International Women's Day 2021 - Q&A with Fraer Morrow
International Women’s Day is around the corner and we thought we would start celebrating a little early this year!
We are asking a few of the inspiring women we know and love to share some of their wisdom in 10-minute Q+As.
We kicked things off with Fraer Morrow; English, British and U23 European Medalist in weightlifting. Read below what she had to say!
S: Hey Fraer! How are you?
F: I'm good. Thank you. How are you?
S: Good thanks. It's so nice to actually chat in person! I’ve followed you for a while now and aside from you being so young and such an accomplished lifter, you also have a powerful voice for women on your Instagram page! Shall we start by getting into some questions?
Who are you and what do you do?
F: My name's Fraer, I am 22 years old and I do Olympic weightlifting. That's my main sport. I also do a little bit of gymnastics. Probably more than I should do!
S: Is that the way you started? With gymnastics?
F: Yeah. I've been doing gymnastics since I was about six years old. I feel like if you come from a gymnastics background, you never really lose it. And because I did it from 6 years old to about 14, it was a big chunk of my life. I still do my handstands and backflips sometimes, but my coach doesn't really agree with most of it!
S: We love it! I think it's amazing.
How did you move from gymnastics to weightlifting?
F: I got to a point in gymnastics where I just wasn't enjoying it and when you get to a certain age in gymnastics, if you're not really progressing much that's kind of the end of it. I wasn’t really pushing myself and I had started putting on a bit of weight that I wanted to lose. It actually turned out that there was a CrossFit box a two-minute walk from where my gymnastics academy was. So I was like, okay, this is a weird sign! So I went and gave that a go. The thing with CrossFit was that I didn't really enjoy the cardio. I did enjoy it at the time but looking back I didn't really enjoy it. So I decided to just stick to the weights. My progression has been so fast from when I first started to now. Plus all of the competitions I've been able to do.
S: That’s because you're so strong and your positions are brilliant!
What's one thing you're proud of yourself for?
F: Hard question! I think it’s my motivation and determination. If I want to do something then I will just go and do it. I think that's what has kept me training during lockdown as well. If I've got a goal and I've got my mind set on that goal, I want to reach it.
And one failure you’ve learned a lot from?
F: Probably letting people get too involved with my weightlifting side of life. I think that people can easily distract you away from it and convince you that, because it isn't going to be a lifelong thing, it's not something you should put 100% focus into. When really, it’s not going to be a lifelong thing, so why should I not put 100% into it now?
S: Absolutely.
Is there a favourite quote that gets you going when things are getting a bit tough?
F: Not really. I find that a lot of quotes motivate me. I follow a lot of pages on Instagram that share inspirational or motivational quotes and I like that even if you're scrolling past Instagram and you just see one, it instantly changes your mood. But no, not one specific one.
If you were to say something to women just starting weightlifting, what would that be?
F: Even if it's just starting to go to the gym, I’d probably say take someone with you who you feel comfortable around. It’s great just having that one other person there that can distract you from whoever else is in the gym. So take someone who is confident and that you're confident to be around. Also, either get a coach or speak to a personal trainer. If you don't really know what you're doing, at least you have someone who has the background of knowing what they're doing.
A big thing to remember is that other people go to the gym for the same reason that you're going to the gym for. They're not really bothered about what you're doing there and half the time they might not even notice that you're in there. I think that this is a big thing to remember especially when you first get into it. There are people out there willing to help, not everyone's going to be judging you for being a beginner.
S: In fact, no one is judging you! It’s just in your head. Everyone’s busy doing their own thing.
If you were to look back and see 10-year-old Fraer, what would you say to her?
F: Probably just to be a bit more confident. I only gained my confidence when I started CrossFit and weightlifting. But back then it would have just made life a bit easier.
S: Can we just repeat that? Did you just say that you gained most of your confidence when you started weightlifting?
F: Yeah!
S: That is quite something.
F: Yeah! It’s probably something that people don't even think about, but when I was at school I didn't really like to speak to people or like to be involved in things. I think being into weightlifting and Crossfit, you're just naturally around loads of people and you’re naturally around loads of people who are supporting you. Whereas when you're at school, there's not many people that support people.
S: Very true. Everyone's just trying to find their own feet and their own voice. Well, this is all we have time for because we only have 10 minutes! I really appreciate you being with us today and I think we should probably follow this up with another one! Thank you very much!
Was this of interest? If so, stay tuned for the follow-up!
In the meantime you can follow Fraer on Instagram, and get weightlifting coaching from her on her coaching page.