This past weekend, I went with Seven to Rise of the Deadlift at Progressive Sports Performance in Northbrook, IL. This was her first competition since the same meet last year, where she had a disappointing outing.
Now, for those who don’t follow powerlifting, the sport consists of three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. This meet was push/pull, which means the only contested lifts were bench press and deadlift. These happen to be her shakiest and most solid lifts, respectively…but that didn’t seem to matter.
Seven has been preparing for this meet for about 6 weeks, altering her previous training cycle so that it ended the week before, then did some light stuff in the days leading up. She and I spent a few sessions at the gym together and I did what I could to help her out with form checks, handoffs, and the like. On the day of the meet, I got to play coach, up on the platform for her bench attempts to give her a handoff just like we practiced. All three attempts went up nice and clean.
The deadlift portion of the meet was an even bigger success. After an ever so slightly shaky opener, she decided to go for broke.
She ended up setting a new meet PR (personal record) for the bench on the third attempt and then set two consecutive PRs in the deadlift, breaking a personal mark that stood in competition for almost two years. The performance won both her weight class and best overall female lifter as well as impressing the rest of the lifters and coaches.
You’d think she’d be happier!
We discussed the course of action a few times over the last two weeks or so. She came up with two plans: conservative and balls-out. Once the first attempts were done and everything felt right, she knew exactly which way to go.
We’ve had some conversations lately over reservations she’s been having about continuing to compete. We’ve also had some discussions about her goals and what she wants to do. I know that she’s been frustrated at some stalls in progress and not getting to compete as often as she’d like because of life constraints. I’m glad she didn’t give up. If she had, she never would have broken through those old numbers and wouldn’t have that nifty (and slightly creepy) trophy to show for it. You can’t progress unless you take some chances. You also can’t progress if you quit. It’s all stuff I’ve said before, here’s a living example of it.
We’ve since been discussing new training possibilities and have come up with something that should prove very interesting. It’s time to work on the next step.
To Seven: I’m very proud of you for staying the course and continuing to bust your ass. You deserved that day.
