EDMONTON – When you think of a women’s fitness competition, bikinis and tanned, oiled, super cut bodies may come to mind. But in Femsport, competitors say it’s more about showing your inner champion than your appearance.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 97 pounds and really tiny or you’re over 200 pounds,” explains personal trainer Jen Hamel, who runs a training camp for Femsport – the latest female fitness trend to hit Edmonton. “It’s just about using your own strength and determination to get the job done.”
Even though she may be in top form now, just 5 years ago after having her second child, Hamel says she weighed over 500. Now, she’s motivating women of all shapes and sizes, and of all ages to do their personal best while performing some impressive feats of strength.
“Most are moms, some are grandmas, our oldest competitor was 62 years old and she’s out there flipping the 260 pound tire.”
The tire-flipping is just one of the challenges that the women have to conquer in the competition. Another obstacle includes jumping over a 4-foot vault box, and then pushing a 4,000 pounds car for more than 75 feet.
And as the competitors push themselves to new limits, the crowd cheers them on.
“When I competed in Calgary,” Hamel says, “my favorite thing was there were really loud cheers for the girl that finished first, but there were even louder cheers for the girl that finished last.”
That type of encouraging atmosphere has helped make Femsport as rewarding as it has been for its participants.
“It’s so empowering. I love it,” says Danielle Smith. The mother of two believes her new interest in fitness is also rubbing off on her kids. She explains that at a recent training camp, her 5 year-old daughter began scaling a four foot wall.
“They see how fun it is to be active and they, in turn, do those wonderful fitness goals as well.”
Another Femsport competitor, Shawntal Onneken, has seen not only an increase in her strength since joining the program, but in her confidence as well.
“It’s for any woman, anyone can do it.”
To find out more about Femsport click here.
With files from Su-Ling Goh, Global News
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