As part of the This Girl Can Series, we've been catching up with some inspiring women who have found their passion through getting active.
Meet Debbie, who has been selected for the England Commonwealth Training Squad 2023/24 ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG). Find the right This Girl Can session for you by signing up to one of our events today.
How did you get into sport?
I’ve been heavily involved in a variety of sports from a very young age, ranging from ballet and netball to athletics and football (and everything in between!). However, I started weightlifting at age 16 (2 months before I turned 17)
What advice would you give to women/girls trying to get active/start a new sport?
I would encourage you to stop delaying and just give it a go! Being active, especially as a university student, is an incredible way to take your mind off your studies, as well as to meet new people. Everyone starts somewhere, so don’t worry about being the newest person in the session or the only woman in the free weights section of the gym. The important thing is to find something you enjoy, regardless of whether you’re good at it at first or not, and carry on doing it!
"Being active, especially as a university student, is an incredible way to take your mind off your studies, as well as to meet new people"
Do you have any advice for those that want to take it to the next level and really succeed in their chosen area?
My main advice would be to work on your time management and discipline. To compete at a high level in your chosen sport alongside completing a degree, it requires good time management skills to plan training sessions around uni, but also the discipline to both study when you might not necessarily feel like it or would rather be socialising with friends, and to train when you’d rather be doing something else. Doing so will allow you to put your all into (and get the most out of) your training sessions without having uni deadlines and unfinished work on your mind.
Barriers to getting active - can you provide a short summary of the barriers that stopped you from getting active in the past?
If I’m honest, there has never been a point in my life where I struggled to be active. Sports have always been a major part of my weekly schedule, both as a child and now as an adult. But I do know that some barriers people may face are societal/family perceptions of what women should/shouldn’t look like, fear of failure and time constraints.
Motivations - can you provide a short summary of what motivated you to get active and what activities you do?
Whilst this is not why I started getting involved in sports when I was young, my motivation to continue being active initially stemmed from being aware that I take after my father’s side genetically, and hence it is a lot easier for me to put on weight (particularly if I don’t keep myself moving). Although, enjoying all the sports I took part in also helped me to continue being involved, as well as enjoying the competitive side of sports. Now, the main activity I do is Weightlifting, purely because the level I compete at and the time commitments training at this level requires alongside uni doesn’t leave much room for another activity. However, until the age of 21, I also did ballet and netball alongside weightlifting (and before that many other activities simultaneously!).
Juggling exercise with other commitments - can you provide a short summary of how you fit exercise into your routine and juggle it with other commitments?
In my early years of Medical School, since my lecture schedule changed each week, I would plan on a weekly basis which days I would train the following week. This meant that I would train on different days each week, depending on where it fit best into my schedule. Now, my training is more or less set in stone to be on Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri/Sat, and I plan things around my training schedule. The common factor in both schedules is that the question isn’t “am I going to train this week?”, but rather “when am I going to train this week?”. In other words, developing the commitment and discipline to block the time out weekly, whether it’s the same time or different times each week, is one of the best ways to juggle exercise around other commitments.
"Everyone starts somewhere, so don't worry about being the newest person in the session or the only woman in the free weights section of the gym."
Impact of exercise - how does your chosen way of being active make you feel?
One of the things I love about Weightlifting is that it isn’t just a physically challenging sport, but it’s also a mentally challenging sport. As such, it’s not just about getting stronger and lifting heavier weights, but it’s also about overcoming the mental barriers and challenges that you face. I also love that you can measure progress in several ways, separate to lifting heavier weights e.g. lifting a weight with better technique, or lifting a weight for multiple reps when you could only do one rep before. So I really enjoy looking back and seeing my progress
Impact of coronavirus - the coronavirus pandemic had a big impact on the ways in which we were able to exercise. Can you provide us with a short summary of how or if you managed to stay active or how your exercise routine was disrupted during this period?
I must admit that the pandemic didn’t have as large an impact on my ability to train as it had on others. During the first lockdown (March to June-ish 2020), I was able to borrow equipment from my weightlifting club back home, and I trained in my parent’s garden. During the second lockdown (Dec 2020 to April 2021), initially I was able to form a support bubble with a friend who lived close by and had purchased equipment for us to train with. But in February 2021, I was given Elite Athlete status by the Government, which meant I had access to a gym on specific days and times to train until the end of the lockdown. So whilst it took a lot more flexibility on my part to train during the second lockdown, I’m very grateful to have still had the opportunity to train.
