This past weekend, Williamsburg saw an influx of weightlifters with strong muscles and golden tans—most of whom were women.
“I think women are feeling empowered in the gym and feeling more comfortable training to build muscle which is a really positive development,” said Marjorie Thrash, promoter for the Organization of Competition Bodies’ Colonial Open.
The OCB Colonial Open, a natural bodybuilding contest, has multiple categories to compete in including, figure, physique, bodybuilding, classic physique and bikini.
For the past four years, the event has taken place in Williamsburg at CrossWalk Community Church and Thrash said she has seen a steady rise in the amount of women participating. Typically, at an event such as this one more than 60 percent of the competitors are women, she said.
But competing in an event that requires showing your body in front of judges can be a difficult task, especially for women, she said.
“I think for many years the body and the image women wanted or would see in magazines would shape what they wanted to create for themselves,” she said. “Now, rather than trying to look like the model in a magazine, you’re working on building your healthiest physique.”
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One of the ways Thrash has helped create a community that doesn’t just look to meet one body standard is by creating the Body Transformation division. For this part of the competition, women show their before and after photos and explain why it was important to them to change their health.
Thrash said many women say getting into weightlifting helped them feel in control of their lives and learn how to take care of themselves.
“I’ve seen people do some pretty incredible things,” she said. “And that’s inspiring because a good number of them haven’t been fit their whole lives. Some of these are mothers with four children, and they’re changing their lives.”
For Annie Hagenbuch, a competitor this past weekend, bodybuilding has helped her continue a life of fitness after surviving breast cancer eight years ago. At 49 years old, Hagenbuch said she had always enjoyed being an athlete but bodybuilding gave her something that felt like a more personal experience, especially as a woman.
“At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted my body to be judged,” she said. “But I saw how it all worked and realized, I don’t have a court or a field, but I have a stage and that’s where I show my talent.”
This past weekend was Hagenbuch’s fourth competition in two years and she said she plans to keep going as long as her body allows. But after being backstage and feeling the uplifting energy that women use to support each other, she knows the sport is something that’s changing women in more ways than just their bodies.
“Women who are curvier and don’t have the Barbie-perfect body, all of the sudden muscles are okay, and women were learning these power moves,” she said. “We are standing up for ourselves. I think we’re strong, I think we’re powerful.”
