Weightlifter working to snatch the top spot
Cameron Neale competes in weightlifting. Photos submitted
By Tom Victoria
Cameron Neale lifts weights and elevates others’ fitness as well. He’s a weightlifter and personal trainer.
The Australian describes the importance of fitness.
“Fitness is everything,” he said. “If we want to live our lives optimally and to live long enough to really experience what we want in life, then health has to be at its centerpiece. If you can't look after yourself, then how can you expect to really live a life that you really enjoy and want to live to the best that you can?”
Cameron, 24, who relocated from Sydney to London is preparing to qualify for the national weightlifting championship, which is a stepping stone on a path that could lead to the Olympics.
“The ultimate goal is the Olympics,” he said. “As the process of qualifying starts from two years in advance, I believe the 2028 Olympics is too soon for me. My goal is for 2032 with qualifying beginning from 2030. For me, 2032 is more fitting because it's hosted in my home country Australia. However, we are unsure yet if Olympic Weightlifting will continue to be in the Olympics, so we don't know yet if the sport will continue past 2028.”
Cameron said there’s confusion about what competitive weightlifting really is.
“Going into Olympic weightlifting is something that's quite unique and not a lot of people know about,” he said. “I got into that because I found out about this thing through podcasts. I came across bodybuilding and powerlifting in terms of where people go for fitness and to improve their physique or their strength levels. Only a handful of people go to the Olympics for weightlifting, and then they confuse powerlifting with weightlifting.”
Cameron described the distinction between the two competitions.
“Powerlifters in competition have three lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift,” he said. “In the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, there are only two competition lifts: snatch, and the clean and jerk. It's fair to say that both powerlifting and weightlifting have similar demands with the main difference that weightlifting requires more power, athleticism and mobility to successfully complete the lifts whereas powerlifting requires a higher demand of strength by generating stiffness and tension throughout the body to complete the lifts. The names are quite confusing. The name powerlifting is more appropriately suited for the sport of weightlifting.”
Cameron’s focus is reaching the national level before the Olympics.
“I'm training for the England championships,” he said.
Cameron didn’t get the numbers for total weight lifted in a smaller competition this year, but is working toward next year. He explained even reaching the minimum amount of weight, which would be a 212-kilo, or 469-pound, total for the 73-kilo, or 170-pound, weight class, doesn’t even guarantee entry to the national championships.
“That's across two lifts and that's the minimum,” the weightlifter said. “Even if I get that, I may not get invited. But as far as doing everything in your control, I know that all comes down to me to do as well as I can in training, take it seriously and then on competition day, do the best I can to hit that total I need. We'll see what happens from there.”
Cameron said the chances of an invite depend on how stiff the competition will be.
“It depends on how many people are qualifying,” he said. “If I had a lot of people who in my weight class are qualifying and they've got a high total on me, then they're probably going to favor those people who have a higher total. But if I can reach the minimum, I know that I've done the best I can for now. Even though it's in October, I have to probably enter a comp in probably late August or September to make it in time. So we'll see.”
Cameron trains throughout the week.
“It's been very flexible,” he said. “I'm at the gym four days a week. Once a week, I'm doing a run. I'm doing mobility training at home five, six days a week.”
Cameron decided the time was right to be based in a different locale.
“I've always wanted to live somewhere else apart from home and never done that before, only holidays (vacations in yank lingo),” he said. “At this point in time, it seemed like the best time for me and my partner to move overseas. We just packed up our bags and moved. It definitely was a lot of planning involved. It was probably a year in advance that we were deciding the day we were going to go. But we knew that if we just kept delaying and delaying it, it probably would never happen. We just have to make that sacrifice now. As much as it's been really great so far, I know that long term, I probably can't live permanently overseas away from Australia because I just love it there so much.”
Cameron opted for a place he visited before.
“I've only been here once before for a holiday and I loved it,” he said. “Just somehow clicked with me. I have English heritage, so the U.K. was definitely the best place to start. We'll see how long we stay here for. We do want to potentially go somewhere else after, but probably be here for a couple years.”
Cameron explained what was the biggest acclimation to living in another country.
“The biggest adjustment for me is setting up everything again,” he said. “You would think that setting up in a Western English-speaking country wouldn't be so difficult. However, all the small things and processes over time have been constant e.g., finding an apartment, setting up a National Insurance number, finding jobs, etc. Adding in the element of starting a business, too, has only made things even more challenging.”
Cameron wasn’t satisfied just improving his own fitness.
“Helping people has always been something I've always wanted to do,” he said. “It all comes to make an impact on people's lives and progressing as society to move forward. It just really clicked with me and that's how I grew from there. I started my online coaching business. That's what I'm doing right now, both in person and also online coaching.”
Cameron explained why he wants to help others.
“We're all on this path,” he said. “To really have a really good life is to have connection with people, deep connection and helping each other go through the tough times, celebrating all the good times. This is how I believe we grow together and just have fun in life. That's really what I try to instill in people is have fun, really make the most of it.”
Not everyone can be a Greek god, but Cameron said everyone can improve their fitness.
“I completely understand that life is incredibly busy and it's hard to make time for fitness and their health, but you don't need to make it overly complicated,” he said. “If you really don't have the time, then go join group classes because you don't have to worry about what workout am I doing today? You just turn up and then do the workout and you get that high intensity component or take that next step further and hire a trainer or a coach. Through lockdowns and Covid, we know that working out from home is definitely a suitable option as well. You don't have to go anywhere. As long as you have a space big enough for a yoga mat, you can really get a lot of exercise in. I was very fortunate I could still work with clients face-to-face. I was able to work with people in really, really tiny spaces and get the most out of their sessions.”
Cameron also is a co-founder of a bouldering (rock climbing without gear) group, the UTS Bouldering Society.
“I helped create a university society back home,” he said. “I was part of that for two-and-a-half years. We grew from nothing to 500 people plus in two years, which was really incredible to see. That was a bouldering society. It was catered to everyone, first-timers to people who are really experienced. It was about creating a community and having that connection in common. People were really attached to that. It was really cool to see that grow and help people enjoy their time at university or improve their bordering skills, make friends and have a really good time.”
Cameron recalled how he got into bouldering.
“I discovered bouldering during my first year of uni,” he said. “I tried it a few times before getting into it a few years later as more societies at uni were doing events at bouldering gyms. It became a really cool social activity for any level of physical ability. I realized that we had no society at the University of Technology Sydney, so I asked my best mate, Tobi, who was a better boulderer, if he would be keen on starting a society. Six months later, the club was ready to go. What we didn't expect was how many people wanted to be part of this community. After two years, the club grew to over 500 members. We won the Best Team Spirit Club award in our first year and worked with amazing people who volunteered their time each week to be part of the team.”
Cameron started working out as a teen.
“Fifteen when I started out,” he said. “I was in my parent’s garage. It wasn't until I was 19 when I actually committed to a gym long term.”
Cameron always was athletic.
“I played basketball and soccer growing up,” he said. “I really loved playing sport.”
An illness led Cameron to want to feel stronger.
“When I was 15, I had pneumonia,” he said. “I went in the hospital for five days. I took a lot of time off school, and I lost a lot of weight during the process. I was already a skinny kid, so being even skinnier was just a big shock. I remember walking down the hospital hall, and I could barely walk across the hall to get to the window, which was part of the exercise I had to do. I just remember just how weak I felt. I knew that I never wanted to be weak again like that.”
Losing time in athletics also bothered Cameron.
“I love team sport,” he said. “I couldn't play for a few months. That was really devastating. My dad helped me in buying a couple of pieces of gym equipment for home, particularly a pull-up bar. I just started getting into that. I didn't really have much goals at the time, but I knew that I could do a couple of the underhand chin-ups, but overhand, I couldn't do it all. I was like, all right, I'm going to keep doing this until I get my first overhand pull-up. I didn't have any training plan or had any idea what that was, but I just kept doing that.”
Cameron got hooked on fitness.
“Eventually, I just really loved working out,” he said. “It started from just 30 minutes for two or three times a week, and then it progressively went to five days a week from home, hour to 90-minute sessions. And then really started to see some really positive benefits, both in increasing muscle size, strength, but more importantly, my overall mental health. It felt really good to just have that time for myself, especially during the end of my high school years. It was really good as another form of relaxation for the mind. I just continued the habit through university.”
Cameron’s confidence was subsequently boosted.
“Especially touching on being naturally skinny, to be able to see some physical differences was like, wow, I feel a lot more confident in my body,” he said. “And that helped in every aspect of life.”
Cameron said fitness can only help people, especially as they age.
“If people don't really care about being fit or to be able to run a marathon, that's completely fine,” he said. “As long as you're spending a little bit of time on yourself is going to be super, super helpful for you and will pay dividends in the long run. If you're just keeping your body moving active, just a little bit of strengthening stuff plays a long way. Unfortunately, we all get to a point where we're fighting our own biological clock. We get through aging and that's where we want to try and slow that process as much as we can. And if people do experience pain or discomfort from previous injuries — obviously depends on the extent — in most cases, there's still something you can do even if it's really minor.”
Cameron said improved health makes daily life easier.
“Everyday tasks such as just picking a box up the floor or you're in a packed train or a sub (subway) and you're trying to hold there for balance without being knocked over,” he said. “That's really simple things that just being strong has this really big crossover in daily life. Watching parents being strong for their kids. Even though kids are young, they're quite heavy. To be able to be with them all the time and be active and keep up with their energy demands is a really good motivation for parents these days to be there for their kids.”
Cameron’s increased strength enabled him to earn some extra cash.
“During university just to get some extra money — I still do a little bit now — I work on different one-off events like triathlons or sporting games or music festivals,” he said. “Setting up these venues can be pretty physical, especially when you're doing long days and the pack down. That's where I got to really apply my strength, moving crowd barriers and the weights for these crowd barriers, moving your stuff across fields from the trucks, that sort of thing. That's where it's pretty cool to see where my strength gains have transferred into that domain.”
Cameron’s degree is related to fitness.
“I did a bachelor’s of Sport and Exercise Management, so that was really good,” he said. “A mix between sports, science and management as well.”
Cameron has long-range goals.
"The biggest aspiration for the future is having my own gym, but that's probably decades still into the future because of the financial requirements needed,” he said. “I enjoy leading and managing a team and what better way to combine that with an environment that I spend so much time in: the gym. Skills I'm learning now about how to be a better coach and business owner will help me a lot in the future in running my own gym.”
Cameron said the most common mistake people make about fitness is limiting their options.
“People tend to be so narrow in their thinking sometimes,” he said. “Saying that doing something one way is the only way to get that result. For instance, if I wanted to lose weight, I got to have to do cardio only. That's not the case. It's proven that strength training has a better carry on effect than cardio alone. Even if it's just walking 10,000 steps a day, implementing that with a strength-training plan.”
Cameron said the same applies to food.
“Same way when it comes to nutrition,” he said. “People are very narrow. Especially these days of social media, you always see that you have to do it this way. There might be some elements of truth, but I think with nutrition, it needs to be simple. Having a well-balanced diet is going to be at the fundamental part of people's nutrition plan, having an overall balanced diet is really key. Secondly, trying to incorporate more single ingredient foods rather than buying packaged foods all the time, where they have lots of preservatives and artificial flavors, salt, sugar, etc. Cook from home if possible. That's the best way of really knowing what you're putting into your food and what you're eating.”
Cameron said diet is the first step to enhance fitness, especially with those dealing with physical limitations such as chronic pain.
“The first thing that people can do straight away is to clean up their nutrition,” he said. “Food has a key part in keeping ourselves healthy, but also giving us the energy we need and helping to reduce inflammation. Having a very balanced diet and choosing foods that really optimize your health, people who are experiencing pain can do that straight away. Just incorporating more healthy foods, whole foods that provide essential nutrients and vitamins that can help really reduce inflammation and provide the energy you need.”
Cameron said people then can seek out the appropriate exercises for their condition.
“If you are experiencing chronic pain, then the best option is to go talk to the right person,” he said. “Talk to multiple professionals rather than just the one, because they may not have the right answer. It's good to have a collective expert opinion. If it's a movement limitation, then I suggest going to see a physiotherapist or a chiropractor. They have a lot better knowledge than going to just your GP (general practitioner). When I come across clients who say they have pain whether it's through their back or knee, their first instinct is go to a GP. There's nothing inherently wrong, but most cases they're just going to prescribe you some painkillers and that's it and say, rest, don't lift weights. It's not really a good strategy. Talking to the people who actually deal with the body on a day-to-day basis is really helpful. From there, they can provide you a physio, provide you a good exercise rehab plan for that chronic pain area.”
Cameron stressed drugs and surgery aren’t always the best option to address pain.
“Being open-minded is critical,” he said. “Going back to that GP example, perhaps they might refer you to a surgeon. Let's say you have or you need a hip replacement. From what I've come across in my learning, education, that really is only necessary in extreme cases. Movement is medicine. Unfortunately, we have too many people going to get hip replacements or surgery where they could bypass that by just going through a proper rehabilitation program. It might take a little more time, but it's going to be a whole lot less cheaper than going down a surgical route. In some cases, that's actually even better because people still experience a bit of pain after surgery or especially with surgery mobility limitations.”
“What’s better long-term is finding motivation from yourself. Having a vision is really key to finding that internal motivation.”
Cameron cited an Australian physiotherapist and former powerlifter who takes that approach.
“This guy on instagram has a doctorate in physiotherapy, Dr. Andrew Lock,” he said. “His content is really mind-blowing. He's all about movement is medicine. I've learned a lot from him. I've met him. He does really good work on getting people to have better control with their bodies, particularly in their stability areas, their core shoulders and glutes. That is really cool to hear him talk about how his patient will come to him and say my doctor says I need to do this. I have this chronic pain. He'll fix them in a couple of months just through a proper rehabilitation program. That's really inspiring for future professional health professionals to really think about. There's more than one way in 99 percent of cases to address a problem.”
Cameron pointed out physical therapy also is an immediate treatment.
“Sometimes, you could be waiting such a long time to even get in to just to see a surgeon,” he said. “You could be using that time to go through a really good rehab program.”
Cameron stays motivated by looking internally and externally.
“I try to take my strengths from lots of different areas,” he said. “That's through successful people that I really admire. I look to them for motivation. I just need something to pick me up. What's better long term is finding motivation from yourself. Having a vision is really key to finding that internal motivation. What you want to see yourself do in life or where you want to be? What is something now that you're maybe not liking or not fulfilled in? How can you get from that place where you are now to where you want to be? That gives you really big motivation for yourself. You can change where you are in life. If you have a clear vision of where you want to go, that's really inspiring for me to see.”
Cameron said writing can help stay focused on goals.
“Whenever I really feel like it, I'm feeling maybe a little down or lost, journaling is a really good way for me to just remind myself where I am and what am I not doing to get to a place where I want to be,” he said. “That's the first thing. Just taking a little bit of time to slow down. So whether I do 10 minutes of breath work — I try to do that most mornings if I can — that helps slow my mind down, and it helps with focus. After I do my 10 minutes of breath work, then I start to visualize that vision. I go from removing everything in my mind and then suddenly going super focused on where I want to be. This is a concept I've got from Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's really big on vision and try to not just picture, but feel the emotions of where you want to be.”
Cmeron advised aspiring fitness trainers to educate themselves.
“Take as much knowledge as you can from everywhere,” he said. “There's a lot of things I don't know still. It's inspiring for me to just keep learning because as soon as I learn something, I find out something else I don't know. Now, I have to go on this path. When I started training myself, it was okay, I know if I just lift weights, I'm going to grow muscle and build strength. Didn't really know much about the science or anything other than fitness until I started learning more about different things.”
Cameron started with online resources.
“At first, it was just YouTube because I didn't want to spend any money,” he said. “It was all about what can I learn from here that led me on the path to getting my training certificate, going to university, discovering weightlifting. Nutrition plays a whole big part of it as well. The concept of how to improve energy through nutrition, but also through mindfulness and meditation to cold water exposure. Just keep an open mind and try and take little things from everywhere if you can. You don't have to necessarily agree with everything but be very open-minded and just try things. Just really experiment.”
Cameron said those wanting to improve their fitness should take the same approach.
“Just dab your toe in different things, see what you like,” he said. “If lifting weights you find is really good, then maybe we can focus a bit more time on that. But if you don't like running on the treadmill, then have you tried running outside or have you tried running in a group? If the gym scene is not for you, what's really big, especially in Sydney right now, is bouldering. It's from running that society, seeing people who never really had much strength before or had gym experience or anything like that, they suddenly got hooked on this and their skills really improved so much over the course of six months or so. That's where they find their escape, where they spend time for themselves for their health, their strength levels, everything.”
Cameron said there is a path for everyone to become fitter.
“Just find something, try different things out and see what works for you,” he said. “What do you find that gives you the energy to keep going? What keeps you motivated? There'll definitely be something that you'll find that's going to work for you.”
Cameron’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@cameronnealefitness
Cameron’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronnealefitness/
Cameron’s website: https://www.repcoaching.uk/
Cameron’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cameronnealefitness
Cameron’s other links: https://bio.site/cameronnealefitness