Q&A with the Founder of Northlift Belts

Imagine turning a passion for fitness into something tangible, something that elevates every lift and inspires confidence in every movement.

That’s what Artem, the founder of Northlift Belts, has been doing since 2013. With a decade of experience as a fitness coach, Artem knows exactly what strength athletes need, and he pours that knowledge into every lifting belt, strap, and accessory he creates.

His mission is simple: create the best strength sport equipment in the world. By blending preference, performance, and intuitive design into every product, his work has become something athletes can truly rely on. His passion is what led to the latest collaboration between Gains in Bulk and Northlift Belts—a custom leather gym belt designed to stand out.

Today, we’re diving into a Q&A with Artem, where he shares his journey, his approach to creating gear, and the story behind this unique collaboration.

GAINS: How did you first get into leather working?

ARTEM: I came here from Russia when I was four years old. I'd say my biggest influence is my father. He was a tradesman in leatherwork in Russia. In Russia, you actually go to school for leather work. So that's what he did. He worked with a lot of furs, coats, and leathers and made a lot of backpacks. I have some of his work hanging up on my wall.

Right around 2012-13, it all started at Grant MacEwan University gym with the crew. I just made such a good group of friends, and we had such an awesome environment. We were in there three to five times a week for like two to four hours. Sometimes we were barely even lifting. We would just show up there just to hang out with each other.

I was spending a lot of time in the gym, and my father had a sewing machine. When I told my friends what I wanted to do, they got really excited. All the belts that were available at the time were just super painful for me to wear. So I just kind of started doing my own thing, designed the Atlas model, and the rest is history.

My friends were super supportive right out of the gate. All of them bought something from me right away. I credit them for giving me such a supportive, positive, and inspiring environment to make this whole thing happen.

Can you share some of the challenges you faced when you were starting out and how you overcame them?

In the beginning, there was a big problem with equipment. The sewing machine that I needed in order to sew weight lifting belts—which are really really thick, ranging from five to 13 millimeters—I just did not have the money to purchase such a massive machine. I barely even had the space; it's like so heavy and so big. But I had two friends at the time, I told them what I needed, I told them it was an investment opportunity that I'd give them their money back and a free belt.

Both of them gave me some money. I used up a bunch of my student loans, sold my motorcycle, and sold my synthesizer. I just put in everything I had into the sewing machine. Over the decade, it's just been kind of about acquiring the proper machinery to keep making a better product. I believe that now, 10 years later, I am making the best stuff that I could possibly make.

What do you find most rewarding about working with leather, and what keeps you motivated?

What I love about it is just that it lasts for a very long time. I've got belts on my wall from like the 1960s that I can pull off the wall and just use them right away. It's a material that ages with you and with your training career. I've been training now for 15 years, and it's just really cool to look back on some of those old pieces, and think about how they aged with me in a sense. I think products that last a really long time, they kind of of carry a piece of your training in them as well. So I think that it's a great way to make something sentimental.

The first big wave of motivation that I received was when my customers were actually using my products in competition. To me, that was kind of the big moment where I knew that my stuff was good enough to be trusted on the platform, either in weightlifting or powerlifting, so that was super cool. That definitely kept me motivated to continue to improve the product line even more.

What separates you from the other traditional leatherworkers?

Straight from the beginning, I wasn't just making weightlifting products. I remember one of my first projects was to make a canvas apron. I was then making wallets, pant belts, backpacks, briefcases, purses, and stuff like that. I just started to develop my skills in multiple areas. I got a lot of inspiration and motivation to continue developing those skills to a luxury level.

What I did that was very different from everything else in the weightlifting world is I tried to bring those luxury or fine leatherworking details into the weightlifting space into a weightlifting product—stuff like wrapped edges, just really fine skives. I've tried to make as elevated a product as I could possibly do. 

Quality has always been kind of the main thing that I'm always focusing on because I'm really committed to this idea that my product is not a throwaway thing.

From the initial concept to the final product, what does your workflow look like?

I think it all starts with the customer. So when somebody comes to me, the first thing that I ask is, "What model are you interested in?" I have five or six different types of weightlifting belts that are produced.

If they say they don't know, I ask them, "What type of lifting do you do?" Is it squat, bench, or deadlift? Is it snatch, clean, and jerk? Is it crossfit type movements? That way, I can steer them toward a model that is going to be most applicable for their sport.

From that point, if they say, "I want to do customizations," I just ask them, "Okay, what kind of colors do you like? What kind of elements do you like?" I ask people very often to take a scroll through my Instagram because that is my work gallery. A lot of people find inspiration from there because I've made, I don't know how many belts. Honestly, I've lost track of how many belts that I've made, but probably 95% of the things that I have ever made are on my Instagram account. You can scroll back all the way to 2014 if you're really looking for inspiration.

Then, usually, people will ask for some kind of image, some kind of art that's meaningful to them, or maybe words that are meaningful to them. And quite a lot of times people ask me to make it my own. They ask for my own kind of creative input, which is fun sometimes. But sometimes, the world is too big of an oyster. So I will oftentimes ask them to kind of give me some boundaries. Give me some barriers so that I can get a good idea of what to do. It's been really interesting the last couple of years.

I've been getting very creative customers. I've been able to do things that I don't think have ever been put together on a weightlifting belt before, which has just been a really cool process to think, "You know, I might be the first to do this design element on a weightlifting belt."

How did this collaboration with Gains in Bulk come about?

Gains reached out to me, and right away, they wanted to hop on a call, which is always a very good sign. We just had a really good discussion about what the vision was. I love the idea of artist collaborations with companies. It's a really cool thing to kind of make a mini-documentary or a short story. It's really cool to have a spotlight put on me and my work and to show a larger audience what I do. My goal is to try to reach as many people as I can.

The cool thing was that they really trusted my own artistic direction here. They wanted something classic and, at the same time, something unique. Ideas started boiling over in my head, and the idea of me utilizing my freehand script came up; it's something that I use very frequently in my work. When I showed them examples of it, they were really excited about that, and that got me amped up because I love doing that.

What do you hope people will take away from this belt, both in terms of the belt itself and the story behind it?

When I tell people what I do, nine times out of ten, they get super excited about it. When they tell me what I'm doing is unique and cool, it'll follow up with, "I wish I did something like that." With the exposure of my art to more people, I just hope that more people pursue art. It's so wonderful. The world needs more artists. It needs more art. Art is so expressive; it's such a fantastic way to de-stress yourself and process your own emotions.

I just hope that more people are kind of exposed to the idea of trying out something new and taking creatine while you're at it.

How can people place orders for Artem's work?

Orders can be made through direct contact with Artem via email. This ensures that all aspects of the product including customization are tailored to your preference.