A labyrinth-like warehouse in a creepy industrial estate somewhere in deepest Ayrshire sounds more like the setting for an independent British horror than the location for my first glimpse of the noble sport of weightlifting.

I’m not sure quite what I expected of the Scottish Masters Open Weightlifting Championships. A bevy of body-beautiful young men parading around in stretchy leotards under obnoxiously bright lights? Probably. What I found was a small community of committed individuals, gathered on plastic chairs atop dusty floorboards to cheer each other on in feats of strength of which Popeye would be proud.

Hosted in the Kilwinning Olympic Weightlifting Club, the tournament took place in a windowless room within a maze of corridors only negotiable with a decent sense of direction and a trail of breadcrumbs.

It all seemed a bit ramshackle really.

Except that the competition itself was conducted with clear regard for regulation and the utmost professionalism. Each lift was logged and timed – with a display clock that Countdown could have requisitioned – and the entire event recorded throughout. There’s no way I’m sneaking in under the net of this one then.

Above the displays of strength, attention to procedure and sense of community though, it was the surprising mix of participants that impressed me most. The gender split wasn’t nearly as painful as it sounds and the age range represented would have made The Broons proud. Kids in squad tracksuits sat alongside old-timers in inscribed blazers; women and men competed on the same makeshift stage – and everyone looked like they could save you from a burning building, if the need arose. And among it all, despite looking like a sore thumb amidst a horde of healthy fingers, I somehow felt entirely unnoticed and not at all unwelcome.

Maybe I’m not a natural strong-woman and perhaps I can’t quite face a Lycra one-piece just yet, but my toe-dipping trip into the weightlifting world at least convinced me that stature, age and gender aren’t valid excuses for hiding from the sport.