Vulva Magazine focuses and reflects on the life of the modern woman, featuring inspirational stories from all over the world, with women of all ages, race, size - everyone is included! Vulva Magazine is a platform which gives a voice to women.
Building Up with Tish Campbell
I am a weightlifter.
I am a woman. I look damn good. This is my story.
My fitness journey began in 2016 where I was determined to build more muscle structure and strength.
I’ve always been naturally skinny due to a fast metabolism and have always considered myself as an athlete. I was to even accept an offer by team GB for athletics. However, I noticed over time with personal situations that I stopped exercising. Instead, I was out partying, drinking, the lot which resulted in me into losing more weight than I have ever lost in my life.
Weighing in at 6.5 stone with a height of 5ft8 you can ultimately tell I was very skinny! This led me to a path of mentality in self-care and making myself feel better physically and mentally. This then led me to the world of weightlifting, ranging from deadlifts to squats, hip thrusts and cleans. This training has allowed me to build muscle mass alongside gaining weight and I’m looking the best I ever have!
The gym is such a stress reliever. It’s my second home - a place I know will always have my back when I need it and it’s proven as I am now weighing in at 9 stone - just over 2 years later.
My advice for anyone with insecurities with themselves and their body is to learn to accept the way you are. You are a beautiful soul living in this human body, which is temporary. However, if you have that access to change the physical needs of your insecurities, take full advantage! You can do this.
Words by Tish Campbell
Written by Hannah Mathieson
- SPORT -
Love Yourself
Sport. Weightlifting. Women. Huh?
Weightlifting is a sport. In fact, it is an art. To be able to dead-lift double or triple your own weight is incredibly impressive.
Weightlifting defies gravity. It is a technical sport of strength and power. It requires incredible flexibility, balance, speed, coordination, and strength. Olympic Weightlifting is the Zeus of weight training, powerlifting, and body-building. They are incredibly different from each other, but all have the same intention of building strength and muscle.
Weightlifting in competition requires three lifts: the Press, the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk. The competitors are divided by weight class and gender. The one who lifts the most weight when the results of each lift are added together is then the winner of each category. Generalised weight training has become incredibly popular in the fitness world and has received a big makeover. Why? More women are getting involved. Weight training is another word for strength training, it’s developing the strength and size of your skeletal muscles. The force of gravity is exposed to weighted bars, dumbbells and stacks in order to oppose the force generated by muscle through a concentric or eccentric contraction. To put it simply; the more you lift, the bigger your muscles. Ever wondered how to get the booty and sculpted arms without surgery or extreme dieting? Lifting those weights. But strength training isn’t about vanity. It can help control weight, stop bone loss, boost energy levels and improves your balance. It’s not all about the belfie*.
The history of weightlifting was all about the test of power and strength. Men would battle it out in the hopes to be bigger and stronger than everyone else. No comment there. The earliest evidence of weightlifting goes back to China (Zhou Dynasty) from 10th Century B.C. The sport came to the Olympics in 1896. It wasn’t until the 2000 Olympic Games that women were officially allowed to compete. In history, two names stand out when you ask about female weightlifting; Ivy Russell and Pudgy Stockton. These were the first women to publicly enter into competitions in the 1930s before WW2 hit. They set the stage for future female lifters and future competitions such as the Miss Universe Bodybuilding contest, World Weightlifting Championships, and the Worlds Strongest Woman.
Physical strength isn’t limited solely to the male species. It’s time to show it to the world. The world of weightlifting has changed. A corner has been turned and the trophy cabinet will need a much bigger space. Shall we say a trophy stadium? Or a few...
* belfie: a photo of one’s own beautiful buttocks.
Written by Hannah Mathieson
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