Here at Mirafit we love to learn what goes into making an athlete tick. We sat down for a two-part interview with Olympic Weightlifter Jenny Tong and, in this first installment she tells us all about how she discovered weightlifting and began coaching future athletes.

How did you begin weightlifting?

I did Judo and BMX growing up; I preferred solo sports because in group sports I would be kicked off the teams for being too aggressive. When I went to Uni I didn’t want to party and drink and live the basic university lifestyle, so I decided to find a sport as a way to meet people.

Weightlifting was not on my radar; I wanted to try wrestling, but it wasn’t offered as an option in the induction brochure. I saw weightlifting and I had been casually going to the gym and lifting Weights without knowing what I was doing. I thought ‘it is a free session so I might as well give it a go’ and I was quite good at it. I saw the other women in the club and thought ‘I’m not far off doing what they are doing’ so I kept going back, and now I run the club.

What do you do at the club?

I’ve been a coach for three years. I’m in charge of the day-to-day running of the club, the courses, the programming, the open sessions, and the rest of it. I started off as an assistant coach and I would run the courses and help with the sessions. It’s like an extended family.

Is it mostly students you work with?

The way that Hallam Barbell works is that we have a life model. We work with kids from the age of 5 who do strength and exercises. We have the youth weightlifters, the students, the community group, and a rehab programme for older people who are not used to physical exercise.

Do you think there is a rise in young people getting into sport?

I think there is a big rise in young people getting into weightlifting. I am blown away by the skyrocketing standards in young women and girls in the past few years. It’s incredible to see. As a regional pathway coach my job is to eye up the 12–17-year-old remit and that’s been huge.

Why do you think girls are becoming more interested in weightlifting?

I think girl’s strength training is becoming more normalised and it has opened up the space to have that conversation. The increase in female athletes and coaches has made it a more inviting space for people to come and try.

What barriers are there for women getting into weightlifting?

I think the bodybuilding aspect is a big one. I’ve been training for years now, and I still won’t take creatine because I don’t want to get too bulky. Even though I know it would make me perform much better I wouldn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. If I want to go to Paris 2024 then I need to compromise, and that compromise will be the way that I look.

The stereotypes we ingrain with girls from a very young age stick with them. I have gone through a big journey of body image issues, and I couldn’t be happier with the way that I look. I think that a lot of young girls are now realising that your body can be capable of so much and still be feminine. Muscle doesn’t make you look masculine by default.

How do you talk to a client who is worried about lifting heavier because they don’t want to gain muscle?

I won’t dismiss people’s feelings because, as the end of the day, they are paying for a service. It starts off with a conversation about where they think the muscle will go. If they want to get a bigger bum or want to do a pull-up then they’ll have to compromise somewhere, there has to be an acceptance that there is a process.

It’s about breaking down the stigma, having the space to talk about those concerns, and informing them what that process will look like. You’re not going to get massive biceps from doing a push-press. I’ve been lifting for six years, and I still don’t have massive biceps.

What goals do your clients normally have?

Mostly they just want to get stronger. I love that because it is what I’m good at and what I’m passionate about, so it makes my job much easier. If someone came to me and said that they wanted to get shredded for a bodybuilding competition, then I’d probably suggest another coach because that’s not something I specialise in.

How important are coaches and mentors to someone who has a fitness goal?

Massively important. Strength sports is a very lonely world and can be isolating and weightlifting can be emotionally draining, so having a coach, a mentor, and a support circle around you is huge. Having people who understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it can make a huge difference.

Having someone to hold you to account is really important in strength sports.

What do you find motivates people to start weightlifting?

I have the utmost respect and admiration for every person who walks through our door because I know how nerve-wracking it is. It is an honour and a privilege to coach someone through this journey because it takes a lot of gusto to walk into an environment that you’ve never been in and do a sport that you’ve never done.

What we tend to see is that people just want to try something new. They say, ‘I’ve been to the gym, and I like squatting, and I like deadlifting, and I just want something more.’

Do you think that interest in weightlifting has increased since the pandemic hit?

Covid gave people the chance to sit back and examine what they do in their free time and if they’re making the most of it or if they’re healthy enough. We have seen an increased demand but some of our members have dropped off because weightlifting is predominantly an indoor sport and they enjoyed getting out on their bikes or going for runs and they want to continue doing that.

What motivates you to do individual sports?

I’m an extroverted introvert and I’m too aggressive for team sports. I would love to do a team sport, but I struggle with social situations on a regular basis and being accountable to fifteen other people is too much for me.

I started playing rugby when I went to university, but it was too much pressure to be there and be present at every social event and training session, and I just couldn’t do that. I found weightlifting meant you had the support of your team, but the results were all on you. That was enough to make me committed because I had already gone through the process of making myself accountable and that transferred across to weightlifting.

Are You Very Competitive?

I’m not competitive when it comes to other people. I’ll use them as a measure, but I’m competitive with myself and I want to be better than I was. I think other women are incredible and I’d never take away from what they’re doing by wanting to be better than them.

How have you adapted throughout the pandemic as an athlete?

I’ve trained alone for the past three years, but the only difference was that I suffered from burn out throughout the first lockdown. 2019 was a big year for me; I had three competitions back-to-back and some quite major life events happened. I kept forcing myself to train but by June I was getting pinned by 60kg cleans because my body was just not playing ball.

It gave me a chance to sit back and see that weightlifting is not the be all and end all. I have been able to assess how much I give to weightlifting and what I get from it. I’m 24 years old and have done almost nothing for the past four years apart from weightlifting, and that was not the compromise that I wanted to make when I started.

I wanted to be healthier and happier and stronger, but I still wanted to have a life outside of training and the pandemic has helped me realise that I need to have a better balance. I need to work less, train as much as necessary but also make memories. Being in lockdown and not being able to see my friends and family has helped me realise that weightlifting will always be there, but memories are the things that matter.

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Tags: Misc > Lifestyle