The Mindset of a Powerlifter
By
Robert Trevino
The world of powerlifting is a small enclave overshadowed by the field of
bodybuilding. It’s a peculiar coalition that is both feared and simultaneously
admired. Feared due to the unnatural weight totals being lifted yet admired
based on the intrinsic human value in becoming fast, strong, and powerful.
Although powerlifting isn’t well known or understood by the general public, it
has most frequently been confused with bodybuilding due to Hollywood’s
accentuation of professional bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou
Ferrigno. When referring to someone as strong or to the process of attaining
strength, people immediately think of a bodybuilder and his routine method. What
we’re reluctantly left with is a pile of misinformation and myth that has become
extremely difficult to discard. It’s then hard to make the distinction between
powerlifting and bodybuilding clear so that we can popularize within our social
network.
So the question remains—what is and makes someone a powerlifter? Is it the
genetic strength that one has attained at birth or simply the ability to lift
more than the common weight being lifted within any commercial gym?
What makes a powerlifter isn’t simply lifting heavy weights, respective to
body weight, or having a particular physique. The true powerlifter is anyone who
has attained the basic seven mindsets that lay the foundation for a powerlifting
career, regardless of the amount he presently lifts or has lifted in pursuit of
pure strength within the three major lifts. To the competitive powerlifter, a
true powerlifter is one who has stood on the platform of competition. Although
this may be true, the phase of having to stand on a competitive platform is
simply the result of what makes a true powerlifter. The competitive platform is
simply a “means to an end,” not an “end” in itself. But of course, there are
always exceptions, which I won’t discuss.
So this being said, the seven principles that one must have to create the
mindset of a true powerlifter are as follows:
1. Commitment
Acquiring a high level of commitment is a mandatory fundamental for any
powerlifter. There must be a serious dedication toward one’s goals, plans, and
powerlifting principles to become effective within this field. One must
establish clear and realistic goals to be met within a set timeframe and assert
a plan to meet these objectives within that time period. This in and of itself
requires planning that contains both short- and long-term goals in nature—short
term in the sense that you are committed to your training schedule regardless of
what holiday is around the corner and long-term in the sense of continuing to
lift regardless of injury and/or multiple sets of failures that you may
encounter. Sustained injuries require immediate recuperation if possible to
continue gaining strength. If, on the other hand, you have failed to meet your
short-term goals, evaluate what needs to be improved and continue forward.
This high level of commitment is fundamental to the mindset of a powerlifter. It
is a life long journey that requires time, patience, and the desire to lift
twice your body weight or more. If you have never been under or over a barbell
twice your body weight, you will immediately understand the “willpower” it takes
to lift such amounts. But where there is commitment, there are also dreams that
come to reality.
2. Focus
A secondary and crucial principle within powerlifting is developing the ability
to remain focused. To become focused on your goals and plans is one thing, but
to remain focused on these short- and long-term objectives is another. The
ability to focus may appear easy, but when faced with an abundant amount of
information, styles of training, methods, and routines via the internet and
magazines, what appeared simple is now a struggle to maintain. If your long-term
goals are to increase your totals in the three lifts, create a plan that will do
exactly that. Jumping from program to program will yield nothing worthwhile. It
takes time to see if any one program really works and allows you time to become
familiar in knowing your weaknesses and which movement will yield the best
results for you.
Remaining focused is no easy task. For many, the beginning journey of
powerlifting may be confusing. It will require time spent deciphering what
principles belong to bodybuilding and what belongs to powerlifting. Many will
start with the former and show improvement, but as you advance and start to
stall in strength gained, that’s where powerlifting principles begin. That is
when you must decide either to train for bodybuilding or become a powerlifter.
Bodybuilding and powerlifting are like apples and oranges in their approaches,
and with due rights, for each has a different objective for reaching a different
goal but utilizing the same tool—a loaded barbell.
3. Planning
The venue of powerlifting requires continuous and careful planning. The planning
can be as simple as knowing your short- and long-term objectives and even more
importantly knowing the how and why of your executable plan in getting
there. Simply said, he who desires to become a powerlifter must have a plan.
Irregardless to anything else mentioned, if you have no plan, you have nothing.
The first step in planning is knowing your level in powerlifting. Are you a
beginner wanting to become an intermediate or an intermediate wanting to become
a high intermediate or advanced? Each stage in strength gaining has its own
requirements that must be met before moving on to the next level. What works
well for a beginner will not work for an intermediate lifter and what works well
for an intermediate lifter may not be optimal for an advanced lifter. The idea
is acknowledging that each level of lifting performance carries a series of
requirements to advance you to the next stage. Somewhere along the transition
between stages, the management of volume, intensity, and frequency has to be
manipulated to meet the level of each individual lifter.
All plans will eventually change over time to accommodate our physical needs,
but the smaller the change the better. Even more important is knowing why the
changes were implemented.
4. Evaluation
Another crucial element in the mindset of a powerlifter is developing the
patience and willingness to analyze your own planned program. Program evaluation
and the identification of weak points that have caused you to fall short of your
planned objectives are quite central. The purpose of program analysis is simply
to evaluate your training approach by asking yourself a series of questions such
as: Are my goals realistic? Do I have enough volume for my present level of
training as a beginner? Do I have enough intensity as an intermediate? Do I have
too much junk volume and not enough intensity?
If your short-term goal is to increase your major lift by over 20–30 percent
of your present max in six weeks, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If
you’re overzealous, you won’t be attentive to setting realistic goals. Every
movement in your plan should be geared to improving some sort of weakness that
you have identified during your lifts. In fact, we should have a solid answer
for everything we’re doing and be one hundred percent convinced as to why we’re
doing it.
A secondary enemy in powerlifting is haphazard training that stems from becoming
overzealous. This is when you becomes so hyped in powerlifting that you start
maxing out on all your lifts on a weekly basis. Lifting above ninety percent too
frequently will burn your central nervous system down and leave you wondering
why you aren’t getting any stronger.
5. Creativity
One unique characteristic in becoming a powerlifter is to have the courage to be
creative. If you look around most commercial gyms, you’ll notice that most
equipment is geared toward cardio, general health, toning, and bodybuilding.
It’s very rare to find any equipment that caters to Olympic weightlifting or
powerlifting or to improve any specific style of sport where speed, strength,
and explosive power are required.
When was the last time you walked into a gym and saw more than one power rack or
rubber plates, a glute/ham machine, a reverse hyper, or an assortment of
barbells to meet a variety of lifting needs? In order to improve certain
weaknesses, you have to be creative in utilizing certain machines in ways they
were never intended to be used. Some examples are using the triceps push-down
machine to do pull thrus and using the lat pull machine for standing abdominal
crunches. This isn’t to exclude the utilization of additional resources such as
chains, bands, and boards in more ways than one.
Being creative will be your best resource in meeting your individual needs, and
by doing so, you’ll realize that you aren’t alone on this venture. The idea here
is to not allow the available resources to limit you on what you can and can’t
do to strengthen your weak areas.
6. Curiosity
Powerlifters must become seekers if they wish to make continuous progress. They
must seek better methods, training ideas, and methodologies that would help them
understand the science aspect of strength gains. What worked well in the past
may have been improved with new methods. To ignore these new methodologies would
be the equivalent of ignoring a newly discovered cure for the common flu or
bacteria.
Powerlifting isn’t any world for the loner. We all need extra eyes to improve
our techniques and see where our weaknesses are while performing lifts at ninety
percent or above our one rep max. Don’t confuse your 135-lb squat form with your
315-lb squat form. The heavier the weight, the poorer your form becomes. Not
only do we need others to keep us on track with techniques and addressing
weaknesses, but we also need others to challenge us to take on more weight than
we can handle while remaining safe through the attempt.
I’m sure people are more than willing to try a 5–10-lb increase in their
squat had they had someone they trusted spotting them for the “just in case”
scenario. Now try the same weight alone in your basement or maybe in a public
gym where total embarrassment is your reward for failure. It seems a little too
high of a price to pay. Now don’t get me wrong. In powerlifting, failed attempts
aren’t only a good thing but almost a requirement once in a while. But a
lonesome dove under a barbell above one hundred percent isn’t a good idea.
7. Motivation
Finally the most important of all ingredients to becoming a powerlifter is
self-motivation. If you aren’t self-motivated, I guarantee that once the weights
start getting heavier so will your desire to get to the gym to push that weight.
The fact is it takes a lot more than just desire and purpose to lift a weight
that is well above your body weight. It takes motivation and a whole lot of it
when gravity seems to double its pull. Your mind will be the first to give you
an excuse as to why you shouldn’t even try to lift a weight that’s beyond
normal. Having these thoughts may be normal to some but giving in to them is
another story.
Powerlifting requires desire, motivation, purpose, guts, and lots of craziness.
As someone once said, which seemed kind of funny at the time, “the more mentally
insane you are, the stronger you will become because you are just not aware of
how lifting two or three times your body weight is plain senseless.” But crazy
or not, here we come for the love of this game.
So there you have the ingredients for what it takes to become a powerlifter. I
just hope I’ve encouraged you to attain the right mindset toward powerlifting
and that I’ve opened your eyes to the behind the scenes of a powerlifter’s
mindset. If you can do it, we’ll be waiting.
Robert Trevino is a novice lifter who has been lifting for the past four
years or so. He is a school teacher, bass player, powerlifter, and Christian and
has affection toward teaching, learning, and sharing his life experiences with
all willing to listen, learn, and share their experiences with him as well. He
has a keen attitude toward wrangling as a hired hand in the state of Nevada at
the Cottonwood Ranch whenever feasible and attaining as many adventurous life
experiences as possible. Robert has a bachelors of arts degree in business
management/economics with a minor in Puerto Rican studies and a masters of
science degree in bilingual special education and holds a school district
administrative license.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
