here to you mr and mrs power lifter

[schultz1]

This is just a hats off to all power lifters. I have been back in my old pl gym for a few months now, while in there tonivjt I witness a guy busting his ass to get his suit on wrap knees mentallty prepare for the lift etc. I forgot what a grind it is just to get ready to lift. Hats off to those of you who put in the time and effort. I know I couldnt do it anymore. This applies to strong men and women as well. Get it.

 

[Rottenrogue]

I'm in it till I can't anymore. We all lift for different reasons I respect everyone of them.

 

[BrotherIron]

Most have no idea. The intense pain from having their knees wrapped. The wrapper is breaking a sweat like he ran a 10K just to wrap your knees. The point from where it goes from numb to extreme pain while you're being wrapped. Going to that place in your mind where you forget about the wraps and completely focus on the task at hand. Being helped up, tighten your belt, chalk your hands, tighten your wrist wraps, and get under the bar. Pull yourself under and prepare to take the weight for a ride. Unracking that bar and letting it settle before you go down and up with it. Feeling that intense rush from completing that lift, your heart races b/c you want to do it again or better yet... you want more on the bar.

Most couldn't stand being wrapped like that let alone wearing the wrap. Nor could they take cranking their belt tight enough. It takes a very special person....someone whose both sadistic and masochistic to really love this sport.

 

[BrotherIron]

I'm in it till I can't anymore. We all lift for different reasons I respect everyone of them.

I'm going to keep doing this till they throw dirt on top of me.

 

[pepino]

WOW Brother Iron!
You nailed it.
You really nailed it.

 

[any1uno]

I use to come home with bruises around the back of my knees and around my arm pits from the suit and wraps. It's an amazing feeling but more so after a good lift and time to take the wraps loose and my straps down so I could breath till the next attempt. Having that dang bench shirt on trying to get my shoulders in a comfortable position between attempts! Yes..I'm addicted to the sport. Although, sadly..haven't competed in quite sometime but am planning on doing so again in the not so distant future. ( I miss competing!)

 

[porky little keg]

Well said, man. It takes a special kind of person to enjoy all of this! LOL

It only gets better when you add a shirt or suit to the mix.

My favorite moment of clarity - showing me how far removed from normal we are - came when my wife and I went to the hospital after she had hit her head while cleaning.
The doctor saw the marks on my wife's arms from her bench shirt and asked me to leave the room for a minute. I come back in to my wife and the doctor watching YouTube videos of her training. I guess after a few minutes of the doctor asking her if she feels safe at home - assuming that I was leaving those marks on her - my wife just showed her the videos so the doc would understand how they got there and lay off..... LOL

 

[ChrisLindsay9]

I try to come up with different explanations or analogies for why I have come to love powerlifting. Sometimes they sound cliché, and other times they come across as bizarre or strange. But it's really this....

Unracking that bar and letting it settle before you go down and up with it. Feeling that intense rush from completing that lift, your heart races b/c you want to do it again or better yet... you want more on the bar.

I feel a part of this when I train, and then more of this when I've got eyes on me at the gym as I go for PR of some sort, and I feel all of this when I compete.

I wish I had discovered this sooner in my life.

And I lament all those who will never try it, some of whom probably have the work ethic, money and time opportunities, and genetics to really love doing it and be pretty good at it.

 

[Go Away]

Great thread. Made me wanna go back to the gym and squat!

 

[Usealittle]

If you are in it or ever where in it and been takin away from it for any reason you want to get back to it... I was gone from lifting for along time and now that I'm back I'm the gym seeing all the guys iv trained and guys I used to lift with getting stronger and stronger makes me feel the rush again.

So last wk after seeing the guys hittin it 2day later I went in and DL a ugly 600lbs at about 230-235... No bad for me.


But yes once you love it and are in it the feeling never really goes away.

 

[IronSoul]

I've never been around it much or knew much about it until becoming a member here and talking with so many of you. I take up for the PL crowd whenever I hear people talk shit. After realizing what it really is and what goes into it, I really understood and respected it. I respect the hell outta all you guys and gals. An as everyone said, BI you nailed it. Thanks for such a detailed description. It really painted a scene in my mind.

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

I love all aspects of it.


The training focus as you steadily progress towards the meet that is circled on your calender

Walking away from each session amazed with what you have lifted, and trusting in your ability that in a months time there will be even more iron on the bar

That you are becoming both the physical and mental embodiment of strength

Doing what you viewed as impossible when you started out is now what you do week in, week out


It never gets old, boring or repetitive and nobody ever does PL'ing because they have to... we are all just special type of lifter that desires something more than just a gym and its' weights.