About two years ago, I wrote a blog post all about body confidence. The blog post is what I wanted it to be and all, but I felt as if it would be nicer to establish why we consciously and unconsciously body shame and the general impacts of this. I thought that some ties into some other great sites would be a method of empowerment through such a deep-subject post. Here is the link to that post if you would like to read it. 

Body shaming can involved you as an individual looking at your own body in a negative way, through comparisons to others like your friends, role models, family members and celebrities. Body shaming can also involve you or a group of people having an negative opinion about another persons body. Body shaming can be presented as conscious or unconscious. For example:
Conscious body shaming: This involves the idea that shaming another persons body is noticeable, verbal and specifically targeted at an individual. This may appear as attempted humour, but can actually be classed as a form of bullying. For example, making negative comments about a persons weight loss or weight gain.
Unconscious body shaming: This involves the idea that we have thoughts about body shaming ourselves or others, but these are either suppressed or not verbally spoken. For example, walking past someone and thinking that they 'don't suit the revealing clothes they are wearing' or are 'showing too much skin'.

I felt that within this section I should highlight that body shaming happens everywhere. It doesn't matter what culture you are from, your gender, your economic status or your everyday environment. Particularly within this post, I am going to focus upon body shaming within the sports industry and a recent experience of mine involving body shaming.

Take a look at the Women's and Men's front covers of sports magazines. Here are some of the similarities and differences that I have noticed.

• Both magazine cover types show athletes or models perceived as athletes.
• Not all the magazines show the athletes in action.
• Most of the magazine covers show athletes with skin showing.
• Most of the images with skin showing are only showing muscular or 'fit' athletes.
• The Women's magazines seem to give off a soft, calm and feminine perception, as if to encourage Women to get into shape, rather than to play sports.
• The Men's magazines give off an experienced, strong and tough perception, as if to give off the vibes that Men have naturally all being playing sports forever.

​Women Magazine Observations
​​I have noticed that there are at least 4/12 of the sample of magazine covers for Women that show Women as 'long-term sportswomen' and not just 'women going to the gym as a new hobby'. These same images portrays them as a body type that isn't overly associated with being 'healthy' or shows them holding trophies achieved from their sport. Although this is a very small number, this I like! Those four images don't sexualise the nature of Women participating in sports for someone else's enjoyment.​ The following words were featured on the front of this small sample of the Women's Sports magazines.

Male Magazine Observations
Within the Male magazine sample, it only seems to show 4/11 men within normal fitness clothes that they would wear to the gym. I don't know of many men who would go to the gym or play their sport topless? but anyways. Again, it doesn't seem to show any body types other than 'muscular types'. ​Sorry but since when is someone wearing sunglasses and 'looking cool' associated with sports? It is quite possible that the male sportspeople on the front of these magazines are athletes (Michael Jordan and Conor Mcgregor), but using male actors could start to put pressure upon the ideas that even actors who just 'go to the gym' have the best bodies. Therefore, this starts to build up a reputation surrounding the idea that all men must have muscular or 'fit' bodies. There are only 2/11 covers within the sample that don't have unrealistic images of men who just 'go to the gym' or 'get all the women'. Meaning these images contained athletes without their bodies being the main focus of the shot for another persons enjoyment. The following words were featured on the front of this small sample of the Men's Sports magazines.

I figured I would observe the words surrounding the magazine covers and I can report back that at least nearly half of the Males sports magazines contained sexual references. Now, I know my target audience is pretty young for this site, but: wheres the need? Its a sports magazine and shouldn't broadcast and force such imagery surrounding the topic to both genders. Not mention that there is a lack in any form of 'young peoples sporting magazines and articles'. Do the people writing these covers even think about the low self-esteem issues it could project onto some Men. I think its pretty safe to say that both Male and Female sports magazines are just as sexualised as each other! Then, this causes those who may have different body types to the models on the cover to feel insecure.

I mean, if you are not happy with your body; then do something about it! But pressurised imagery and wording from a magazine should not force an individual to change how they look, if they like their body anyways. Can you imagine how a person may feel if their physical traits that they are perfectly comfortable with are being broadcasted as 'awful' and 'avoidable' throughout the media? I mean, no wonder we all tend to jump on the bandwagon of unconsciously body shaming ourselves and others! 

​There seems to be a specific 'look' when it comes to what 'body type' is on the front cover of a magazine. Thankfully, some magazines are starting to make a breakthrough with this. Making a difference should involve the usage of  body types such as using people who are not models and who are comfortable in their body or those who have just tackled major long-term fitness goals of theirs. Groups of different genders, body types, ages and cultures should be broadcasted on sports magazines just as much as any other magazine or platform. Ideally, if I was going to design my own varieties of sporting magazine covers, they would contain:
Models: Young athletes, elderly athletes, athletes of all abilities, child athletes and talented people, female and male athletes who aren't half-naked on the cover together. The cover of a sporting magazine should look equal
Words: Empowering words about the individuals on the cover WITHOUT comparing them to the reader, phrases that suggest there is a choice revolving around a person's body type and fitness levels, phrases that are not sexualised or aimed towards gender stereotypes.

Obviously the images on the covers of magazines are what helps to sell the magazine, therefore what has sold before will sell again. So if the cycle slowly starts to break, it may be possible that parents will buy their children positive and uplifting magazines featuring inspiring and talented people next to normal and regular sportspeople. I mean, body shaming is happening all around us! Social media is all around us! 

It is not too often that I experience body shaming nowadays. I used to get slight hints towards it when I was younger. That I should be lucky that I'm so skinny, which wasn't a particular feature I desired within myself, which made me think when I was growing that I had to remain skinny. More recently, because I'm on the skinnier side of your average stocky ideal Olympic Weightlifter, I get some comments online and in person about my size. For example, 'Do you even lift' or 'Hey do you know which muscle you need to build stronger and bigger?' (No because I hadn't thought about that until you mentioned it). More recently, an adult actually asked me to flex my arms as they thought I looked 'too skinny to lift weights'. I so badly wanted to explain that Olympic Weightlifters don't have predominant biceps, I'm a small Woman so I'm not going to have massive amounts of muscle mass and that I don't take performing enhancing drugs. If there are people on PED's on the cover of magazines, then that makes everything so much worse. So is it that the media has projected these poor ideas onto us that even amateur sports players are being body shamed for not looking particularly athletic? It's not even just athletic people. If you're skinny, you should bulk up. If you're classed as overweight, you should cut down. It's becoming nasty and is effecting the younger minds of this day and age. This causes bullying and mental ill health. I mean obviously if you're in a critical health situation with your body size, then seek help by all means. If that is by fault of the media, then shame on them!

I found two interesting article links about this topic. Please have a read here, I backs up many of my points made. More recently I have bought a book called 'Goodnight stories for Rebel Girls' and there is another book called 'Goodnight stories for Rebel Boys' too. These are excellent books to inspire all. I recommend them entirely. Thank you for reading this post!

I'm back with another post! Had this one written down for around a year now. In this post I am going to explain the standard structure of an Olympic Weightlifting competition, however some of these steps may alter based upon the level of the competition (E.g. There may be drug testing procedures or a competition such as the British Championships may be more strictly structured).

So you're looking for a competition to enter, it may be your first competition or the first one you have entered in a while. So you either enter a local friendly 'inter-club' or an 'open' competition, that won't allow you to set any records. Either that, or you enter a competition that is on British Weightlifting's website that usually requires a qualification total (depending upon the tier of the competition). Here is a link to enter these competitions, the tiers are explained on the website.

Asides from paying to enter the competition, well done: you actually showed up! Smaller competitions may ask for payment on the door or no payment at all. Larger competitions are often going to have a check in process where all lifters and coaches are registered and given an ID lanyard to wear throughout the day. Whereas, a smaller competition is more likely to check you're in attendance when you are weighed in.

​It is likely that when you entered the competition online that you had to provide a body weight category. Hopefully, you provided a realistic and achievable weight-category as if you don't fit into the category, more than likely you will be asked to lift as a guest lifter. Being a guest lifter means that you cannot place within the competition and you cannot set any records or qualify for any future competitions through the total you tried to achieve in the competition. Don't worry if you don't weigh correctly in the category by a fraction of an amount (I'm talking around about 0.1kg), the weigh-in lasts for an hour which will give you time to reweigh in and lose or put on the weight. In this the lifter must also provide their first two opening weights for the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. The table I have made shows an example of what information will be on any projected screens before a lifter has lifted.

More than often, I'm in the first group on the platform because I'm either the youngest in an Under 23 years competition or the lightest as an under 49 kilogram lifter. The few times I have been in the last group on the platform are in mixed school-year and sixth form competitions.

​There are pretty much two choices before you have to warm-up (depending on when you're lifting). The way I view it is you either eat up (since you need some fuel before lifting or you're starving from having to ensure you are in the correct weight category) or you observe (sit back, relax and watch the first few groups). I speak from experience when I say that you must bring lots of food to a Weightlifting competition. My first competition was a small development friendly comp and I'm pretty confident that I devoured an entire tin of Foxes biscuits before lifting... Not good, but from an 8 year old's perspective, I was pretty happy. Food is almost as essential as making sure you've got the correct gear to lift in. My go to list of food to take to a competition would be:

• Fruit Punnets (Strawberries, Grapes, Raspberries)
• Easy to grab food (Raisins, Bananas, Apples, some form of boost of energy)
• Carbs (Bread, Pasta, Rice) - depending on how long you are waiting to lift for
• Something for the journey home (Cookies are my personal favourite)

From my past experiences in competitions, people have entered the warm-up room 10 minutes before the last group has finished lifting. Nowadays, I'm confident that most competitions will follow a timed schedule for when each group should enter the warm-up room. It is best to have a coach or someone who is familiar with the stresses of being in the warm-up room. Hopefully, your competition will have many platforms but it is often that you will be sharing a platform anyways, increasing your likelihood of making new friends (or enemies if that's what you prefer...). Warm-up rooms (no matter the size) are going to be sweaty and cramped in certain areas (E.g. right next to the entrance to the main platform). 

My coach has always given me the freedom to warm myself up in a variety of ways. Previously, I would foam roll or complete exercises that involve jogging, jumping or running and then get stuck straight into warming up on the bar. But more frequently, I have found methods that suit me better. Here is my structured warm-up for most of my workouts and competitions:

1. If necessary, Foam roll any aches, but not excessively.
2. Complete the reverse chain warm-up method with either a wooden pole or an empty barbell.
3. Sit in the squat position for 1-2 minutes, pushing the knees out with the elbows.
4. Stand up and hang the arms forwards to touch the ground, with straight knees.
5. From the above described position, move one foot backwards and push the heel to the ground, keeping the legs straight. Then, switch to the other leg.
6. Complete some leg swings.
7. Now, build up the weight on the bar starting with 3-5 kilogram increases with 3-4 repetitions, this should move to 2 kilogram increases with 3-2 repetitions. Build this up to 2 kilograms away from your starting weight and aim for two reps.
8. In between lifts, keep yourself moving and warm.

I'd like to keep this as short and simple as possible. It's lift off time! By now, your group should have been introduced to the audience. Everyone will receive six attempts (three attempts for the Snatch and three attempts for the Clean and Jerk). The lifter who is lifting the lowest amount of weight will lift first. Hopefully there will be somebody else lifting a similar weight to them, if not this lifter will continually be on the platform after themselves, but they will receive 2 minutes to recover.

I'll try and explain this a bit better. Lifter A is starting on 12kg and then aims to lift 13kg for their second lift. If Lifter B is lifting 13kg, then Lifter A will receive a better recovery since Lifter B will be on the platform before Lifter A's second attempt.

​If a lift is failed, a lifter will receive another attempt (They can stick at the same weight they failed at or increase). If a lifter fails all three attempts within one of the lift types, they will be cancelled out of the competition and will not place. If a lift is failed, it is usually marked in red upon a spreadsheet and red lights will be shown visually by the referees. Again, if the lift is a good lift, this will show as a white light or a green marking on a spreadsheet.

I'd say that it is especially important within a large competition to keep track of when  you are lifting. There have been times where I have been unable to hear my name being called (due to such a busy competition) and I have been timed out for not lifting on the platform within the timed minute.

Depending upon the competition type, technique points may be measured. For example, within a Youth or Development competition (School children under the age of 13). I have explained this more in depth within another blog post.
​

Its pretty common now that if the competition isn't large or isn't going to be running for more than 8 hours, that most lifters are made to wait and watch the other lifters before receiving their awards. This is nice since it shows a bit of sportsmanship involving everyone watching and clapping for each other. Otherwise, within larger competitions, the awards ceremony for each group is done straight after the group has finished lifting. 

This is how your place in the competition is usually ranked:

1. By your weight category and your age/school year category.
2. Then by the amount of weight you lifted in total (the two biggest lifts added together)/ the amount of points scored in total.
3. There will be an amount on the screen for a ranking/ coefficient called Sinclair (or Robi points). This is ranking a lifter against the world records set within their category, the higher the number = the better the lifter is. This doesn't contribute towards where the lifter places.
4. There is likely to be an award (medal or trophy) for the best lifter within the group. If the group is not made up of random body-weight categories, then there might not be one since the overall best lifter award takes into account of the other weight classes in the group all being put together. Either that, or the award will be given to the best lifter out of all the females and then all the males.
5. It may even be often that a lifter didn't win anything, but they qualified for another competition. Additionally, a lifter may place, qualify and also beat a record (lucky them!).

Thank you for reading this post. I know I have written posts that are similar to this in the past, but I figured it would be nice to put all the information together.