“(Girl Gains) collaborated with our dear friends Michigan State Powerlifting and our other dear friends, Casual Lifting Club to put on Camp Gains,” Schassburger said. “We wanted to put on an event to invite all these different lifting groups on campus for a fun field day.”

MSUPL is a co-ed group founded in 2019 and has took off since attracting over a hundred students, who focus on powerlifting and competing in events such as deadlift, bench and squat.

Girl Gains is a group of MSU women who want to feel included in gym culture and help take pressure of attending the gym away from those who feel it. 

The Casual Lifting Club at MSU is for anyone interested in the realms of exercising. The club does not focus on the specifics of weightlifting, but more on the entirety of what attending the gym can do.

While familiar faces greeted each other at registration table between all three clubs, new faces gathered as well, waiting to set their own tone of what they could bring to the respective groups.

“I powerlifted in high school a little bit. . . so I found them on social media and reached out to them. It’s nice to find people that like the same things I do,” freshman computer science engineering major and new MSUPL member Elsa Nor said. 

With activities involving a tug-of-war, three-legged race and water balloon fight, the crowd of lifters were seperated into a green team and a white team.

“We have capture the flag, we have tug of war, we have some water balloons, snowball tag,” senior chemistry major and MSUPL President Gauge Lambeth said. “These are all team-oriented. . . the winners are going to get a picture and a crown.”

The event attracted sponsors, two of which were created by MSU student entrepreneurs: Protein Pints, a protein-based ice cream brand, and Cocomar, a coconut water-based protein shake.

“(Schassburger) actually reached out to us, it was really cool. I was so happy that they reached out to us,” senior economics major and Cocomar Co-Founder Breno Tepedino said. 

Along with the MSU brands supported, a surprise brand arrived: Celsius, the well-known energy drink company, which set up free products for all attendees. 

With the success the groups encountered at the first “Camp Gains," there is hope for years to come. Schassburger said the goal is to make everyone feel comfortable, healthy and happy in the gym, no matter what.

“I really wanted to bring everyone together and have a really good time. . .” Schassburger said. “This is going to be an annual thing between all the clubs and bring us all together.”