Lift Lab #8: Upper body strength - Pull and Push
About the event
When I started lifting, I was intimidated, lost, and nowhere near consistent. I kept copying things from youtube and instagram without really understanding the movements, and falling off after few tries.
The thing is, most classes just tell you what to do for 45 minutes, but rarely don't go into the details such as the why. A personal trainer can teach you the how and why, but it can be a big commitment right from the start, and finding the right one is hard. And even then, a session is only an hour, and most of it has to go on getting the workout in, so the theory rarely gets the time it deserves.
So we went looking for an event that actually taught the theory behind strength training, in a room full of women. We couldn't find one, so we built it.
That's Lift Lab, understand what you're doing and why, then put it into practice, together.
What is Lift Lab
Lift Lab is our brand new educational strength experience for women+. It's a premium three-hour event that combines a focused lecture on a specific strength training topic, a coached group session, and a curated social atmosphere. You'll leave understanding exactly what you're doing, and why, so training on your own no longer feels like guesswork, all in a room full of women figuring it out alongside you.
One evening, three parts:
Learn the what, how and why, the theory behind your lifts
Practice, a fully coached strength session
Connect, time with other women getting into lifting
This edition: Upper body strength - Push and Pull
This one’s a first for us: we’re taking Lift Lab into a real gym.
Upper body strength is the topic you’ve asked us for again and again, so many of you want your first pull-up and your first push-up. We listened, and we’ve built a whole session around it.
So much of women’s training (ours included) goes into glutes and legs, and for good reason, they matter. But the upper body matters just as much, and it’s where most of us have the most room to grow. So we’re going into the what, the why and the how of upper body strength: the muscles behind, how push and pull work together, and exactly how to start training toward your own.
What we'll cover:
Why upper body strength matters so much for women, and why it’s where you’ll see the fastest gains
What actually are push and pull, and what are the muscles in play for each movement
How to work toward your pull-ups and push-ups, step by step, from where you are now
And then putting it all into practice in a fully coached workout
Open to all levels, whether you've never touched a weight or you've been lifting for years.
What's included
Expert-led theory lecture
A fully coached strength session, this time in a real crossfit gym with all the proper gym equipments already on-site
Protein Granola layered over Açaí Bowls to refuel, by Wholey
Time to connect with other women who are getting into lifting
A goodie bag from the brands we love (below)
In your goodie bag
Pullup & Dip (pullup-dip.com), a fitness brand built around exactly what today is about: pull-ups and dips, making premium pull-up bars, dip stations, resistance bands and calisthenics gear for training strength anywhere. Your bag includes Liquid chalk for a dry, secure grip on the bar.
Partner perk: 15% off everything with code WLC26.mybacs (mybacs.com), a Munich-based microbiome brand making science-led pro-, pre- and postbiotic supplements for gut health, with a dedicated women’s line too. Today’s bag features their Active Debloat, a digestive-enzyme and botanical complex made to ease bloating after a meal.
IT'S OKAY (itsokaystore.com), a Lisbon-designed, Portugal-made apparel brand built on a simple but powerful idea, that being yourself, exactly as you are, is enough. They care about mental-health awareness and use sustainable materials where they can, and they’ve gifted everyone one of their tote bags to carry the day home in.
ZOHI / Nature Addicts (zohi.co.uk), collagen bars and gummies, plus ZOHI chewing gums, a tasty little boost for skin, hair and nails that eats more like a treat than a supplement.
Yoni (yoni.care), period care made from 100% certified-organic cotton, no synthetics or fragrances, from a certified B Corp. (Also stocked in the bathrooms on the day.)
nucao (thenucompany.com), organic, vegan chocolate sweetened with coconut-blossom sugar and wrapped in home-compostable packaging, from a climate-positive B Corp that plants a tree for every bar sold.
YES (yesyesyes.org), certified-organic, plant-based intimate care, founded by two women in 2003. Your bag includes a water-based lubricant and a vaginal-moisturiser sachet, pH-matched and free from glycerine and hormones.
The goodie bag alone is worth more than your ticket 👀
Who's teaching
Antonia, lead coach
Antonia works as a CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting Coach at BLN.Athletics in Lichtenberg, and loves to specifically work with women on building functional strength that translates into other sports and everyday life.
Leslie, coach
Leslie specialises in weightlifting and powerlifting, helping women build real confidence and discover what their bodies are capable of. She's now expanding into calisthenics, blending strength, movement, and body control.
Alyssa, coach
Alyssa is a certified personal trainer specializing in strength training and building muscle. She is passionate about helping women learn and build strength, confidence, and consistency in the gym. Her goal is to make training feel less intimidating, more empowering, and something to enjoy for the long term.
Lizzie, coach
Lizzie specializes in weightlifting and strength sports. Having started her own journey in distance running and then transitioning into boxing, HIIT, CrossFit and weightlifting, Lizzie is passionate about combining the health benefits of sports with the most important aspects: the joy of moving her body and building long-lasting strength.
Lina, coach
Lina studied Sports science & now coaches strength, hyrox, cycle and HIIT.
The details
📅 Saturday 14th November, 3.30pm - 6.30pm
📍BLN Athletics, Berlin
🎟️ Early bird €39, general €49. The early bird price only lasts 48 hours, so grab yours early.
⏰ Please come early. Check-in closes at 3.30pm sharp.
Our partners
Made possible by:
BLN Athletics — venue + equipment. for the first time, we’re hosting Lift Lab in a real gym. BLN Athletics is a boutique, community-focused strength gym in Berlin, set in a former fire station and kitted out for exactly this kind of training, pull-up bars, rings, kettlebells and bumper plates, which makes it the perfect home for an upper body session.
Wholey — on-site food. Wholey makes better-for-you breakfasts and snacks. They’re serving their protein granola layered over açaí bowls.
And supported by: Pullup & Dip, mybacs, ZOHI / Nature Addicts, nucao, YES, Yoni
Good to know
This is a women+ space, open to women, trans, non-binary, and gender-non-conforming folks. Cis men, please sit this one out.
All ticket sales are final. We don't offer refunds or credits for future events.
By registering, you consent to having photographs and videos taken during the event that may be used in materials and social media for Women's Lift Club and its partners.
About Women's Lift Club
Women's Lift Club is a Berlin-based strength training community for women+. We are on the mission to empower women to get stronger, together.
Follow along: @womensliftclub