Step 10: I Finally Called Myself a Powerlifter

I have been writing about 10 of the steps I took to go from overweight and in pain to a fit powerlifter. Today I will cover step 10: I finally called myself a powerlifter. I shortened the title, well because honestly I didn’t think ahead when I originally wrote it, and what I really want to say is too long…but the correct title, I finally gained the confidence to consider myself a powerlifter is much more meaningful. The word powerlifter is very intimidating. It invokes the vision of a huge, super strong, ape like man holding a 1,000 pound barbell over his head with his pinky…ok maybe not that extreme, but you get the idea.

I am going to start with a story about the first time I actually watched powerlifters train. There were these two, very normal looking young men over on the squat rack with a trainer. Slowly they added plates to the bar, and started wrapping their knees. They added plates, and added plates, and added plates! I was very curious how on earth they were so strong and exactly what they were doing, when they definitely did not look like they could squat as much as they were squatting! WHAT WAS THIS NONSENSE! I had to look into it further…turns out they were powerlifters training for a meet. I could not believe what I was seeing! Apparently, not all powerlifters are huge grunting men!

My workout partner and I had a lengthy discussion about genetics, and how size does not mean strength. He told me how the ability to lift heavy is very individual, and some people are just made for it. He went on to tell me that he thought I was one of those lucky few who have great genetics to lift heavy. I laughed, and though that was crazy talk. I told him I would NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS have the desire to powerlift. But deep in my heart, and tucked away in the back of my brain, I was very curious! Could I get the image out of my head on what I thought a powerlifter was and see that I could be one myself?

Then there was a poster that went up at our gym announcing a powerlifting meet. Yes, I wanted to go watch, but that is all I wanted to do was watch. So there we were, watching the women deadlift. As I am seeing the weight they were pulling, I had excitement rush through me as I realized I could also pull the weight they were pulling, if not more! REALLY??? Was my workout partner right? Was I really stronger that I thought I was? I quickly pulled up the records for that organization and realized I could indeed set some records. That was it, the switch was flipped and I made a decision to look into competing…but only once of course. Once would be all I needed to prove I could do it, right? HA! Yeah, that thought didn’t last, obviously.

I talked to our gym manager and he recommended competing with NASA Sports (Natural Athlete Strength Association). I looked up their meets and found one in Gallup, New Mexico. SO I made the decision to sign up and started training. I barely felt comfortable calling myself a powerlifter in training. I herniated a disc in my back in October, but was still able to compete that next March.

I missed my very first lift and panicked! I thought that meant I was disqualified…but the other lifters were so nice and assured me I just needed to make one of the three lifts and I would be OK. I did it, I made my last two squats, made my first bench, missed the next two, and made all my deadlifts. I set 3 state records and 3 national records.  But I still didn’t consider myself a powerlifter.

I did another meet in July, set more records, and still was not sure I could call myself a powerlifter. There was a discussion in my Powerlifting Women facebook group about this. Most people say if you’ve done one meet, you are a powerlifter. Others say you are a powerlifter if you do powerlifting full time. Others are more comfortable with saying “I powerlift”. I made the bold decision to call myself a powerlifter. I train 6 days a week, I focus all my training and accessory training on improving my three big lifts. I eat a very strict diet every single day to help nourish my lifting, I don’t drink alcohol to avoid hurting my lifting….every day I do everything I can to help my lifting and make myself stronger. I definitely think I have earned the title of powerlifter. I think every woman who puts forth the effort to train for a meet deserves that title. Although I prefer “powerlifting mother of four who defeated a potentially debilitating condition and lifts to motivate others”….but yeah, that title is hard to fit on a business card…LOL! SO be bold, if you worked for it, you deserve that title!

It takes a lot of guts to call oneself a powerlifter…and to brush off the “don’t  get too big and turn into Arnold” comments you get from insecure people. The fear women have that they will get bulky if they lift anything heavier than a pink one pounder is a whole other post…that will be a fun one to write! Happy HEAVY lifting!