By Ahmad Ali

KUWAIT: Powerlifting is a sport that consists of performing three movements with a barbell — squat, bench press and deadlift. They are compound exercises, meaning they employ multiple muscles within the body, and are primarily strength focused. The sport has been seeing a tremendous amount of growth worldwide in recent years, notably in places such as New Zealand, France, Sweden and Canada, and Kuwait is no exception. In the last few years, a growing number of casual gym goers and especially the youth have been orienting themselves more towards competitive powerlifting. Khaled Al-Sager, a 17-year-old competitive powerlifter who started his journey in 2022, describes his introduction to the sport.

“I used to bodybuild like every kid who just wanted to get bigger, and I began to realize I was not as strong as I wanted in compound exercises. I started researching more and looking into powerlifting until my training shifted completely to it,” he said. When asked why he specifically picked powerlifting and what he feels towards the sport, he said: “It improves my day-to-day life and my physical strength; it improves my mental health and my confidence and how strong I really am and can be”. Sager has competed in multiple championships, including the 2022 Asian Powerlifting Championship, where he was the first ever Kuwaiti sub-junior, or minor, to win gold in a continental powerlifting competition.

He’s just an example of many young athletes in Kuwait who have been shifting more towards powerlifting with aspirations. A niche sport Sager is coached by Anthony Graziani, a French powerlifting coach settled in Kuwait since 2019. An experienced instructor in the discipline, he coaches athletes both in Kuwait and abroad and is planning to open his own powerlifting gym later this summer. “Powerlifting is still a niche sport, with a minimal number of places equipped for it. However, it is also a growing sport with more media exposure. Competitions are getting busier than they were six years ago, with more and more brands growing around the sport,” he told Kuwait Times.

On the benefits of powerlifting, he said: “Powerlifting is beneficial, if taught properly and with correct technique, to build strength. It will create a resilient body with a better understanding on how nutrition and recovery is important in life in general, but also under the bar.” Women are welcome As the popularity of powerlifting in Kuwait grows, this sport predominantly practiced by males is also seeing a greater female presence. “I had always been seen as small, petite and ‘weak’ until I decided to change that,” said Raghad Al-Hindi, a junior powerlifter. “I was such a scared person; powerlifting aided in giving me a confidence boost and helped me manage my emotions in a healthy way.

I never used to take risks or try anything out of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad I did,” she said. Hindi also gave her perspective on women’s presence in a mainly male practice. “I feel a lot safer knowing more women are joining this sport. Not a lot of women would be comfortable with such a sport because they’re scared of getting bulky, which is impossible. It will take time to change this idea”. When asked about how she feels about powerlifting, Hanouf Al-Tamimi said: “I feel accomplished, because I see the difference in everyday life, like carrying my bags or carrying little babies in the family. I see my body composition changing for the better. When I started competing, it made me feel so alive and fulfilled for the hard work to pay off.

The work is taking me somewhere, and I’d love to be a strong mother who inspires her children to get stronger and depend on themselves.” Tamimi also believes women until recent years were never encouraged to lift heavy weights due to misconceptions. “I’d suggest to women to give powerlifting a chance, because it strengthens your body to be used daily, and it‘ll help you believe in yourself. The first step is always the biggest, and then you see just what you’re made of,” she noted. Psychological benefits “Powerlifting has had a huge impact on my confidence; it requires you to be a risk taker and to come back from defeat.

The sport helped me mature and develop,” added Sager, who like many others believes the mental benefits from powerlifting cannot be overstated. “I suffered from anxiety and depression. I used to be overweight and inactive most of my life. After more than a decade of starting my fitness journey prior to powerlifting, it was mostly about aesthetic goals. In powerlifting you are faced with challenges that push your physical threshold, breaking limits and consistently outdoing your previous self,” said Hussain Al-Mosawi, a Kuwaiti powerlifting coach.

“Besides the physiological benefits, it’s the constant opportunity to defy our fears and insecurities. You end up building mental fortitude and learn about yourself as you face challenges that can make you feel uncomfortable and come out of it even stronger. Sure, there are limits, but that’s what makes this discipline so great, because we get to understand them more and learn to break those barriers,” he explained.