Don't try this at home: Strong women strut their stuff at the Show

The Log Lift was a clean-and-press involving rolling a large 70 kilogram metal ‘‘log’’, up to your shoulders then holding it over your head.

The Power Stairs event involvedf carrying a 95-kilogram keg up five giant steps. Repeat the steps carrying 110 kilograms of weights hanging on a T frame and then graduate to a 135-kilogram box of bricks. Don’t try it at home.

Among Tuesday's four events are the Atlas Stones — lifting 100-140 kilogram rocks 1.2 metres over a bar.

The rope pull of an eight-tonne truck promises to be a crowd pleaser.

Ms Dodds, from Geelong, is the youngest competitor but far from the weakest.

She was proud she completed the Super Yoke in 13 seconds, without having to set down the contraption; the winner took just nine seconds.

Her work in before and after-school care at a primary school allows her to train in the gym five days a week, one to three hours a day.

She was inspired to join the sport last year by watching a male friend compete.

‘‘I’d always done some sort of weightlifting but it looked like a bit more fun."

Ms Dodds said women don’t have to be well built to compete. ‘‘One of the girls here is 70-something kilos and about 160 centimetres tall and she just did a 300-kilogram Yoke.’’

The sport may look tough on the outside, but Ms Dodds says people are friendly and supportive.

‘‘We’re just like a family. People you meet once, you become good friends with. It’s a community basically.’’

Spectator Fiona Dobrzynski, 49, of Upper Ferntree Gully, said it was good for her daughters Annalise, 8, and Amy, 9, to see a fresh aspect of women’s sport.

‘‘They were very disappointed that the men can lift more, but I said men have hormones that help them be stronger. But these women are very strong. A lot stronger than some men.’’