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The Mindset of a Powerlifter Part II

The world of powerlifting is a field that is not well known to the general population. Within the wide scope of weight lifting, body building, Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting all fall within the same range in the mind of the general public.  The difficulty this creates is a hybrid of gym goers who in their quest for strength and aesthetic value continue to pass along and pile even higher the misinformation within this field. Executing a program or routine is simply the tools used in becoming a powerlifter. What is equally important or even more crucial is attaining the mindset of what creates a true lifter.

In the previous article, The Mindset of a Powerlifter Part I, I had discussed three ingredients that constitute the mindset of an effective powerlifter. It was established that having a high level of commitment was an essential aspect to seeing strength gain in your program, the importance yet difficulty in remaining focused on your objectives, and how  crucial planning plays in establishing a successful program.

Within this article I will establish the four remaining ingredients to what makes an effective powerlifter. So this being said, the four remaining principles that must be laid to create the mindset of a true powerlifter are as follows:

4.  Analyst

Another crucial element in the mindset of a powerlifter is developing the patience and willingness to analyze Your Own planned program.  Program evaluation and identifying weak points that has caused you to fall short of your planned objectives is quite central. Program analysis is simply to evaluate your training approach by asking yourself a series of questions such as: Are my goals realistic? If your short term goals are to increase your major lift by over 20% – 30% of your present max in six weeks, then you are definitely setting yourself up for failure. Becoming over zealous will become your first enemy if you are not attentive to setting realistic goals.

A secondary conspiring enemy in powerlifting is haphazard training that stems from becoming over zealous. Haphazard training is easily identifiable when one becomes so hyped in powerlifting that you start maxing out on all your lifts on a weekly basis because this is what local gym rats do. This is also known as mindless training. If you are lifting 90% or more of your 1 rep max for 10 or more reps a month, you can expect a diminishing of marginal return on your hard placed effort after the third or fourth week and onward. Lifting above 90% too frequently will burn your central nervous system down to the ground and leave you wondering why you are not getting any stronger.

Every movement being included in your plan should be geared to improving some sort of weakness that you have identified during your lifts. If you get stuck on the chest while benching, wide grip presses maybe an alternative. If you are having difficulties a couple of inches above your chest, some floor or board presses maybe your answer and even rack presses if you need lockout strength when geared.

Other vitals questions to ask yourself while evaluating the effectiveness of your program are

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?

In fact, we should have a solid answer for everything we are doing and be 100% convince on why we are doing it.

Finally, knowing the difference between geared training and raw training is a must to keep from wasting valuable time in your pursuit of pure strength. If you desire to compete in gear then you must train in gear and meets the needs of gear lifting. If you desire to compete raw then train and meet the needs of raw lifting. Simply put, gear needs are focused more on the mid to top end of the lift whereas raw lifting is focused towards the bottom and mid range of motion. So If you were to perform tons of high board presses and experience a high strength gain, you will in no time notice how much weaker you have regressed at the bottom of your lift if you were to compete raw. The same will hold true for the reverse. The faster you learn this lesson, the less time you will waste in getting stronger within the desired “frame-work” in mind.

Training analysis is quite intense and may be a bit tedious if you lack motivation and even more so if you find yourself training on your own. If you want to workout hit the treadmill but if you want to train then pay yourself first and train efficiently. The point here is simple, look at What You are doing, know why you are doing it and how each lifting movement will help attain your short term objective and improve your three major lifts.

5. Creative

On unique characteristic in becoming a powerlifter is to have the courage in becoming creative. If you look around in most commercial gyms you will notice that most equipment is geared towards cardio, general health, toning and body building. Very rare would you find any equipment that caters to Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting or to improve any specific style of sport where speed, strength and explosive power is required. 

When was the last time you walked into a gym and saw more then one power rack, rubber plates, a glute/ham machine, reverse hyper, or even a cambered. yoke or buffalo barbell to meet a variety of lifting needs? In order to improve certain weakness you have to become creative in utilizing certain machines in ways it was never intended to be used and in ways the owner had never even though of. Some examples are using the triceps push downs machine to do pull thrus, using the lat pull machine to do standing abdominal crunches, moving a bench to a power rack to do box squats because there are no boxes or simply doing a floor press at the power rack will get heads turning and looks as though you are crazy. This is not to exclude the utilization of additional resources such as chains, bands, boards and foam in more ways then one.  Simply put, not all machines in a local gym were created to meet all needs.

Becoming creative and having the courage to become creative will be your best resource in meeting your individual need and when you do, realize that you are not alone on this venture. Who do you think came up with the concepts of sled dragging, pushing a prowler, specialized barbells, and utilizing chains, bands, and  boards in more ways then one? Check out Westside Barbell and see the many specialized equipment to meet power lifting needs beyond what can be found in any local gym. The idea here is not allowing the available resources to limit you on what you can and can not do to strengthen your weak areas.

6.  Seeker

As mentioned before, powerlifting is a small realm rarely practiced in local commercial gyms. In the past, the sharing of information, methods and ideas has been most difficult with the exception of the internet and youtube era. What’s more amazing is how they even have a virtual powerlifting competition where you can simply submit a video of you performing the three major lifts and some judge decide on whether it’s a good lift or not and post your results on the net. Regardless of the lack of shared information of the past or the new technology of the present, continuously seeking to improve your lift in more ways then one is a must.

Powerlifters must become seekers if they wish to make continuous progress. They must seek for better methods, new training ideas and methodologies that would help them understand the science aspect of strength gain. What worked well in the past may have been improved with new methods of today. The available information back in the past was only limited to professional lifters at one point or another but due to the internet, the spread of information has been of great abundance. To ignore these new methodologies would be the equivalent of ignoring newly discovered medication for the common flu or bacteria.

Powerlifting is no world for the loner. We all need extra eyes to improve our techniques and see where our weaknesses are while performing lifts at 90% or above from our 1 rep max. Do not confuse your 135 lb squat form to be equivalent to your 315 lb squat form. The fact is, 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 also to challenge us in taking on more weight then we can handle and remain safe thru the whole attempt. I am more then sure people are more then willing to try a 10 to 20 lb increase in their squat had they had someone they trusted spotting them for the “just in case” senerio”. Now try the same weight alone in your basement, maybe but in a public gym where total embarrassment is your reward for failure seems a little too high of a price to pay. Now don’t get me wrong, in powerlifting failed attempt is not only a good thing but almost a requirement once in a while but as a lonesome dove under a barbell above 100% is not a good idea. 

So if you want to push heavier and harder, seek good training partners and get to work but if you just can’t find any, then use the power rack with strong pins and go for the weight. Sometimes this last method maybe more desirable over poor training partners anyway. Someone who is not up to date with technique, training methods, unfocused and seem to talk about everything except training may not be a desirable training partner under any case. You would probably do better with a Video Camera while observing and monitoring yourself doing the three lifts.

7.  Motivated

Finally yet the most important of all ingredients to a becoming a powerlifter is self motivation. No matter how light a load may be, without motivation, even a football field start looking twice its length when walking it on a hot summer day.  If you are not self motivated, I guarantee that once the weight start getting heavier so will your desire be in getting to the gym to push that weight. The fact is, it takes a lot more then 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 seem to double it pull.  Your body will start talking to you and Your Mind will be the first to give you an excuse in why you should not even try to lift a weight that is beyond normal. All sorts of ideas start to play in your mind as to why you are attempting to lift this heavy and begin to question yourself. “Are you making any money from this? You are risking a big hernia man, don’t do it! You have trained hard for the last week or two; you can afford to skip this workout and the next. In fact you should take the next two weeks off and go on vacation”. Having these thoughts maybe normal to some but giving in to them is another story.

If you give in to any of these thoughts, you might as well keep your old gym membership at “Nice & Easy” because that’s how weak you will be and remain.  Powerlifting requires desire, motivation, purpose, guts and lots of just plain craziness. As someone once said, which seem 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”. Give it a thought for a few and before time it will start to make sense but if not, congratulations, you are one of the few that can be classified as plain crazy. But crazy or not, here we come for the love of this game.

So here you have it. The secret ingredients that is far from secret in what it takes in becoming a powerlifter. As you may have noticed, these are the same characteristics that would make anyone successful in any field. I just hope to have encouraged you to attaining the right mindset towards power lifting and have opened your eyes to the behind the scenes of a powerlifter’s mindset. If you can do it, we’ll be waiting.

Can the real powerlifter please stand up?

About the Author

Robert is a school teacher, bass player, powerlifter and a Christian. He has an affection towards 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 towards wrangling as a hired hand in the state of Nevada at the Cottonwood Ranch whenever feasible and towards attaining as many adventurous life experiences as possible.

He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Business Management/Economics with a minor in Puerto Rican studies, a Masters of Science in Bilingual Special Education and holds a School District Administrative license.

“I hope to be a blessing to all who may come across and read my article(s)”

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