Breaking down barriers for women in strength sports

Daniel Jay

I’m Daniel and I co-founded a gym in 2018 that today produces some of the country’s strongest powerlifters, strongmen and women.

We celebrated our seventh anniversary last month at The Barbell Division in Bitterne, just over Northam Bridge, and in that time there’s been a lot of change.

I started the gym with my friend, the late Aaron Page, who sadly died of Covid in 2020 aged 31. Aaron was a highly respected competitor and trailblazer in the UK strongman community, particularly for women’s involvement. Aaron not only competed at a high level himself but also played a pivotal role in establishing a community for strength athletes in the south, as well as a platform for female athletes, long before it was widely recognised.

Strongman is a growing sport, but if this is the first time you’re hearing about it, you might have seen some of the World’s Strongest Men on the TV at Christmas, pulling HGVs, flipping cars and lifting heavy logs and atlas stones. This is usually the only glimpse most people have of strongman and therefore they assume it is mostly only larger than life men who take part.

Aaron wanted to change that view and carved out a space where none previously existed, partly because he was eager to see his mum compete! He helped organise some of the UK’s first Strongwoman competitions which have since exploded and are arguably just as competitive and just as popular as the men’s categories.

We know walking into a gym for the first time can feel intimidating but as soon as you arrive at the Barbell Division, you are immediately met with friendly faces, all working together with the same goal, to simply be better and get stronger.

Today, the Barbell Division stands out for its relatively balanced gender split among members, which is something few strength-based facilities can claim and I’m very proud of. Our staff hold many accolades, like coach Tom Butts who has won Natural World’s Strongest Man U90kg two years running, as well as recently Britan’s Strongest Man as a natural athlete in an untested competition. I, too, have had multiple strongman and powerlifting records over the years, as well as winning World’s Strongest Man U70kg, Static Monsters Worlds, Natural England’s strongest Man and the British Powerlifting championships as a junior. However, it’s really the women that blow you away with the weights they have on the bar at our gym.

Over the years, it has become the training ground for numerous national and international-level female powerlifters and Strongwoman athletes, including multiple national and international podium finishers and record holders.

The gym is the training home of Amelia Fox, holder of several British Powerlifting national titles such as British Junior Champion 2024 and 2025, British University champion within two different weight classes.

We also proudly have Racheal Raji, another incredible powerlifter, as one of our members; she is 2x British Junior National champion, earning third place at the Junior World Championships 2024 as well as third place at Junior European Championships in 2024.

Dr Cat Phipps, who also trains at our facility, is not only a competitive powerlifter and English Bench Press Champion, but also an academic exploring gender, sport and inclusion. Her research, which includes funded projects on women’s sporting experiences in the Middle East, and LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport, is helping to shape more inclusive sporting environments.

Having said that, many of our female members who aren’t actively competitive would still be able to hold their own against the average man in a commercial gym.

I never thought I would be continuing this journey without Aaron by my side. But I am proud to continue his legacy and finish what we started, to create an environment of inclusivity, empowerment and elite athletic performance.

Some of our members may have never met Aaron, but the impact of what we started will positively affect people today and for years to come. Alongside our mural in memory of Aaron, the gym proudly displays photos from competitions, T-shirts, medals and certificates of members’ achievements and all the walls are nearly full!

We’re also proud to use our platform to give back, raising thousands over the years by organising community events like Lifting for Domestic Violence Survivors in October last year, which raised over £800 for charities supporting women affected by abuse.

I hope our story has inspired more people to step onto the lifting platform whether to compete, to build confidence, or simply to try something new. We look forward to seeing you in the gym soon!