Emily Campbell is one of the strongest women in the world, and is the only super‑heavyweight female athlete from Europe to qualify for Paris. The 30-year-old will compete in the +87kg category, and is one of Team GB’s great medal hopes after winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics.
In 2022 she broke the Commonwealth Games women’s weightlifting record to take gold, lifting 124kg in the snatch and 162kg in the clean and jerk, recording an overall weight of 286kg. “I think she’s capable of lifting more,” says Dave Sawyer, British weightlifting’s national coach who has guided Campbell since she took up the sport. “I don’t think she’s reached her full potential yet.
“Emily is the complete package,” Sawyer adds at the Atlas Gym in Alfreton, Derbyshire. “She has developed the perfect technique that we are looking for. She has the amount of muscle she needs to move the weight and a very positive mental attitude ”
How to perfect the snatch
When Campbell comes to the weightlifting platform she plants her feet firmly under the barbell, keeping them hip width apart. “Emily’s stance and hand grip may look slightly wider than other competitors, but that is because she will be slightly wider at the hip than some others, and taller,” Sawyer says.
As she starts the pull, pushing through her feet to lift the bar she uses the full force of her legs, back and shoulders in unison. Campbell trains hard, focusing on different muscle groups by using exercises such as RDLS (Romanian deadlifts with barbell and dumb-bells), weighted hyperextensions, wide‑grip deadlifts and back squats. “She has left no stone unturned,” says , who won the English Senior Championship titles in 1990, 1991 and 1995 before going into coaching. “In every area, her legs, her glutes and her back, she is very, very strong.”
When he first started working with Campbell nine years ago, she weighed around 95kg. Now she weighs between 128kg and 131kg. “Her fat content has gone down and her muscle structure has improved massively,” he says. She also has good flexibility in her ankles, hips and shoulders, and incorporates body conditioning, stretching and physiotherapy into her training.
“Some weightlifters just want to lift the weights,” Sawyer says. “But Emily has been disciplined with herself to keep her body in good condition.” She applies that discipline to every lift, he says. With her feet firmly planted, she takes her time through the pull, pushing her chest forward, pulling her shoulder blades together and her shoulders up as she lifts the bar.
“For the first part you have to go slowly, with self-control with just enough force on the bar to get it moving,” Sawyer says. “If you look at Emily, the bar is staying as close to her body as possible. Any deviation away from that and the bar becomes heavier. You have to be in control of that weight, you don’t let the weight be in control of you.”
Campbell’s arms remain straight with the power coming from the lower body. “You don’t lift weights with your upper body, it’s always the big muscle groups coming together,” he says. Her glutes – the largest muscle in her body – then come into action at the top of the pull.
With the barbell as high as it can be at the top of the pull – the so-called “weightless moment” – timing is crucial to unleash the explosion of strength required to get the bar overhead. Quick as a flash Campbell sinks under the bar, straightening the legs a split second later. “Getting under the bar is one of the fastest single movements in sport,” says Sawyer. “For a big person Emily’s speed under the bar is unbelievable.”
Then her arms punch out at the top of the lift, with the elbows locked. “They have to go straight to lock, if there’s any bend in the elbows it’s a failed lift so the triceps need to be strong,” says Sawyer. With the weight of a large fridge over her head, she then has to stay steady until the buzzer sounds, and the weights can crash to the floor.
Three key takeaways
• Work on your flexibility and strength by practising other lifts.
• Prioritise technique over a heavy load. “You need a good stance, good body positioning and good technique,” says Sawyer. “There is no point trying to lift heavy weights if you haven’t got the technical side first.”
• Don’t underestimate the power of your mind. As well as having a terrifically strong body, the best weightlifters have formidable strength of character. “You have to have a positive mental attitude,” says Sawyer. “Because at the end of the day, your coach can prepare you, but when you get out there with the barbell – you’re on your own.”
