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British Weight Lifting Team Up with Women In Sport

Women in Sport and British Weight Lifting are joining forces to help increase the number of women using free weights in gyms.

Women in Sport and British Weight Lifting are joining forces to help increase the number of women using free weights in gyms.

We believe Weight Lifting should be an inclusive activity that women feel is open to them as well as men and we are aiming to normalise weight lifting for women. We will do this by researching what the perceived barriers women face using free weights and look into how we can change this.

Over the next few months, we will be working together to support more women to choose weight lifting as part of their exercise habits, challenging the existing cultural norms and celebrating the women and men who encourage more women to participate in weight lifting.

We will be using both Women in Sport and British Weight Lifting’s social media platforms, with support from This Girl Can to gain insight into personal experiences of female gym goers and how they feel about using the weights section.

This will help inform our campaign and allow us to delve into what changes, both attitudinal or physical, that need to be made.

Heather Smith, Women in Sport’s Senior Innovation Manager said:

“We are excited to be working with British Weight Lifting to redress the gender balance in weights areas of local gyms. Our insight led approach to building this campaign means it will use the powerful voices of relatable roles models; to connect with women in a language and on a level, that motivates, inspires and hopefully gets them weight lifting.”

Zoe Kettle- Metcalfe, Head of Workforce at British Weight Lifting commented,

“British Weight Lifting are delighted to be working with Women In Sport on this initiative. We are keen to gain a deeper understanding of how women perceive Weight Lifting and

to hear their views on past experiences in the gym. Our aim is to increase the number of women incorporating Weight Lifting into their exercise routines, we will strive to do this by helping to reduce barriers and highlighting the positive impact weight lifting can have on individuals”.

Keep up to date with the campaign by following our social media channels:

British Weightlifting

Women in Sport