Patricia Asks: My question is about height and weight. I’m 5’7” and I weigh 51 kilos. Most women in my weight class are considerably shorter than me. It is difficult for me to gain weight (I’ve always been very thin). I feel like I have no business even participating in this sport, due to my height & weight (but I really do love it). Do you have any tips for folks who are tall and thin? Or am I being unrealistic thinking I can compete at this sport? Should I just give up on OWL and find another sport? Thanks again. 

Greg Says: The bad news is that you’re definitely not built ideally for weightlifting. The good news is that there’s no rule, in the sport or in life, that says you can’t still participate, compete and enjoy it. The likelihood of your competing at the world championships is slim (get it?), but I never did either and I still loved the sport and trained hard for many years. In fact, if you stop and think about it, the overwhelming majority of people who participate in weightlifting are not even at the national level.
 
Really the only question that matters for you is Do I want to do this? If so, do it. It’s that simple. You don’t have to please or impress anyone else with your weightlifting.
 
When it comes to competition, local level competition is an option for everyone. You can compete if you’re snatching 20kg—just go and have some fun and challenge yourself. Don’t worry about how you stack up against everyone else. As you progress over time, you may see that your numbers are becoming comparable to other lifters competing near you—then you can start making it a goal to compete to beat them, even if it’s one at a time.
 
You can try to gain some weight, but if it’s that hard (and you’re that slender naturally), it likely won’t be quality weight and won’t contribute significantly to increasing your lifts; instead, it’ll just move you into heavier weight class where you’ll compete against stronger people. I’d suggest you try to get as close to 55kg (within reason) so you’re at least filling that class out.
 
Really push the squat strength in training because that will be your biggest limiter as a tall lifter. Your pulling strength is likely naturally better (relatively speaking). You’ll like always have a big snatch relative to your clean & jerk, but remember that it’s the total that matters anyway—doesn’t matter how you make it.
 
Also make sure do to some extra work for your elbows in particular, e.g. curls and overhead isometric work since that’s often a weak point.
 
Bottom line—keep weightlifting if it’s what you enjoy and don’t worry about anything other than that. Do what you can with what you have and enjoy the process.