BELIEVE.
What is the most valuable lesson I've learned since I started powerlifting a year ago? Believe in yourself. Powerlifting is a strength sport that requires constantly reaching for personal records. Powerlifting is objective. You either lift it, or you don't. You are not judged on the platform for what you look like, how pretty you are, how tiny your waist is...
I am deep into the overreaching phase of my powerlifting meet prep and have found myself reminiscing on my strength gains over the course of my powerlifting journey. I started powerlifting a year ago this month, and have added almost 200lbs to my total in a year's time. This overreaching phase has called for working sets with weights I've never even touched before. Some I've even failed before. There is no denying that seeing the numbers on the program can be intimidating. It's also exciting. Powerlifting is a mental battle. Every set, every rep requires focus, execution, and confidence. You must be fully certain that you will be able to get under the bar and do what you need to do. You must know that you are strong enough, that you are good enough. All doubt must go. There is no room for doubt, insecurity, or hesitation on the platform. Sure, there are spotters, but the lift is entirely up to YOU. Your coach can give you good programming and workouts, your friends and family can cheer for you, but you are alone under the bar(and on the platform), and, in that moment, you must KNOW you can do it. And when you do? When you grind out that new PR, the bar is safely back in the rack, and the reality of what you just did sets in, the empowerment is amazing. You are strong, independent, capable of anything. You have conquered the bar, the weight, your own mind. You are all of these things because you believed.
