The Vanguard, a weightlifting gym centered in District 13, Petaling Jaya will be organising ‘The Lift Off’ which is considered the biggest amateur weightlifting competition in Malaysia from October 29-30th.

As many as eighty male and female competitors from around Malaysia, which is double the amount from our inaugural event last year will compete in different weight categories in both the ‘Snatch’ and ‘Clean and Jerk’. They have three attempts in to accumulate their highest score according to the weights they lift for each discipline.

Founder of The Vanguard, Benjamin Goh feels that there are a lot of Malaysian talent in Weightlifting which goes undetected, therefore he wanted to build up this sport and let it gain some exposure.

“I feel this sport is not known by others outside the sport. I started my fitness journey in the gym, transitioned to CrossFit before I started weightlifting. We have a lot of local talent which goes undetected, therefore I wanted to build up this sport and let it gain some exposure,” said Goh.

Rise in female interest

“Most of the competitors at Lift Off will come from CrossFit boxes, but that’s fine. We just hope to grow the sport and garner more interest. Last year we had 8-10 women competing, but double the number from 15-18 this year,” added Goh.

Representing the women from The Vanguard, Bibah who’s new to the sport will compete alongside Juinn who’s been a year and a half into this sport.

Goh has competed at the Singapore National Championships twice and a few smaller friendly competitions organised by CrossFit boxes in KL, besides the national circuit. However, he himself won’t be competing in ‘The Lift Off’, as the competition is only open to amateurs and any individuals whom have competed at national levels are not allowed.

“Powerlifting has gotten more interest in the last five years and is also very interesting as it requires a lot of mental strength. The main difference lies in the movements or events which are contended. Olympic Weightlifting has two events – ‘Snatch and Clean’ and Jerk’, while Powerlifting has ‘Deadlift’, ‘Bench Press’ and ‘Squat’,” added Goh when asked about Powerlifting.
For beginners whom have no knowledge but want to learn about Weightlifting, The Vanguard will be holding more beginner workshops in the future where they will teach basic movements, conduct assessment of your posture and how it relates to the training.

“You can’t judge it till you try it. It’s going to be difficult, but everyone will encourage you along the way and help you out,” said Goh.

For more info, come on down and cheer them on at ‘The Lift Off’ this weekend, Oct 29-30th and follow The Vanguard on Facebook.