When The Benefits are Blurry

It's December 30, 2017.

Looking back on the year, it seems successful for the most part....I suppose. I have written before about my internal struggle with powerlifting. Honestly, I find myself in the middle of the same struggle.

Once upon time, a long time ago, in a land far far away, I went to lactation school. As in, breastfeeding. SPOILER ALERT! I didn't finish. Why? Because my return on investment (ROI) was going to be extremely low. At the time, in order for me to have a real position as a certified lactation consultant (read: hired by a hospital) I'd need to also be a registered nurse, and I had/have zero interest in that. I won't bore you with the geographical details and success rates, and my lack of ability to be able to predict the upswing in interest and activism for breastfeeding at the time, I dropped out. In short, I quit. HOWEVER, I fully support loving and nurturing your babies and if that means breastfeeding for you, then I can still help at a very normal level and I still love it and I will still recommend you to a consultant if necessary.  So, if you are a mother who just had a baby and you need an ear, PLEASE send me message! I very much believe "the village" is the what is missing from society. I'll be your village. End Commercial.

Back to powerlifting. This other passion of mine. This other "pet project" of mine. At what point do you draw the line? At what point do you really look at your ROI and be honest with yourself? (I'm literally about to write an entire paragraph of rhetorical questions). When do you say that you're "good enough" to coach? When are you good enough to handle day of? When do you know enough to write programming? When do you "deserve" enough sponsorship to pay your way to comps? And can you coach and be one of the best at the same time? When is it justified? And is it ever?

At the end of the day, it is all defined by the individual. I can say, that when I was in lactation school, I learned things that I still to this day use to help women nurse their babies and would not trade that for anything in the world. I can say the same for powerlifting.

A moment that stands out to me in particular just happened the other day. I coach my daughter's basketball team and I scheduled practice over the holiday break, because consistency is key! My practice attendance was very low so I had a great opportunity to work one on one more so than normal. We were practicing free throws, and after several misses by all the players, I told them about a "trick". The trick I told them about was having the vision. I told my player, "imagine the ball going in the hoop before you shoot it. See yourself doing it. BUT, it only works, if you believe it". This particular player, believes me, which makes everything easier! I'll be dammed if she didn't shoot that free throw and it swished threw the net! IT WORKS, she exclaimed!

I may have cried. Just a little though. I owe this lesson to powerlifting. There are many things I have learned through this sport that I pour out money and sacrifice to. And I'm taking a giant exhale and saying that it's worth it. While my ROI may not me monetary (for now), it is serving me in the greater scheme of things. And much like the school I dropped out of, I am at times severely underestimating it's value.

As I continue to learn, each day, the most valuable things we have to offer, are what we have to offer to others by way of experience and encouragement. #bethegasoline 

LET'S GO 2018!





 enouhg

Going 9 for 9: Worth the Hype or Nah?

Is going 9 for 9 worth the hype or nah? I say (like everyone wise woman).......it depends.

I whole heartily believe that making attempts is what wins titles. If you're a contender, you have to make attempts and as many of them as possible. End of story. Why? Duh. More attempts made means a bigger total and totals win meets. World records do not win meets. Co-efficients and arbitrary mile stone numbers do not win meets. Big totals win meets, which means every attempt matters, every kilo matters. 

HOWEVER. I also whole heartily believe that you should work backwards from YOUR goal. Some (maybe even most), aren't necessarily chasing a title or winning a weight class or best lifter. Which brings me to setting outcome goals for a meet. Powerlifting is a funny sport in many ways, but particularly because it's competitors seem to be eternally dissatisfied with their results. For a long time, I went into meets without any particular goals or worse, goals of hitting very specific numbers (10/10 do not recommend). Eventually, I gave up on hitting very specific numbers and became a little more strategic in my game day plan. The damnedest thing happened when I did this.....I started making national/world record attempts, I started winning titles, I started winning best lifter. Say what?! You mean, strategy and planning have a place in powerlifting? Yes. Yes it does. 

So, how do I set up my meet day goals? First, I set a minimum goal. This is a pass/fail grade. If nothing else, I want to hit this bare minimum goal. Often times, this is something like PR-ing my total. This helps keep you on track if things start going to shit. Then, the ideal goal. This is what you came to do. This is what you're training for. This is what you've set up your training cycle for. Then, stretch goals, just in case you're on fire and crushing it that day. These are "pie in sky" but maybe there's a chance goals. 

Where does going 9/9 come into play? Often times, if you go 9/9, you're going hit your goals because you've been smart about every attempt. Not to mention, with every attempt you make, you're building up momentum, which is building up your confidence, which is building up your enthusiasm, which is building up your probability to hit some big deadlifts, which is building up your total. The only number that really matters. 

The other side effect of going 9 for 9 is you force your competitors to compete. The constant pressure of hitting attempt after attempt can have some psychological advantage because you may just put your competitors into the hamster wheel of chasing your marginal lead. If my strategy is making attempts, I pay no attention to what my competitors are putting on the bar because I'm here to win, and winning means a big total and big total means making attempts. 

Pulling for the win.

Should you pull for the win? It depends. Do you have an actual shot at making the attempt? Or are you willy nilly loading an unrealistic weight you have no shot at completing? If you have a chance at ACTUALLY MAKING THE LIFT, then I say load it. If you've already made 8 attempts, then you've probably closed the gap as much as possible and again, probably feeling like a rock star. So load it. If you have no shot at making the lift, then I say load AS MUCH AS YOU CAN ACTUALLY LIFT. I'm not suggesting sandbagging just to make the 9th attempt, but I am suggesting being smart and strategic and putting a weight on the bar that you think is possible. Make your competitors compete! Make the lift and make them make lifts. I realize this may make you be realistic about yourself and the day you've had. It may mean that on that day, you got beat but at least you can say you literally lifted every kilo/pound you had that day.   

Loading an unrealistic weight and hoping for magic is not a strategy. Loading a weight you think is your limit that day and getting the lift is executing. 

As for me, I don't hope, I execute.