The Power of Powerlifting

If you know me, you know I love this sport… I started this sport by chance. But lifting for me started for me a long time ago…in a gym far far away. Middleton…it was Middleton. The question would be, why do I love this sport?

Simply put? It’s solo. It’s reliant on me completely. The accomplishment may sway with experience, with dialing in programming, will perfecting diet and water intake, which may be regulated by a coach…but it relies COMPLETELY on me. It’s my dedication, my consistency, and my effort that puts me at the top of my potential. And these are the sports that I’ve connected with the most. After over a decade of riding and racing motorcycles, it made a lot of sense of how gratifying a single person sport can be.

I’ve been into weights since I was a teenager. I was small then. I had started to turn into a little bit of a chub chub, but only because of a broken collar bone that kept me away from activity (thanks Eggo waffles and Coca-Cola). But man, did I fall in love with weights. Not only did I gain strength and aesthetics because of it, but I found out how strong I was for my size, and my classmates loved to watch me lift. It was my first time in some sort of spotlight…and so, I became an addict. I had attached myself to something that made me feel as big as the rest of the world of men. I found significance and power and connection.

You really find truth in your power. Just the way there’s truth in the bar and plates. They pounds don’t take it easy on you. They always weigh the same. There’s no one to help you lift the bar you put yourself under. There’s no one in competition to make sure you get back up with a weight you’ve never achieved before. It’s your job first and foremost to step under a bar confidently and grind out a rep under hundreds of pounds of weight. And I think that’s the appeal of sports like this. You’re asking yourself to make it happen, not relying on teammates. If you fail, you have no one else to blame but yourself. If you succeed, you have no else to congratulate but yourself.

What I see though outside of this sport are so many people who don’t understand it…who fear it.

I notice a lot of people now who are intimidated by the strength and size of athletes today. I’ve been in it for so long; and I found my belief in it so early, I see motivation more than intimidation. I see limitless potential instead of seeing myself as incapable. Many people see these types of athletes as elites…as untouchables. And because of it, even those who are inspired and in awe, are also the ones who don’t see the point of trying when there are so many greats.

What sucks about the world today, is the separation we’ve created from each other. We post the best of ourselves most of the time, our perfection, our happiness, our strongest lifts of course. We’re saving our greatest accomplishments of ourselves to show to the world. Which is great! However, without seeing all of a person, I think we can also dismiss them and forget they’re human, or put them on a pedestal because they are part of some “rare breed” of human that knows only success and pure joy. But, we all know it’s not really like that…this is why it’s important for us to dive deep into things that matter to us, that are right in front of us, that are completely about our own growth.

Believe it or not, our best motivation doesn’t come from what we see others accomplish, but what we see ourselves accomplish. Why? Because we have the 360 view. We know every physical, emotional, and environmental struggle we’ve had to endure to get there…and it’s far more real than the success we see on instagram or other media platforms.

The beautiful thing about solo sports? Your enemy is you before anyone else. Your competition is you before anyone else. Powerlifting? It’s about finding a new best. It’s not about all the other athletes that can lift more than you, it’s about how badly do you want to out-lift yourself? Can you get your mind right? Can you step onto a platform looking to beat the weight? Can you compete against yourself in hitting 9/9? Can you commit to months of programming for one day of glory? The other athletes will never matter, when you can realize that beating them means focusing on beating yourself….over and over again.

The power in powerlifting isn’t about the weight that you lift. That’s all determined by focus and consistency. The power…is in your belief of yourself. It’s stepping up to a bar and convincing yourself of doing something you’ve never done. It’s using your raw emotion to step above logic, and prove mind over matter.

Power in powerlifting is about conquering yourself.

Don’t be afraid to step up to a bar. Don’t be afraid to step onto a platform. Don’t be afraid to start something that never asks for anything more than your determination and the fire in your soul.

I’ll see you guys on the platform.

Stay strong, and stay rebel minded.

Fucking love you guys.

Originally published at https://www.khaoskreed.com on August 5, 2020.