Together we lift!

It was a great start to 2025 when we attended ‘Together We Lift’, an event organised by Liam at Buds Fitness in aid of Derbyshire Mind, back in January.

Here’s what Liam had to say about the event and how he see’s weightlifting as a tool to support individuals’ mental health and wellbeing.

How did you come up with the concept of ‘together we lift’?
Finding my physical strength at a time I felt mentally at my weakest was a really positive step forward for me, however I hated the highs and lows that comes with competitive strength events. So, the concept of Together We Lift was born to provide something for people who may be in a similar position to me. The Together We Lift events are more of training sessions with like-minded people in a safe environment with a buzzy atmosphere like that you’d experience at a competition but without the pressures of having to place or compete against someone else.

How can weightlifting improve individuals’ mental health and wellbeing?
Of course, there is a lot of science back theories around the benefits, but I’d rather speak from my own lived experience and what I have seen in my time in and out of many gyms over the years and more recently working in fitness.

Weightlifting and strength sports in general is about incremental gains. In a standard week away from the gym, if someone asked you what progress you have seen in your life it can be really hard to quantify. The gym gives evidence-based FACTS that shows progress. Facts like I can lift 5kg more this week than I did last week. With there being so many exercises, strength machines and different personal bests to achieve, there is a chance that for every session you spend in a gym you will have some evidence of progress to allow you to see that you are still moving forwards. This is great mental but also physically.

If someone is interested in using weightlifting to support their mental health, what’s the best starting point?
Find somewhere you are comfortable to train. It doesn’t have to mean going to a local strongman gym, or your local leisure centre. It could just be ordering a set of dumbbells and train at home to start with. Build your confidence up and find like-minded people who are also interested in weightlifting. They will then be able to encourage you on your journey and also remind you that EVERYONE starts somewhere.

Thank you so much for raising funds to support Derbyshire Mind, was is it important you to support a local mental health charity?
It is important for me that we ensure we are working with charities, and fitness centers or gyms that understand mental health and actually want to be a part of what we are building.

Together We Lift is more than just an event. It is a mental health movement, and what that means is it can’t be a one day and done thing. By connecting the local mental health charity to the local independent gym then the impact of the event lives on far longer than any money raised will last as the gym and mental health charity can work on other initiatives throughout the year to help continue to grow awareness for localised mental health services that are available.