them to further embed strength training elements into their programme assisted by British Weight Lifting. Thanks must also be extended to the University of Nottingham who provided their venue free of charge to host the course.

Regular strength training, which can include weightlifting, has been shown to improve overall fitness by helping the body to build and maintain muscle mass, which in turn helps you burn fat, increase bone density, improve posture and balance, prevent injury and improve heart health. 

Professor Greg Whyte, OBE, former Olympian, Sports Scientist and Her Spirit Advisory Board member has helped to develop the Couch to Kilos programme: “Adding strength sessions to your weekly routine is crucial for our physical, mental and emotional health, yet most of us are not even aware of the recommended guidelines for strength training. As we think about later life, building muscle is important for performing daily activities like carrying shopping bags or picking up grandchildren and can help older adults stay independent for longer.”

Emily Muskett, British Weightlifting Champion and Talent Lead at British Weight Lifting, adds: “Through our partnership with Her Spirit we want to demystify what being stronger means and inspire a new generation of women to feel confident and comfortable to start lifting weights. There are a lot of myths associated with this kind of training that we hope to bust as part of our campaign to create a fitter, stronger and healthier nation.”

Starting on 3 January 2022 and finishing on 14 February 2022, Couch to Kilos will consist of 30-minute virtual sessions that will be live streamed and available via playback anytime. Her Spirit expert coaches will be available to answer questions and carefully guide and support women through the six weeks.  The programme has been designed for women who have done little or no strength training, relying on body weight alone, but also includes tailored sessions to suit women who are ready to advance to weightlifting. To register for free visit https://herspirit.co.uk

Her Spirit is a free to download app supported by Sport England Lottery Funding and available via Apple and Google app stores. Its 15,000 members are part of a supportive community and receive personalised coaching through a mix of live digital classes including HIIT, yoga and indoor cycling and in-person challenges such as wild swimming events.