Utica College Weightlifting is a new club on campus meant to give students the opportunity to learn about and practice weightlifting in many different forms. 

The purpose of UC Weightlifting is to bring together different types of athletes in a space where they can help each other grow in all different aspects of the sport. As the club is in its early stages, this semester was mainly used to lay the foundation and do the groundwork for the club’s startup, according to President Kellen Lounsbury.

“The Utica College Weightlifting Club was created to give the students of UC a place to practice, discover and develop their physical and mental strength in a supportive strength athletic-based environment,” according to the UC Weightlifting PioHub page. “How strength is expressed and understood is subjective, and the exploration of how each student learns to find their version of it is the basis of what we are about, and doing that in a safe and supportive environment is what the UC Weightlifting Club aims to do.” 

Lounsbury said the club has been in the works for a while and the goal was to create a sort of social barbell club where students can meet up, exercise and talk about the common interest of weightlifting. 

“If anything, the club is meant to give people a place to go where they can find the strongest versions of themselves in different forms,” Lounsbury said. 

UC Weightlifting is open to anyone who wants to join and the level of experience that a student has does not matter, as long as there is a passion to grow and improve. It is meant to be seen as a judgment-free zone where athletes help each other to improve at something they love. 

According to the club’s PioHub page, they aim to bring more fitness-related events to the campus as well as host different events related to health promotion, wellness, physical culture and history. They also want to start educational seminars that teach about strength and conditioning as well as strength/power programming.

UC Weightlifting also has a few events already in the works such as Doughnuts and Deadlifting and a mock weightlifting meet. More information on these will become available in the following weeks. 

Students interested in the club must join the PioHub page to be recognized as official club members. For more information, UC Weightlifting can be found on PioHub, Instagram @UCWeightlifting and Facebook.