A woman filmed herself shocking guys at her gym with how much she could lift. She says they didn't believe she could deadlift 265 pounds.
- A woman wowed the men in her gym by deadlifting 265 pounds for six reps.
- A video showing Alice Stamp's impressive strength and the men's shocked faces went viral on TikTok.
A woman who went viral with a video of her shocking men at the gym with how much she can lift told Insider she had to prove them wrong after they didn't believe she could deadlift 265 pounds.
The video filmed at her gym shows Alice Stamp, a 26-year-old science technician based in Portsmouth, U.K., deadlifting and repping more than twice her bodyweight. Stamp is 5'3" tall, and weighed about 123 pounds at the time.
The video has been viewed more than 33 million times on TikTok, and Stamp's following grew from 145,000 users to over 275,000 in the two weeks after she posted it on June 28.
Explaining what led to the video, Stamp told Insider a handful of men were taking turns deadlifting the weight.
One of them was nervous to try the lift and Stamp teased him, saying she could do it — but the men didn't believe her. Stamp not only achieved the lift, but she did six reps. She only planned to do one rep, but kept going.
Stamp had deadlifted 265 pounds before but she'd taken a break from the movement in her training for months, so she wasn't completely confident going straight into that weight without a warm-up, and without her usual lifting belt or grip support.
"I'm just too competitive, especially if it's men," she said.
The guys thought it was "amazing" and congratulated her afterwards, Stamp said.
Stamp said one man sat on the floor in the video, who has now become known as "floor guy," said: "Jesus Christ, woman. You're a f-cking beast."
After watching the video back — and asking the men's permission — she posted it to her TikTok where she regularly shares workout videos.
Stamp says the video shows friendly competition, and that the vast majority of gym-goers are supportive
Despite the men questioning her strength, the video stemmed from friendly competition and playful encouragement rather than misogyny, she said.
Stamp has been lifting weights for three years and says that men who train as hard as she does will often be stronger due to their size, but she regularly outlifts guys who aren't as committed to fitness as she is, she said.
"I have no issue admitting that men have a natural advantage, but what's frustrating is that ingrained thought that an average man who doesn't lift, or comes a few times a week, is going to be stronger than a girl who's committed to lifting," she said.
Stamp trains four days a week, but each gym session is at least two hours long, she said.
Some men have given her unsolicited comments and patronizing advice in the gym, which she finds frustrating, she said.
But Stamp doesn't want women to be put off lifting, because negativity is rare in her experience.
"I've never had a negative comment from a man who has achievements in his own right and isn't clearly threatened and insecure," she said.
All Stamp's gym friends, both men and women, congratulate her on her achievements, even if her heaviest lifts are their warm-up weights, she said.
"I was just as nervous and self-conscious as any girl walking into a weight room for the first time, and now it's my second home with some of the best people I've ever met," she said.