Meet The Mum Of Two Who Left Her Job As A Hair Dresser To Be Pulling Weights

Katherine Bartlett a former hair stylist has despite her size and awful comments from people become a strong woman title holder.

The Daily Mail reports:

Mother-of-two Katherine Bartlett, who weighs a meagre 9st 11lb and is just 5ft 6in tall has only been involved with the sport for three years but has already secured two titles. The 31-year-old, from Southampton, Hampshire, said: ‘I train five times a week for about 12 hours with a personal trainer that I have. I have also recently set up a strong woman group and I run that for friends and other people interested in the sport.

Katherine first found her passion in the sport, when she stumbled on a television programme covering a competition. She explained: ‘I first watched Strongman on TV and I knew about the sport but it wasn’t until I went to a weightlifting gym until I got really interested. There I met a woman who looked amazing and she took me along to one of the classes she goes to and I managed to flip their biggest tyre. It was then that I realised that I had a natural strength ability and I decided to train to compete in Strong Women competitions.’

Katherine takes part in all of the competitions in the UK and has entered the European and World championships. The qualified hairdresser added: ‘In every competition there will be five events and these will either be timed or rep events. Competitions can be really full on and I tend to go really quiet and get into the zone of what needs to be achieved.’

She added: ‘There are times when I have to carry 70kg and once I had to carry 27st worth of weight on my shoulders which was such an incredible thing to do. The truck pulls are the hardest. They require a lot of determination and it is really difficult to practice them as it is not often you have a spare lorry lying around in your back garden. Earlier on this year I competed in the World Championships in America in February which was such an eye opener. The UK is so far behind in the sport compared to America and I hope one day us Brits will be able to compete on a same level as them.’

Katherine has to juggle her training around her family life, looking after daughter Eilise 12 and her five-year-old son Carson. The body-power champion 2015 said: ‘I fit in my training anywhere and everywhere. I tend to do the bulk of my training while my children are at school but if it has to be afterwards then my family will help me out. The kids love watching me perform though and sometimes I will take them to the gym with me. My daughter has started doing a bit of training with me now and she says that she wants to be just as successful as me. I have to watch what I eat around the children as you can get carried away but I tend not to restrict myself with food. If I want to eat something I will just make sure that it is in moderation and train harder the next day.’

Unfortunately Katherine has been subjected to verbal abuse about her body shape, but she insists the taunts makes her train harder.

Katherine who is due to marry partner Paul Brett later on this year, added: ‘There is a massive confusion with bodybuilding and strongwomen and the two sports are completely different. I have been called some awful things in the past and people think I am disgusting for my body looking the way it is when I am a woman. I don’t think there is anything wrong with women having a bit of muscle and being strong and if anything people’s comments make me want to do it more.I love going into a gym into the weight section and seeing the men’s faces when I load up more than what they have on their bar and lift it with ease.’