Meet Camille Holland, our charming and disarming superstar. Hang on to your horses as I list the stings to her awe-inspiring bow: 6 x British Powerlifting Champion, 4 x British Bench Press Champion, and last but by no means least, European Squat Record Holder (250kg).
As with many über-sports people, her warm and gentle demeanour belies the steely resolve needed to make all of that aforementioned ‘casual conquests’ happen. Her current powerlifter-as-coach post chunky childhood persona embodies a very special kind of magic. Her clients experience a singular kind empathetic encouragement she gained while achieving her very heavy and very hard barbell lifting goals.
Camille thinks it’s best to focus on what the body is capable of, rather than what it looks like and what the scales say, and better to find ourselves in an improved mind space to deal with life and things. As she says, as water can find itself either as ice or water in different scenarios, so our bodies can adapt and flex to fit our moods and possibilities. Overcoming one’s self is important, but equally, so is also knowing when to go easy is also critical, as progress is not linear, so knowing when to walk away from a session is essential. Wise and future-forward thinking right there.
Hailing from leafy, river town Camridge, sport was not a calling for Camille until she found her metier in leg curl heaven. Dainty doll she was not she says, and so her passion for powerlifting was a perfect foil for her strength and capabilities. Following in her Mum’s footsteps, her solid gracefully shaped powerful legs were the ideal basis for muscle and strength gains to come.
Advantages to Camilla’s strength are manifold, helping friends moving house ranks pretty high on the handy homie front. And we have another prime example of powerplay to the rescue one particularly auspicious New Year’s Eve. Camille was on church volunteer duty alongside the army and NHS and found herself ‘extracting’ a grown man in her arms from his bedroom down a tight stairwell with some help on hand. Quite the evening all around no doubt!
Where teaching lost out, the powerlifting community gained. Camille gives as much of the good that she gets. She is liberal with her gratitude to those that have come before her. The comeraderie and support she has received by her trainer, mentors and compatriots has not been forgotten. She is keen to share the wealth of knowledge passed on to her from her coach, and in turn, for the benefit of the people she now coaches. She also hopes that enough women could be empowered to matters into their own hands and run the world. Now that thought deserves a trophy all of it’s own!