blog
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for being here.
I like to write a lot. Mostly about powerlifting, strength training, body image + women in sport. They’re kinda my things.
If you ever have questions or want to learn more, please reach out. I would love to hear from you.
Billie x
Average Days Happen On Average.
Nerves and anxiety on competition day are entirely normal. Wanting to PB your total on the platform — also entirely normal. While heading in to a competition with big goals and dreams and plenty of nerves to accompany those are almost entirely universal experiences, our ability manage and channel those emotions vary a stack. It can be the difference between a stellar performance and shitting the bed.
I talk about competition day psychology with my team a lot. And while each lifter experiences competition day differently and comes to sporting competition with their own lived experiences, many of the challenges they experience are much the same. Many I have lived before too.
Why I Compete in Powerlifting.
This year will be my eighth year competing in powerlifting. Eight years of this niche sport. I’m not elite, I don’t get paid, I compete entirely recreationally. And still, I see so much value in pouring a stack of my time, effort and energy in to participating. I derive a huge amount of enjoyment and fulfilment from powerlifting, which has only increased over my years of involvement.
So here are four reasons why I still compete in powerlifting after all these years (and admittedly after numerous claims of retirement).
Persevering in Powerlifting & Navigating Low Motivation
I’ll be the first person to tell you that my love for lifting has been tested at times; that showing up has gotten hard, many times over. But even so, I have consistently resistance trained for over ten years now. A few breaks for travel, but otherwise 3-4 days per week for the last ten years.
I’ve not always trained extremely hard, I’ve not always trained for a heap of hours at a time, and lifting has not always been overly salient in my life, but I’ve always showed up. And because of that fact I have continued to improve — improve my skill, improve my strength and improve my toughness in persevering through those harder periods.
There are a few tools, strategies and trains of thought that I’ve adopted over the years to stop me from losing my mind when I feel like I’m falling out of love with lifting. Right now I’m feeling pretty disenchanted with training. That’s been the case for a few months now. But never do I catastrophise and think that my powerlifting career is coming to an end; and never do I throw in the towel and stop training altogether. Here is what helps me with that.
Post-Competition Reflection
Despite that fact that I compete in powerlifting very recreationally, I do take my preparation and performance quite (very) seriously. I really love powerlifting as an avenue of self improvement. While the objective goal is more weight on the bar, to me the more meaningful goal is becoming a better person in the pursuit of that — and that comes from self reflection and holding myself to a consistently high standard.
After each comp, I send my coach a debrief on everything I thought I did well, could do better, what went well, ideas I have, things I want to do for fun, etc. It’s positive for me personally in getting some closure on the day and identifying areas and means for improvement, but it also gives coachy guidance too. He knows where I want to go, what I’m willing and not willing to do to get there and demonstrates that I want to collaborate with him.
In this article I share here how I personally reflect on my competition preparation and performance in the hope that it may prompt some thought in you on how to get more out of your training and competition experiences.
Powerlifting - More Than Just Lifting Heavy Things?
Last Sunday, I competed in a powerlifting competition. It was the first time in a long time [over two years] for me. A whole bunch of my team came to watch which was incredibly beautiful. It was the first competition they had been to. When they rolled in the door for training on Monday morning, their energy was absolutely phenomenal. They had so many questions about the rules, the timer, why the lifters did certain things and so on. They were amped. But one comment really stuck with me.
“What a world! The competition really made me feel like I’m part of something. I can see my training becoming more of a hobby now.”
Fucking YES! That is exactly why I do it and exactly why I’m elated by the opportunity to rope everyone in that I can.
Training (or rather, exercising) in our culture is so often just seen as a reluctant but necessary means for weight loss or maintenance and oddly to a lesser extent, health. And with that comes the comments of “why are you here [at the gym]? You’re already in great shape” and associated dare I say, ignorance. But what if training was so much more than that — a means of self development, a personal challenge, a hobby, a place for social connection and self expression.