Raising the Bar
A female perspective on strength-based sports
By Hannah Blank
Walking up to the Spanaway Fitness Center in Tacoma, shouts echo from the open doors to the gym. The Northwest Regional Powerlifting Championships started at 9 a.m. and it is now almost two hours into the meet.
The gym is transformed for the competition. Black curtains split the gym in half to separate the warm-up zone from the audience. Vibrant graffiti murals cover the walls. Children in the audience run around the seating area while competitors come and go from the stands. As the weight increases and competitors struggle with their lifts, shouts of encouragement erupt from the audience.
Lena Hemmer smiles from the sidelines. Today she isn’t here to compete, but to support her friends, Sara Holey and Lizzie Bronder.
Hemmer herself began lifting in 2016 as a sophomore in college and is now a senior at Western preparing to graduate.
“I have met so many strong, badass girls doing this,” she said. “It’s great to be empowered by other girls that all have this common goal which is just to get better.”
In her first couple of years at Western, Hemmer still ran but faced with the returning injury, had to let go of long-distance running. That’s when she started experimenting with weights.
Despite not knowing anyone in the weight room or what she was doing, Hemmer was determined to learn. Starting with bodybuilding movements, then on to powerlifting and more recently, Olympic lifting. Different from powerlifting, Olympic-style is more technical, focusing on the movements of two lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk.
Hemmer said Olympic lifting is a mental game. She finds gratification in lifting the weights from the ground to her shoulders and then pushing it up over her head — lifting is her new runner’s high.
“As someone who has dealt with issues with body image and eating disorders… [lifting] has changed the way that I view what my body can do. I look at what my body can do and not just what it looks like,” Hemmer said.
There’s the tell-tale look of an athlete in Hemmer’s eyes, an intense determination and hunger to push herself to be the best she can be.
“I no longer focused on what the number is when I step down on the scale,” Hemmer said. “Rather it’s what’s the number I can throw over my head — what’s the number I can pick up?”
Hemmer recognizes that it takes a lot of discipline to go to the weight room and do things you may have never done before, and it can be scary.
“You can be intimidated, but every single girl that I have met through this has been so sweet, so nice, so willing to take time out of their day — out of their workout — to help me and to include me,” Hemmer said.
Hemmer continues to grin while she talks about the people she has met through this sport.
“[We’re not] competing with each other as much as we are competing with ourselves,” she said.
Today’s powerlifting competition is a shining example of the lifting community. At its core, powerlifting tests how strong you are with three lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift. As a weight-classed strength sport, athletes are categorized by bodyweight. For each of the lifts, competitors have three attempts to lift their best weight. The highest weight of each lift is added together for a total score.
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“Now we have Sara, with Julia up next and Harlie in the hole!” The female announcer jumps as she speaks, keeping up with the energy of the lifters.
Officials tend to the bar quickly and efficiently to change out the weights for each lifter. They give a thumbs up to the announcer who then shouts, “the bar is loaded!”
Western junior Sara Holey pushes the curtain aside and moves toward the bench without hesitation. She slips under the bar and gets ready for her lift.
Competitively powerlifting since the seventh grade, Sara is all too familiar with the scene.
“It’s really cool to go to these competitions and see other people pushing their limits,” she said.
On either side of her sits a judge, as well as one directly in front. They hold two flags, one red and one white to indicate whether the lift is good or not. At least two white flags means the competitor is in the clear, more than one red flag and the lift is not counted due to improper form.
Growing up, Holey was always active, taking after her three brothers and wanting to do everything they did. After seeing them participate and compete in powerlifting, Holey decided to take a weight training class. She instantly fell in love.
From eighth grade through her junior year of high school, Holey continuously qualified for state every year in powerlifting. Holey would try to strategically switch between two weight classes so that she had the opportunity to compete in both, depending on the meet.
Holey moved from Michigan to Washington right before her senior year and after a year-long lifting hiatus, began competing again during her freshman year at Bellevue College. In 2017, she transferred to Western to major in kinesiology with a specialization in physical therapy.
She continued to lift and started working at the Wade King Student Recreation Center. She’s currently co-teaching Women on Weights, a class open to all who identify as women. She uses this opportunity to share her knowledge and help others learn their way around the weight room.
“Try not to be afraid of the weight room and what goes on in there. Being out here and looking in, it can be kind of scary, I get that,” Holey said. “You have to put yourself in an uncomfortable position to then learn and grow.”
Three white flags go up as Holey completes a successful bench.
Holey sits up and moves to the sidelines so that the next competitor can lift. After a minute, she disappears to the back again to keep warm.
“The bar is loaded!”
Western senior Lizzie Bronder steps out from behind the curtain and takes a moment to look at the bench before slipping under the bar. Hemmer steps in front of the bench to help lift the bar into position as she begins the lift, then moves to the sidelines.
Bronder has always been athletic: dance, cheer, cross-country, CrossFit and track and field. She said that being in dance when she was younger was what compounded her struggle with body image.
“I was strong and could do the movements, [but] I never really had the ‘look’ that was wanted by our teacher,” Bronder said. “I struggled with body image a lot because my natural body type is athletic and muscular and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t force my body to look the way I envisioned.”
Running was something that helped her in all of her other athletic activities. Bronder was running upwards of 25 miles a week during her cross-country days, but had to stop running after her first quarter at Western due to unhealed shin splints. Without running she said she felt lost, having tied her identity to it for the past 10 years.
Then Bronder found powerlifting through the Viking Fit classes at the Rec Center. The class teaches progressive strength training and helped push her to do heavier weights.
“Lifting was the first time where I didn’t feel like I was having to fight my body to be good at the sport,” Bronder said.
Reflecting on the atmosphere of the weightroom, Bronder said people love to see others lift heavy.
“It doesn’t matter what your gender identity is, if they see you putting in the work and improving your lifts, they’re going to respect you,” Bronder said. “And even if you are just starting out, most lifters I know would jump at the chance to help you with form and technique.”
The bar goes down and up. Three white flags go up. It’s a good lift and a new personal record on the bench press for Bronder at roughly 138 pounds.
Holey and Bronder end the day with personal records in each of their lifts. Holey earns second place in the junior class overall and Bronder earns second in the open women’s 132–148 weight class. Hemmer cheers from the sidelines — today she isn’t here to compete, but to support her friends.
