Written by: Ivy Knight

Sometimes I wonder how I’ve gotten to this point in my life. I never felt good enough. I went through most of my childhood just trying to be seen, trying my hardest to be as perfect as I could be. Trying to be skinny enough or pretty enough or smart enough. No one ever told me that I was perfect just the way I was. I’ve gone through most of my adult questioning why? Why does he love me? Why do they like me? When are they going to realize that I suck and they’re better off without me, this world is better off without me? It took me a long time learn that in order for me to believe that other people loved me, I had to love myself. I had to understand that I’m good enough the way I am… that I’m worthy of being loved.

I’m not special in this. I’m sure that most of you feel or have felt the same way but I’m here to tell you that you are enough- just the way you are, every flaw, every scar, every mistake, every bad decision. All those things have made you the wonderful beautiful person you are now. You are worthy of love. You are worthy of peace, goodness, and happiness. Look in the mirror and tell yourself that You Are Worthy.

The You Are Worthy Sweatshirt is available now and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and The Crisis Text Line. 

(Photo via SBD)

An athlete in their element is truly an amazing thing to see in person. Someone who you can see lives and breathes their sport. Samantha is one of those athletes. She is truly a wonder to watch at meets and it was an honor to be able to chat with her about her career as a powerlifter.

Introduce yourself to the GWPL Nation

Hi Everyone! My name is Sam; I’m a 63kg powerlifter and coach in the USAPL. I’ve been powerlifting for 3 years now and have competed in 11 meets to date. I am the current USAPL 63 kg Raw National Champion and the owner of the IPF Deadlift World Record and USAPL American Record Deadlift. I earned my undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada, Reno where I accepted a full track and field scholarship. I recently earned my Masters degree in Exercise Science from Old Dominion University.
 

When did you get into lifting and why? 

My first meet was August 2015. I decided to compete because I needed an objective goal to strive for. Signing up for a meet gave me a reason to train hard and consistent. I wanted to showcase my strength in a competitive environment and most importantly, I wanted to be an athlete again. I lost that identity when I graduated from college in 2013. I didn’t know what being an athlete and having specific goals and objectives meant until I was no longer one and had nothing to strive for.
 
Best meet total to date?
 
My best meet was this past 2018 Raw Nationals. I totaled 1103 lbs (500.5 kg). My first meet in 2015 I totaled 865 lbs.
 
Which of the big 3 is your favorite and why?

My favorite lift to train is the squat. It is the lift that I have struggled with throughout my powerlifting journey. I’ve bombed out of meet before by missing my squat opener on depth and completely missing my two subsequent squat attempts. I’ve had to rebuild my squat multiple times to get it to where it is now. Today, I have one of the top squats in my weight class. That is definitely something that I am proud of.

 (photo via 9for9 Media)

I read your post about the process that went into winning your weight class at Nationals this year. At what point did you realize that you had it and how did it feel?

Honestly, you never really know how a meet is going to go until you take that first attempt. But, even then, you have to take it one attempt at a time and stay in the moment. But, If I had to pinpoint a moment, it was after my 3^rd attempt squat. That attempt moved way better than I expected it to. At that moment, I knew it was going to be a great day. I just had to execute each lift and the day would take care of itself.
 
What advice do you have for young women getting into powerlifting?

Be a student of the sport, but don’t be afraid to try and fail. I think where some go wrong is that they strive for perfection and they want to be “competitive” before they even start the journey. This mindset can be crimping. It doesn’t allow you to grow as a lifter, learn and develop along the way.  Strive for progress. Chip away at your goals and everything else will follow.
 
Take me through a typical meet day for you? What do you eat, when and do you have a pre-meet routine?

The last two meets I’ve done, I had to compete at night. This makes meet day a bit tricky. The morning of IPF Worlds, I was actually 1 lb above weight and it wasn’t until noon of meet day that my weight came back down to 63 kg. Therefore, I had to spend the entire day being really careful about what I consumed. The night before the meet I knew I was heavy, so I purposely woke up at 6 am to weigh myself. I did this so if I was still above weight, I could still eat breakfast and give my body time to fast. The most important thing is to not freak out. So, I went ahead and ate a decent breakfast. (3 whole eggs and fruit) and went back to sleep. Around noon I weighed myself again and magically was now at weight. To hold me over to weigh-ins, I ate a yogurt and sipped on some Gatorade. Weigh-ins were at 4 and immediately after I had a chicken fajita that I bought from a nearby restaurant.

For Nationals, I made a promise that I wasn’t going to put myself in that position. I really hate testing my luck. So I took control of my nutrition throughout the training cycle and actually was 135 lbs when I woke up on meet day, so I was able to eat as I would on a normal day. I had a full breakfast (pancakes, sausage, muffins, orange juice) and for lunch, I had rotisserie chicken and rice.  Post-weigh ins I had a whole bagel, yogurt, and protein bar. This is what I would typically eat prior to training. Having my nutrition dialed in made a dramatic difference in my training.
 
How do you manage and balance training and "regular life"?
 
I balance it all by being comfortable with the uncomfortable. If I have to lift at 6 am I will. If I have to lift after a 10hr workday, I will. If I have to change training days to spend time with my fiancé, I will. I may not want to do any of those things, but I do it because not training isn’t an option.  However, I still have to make a living and I want to spend time with the people I love. There’s always a give and take and you just have to find a system that works for you.
 
Do you have any specific goals in powerlifting?

My agenda for 2019 is to win IPF Worlds in Sweden, rebreak my deadlift World Record, and break the 63 kg Total World Record.
 
What's next for you?

I will be competing in the Grand Prix which is a meet held by USAPL in the main expo hall of the Arnold. This is a very prestigious meet and it has been a goal of mine over the last couple of years. There will be only 8 females and 8 males competing so I’m honored to be able to share the stage with some of the strongest lifters in our federation.

Follow Sam on Instagram

By Ivy Knight

If you are wondering what to buy the powerlifters in your life- look no further- we got you covered! 

From Our Friends

1. Live Large Fitness is perfect for the guy in your life- but make sure you grab something for yourself too!

2. LVD fitness is an awesome brand, based in Ottawa, Canada and we love their sleek and simple design!

3. Fleo Shorts is perfect for every lifter- powerlifters, Olympic lifters, fitspo, everyone who loves a good pair of shorts should check them out. 

4. A7- not only do we love the bar grip shirts from A7 but for those of you who are like me and hate shoes A7's deadlift slippers are worth a try,

5. Pioneer Fit- If you have a lifter in your life that's looking to upgrade their lifting belt you have to check out Pioneer fit's custom designed belts. It's every lifters dream!

6. Iron Strong Jewelry is the perfect place to find a little something special. 

7. Mya Emily sticker. Does your person need a special way to personalize her phone case, notebook or laptop? Get them a sticker!

8. Physcho Salts. Nothing says, "from one powerlifter to another" quite like smelling salts.

9. Etra. Looking for a cool way to brighten up your training? Try some colored chalk!  

 But what if she only likes GWPL gear?

From Us

1. Omega Red Wrist Wraps- if she's in need of a gear upgrade start with these! 

2. Mini Buttons- the perfect accessory for a hat, gym bag or back pack

3. Be cuffs- pretty and empowering! 

4. Defiant Beanie- keep the ears warm in the coolest way.

5. Handler's pack- the perfect gift for the best handler's! 

6. Mama Bear muscle tank- we all know a Mama Bear, get her a shirt to match how awesome she is. 

7. War Ready sports bra- Keep those girls high and tight

8. Barbell Keychain- small but sweet and perfect for every powerlifter.

9. Sumo Studs- some call it a cheater pull but that's because they're dumb... if you're not dumb these are a really great gift!

10. GWPL 001 sticker- dress up your laptop or water bottle in the strongest way!

11. GWPL Gear- New clothes is like gifting 101

12. GWPL Gift Card- when in doubt let her pick it out!

 

Written by Ivy Knight

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

-Nelson Mandela

It was never meant to say Fearless. It’s Fear Less. Why? Let’s be honest, we all have fears. In fact, if you don’t have fears, are you really living? I’ve done a lot in my relatively young life. And I’ve done most of it while holding onto my fears. Fear of failure. Fear of never being good enough. Fear of being ridiculed. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of taking on too much.

Fear is a scary thing but it’s necessary. If we can learn to push past our fears while respecting them we will find ourselves liberated by them. Fear is our irrational mind telling us that whatever is going on isn’t a good thing. It’s an emergency warning. It has to do with your core beliefs and experiences… but I’m not going to get into that. You can refer to your therapist. We should think about our fears and decipher whether we are actually in danger. It’s like when you see a spider. Initial reaction: Scream! Run! Jump on a chair! Yell for the nearest person to come over and kill it. Our initial reaction is Fear. But when really think about it, should we really be that fearful of this small, coin-sized, creature that could care less about us and is just instinctively trying to build a house and eat. A creature we can literally destroy with the bottom of our shoe? Really? So instead of listening to those fears, we should reason with them and then start to eliminate the ones that don’t make sense. Fear Less.

I used to be scared to death of squatting heavy. I would get to a heavy set, lift it off the rack and if it felt heavy I would rerack because the thought of bringing it down and not being able to bring it back up was terrifyingly crippling to me. I was afraid that if I failed this rep I would… what? Die?? Did I really think I was going to die because I couldn’t bring it back up? (Could it happen? Maybe. But the odds are slim) I did! But when I stopped to think about all the variables I realized that I was being completely irrational. I have never failed a squat attempt at a meet, ever. It’s still something that terrifies me but at my last meet, I had one goal: Squat over 300 lbs. So here I was on my 3rd attempt. The number on the bar was 303lbs. I lifted it off and I felt my throat get dry and tight… this is heavy... I am going to fail… if it wasn’t for the over 6 feet tall, 380+lb giant standing behind me I may have even rationalized that I could actually die. But I had already had the discussion with myself that if I could get to this point, squatting this amount of weight, I would let Jesus take the wheel, so to speak. I stopped thinking and I went into auto pilot. If there’s anything I can do besides, telling a well-timed “that’s what she said” joke, it’s squat! Once my brain kicked back in, I felt my knee cave in slightly and heard a loud screech come from my belly! Then I heard, “rack”! I did it! Irrational fear and all I did it!

So instead of us being fearless, let’s just work on having less fears. When it comes to powerlifting, we should never fear that we will disappoint, or fail, or not be good or strong enough. We should respect the weight, learn the techniques and go for it because when you really break it down, what is there to fear?

Fear Less t-shirt available here http://bit.ly/GWPLFearLess