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Date

November 12 2018

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GWPL Guest

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What It Really Means To Be A Female Powerlifter

Written By GWPL Guest - November 12 2018

Written by Elena Popadic

Women need iron. Not the vitamin. The barbell.

It's true, you can be fit, healthy and strong through other means, so why powerlifting? Why would anyone subject themselves to the commitment of lifting increasingly heavier weights, year after year? Other women who lift usually "get it," but there aren't that many of us in the world.

My parents lost their damn minds when they saw a video of me deadlifting for the first time. I was immediately posed with the question: "Why?"

You would have thought I killed someone by their reaction. I was expecting them to be proud of me for being committed, active and strong. They were livid.

I was in so much physical pain standing there and facing them, as they reprimanded me for being strong because it felt like someone ripped my heart right out of my chest.

I could barely find my next breath, never mind an answer, so all I mustered up was:

Because I'm a feminist.

I didn't know how else to say I wasn't hurting myself, but rather helping myself. It was only afterward that I realized how loaded, and accurate, my response was. 

Society has taught women to believe:

  • women should be fragile
  • women should be thin
  • women should be submissive
  • women should ask men how to do or fix things
  • women should choose a career that allows her to cook, clean and raise children
  • women should ask men to pick up heavy items
  • women should not be intimidating
  • women who prioritize themselves are selfish
  • men like women who need them

And women who find freedom in powerlifting are often women who have been hurt, in one way or another, by believing those teachings.

A woman who lifts heavy is creating a stable, strong physical self, but an even stronger, and more resilient, mental self. 

Powerlifting is a sport that demands you do not suck in your waist, avoid food or remain quiet. It is a sport where heavier girls are stronger, and growth is celebrated. It is a metaphorical middle finger up to everything we were taught to define being a woman. 

When the weight feels heavy, we grunt. When we're afraid of getting under the bar, we stomp. When the bar starts to slip away, we cover our hands in chalk ... even if our nails are done.

We rise to the occasion, no matter how many times that day we were told we were wrong, silenced, objectified, insulted or ignored.

Every time I step up to the bar, I step into my skin, and out of a stereotype I was conditioned to believe was me. 

I no longer show up to places where I am made to feel unwelcome, I'm not quiet on controversial topics, I don't continue speaking with people who aren't listening, and my needs are always a top priority.

You say selfish, but I say self-respect.

I am not afraid to speak up, speak out, gain weight, stand out, look different, and especially not afraid of making misogynists feels uncomfortable. 

Because powerlifting is more than a sport, it is a teaching. It is a therapy for women betrayed by the system. A system built by fragile men that thrives on unrealistic expectations and lowered self-esteem.

So, I guess I'm not really a powerlifter because I am a feminist. But rather, I am a powerlifter, because I am, finally, just me.

Learn more about Elena on her blog supersassystrength.com

Date

November 08 2018

Written By

GWPL Guest

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Breathing: Hippie Science or Useful Tool?

Written By GWPL Guest - November 08 2018

Written by Sara Lee

So, no-crap, there I was sitting in a classroom on Fort Bragg racing three other girls in my small group on who could “go green” the fastest.  The year was 2014 and we had one of the first generations of the emWave (https://www.heartmath.com/science/) hooked up to our ears.  This by no means is the correct intent behind the tool, but we were all type-A, highly competitive women so we will find a way to turn relaxation techniques into a high stakes event. Aside from a yoga class here and there, this was my first truly immersive experience in the application of breath work with the intention of augmenting human performance.

So why has the concept of big Buddha belly breathing matriculated into how we perform as athletes? Short answer, because it works. Continue reading for the long answer.

When it comes to fitness, whether it is a performance in the gym or as a tactical athlete in the realm of military, law enforcement, or first responders, we are held accountable by General Adaptation Syndrome Theory (GAS). The theory addresses how the body reacts to short and long-term stress and how they influence the human body.  

Stress is stress. No matter if we are pulling our hair out at work, sitting in a room full of people we’d rather not be, or throwing iron in the gym we are eliciting a physiological stress response. Further, then that, I now want to influence the stress response so that a positive adaptation is a result, it may be a reduction in anxiety or higher cognitive acuity in my performance.

The inverse U model or “flow state” model addresses the relationship between arousal (stress) and performance.

Very simply, to achieve the peak of human performance we must learn how to manage our stress.

Here is where that hippy science comes to light. We can effectively use the breathing technique to manage our arousal levels.

As athletes we know the feeling, it’s that fluttery and semi angsty feeling as our heart rate rises that lets us know we are outside of the safety of the practice. While it would be interesting to Hulk out, to perform optimally across modalities we as athletes need to be mentally present in the building.

This is done through deliberate diaphragmatic breathing.

Place your hand on your stomach and the other on your chest, then take a breath. Does your chest rise or does your belly expand? For most of us, it will not be the latter.




Incorporating Deliberate Breathing:

  1. Carve out 5-10 minutes of uninterrupted time in a relaxed environment.
  2. Sit upright or lay flat on the back placing one hand on the chest and one on the abdomen.
  3. Take a deep nasal to inhale, filling the belly.
  4. Forcefully exhale, feel the belly collapse.
  5. Repeat the cycle.

This is a baseline, once we are able to easily differentiate and move in and out of these breathing patterns it is appropriate to start incorporating the protocol into practice.

Whether we are choosing to inspire nasally or orally where the air goes matters for the following:

Benefits of Deliberate Breathing:

  1. Reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression
  2. Decreases Heart Rate and Blood Pressure (activation of the parasympathetic NS)
  3. Decreases cortisol
  4. Increases blood flow to the muscle tissue
  5. Increases cognition (managing state of arousal for performance)

Despite breathing being an involuntary event adopting deliberate breathing into our physical pursuits takes a bit of practice. It also builds the foundation for more advanced breathing protocols such as super-ventilation and hypoxic work that can be incorporated into training modalities.

Advancing YOUR Breathing Practice:

Below is a list of resources that you can use to help develop your own practice.

Phone Apps:

  1. Headspace: Meditation
  2. Simple Habit
  3. Breath (iPhone)

Fitness & Lifestyle:

  1. 90/90 Breathing Protocol (best applied during warm-ups)
  2. Power Strength Endurance

Get to know Sara better on Instagram 

 

Additional Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455070/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-quell-errant-stress-response

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2038162/pdf/brmedj03603-0003.pdf

Recinto, Christine, et al. “Effects of Nasal or Oral Breathing on Anaerobic Power Output and Metabolic Responses.” International Journal of Exercise Science, pp. 507–514.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date

October 18 2018

Written By

GWPL Guest

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Is a powerlifting coach worth the money?

Written By GWPL Guest - October 18 2018

 

 Written by Sarah Brenner

Powerlifting coaching can be pretty expensive. For some, like myself, a coach is essential to progressing and totally worth every penny spent. For others, coaching may not be reasonable or necessary.

I think that hiring a powerlifting coach is worth it when:

  • You are serious about your strength progression
  • You have no prior knowledge or experience in strength sports
  • You can pay for coaching without putting yourself in financial hardship
  • You have the time and dedication to follow your coach’s plan

Hiring a coach may not be worth it when:

  • You are still making significant gains using a free program
  • You are experienced, knowledgeable, and confident in your ability to coach yourself
  • You have an injury that prevents you from following a plan effectively
  • You aren’t sure if powerlifting is for you or have no plans to compete

With that being said, not all coaches are created equal. Here is what makes a good coach, in my opinion:

  • At least once-weekly communication/check-ins
  • The program is altered based on check-ins
  • Program/Accessories are tailored to you as an individual
  • They are available for meet day coaching (if local). If they are not local, they are available for contact and support via phone or other forms of communication
  • They provide you with a meet day game plan
  • They know the rules of your federation (Note: they don’t have to compete in the same federation, just know the rules)
  • They offer encouragement and support
  • You have been with them for at least a few months and are making progress

What to watch out for in a potentially ineffective coach:

  • Everyone who is under their coaching running the same exact program
  • Everyone who is under their coaching does the same accessories regardless of individual weaknesses
  • They do not offer meet day coaching (if local) OR are not available for contact on meet day (if remote)
  • They do not know or pay attention to the rules (i.e. allowing their athlete to step onto the platform wearing items that are not allowed)
  • You have been with them for at least a few months and are not making progress
  • They are really just a “template guy/girl” (No, seriously, you can find free templates online. Don’t pay someone $50+ monthly to just send you a template program.)

When choosing a coach, you can ask questions before hiring them. If they are unwilling to take the time to answer your questions, you may want to find somebody else.

If it comes down to money, and you are unable to afford a coach but want one, there are tons of free resources out there. Dedicate some time to educate yourself on programming or utilize any of the free templates available on the internet. For the additional support that coaches provide (like form critiques, advice,  encouragement, etc.) you could join an online community or forum, much like Girls Who Powerlift Strong Girls Club.

Date

September 20 2018

Written By

GWPL Guest

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3 Tips to Improve Your Squat

Written By GWPL Guest - September 20 2018

Written by Gage Reid

Here are 3 quick tips for improving your squat!

More Volume/Variety in Rep Ranges

Although this isn’t an accessory movement in itself, the concept of increasing the amount of training volume you do throughout the course of a given week, month and year is a crucial aspect to long-term progression. In order to continually see gains, you must increase the amount of volume you can do whether it’s in the form of more weight, more sets, more reps or more general volume tracked through total poundages (Sets x Reps x Weight). Tracking the amount of volume you do is the easiest way to see how you’re progressing throughout a training cycle without having to hit maximum attempts all the time- for example, if you start a Hypertrophy/Developmental Block Squatting 225 for 5 sets of 10 reps at an RPE of 6, then finish the block 4 weeks later doing 260 for 5 sets of 10 reps at an RPE of ~7, then you have undoubtedly gotten stronger. Although the sport of Powerlifting revolves around the 1RM in the Squat, Bench, and Deadlift, it’s imperative that you look outside of the realm of max attempts and understand that progress is heavily driven by volume (total workload), as well as technical proficiency. Since Powerlifting is a cyclical sport, you’re able to plan a training cycle accordingly with upcoming meets so that you are able to dedicate a portion of training to simply increasing the amount of total volume that you can do (for example, if you are 20 weeks out from your next competition, you can dedicate 8-10 weeks to a Hypertrophy/Developmental Block if you are a relatively new lifter or in the intermediate stages of your career. This will build the foundation required to hit bigger numbers once you transition into a General Strength Block, then eventually into a Peaking block when the time comes to get highly specific for the meet).

If you aren’t tracking your total volume in poundage or total sets/reps now, then I’d recommend you do so and try to improve upon each week/block of training so that you can be sure that you are progressing accordingly.

Squat More Often!

Now, I don’t mean that you should jump feet first into the Bulgarian style of training where you Squat every day, nor do I believe it is generally acceptable for MOST people to Squat more than 3 times per week, instead try to have more specific variety in your training coupled with more total sets/reps in a given training session. Squatting twice a week, 5 sets each workout with a ton of non-specific accessory movements may work for the beginner or early intermediate lifter, but the more trained individual will need more total sets across the board in their training program. I see a lot of intermediate lifters doing a 5x5 on Squats, followed up with leg pressing, lunges, etc. That’s totally fine in the short term, but in order to progress, you want to ensure you’re increasing the number of specific sets in a week. Typically what I recommend is one Squat Day being the competition-style Low Bar Squat where they will perform 5-6 working sets, followed by some form of Tempo or Pause Low Bar Squat with 3-4 sets depending upon the lifter, phase of training, recovery capabilities and so on. The second Squat Day of the week is almost always a High Bar Squat for 4-6 sets, followed by a Tempo or Paused High Bar Squat variation where they will again perform 3-4 sets in a given rep range. The overarching goal is to increase the total number of sets per week, while staying within the athletes own Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV) threshold (Typically a training block will start with 14-16 working sets of Squats per week, and will eventually build to upwards of 22-24 working sets per week during the Planned Functional Overreaching Week. Once again, it’s highly dependant upon the lifter and the phase of training).

Constantly Strive for Technical Improvements in the Squat 

Although this may seem like an obvious point, many people tend to overlook the complex nature of the Squat. In order to continually progress in the Squat and stay injury free you must work towards being a more technically proficient lifter, this can be achieved with particular accessory movements tailored to the individual lifter- for example, an athlete may have issues hitting depth so they will often require specific mobility drills, Tempo Squats and/or Pause Squats to remedy their deficiencies. This is the main reason why I’m not a big proponent of cookie cutter based programming- if an athlete has a glaring dysfunction in the Squat it will only be exacerbated by driving the volume and intensity in the Competition Squat. Tailoring a program to the individual and ensuring that you are addressing other factors such as breathing/bracing, mobility, and general positioning are all huge key driving points in long-term success. Some athletes will need more accessory movements like Belt Squats, Hack Squats, and Leg Press to build up the quads and teach proper movement patterns. Particularly, the Belt Squat has been a huge teaching tool for me as a Coach, along with many others is it teaches the athlete to drive the knees forward and to use their quads in the Squat without having to worry about the bar on their back. Simple things like that have a huge short term and long term advantages, especially with smaller, less experienced female athletes who haven't been training as long or athletes that are coming off an injury that prevented them from Squatting. I once had a young female lifter who had knee pain due to poor movement patterns in the Squat, so I had her take a step back from the Competition Low Bar Squat and only perform Belt Squats 5-6 times per week for a training block, followed by High Bar Squats for 3 weeks, then eventually back to the Low Bar Squat where she completely changed her technique and has been lifting injury free while hitting PRs ever since. It’s important to know your athletes, know your target audience and address issues while they are minor, not when they become big problems that may result in injury.

Get to know Gage and what Nova Strength is all about on Instagram! 

Date

July 17 2018

Written By

GWPL Guest

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PR Mindset - What Should You Think About Before A Heavy Lift?

Written By GWPL Guest - July 17 2018

Written by Robert King

Tonight one of my students was going for a heavy lift and she missed it.

 In training and on the platform, I do my best to not have my athletes miss lifts or reps. However, every lift we miss is an opportunity to learn. You learn more from the lifts you miss than the lifts you get. I asked her what was going through her mind before the lift? She mentioned she was thinking about a grip technique I showed her last week, as she was afraid of losing her grip on her heavy lift.  

Missing this rep was not a grip mistake. It was not a technical error during the lift. The reason she missed the lift is because of her mindset, not her lifting skill or technique.

She missed this lift because of her mindset.

What should you be thinking of before a heavy lift or a PR? In my opinion, very little. From experience coaching and lifting, here is what has helped me and my students improve our lifts, our strength, and our ability to rarely miss lifts and constantly smash PR’s. If you want to lift heavy weights, then you need to stop thinking and learn to harness your mind to have clarity and focus.

How do I recommend you create a PR mindset? I tell my athletes to “Chalk Up”. Chalking up is far more than getting chalk on your hands. It’s your time to mentally dial in and get your body and mind ready for the lift in front of you.

When stepping up to the bar on very heavy lifts, don’t think of coaching cues, don’t have a conversation going in your mind. You want to create a simple mental programming to dial in your mind for the big task in front of you. I tell my athletes to do the following.

Create a chant in your head and repeat that chant over and over and over. Pick one word and repeat it three times or pick three words and repeat them over and over. For example, stepping up to a heavy lift think and say 1 word repeated 3 times:

“Tight, Tight, Tight”

or

“Speed, Speed, Speed”

or 

“Yours, Yours, Yours”

Find the word that you need and repeat it over and over.

When I deadlift heavy often I will pace and say “Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine” (as in this lift is mine) or “Up, Up, Up” (as in this lift is coming up).  Or you can say 3 words repeated 

“I Got This”

“I Got This”

“I Got This”

Or 

“Get It Moving”

“Get It Moving”

“Get It Moving”

The cues or words you use can be specific to you, but try to block out the noise and have a clear mind of what you want to do.

When things get heavy you don’t want to practice technical cues. This is done in training, not on PR’s or on the platform. You want a clear mind and a “chant” to get you in the zone.

Choose your words wisely. 1 word 3 times repeated or 3 words repeated 3 times. Over and over and over (see what I just did). Give it a try and let me know if it helps you.

Learn more from Coach Robert on Instagram 

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