'I pull trucks in my spare time': Training to be Atlantic Canada's strongest woman
Car lifts, truck pulls and log-lifting will determine who will represent East Coast at national competition
The first competition to crown Atlantic Canada's strongest woman will be held at Tide Fest at the East Hants Sportsplex in Lantz, N.S., this weekend.
Birgit Elssner is training hard for the big day. She works full time in Wolfville, N.S., and does her intense training in her free time. She lifts 80-kilogram Atlas stones, hauls 136-kilogram yokes — and pulls vehicles.
"So easy, man," she yelled as she hauled a CBC vehicle on a recent workout.
The weights she lifts are similar to those lifted by the smallest male competitors. "That's quite a satisfaction, knowing that what I lift is what some of the men do."
Elssner found the sport by accident. She wanted to get in shape as she approached 40, but found people at the gym looked like they'd worked out before they got there. "I felt fat and ugly," she said.
Someone introduced her to powerlifting and strength athletics and she was hooked. "I felt really at home and accepted. People looked all different ways, shapes and sizes," she said.
"A lot of women in society, they're tiny, small, petite. Their body shape is completely different to what it is you need to be in strength-based events. A lot of powerlifting and strongwomen that compete are not your ideal society-like body shape and I think it's awesome to challenge that perception and surprise people."
She recently surprised a hardware store clerk when she bought heavy cans of paint. He produced a dolly and offered to help her carry them. "I said, 'Don't worry, I got this. I pull trucks in my spare time,'" she said.
'Very big deal'
She now trains with Grant Connors in Kentville. Connors is a 12-time winner of Atlantic Canada's Strongest Man and has competed nationally. His wife Crystal also competes.
Connors said when he started 20 years ago, few women took part in Canada. Many competitions now use weight classes, which attracts more women and a bigger range of men. He said hundreds of women now compete in Canada.
But the Tide Fest competition won't have weight classes for women, so it will be truly the strongest woman on the day. The winner will represent Atlantic Canada at the national competition.
"This is a very big deal," Connors said. He said he enjoys training the influx of strongwomen, including Elssner.
"Birgit is a great, kind-hearted person and loves to train," he said. "She and many other women that train with us now will shock a lot of people this year."
Truck pulls and car lifts
Mark McManus co-owns Renfrew Strength and Conditioning Centre and is organizing the weekend competition. "We .... are very excited that we get to host the very first Atlantic Canada's Strongest Woman competition," he said. Five women have signed up.
The women will compete in seven categories:
- Truck pull: Pull a 5,000-kilogram tow truck 30 metres.
- Farmers walk: Carry 70 kilograms in each hand for 60 metres.
- Log press: Pick up an increasingly heavy log and press it over your head until you must stop.
- Stone lift: Carry an increasingly heavy platform until you must stop.
- Super yoke: Carry 180 kilograms across your back for 30 metres.
- Car dead lift: Pick up a car as many times as you can in one minute.
- Medley: Carry a 136-kilogram frame, flip a 136 kilogram tire, and push an ATV 30 metres.
Training for such an ordeal has tapped into a strength Elssner never knew she had. "It just feels awesome. Having all this weight on me makes me an ideal candidate to pull a truck. I'm really good at it," she said with a smile. "I just feel a primal instinct kicking in. I'm pulling a buffalo home to roast."
Elssner, who was raised in Germany, said the toughest competition is her "inner schweinehund," or inner demon.
"I wanted to go back to the gym for many many years, but I never did because my inner schweinehund was just there telling me I wasn't worth it, there was no way I could succeed," she said. "But if you conquer your inner schweinehund, you can do whatever you want. It's that first step."
She loves the adrenaline rush of pushing herself in a sport that plays to her strengths. "It feels great, the rush of happiness. Once you stop, you think your body is going to collapse and you'll never live again. But the recovery period now is so short that it's awesome."
She wants to win the crown of Atlantic Canada's strongest woman, but doesn't think she will this year. "But I'm sure going to give it a really good shot."
