Powerlifting- Finding the Power Within

"How much cardio are you doing?"

THAT is the number one question I get asked when people hear how much weight I lost. NUMBER ONE. When people ask me about my gym routine they expect me to give them a break down of my cardio routine- and of course cardiovascular training is very important to over all health- but I don't think that it has been the key to my real success (that and of course the REAL key is what happens in the kitchen).

If I could recommend one thing to the women in my life- to women in the gym- to women in general it would be resistance training ie. weight lifting. Now not everyone has to follow the path I am on- power lifting, but there are so many studies that show the real benefits of weight training for women.

Those include things like:
Higher Bone Density
More Toned and Sculpted Body
Increased Physical Strength
Increased feelings of Happiness and Capability

So why Power Lifting? 

Well to be honest I have always loved weight lifting. In high school I had some serious lifting chops and I might have pursued it more raptly if I had been encouraged to. In my mind Strength both in the physical and mental/emotional sense is something to strive towards. My goals, which are highly personalized to me, are to be strong and to look as toned and well muscled as possible. Power lifting has offered me a platform to test my body and my mind in a way that will constantly push me toward my goal and to better general health. The main movements in power lifting are: Bench Press, Squat, and Dead Lift. Any other training or work I do in the gym is directly related to improving these three movements.

Power Lifting VS Weight Lifting

People are often confused by the meaning between these two. Obviously if you are doing power lifting you are lifting weights so why are the different? Weight lifting as a sport uses different movements than power lifting.

Power Lifting uses 3 movements: Bench, Squat, Dead Lift
Weight Lifting uses: Snatch, Clean and Press, Power Cleans

Power lifting and OSFED

If you have read my other posts here you will by now know that I am also working towards recovery from my eating disorder- OSFED (otherwise specified feeding or eating disorder). It can be very challenging to try and fuel your body properly for lifting while also maintaining control over your food intake in a manner that does not trigger unhealthy mental habits.

Most days go well, I have a plan which I could also write a post about, but there are definitely days that don't. Sometimes a whole week will be less than desired- life does get in the way- but I have to keep using the tools I have learned to get back on track and keep lifting.

I don't currently have many stats on my Squat and Bench because I have been focusing on my DL right now, so I have no idea where my 1RM ( one rep max) are...but I should be re-testing those within the next month or so!

So, keep coming back for more day to day style updates on my power lifting journey!