Sreelatha M
An hour after breaking her Ramzan fast, Umaira sounds cheerful on the phone despite an injury she is nursing in her shoulder. She got injured while training some weeks ago. It worries her as the State championships are fast approaching and everything depends on how fast she heals. The event will be in April and is likely to take place in Wayanad, she says, her voice having no trace of concern or fear.
Umaira is a district champion from Kannur and has been state champion several times. She has also won medals in five national championships, lifting the championship once in 2023.
Umaira,42, contests in the Masters 1 and 2 categories. One enters Masters only at the age of 40. She has won the position of best lifter at many national events in Goa, Bangalore and Kozhikode in the bench lifting category. Nationals is tough, she says. Her overall score is impressive at around 350 kg, which is the combined output in the three powerlifting events — squat, bench and deadlift.
Of these she dreads the deadlift while she enjoys the other two.
There are many contestants now in powerlifting, an event distinct from weightlifting. Umaira agrees as she recalls the scene when she started competing at district and state level events about three to four years ago.
“Very few women were on the scene then. But now there is a rush,” she says. “Especially in my category there were very few, though there were many at the national level.”
Her entry into this non-Olympic sport was quite accidental. She joined a gym in her town of Taliparamba mainly to remain fit, she says. The trainer Maya found her good at lifting and encouraged her to take part in district-level competitions.
Umaira left a trail of gold from the district and then the state events, leading to her first national-level competition where she won bronze in Bangalore. That was in 2023. The following year she struck gold in Goa in bench lifting and later in Indore won gold in all three events.
The gym has given her a sense of purpose and fulfilment. It also provides her livelihood as she now works as a trainer. “I go morning and evening and train members,” she says.
Talking of age, she says while powerlifting opens up opportunities for people of a certain age in categories like the Masters, age is becoming a smaller consideration even for people going to the gym for fitness.
“Now people who are in their 50s and more are coming to the gym regularly,” she says, sounding like a veteran fitness trainer.
As for her own training schedule, she says it is not excessive. “You can’t train for more than two hours in a day and you can’t do that every day either,” she says. Training should be done only four or five days a week as daily training can be harmful for the muscles.
Meanwhile she is reminded of her injury and says she is off the gym and off practice for at least a month till the fasting season ends. By then she hopes that her injury will also heal.
Asked about criticism or opposition she may have faced in taking part in a male-dominated event, she says she did not care even if anyone said anything against her.
Many girls who come forward to take part in powerlifting find it difficult as parents and relatives have problems with the clothes they have to wear while competing. “So even if they come once, they discontinue after that,” she says.
As for her, she began at the age of 39 when she was married and had already given birth to her children. None of these factors came in her way as she began her journey into powerlifting on what was, for her, an entirely uncharted course.
“If my community had something against my participation, no one told me anything directly,” she says. “If you look at it as a sporting event then no one should have a problem with the clothes we wear while powerlifting.”
As for her dreams, she says she continues to go for state events but hesitates to attend national or international events as they involve expenses. Last time she went to Goa, she took her family and the costs exploded. Even if she goes alone, the costs cant be ignored, she says.
She agrees that the government should provide some support to state champions in attending such competitions.
“So I don’t know if I will ever be able to go abroad as it will be very expensive. But I will definitely keep going for national championships,” she says.
Umaira cannot think of any financial advantages of being a powerlifter. “I am a well-known person here and was invited everywhere by everyone till people got tired of me, I think,” she says humorously.
“Even if there is no money, I have many medals, certificates and more than all that I have happiness. I’m always happy,” she says in an infectious tone, adding that there is always something driving her forward towards her future — a hope and anticipation of better tomorrows.
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Umaira, a wife, a mother, a daughter and daughter-in-law, and also a powerlifter. Or is it the other way round?
During an hour-long chat, her animated conversation overflowed with memories of victories, her love for squat and bench lifting, and her dreams for the future. Powerlifting took centre stage and the family stepped back modestly, allowing her to shine — perhaps in the same way her family has let her talents blossom and win laurels for herself, her district and her state.
