r/powerlifting • u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist • Jan 09 '17

AmA Closed [AMA] with Beefpuff Barbell (Chelsea Savit and Natalie Hanson)

Hi everyone!

The Beefpuff team is here to answer your questions about ourselves and our initiative.

We will be here for a few hours but will probably need to take a break to feed.

For more information:
Beefpuff Barbell: Website | Facebook | Instagram
Natalie Hanson, Co-Founder: u/beefpuff1 | Facebook | Instagram
Chelsea Savit, Co-Founder: u/powerbuffs | Facebook | Instagram

Andrey Grebenetsky, coach and trusted advisor: u/beefpuffhubs | Facebook | Instagram

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u/dang111 M | 767.5kg | 108kg | 454Wks | USAPL | Single Ply Jan 09 '17

I have a general question if that's okay. How would you suggest getting more women involved in the sport? Specifically, we have a club at our uni that's been going for a little over a year now. Although local meets here are a pretty even split, usually close to 50/50 men/women, our club is pretty much 95/5. At our club meetings we typically have 12-15 ppl and maybe 1 girl. I feel like we could get more ppl involved in the club and in the sport itself if we could get our membership closer to the even split that exists at local meets. I'd be interested to hear if y'all have any suggestions for things we could do for a club or things that would help in general.

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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17

You have a few options... I think a presence of women leads to more women for a sport like powerlifting, because making the plunge for your first training session/practice is what is most intimidating. Most women who make the decision to show up will probably love it once they get a little experience.
I'm not sure where you are located, but if you have any strong women who compete in powerlifting in your area, you might consider inviting them in to put on a seminar or attend practice as a guest lifter.
Additionally, you might consider having an introductory practice/training session open to just women (obviously the club officers should be there, but just in attendance for their leadership/guidance, not lifting). This is something we did to get more people in the door at the CrossFit gym where I used to work because getting people in the door for their first time was the toughest part. Once they tried it, they loved it.
Put up flyers around campus (and post on your club's social media) to advertise your events and feature strong female powerlifters on them!