Tim Gym

Katie and Ronald training for Strongman Nationals. Thanks to Ryan Imbach at The Unit for hosting.

Brought to you by the World's Strongest Brewery - Black Husky. Thanks to Trevor and his excellent photography

The WSM finals start in a couple of hours. I predict Mitchell Hooper will be in first place at the end of the day.

My name is Nikole, and I am a Strongwoman.

Growing up, I was the unathletic short girl always looking for an excuse to get out of gym class. The 90s and 2000s were tough for any girl since “pretty” was dainty and super skinny, neither of which were me. I had big arms, big thighs, and big calves and no matter how little I ate or how much I ran, they never went away.

Around 2016 my now-husband introduced me to 5X5 StrongLifts, easy programming for those new to basic weightlifting. My form was horrible, but I was a bit surprised how quickly I took to moving the weights. It was fun to lift more weight each week and it was something relatively athletic that I was moderately good at.

In 2018, a friend introduced us to CrossFit while showing us videos of him doing these crazy Olympic lifts. I wanted to throw weight around like that, and so joined CrossFit 100 in Glendale. That first workout nearly killed me, but after a few months I was seeing significant gains in my cardio capacity and strength numbers. I loved the group setting – seeing other people do things that seemed impossible motivated me to try harder until I could do the same. After a few years, I finally felt like I had found a “sport” that I was good at and that my body was designed for.

In Spring of 2021, I went to the TimVitational as a spectator. I specifically remember seeing the competitor Drea doing sumo deadlifts and the weights she pulled were just sick, she was so strong. Afterwards we lifted Atlas Stones in the beer garden and I was hooked, I wanted to do whatever the heck workouts these Tim Gym people were doing. After a bit of begging and pleading, Tim agreed to let me join and from then on, Saturday morning workouts (and Saturday afternoon beers) at the Tim Gym became my weekend routine. While my husband appreciated the opportunity to sleep in, I was incredibly grateful that he gave me full support to be away most Saturdays into the early afternoon and never made me feel guilty for investing our weekends into fitness.

When the Battle at the Brewery was announced, I desperately wanted to compete but was worried that I wouldn’t be successful at the events. I was also terrified of the weights since I didn’t think there was a chance I’d be able to lift them. Tim and Toni coordinated training sessions for the six weeks leading up to the event to make sure we all felt comfortable with our technique and ability to move the weight. I decided that it didn’t matter if I finished the events, I just wanted to try and entered the Women’s Novice category.

The day of the event, I surprised everyone including myself by soaring through the events. Weights that only two weeks prior felt glued to the floor were moving, and quickly at that! The final event of the day was Atlas Stones. I was exhausted and just grabbed my second beer. I had only lifted the heaviest stone once before, and certainly not after lifting 5 progressively heavier stones before it nor after an entire day of competing. The whistle blew and I don’t remember anything until the moment I stepped up to the final stone. I locked in and to my surprise it actually got off the ground. When I lapped the stone, I stopped because that was the moment I realized I was going to actually lift the stone. The noise from the crowd started to register and as I stood it up, I felt an incredible level of calm, pride, and accomplishment. I was 31 years old, I finally had an athletic accomplishment, and I was surrounded by the incredible and supportive friends I had made throughout my fitness journey. That was the moment I knew I was a Strongwoman.

A quick comment for my fellow women reading this: If I had a dollar for every person who said “I don’t lift because I don’t want to look bulky” I could retire yesterday. I’ve been weightlifting for five years and you’d never call me “bulky”. The most disciplined lifters with the best nutrition in my gyms don’t look bulky. They look strong, they look fit, and they look beautiful. Being strong IS beautiful and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

And for my fellow spectators watching this incredible support, one more thought. Seeing a big dude lift 700 lbs is fun because there’s a lot of plates on the bar and it looks nuts, don’t get me wrong, I love watching it too! Keep in mind though that the women competitors while lifting less TOTAL WEIGHT, are at time lifting more in BODY WEIGHT than some of the boys, which is incredible on it's own. That’s what's so fun about strength sports: Strength is unique to the individual and what constitutes "heavy" is relative.

Thanks for reading along and for your support of this incredible sport. And with that, I’ll see you at the TimVitational the Battle at the Brewery! Cheers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GCeoEGfdjs