Powerlifting Podium at Canadian National Championships

If you’ve been pondering over the thought of powerlifting, especially to compete and hopefully go far with it, allow me to bestow some insightful words upon you today.

Touching on the training and competing setbacks/bonuses. By the end of this hopefully you’ll have gained some perspective and insight into what it’s really like to push yourself in the world of powerlifting.

The Training

Like any sport and any great performing athlete, there are months-years of training done behind closed doors to prepare them for their time in the spot light. Powerlifting is no different, there will always be more time spent in the gym then on the platform hitting PRs.

Coming from someone who enjoys tossing big weights around for fun, powerlifting training is hard, especially the weeks leading up to a meet. You experience a more profound feeling of fatigue compared to that of aerobic or hypertrophy exercise. This is due to the stimulus of training being directed towards your central nervous system (CNS) and it can be quite a hard hitting blow if you’re not used to it.

However, despite the draw backs from the fatigue and seemingly constant ache in at least one joint, the training can be quite rewarding. Seeing your numbers gradually rise through training cycles can be an awesome experience, especially seeing big jumps in numbers.

Not only that, but it curates a very profound foundation of mental resilience from forcing yourself under really heavy loads and giving yourself no choice but to lift them. The mental benefits can have a long lasting positive effect on your wellbeing.

Competing

The pinnacle for months and months of rigorous training. where lifters come from far and wide to showcase their strength they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Competitions can be a little nerve racking at first if it’s your first time or just from the pressure of lifting in front of a crowd. However, on the flip side, often times the environment is very friendly with lots of personal available to help.

On top of that, it is a great place for you to showcase your hard work in front of the crowd and hopefully smash some of your old PRs on the platform. During the competition it can also be a good place to see where you line up in terms of ranking in your area wether locally, regionally or nationally.

Consensus

When it’s all said and done, I think powerlifting can be a great first step into the world of competing in the fitness industry.

Unlike other niches like bodybuilding which can seem a little daunting and can be very strenuous on the body and life as a whole. Powerlifting can be a great substitute if you’re passionate about lifting weights.

The bar to entry is pretty friendly and most people can access it just from a few good months of consistent training. Not only that but it doesn’t require you to expose yourself on stage which can be pretty discouraging for a lot of people.

Finally, it can be a great place to meet new lifting buddies and connections in the fitness industry who share your passion for lifting. I still have some friends I met at one of my first meets dating back almost 4 years ago.

– Coach Palfrey

Train With CP