fuck THE patriarchy · join the matriarx®

MatriarX® Games

strong women are inconvenient.

So we made a competition specifically for them.

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See what's included ↓

An woman with grey hair doing a weighted chin-up in a gym. She is wearing a black t-shirt and blue leggings,

Why the games?

a brief history of being left out

FUNNY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN START ASKING THE QUESTIONS.

12 years ago, researchers put a number on something women in sport had been dealing with for a very long time: we weren’t being studied nearly as much as men.

Things have improved since then. Just not enough.

In 2021, women still made up only 36% of participants in the exercise science and physiology studies researchers audited. And when the senior researcher was a man, female participation dropped to 32%. When the senior researcher was a woman, it jumped to 52%.

Turns out who asks the questions has quite a lot to do with who gets included in the answers.

A woman on parallel bars in a gym. Several women are standing and watching in the background, with gym equipment and a black ceiling structure visible.

A comp with ulterior motives

That brings us to today.

We’ve spent 15 years coaching women and asking increasingly specific questions about why some women progress faster than others - and what we can change to close that gap.

The annoying thing about having questions is that eventually you need data.

So we built something that gives us some.

MatriarX Games takes a group of women, measures where they start, gives us 10 weeks to make them stronger, then measures what happened.

How much stronger did she get? How quickly? What did she respond to? And can we get better at doing it again? Where do we need to pivot?

It’s a competition. But we have ulterior motives

THE FORMAT

What happens on the day

One day. 1 rep max. Up to three events.

You choose up to three events from the competition list, then you have 10 weeks to train for them and get as strong as you possibly can.

On competition day, you’ll have three attempts at each event to put up your best number. There’ll be judges, a crowd, live scoring and a leaderboard, so yes, everyone will know exactly what you lifted. No pressure.

Choose your poison:

PULL STRENGTH
Chin up · Pull up · Muscle up

LEG STRENGTH
ATG Split Squat · Pistol Squat · Dragon Squat

PUSH STRENGTH
Parallel Bar Dip · Ring Dip

That’s it.

Pick up to three things. Get really fucking strong at them.

THE SCORING SYSTEM

Your only competition is who you were ten weeks ago.

We rebelled against traditional scoring systems because women’s physiology is complicated enough without also competing in a system largely built around men.

So we made our own rules.

The three scoring components

Component 01

power to weight ratio

Your result is measured against your bodyweight, because being strong means more than just lifting the biggest number. This lets women of different sizes compete on the same scale without creating 47 weight divisions and ruining everyone’s weekend.

Component 02

Progress from baseline

We test you ten weeks before Games and again on competition day. How much you improve between the two counts towards your score, because getting significantly stronger should probably be rewarded in a strength competition.

Component 03

Training age modifier

We also account for how long you’ve been training, because progress looks different at year one than it does at year ten. So training age gets a small modifier to even things out a little. We said small.

Calm down.

TURNS OUT, ONE NUMBER DOESN’T TELL US VERY MUCH.

good thing we have three.

Gymnastic rings hanging from black straps in a fitness gym, with a blurred background of people and gym equipment.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

The full comp package (minus the training)

$300.

Here is what you get for your money.

  • 7 Performance Labs across the 10 week lead up, including baseline testing, clinics, workshops and strategy sessions

  • Nutrition guidance for performance, recovery and strength adaptation

  • MatriarX® Games athlete T-shirt

  • Official competition entry

  • Registration in up to 3 event categories

  • Professional photos of all your lifts

  • Live leaderboard results and your full scoring breakdown

Remote athletes: We’re not accepting remote competition entries this time, because apparently the internet still can’t spot dodgy technique. Remote coaching through BrigadeX is available, but ranking happens in person.

THE 6 PERFORMANCE LABS

The 10 week lead up

You have 10 weeks between baseline testing and competition day.

Fortunately, we own a gym and have spent an unreasonable amount of time thinking about how we can support you more. So we’ve included 6 Performance Labs across the 10 week lead up that deals with components that could affect what happens to your numbers on competition day: your technique, your sticking points, your mobility, your programming, and all the other annoying little things standing between you and a bigger lift.

  • This is where we find out exactly what you’re working with.

    We’ll test your starting numbers, show you exactly how each event will be judged, and find any form issues that could cost you a rep on competition day.

  • We’ll cover what to progress, when to progress it, and when doing more is actually a terrible idea.

    If you’re on BrigadeX, congratulations. You already have the program. Now you’ll learn what to do with it.

  • You have 10 weeks to get better at lifting heavy things. Unfortunately, just lifting very heavy things over and over again is a terrible strategy.

    Learn how to build your push and pull 1RM strength across the 10 weeks, when to start going heavier, and how to make sure your biggest lift happens on Games Day.

  • You are getting stronger in 10 weeks. This would be an excellent time to actually feed yourself.

    Learn how to eat through the training phase, what to do in the week before competition, and what to eat on the day so you’re still capable of producing your best numbers.

  • Your joints have an end range. Unfortunately, some of the things you want to do require you to be strong there.

    Learn how to load those positions properly, build strength and control where you currently have very little of either, and make your joints more useful for the Games and whatever ridiculous thing you decide to train for next.

  • You are training, of course. But at some point we need you to stop.

    Learn how to read fatigue across the 10 weeks, when to push, when to back off, and how to arrive on Games Day fully recovered instead of trying to squeeze in one last session because surely that will help.

A woman in a gym is performing a physical exercise using a weight. She is wearing a beige sports bra and black shorts.

THE TRAINING PART

IF YOU WANT us involved

YOU CAN YOLO IT. OR THERE’S BRIGADEX.

You can train on your own, write your own program and YOLO your way through the next 10 weeks. Or you can hand that job over to the people who have spent 15 years studying how women adapt to strength training and have become unreasonably interested in this exact problem.

BrigadeX is our 10 week Games prep program, built around your baseline, the events you’ve entered and getting you as strong as we possibly can before competition day.

Your call.

Pricing: BrigadeX + MatriarX® Games

  • Face to Face: $1,300

  • Remote: $1,180

Enrol in BrigadeX + Games →

COMPETITION details

November 28, 2026. Melbourne.

Date: Saturday 28 November 2026

Time: 8am – 1pm

Location: Melbourne (in-person)

Format: Judged competition with live scoring and leaderboard

Results: Full leaderboard announced after all events

Enrol Now - $300

look, receipts!

they came.
they lifted.
we took photos.

People gathered in a gym for a workout class, with some sitting and others engaging in exercises using gym equipment.
Group of women participating in a fitness class at Gravity Games, holding resistance bands and a wooden stick in a gym with workout equipment.
Woman doing pull-up exercises on a pull-up bar in a gym surrounded by a group of people watching and cheering.
Two women hugging each other enthusiastically, smiling with their eyes closed. One woman has dark hair and the other has light brown hair tied back.
A woman with short brown hair, wearing a purple athletic shirt and black shorts, is performing a hanging leg raise exercise on gymnastic rings in a gym.
Woman with curly hair and glasses doing a gymnastic exercise on gymnastic rings, wearing a black shirt and gray sneakers with blue accents.
A woman in workout clothes using gymnastic rings during exercise in a gym.
A woman performing a hanging exercise on a pull-up bar in a gym, with gymnastic rings and a padded mat beneath her.
Woman hanging from gym equipment with chains attached to her waist, smiling.
Group of smiling women, some wearing black shirts with a yellow bee logo, gathered in a gym, engaging in conversation and smiling.
A woman is performing a pull-up exercise on a pull-up bar in a gym, with a trainer standing nearby observing and providing support.
People in a gym participating in a fitness class, with some stretching and some waiting, under gym equipment including rings and barbells.
Three women stand in a gym, smiling and smiling with their arms crossed, wearing black shirts with a yellow bee logo printed on them. They are in front of a gym structure with pink and beige gymnastic rings hanging from it.
A woman performing a chin-up with weight plates in a gym. She is wearing a black shirt and blue pants
A woman performing a triceps dip exercise on parallel bars in a gym. She is wearing a purple shirt, black shorts, and tan shoes. There is a large sign on the wall with a bee logo and the text 'BODYWEIGHT Brigade'.
Two women, one with dark curly hair and glasses and the other with short brown hair, are smiling and laughing together indoors. Both are wearing black hoodies, and the woman with glasses has a logo on her hoodie.
A woman is in a gym, kneeling on one knee, preparing to lift a heavy weight plate. She is wearing a black workout shirt with peach-colored sleeves, black workout pants, and sneakers, and is focusing on her exercise.
Women socializing in a gym or fitness class setting, with exercise equipment and weights in the background.
Two women hugging and smiling in a gym, with gymnastic rings and ropes in the background.
Woman with curly gray hair in black shirt and blue pants performing a ring exercise with gymnastic rings, in a gym setting.
A woman in a purple t-shirt performing a pull-up exercise using a bar, in a gym or fitness setting.
A woman performing an exercise on gymnastic rings in a gym, with a group of people sitting and standing around watching.
Person hanging upside down and gripping gymnastic rings during workout at gym, surrounded by spectators.

stupid questions Part #3.

FAQs

  • Any woman who wants to compete. You don’t have to be a BWB member, you don’t have to be an advanced athlete, and you certainly don’t need to wait until you’re “strong enough.”

    That would rather defeat the point of the scoring system we just spent an unreasonable amount of time creating.

    There are some baseline requirements though, so if you’ve only just started training, talk to us first. If Games isn’t the right next step yet, we can help you train towards it.

  • Your score is how much stronger you’ve gotten from baseline testing. Which means, we are not pitting you against another woman.

    You’re trying to outscore your own baseline.

    We made our own rules, remember? There was a whole section about it.

  • You can still do BrigadeX remotely and train through the full 10 week prep, but Baseline testing and Games itself is in Melbourne and we’re not accepting remote competition entries this time.

    Unfortunately, we need your actual body here.

  • You don’t have to do BrigadeX to compete. Games entry includes the full competition and all 6 Performance Labs, so you can YOLO it for the 10 weeks and turn up on Games Day to see what happens.

    Or you can give us your training too.

    BrigadeX is our 10 week program built specifically to increase your 1RM lifts before the competition. We program the training, adjust it as you progress, and get to your strongest for Games Day.

    Basically, you can prepare yourself or you can let the people who invented the competition interfere.

A woman performing a side plank exercise using a bench in a gym, lifting a dumbbell with her right hand while supporting her body with her left arm, with ropes and weights in the background.

ENTER NOW

November 28, 2026

Thank you for getting to the end of this page.

The page which Bodyweight Brigade certifies was 100% created by women, for women, and in rebellion against the longstanding tradition of treating men as the default athlete.

Enter accordingly.

Love, BWB

Enrol Now - $300
Questions? Get in touch →