At some point in our lives most of us have watched an Olympic event on telly and thought 'how hard can it be, right?'

But when it comes to weightlifting you'd have to be a tad naive to think you could get to grips with this highly technical sport in a session or two.

Our reporter Sean Delaney attempts Olympic Weightlifting

Not one to shy away from a challenge, I stepped up to the plate to see just how difficult this barbell-loaded pursuit could be.

For my initiation, I paid a visit to Europa Weightlifting in Dartford, where I was guided by Commonwealth Games gold-medallist and head coach Andrew Callard.

The former Olympian coaches Team GB and England athletes at the gym in Temple Hill, and at the 2018 Gold Coast games five out of six English weightlifters were from Europa.

He has also been responsible for the wave of record-setting pro women lifters, three of which featured at the Tokyo Olympics, and his dedication has seen him awarded a British Empire Medal.

So no pressure then...

For those uninitiated in the sport, Olympic weightlifting consists of two competitive lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk.

Now, given my noodle arms and overall lack of gym exposure the bar of expectation for my first lifts had been set reasonably low.

But as is reassuringly explained to me by Andrew's son and fellow weightlifting coach Skip, the best lifter is not necessarily the strongest.

I'm soon to find out out this sport is as much driven by technique as sheer strength.

At first I'm given a wooden barbell without weights to practise with – the weightlifting equivalent to wearing armbands in the pool.

I'm taught the basics, such as where to place my fingers, how to stand correctly and position the bar over my head – undoubtedly the scariest part.

During the 'clean and jerk' I'm told to pick up the barbell and bring it to the chest, known as the clean.

At this point I pause for a sharp intake of breath before quickly spreading out my arms and legs in a star jump like fashion before lifting the practice weight above my head and holding it until a buzzer sounds.

Or in my case, as this is not a competitive lift, when the impending fear of the barbell being dropped on my head looms large.

The sport is highly technical so you are encouraged to lift in front of a mirror or pick a point to focus on.

Despite my noble attempts to perform the manoeuvres I fall short of the mark and my shaking legs resemble something akin to Bambi on ice.

But you don’t need a singlet or aspirations of an Olympic medal to benefit from weightlifting.

After my lifting session I'm joined by two of Europa's Olympic alumni– Emily Muskett and Zoe Smith – to discuss how they got into the sport and its benefits for both physical and mental health.

Emily, from Farnborough, who competes under her maiden name Godley, became the first British weightlifter to claim European gold for 26 years after winning the women's 71kg division in Moscow last year.

It followed a medal-laden career which saw the 32-year-old win Commonwealth gold in 2018 and a World Championship bronze the following year in Thailand.

Despite retiring from competing professionally after appearing at the Toyko Olympics, she continues to come back to Europa to train.

She said: “Europa Weightlifting just has a crazy atmosphere, it’s always fun and there’s people here of all abilities.

"It doesn’t matter if you have only just started or you’re an elite performer, everyone just sort of mixes together, shares a platform, shares a bar and just gets stuck in, really."

Like many weightlifters, Emily's pathway into the sport was from another discipline.

“I began weightlifting when I was a pole vaulter and I did weightlifting as part of my strength and conditioning training that really kind of drew me into the sport," said the former Olympian.

“I did a little competition and preferred it to pole vaulting so I knew it was the sport for me and I decided to do the switch over.”

But Emily adds her success has been hard fought-for and the women's side of the sport has come along way.

It's been no easy feat for female competitors who have often had to compete against fully-funded rivals and fit part-time jobs around rigorous training regimes.

Despite this, weightlifting and powerlifting are beginning to become more popular and accessible sports for women.

“There’s so many more women now finding the benefits of weight training..."

“There’s so many more women now finding the benefits of weight training," adds Emily.

“It really does help tone your body, burn body fat and makes your bones nice and strong so personally I think it’s a bit of a win-win exercise if I’m honest."

Zoe Smith, who grew up in south east London and attended secondary school in Bexleyheath, made the switch from gymnast to weightlifter after coming to Europa in her early teens.

Back then, the gym were scouting for girls to hit quotas for mixed boys and girls teams to get involved in the local youth games.

The 27-year-old took to the sport instantly and before long was entering and winning competitions.

At 16 she made her first senior team appearance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, bringing home the bronze medal. Two years later she fulfilled a lifelong dream competing and setting records at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Like her fellow female competitors she too has had to fit in part-time jobs and studying around training following cuts to the sport's funding.

Zoe is currently training for the British Championships in Birmingham as she looks to secure a place at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

She attributes a great deal of her success to Europa and the help of coach Andrew.

“It is my home away from home," said Zoe. "This gym is everything to me."

"I’ve been coming here since I was 12 years old and it has built me into the athlete I am today.

“It has taught me so many important lessons. Resistance, how to get strong, and being part of a team, so I cannot speak highly enough of it."

Her advice for any young person interested: "Just go in and have a try."

Zoe adds: “Find a good coach or a good team that will make training really fun, really exciting and makes you want to come down to the gym.”

Europa head coach Andrew Callard is the brains behind the brawn.

After setting up the training facility in south east London in 2001 he later moved the gym to his hometown in Dartford.

But the champion lifter now hopes to get more people into lifting whilst accommodating and expanding the on-site youth centre.

And as Andrew explains, there can be few gyms in the country where young people can come in off the street and rub shoulders with Olympians.

He has recently secured financial backing from Sport England and various other organisations and the gym will close for a full refurbishment in the spring.

Andrew, 54, said: “We’ve been here at Temple Hill youth centre for three years now and we’re looking to extend and refurbish the centre here so we can offer a world class facility for local people, especially aimed at weightlifting and getting young people into weightlifting.

He added: “Not only are we going to be a gym and weightlifting club and try and keep young people involved through competition, we’re also really looking to the broader spectrum of an area where community groups can meet at very, very low cost.

“We’re going to have this refurbishment hopefully finished somewhere around September time and we’d like to invite everyone in to see the finished article.”