Target Audience: young powerlifters
“As you get older, you have more responsibilities; you have more commitment, more events, kids, you’re married now. You still have all the things that you’ve had, plus you keep adding.” – Tom Brady
I have been told as a man we tend to compartmentalize. So to best visualize “balance” I imagine a Venn Diagram with three circles: Relationships (family & friendships), Professional (career & education) and Personal (hobbies, ie powerlifting). Each circle has the weight of equal importance.
Throughout my journey I have found when each circle remains mutually exclusive from one another, but given the same amount of attention, each circle has a higher probability for success. For example, do not date someone from the gym.
Give the same amount of effort into your education as you do your training. Do not bring your work home with you to your family.
Achieve Balance in Your Life and Powerlifting
Maintaining balance is a never-ending juggling act. Sometimes the pendulum needs to swing towards one circle temporarily since the outcome is greater, such as Finals week in school, Fourth of July weekend with the family, or a common example for us powerlifters, before a meet.
Before a meet we become more selfish with training, diet and rest. Once the competition has concluded we return the neglected time from our family, friends and careers.
Some powerlifters are more prepared to sacrifice other aspects of their life in pursuit of their goal. This may be referred to as “tunnel vision.” The documentary, Westside vs. the World, gave us a clear view in what the powerlifters at Westside gave up for larger totals, which partly made their gym so unique.
As Matt Wenning describes, “You’re not going to have a normal job, and you’re barely gonna have enough money to eat and sleep.” Bob Coe gave up his son’s swim meets for bench night because they coincided on Wednesdays. Greg Panora in a social media post listed the social events he skipped for his training, such as weddings, birthdays and holidays.
In other strength and fitness sports Dorian Yates, six-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilding champion, cut himself almost entirely out from the world except to train in an underground gym in Birmingham, England.
Powerlifting and Life
In the 1990’s social media was not present, so no one saw him until the day of the show. Imagine that in today’s world. Mat Fraser, the dominant 5x CrossFit champion, put aside his college education to solely focus on winning the Reebok CrossFit Games.
Are these sacrifices worth it in the sport of powerlifting? In my opinion: no. Life is too short to only chase big numbers. I feel each lifter can still achieve success in each facet in Personal and Professional goals, while maintaining Relationships. It just may take more work. A lot more work.
The juggling act of holding relationships, work, school and powerlifting bears too much responsibility, time and energy for some.
In high school Bill Nichols, a decorated powerlifter, hosted the HS Bench Press competition that I participated in (114lb weight category eek). Before the event he spoke publicly to the kids and parents. He asked, “If you’re torn between studying for an exam, or heading to the gym, what do you choose? YOUR EXAM!”
I remembered his words through my PT school when clinicals and semesters were heavy loaded. I imagined Arnold sitting at a desk studying for a business degree while training for the Mr. Universe contest (from Education of a Bodybuilder). As much as I hated to admit it, not losing any strength or size was the goal sometimes for that semester, especially during clinical rotations. Murdering heavy weights at the gym was not realistic that semester.
On the flip side, I still made time to train while most of my classmates failed to workout at all. Making time, no matter how exhausted, improved my chances for success in powerlifting down the road. Ronnie Coleman, regarded as some as the greatest bodybuilder of all time, broke the mold of bodybuilders living in a bubble. He found a way to be a fulltime Arlington police officer while reigning the Mr. Olympia title. I watched his training DVD’s before every leg and back day in college.
As a physical therapist, the period I feel your Personal time needs to be greater while rehabbing a serious injury. There is a certain window healing takes place before it is closed. Extra concentration should be put into therapy, proper dieting & supplementation, sleep and managing stress.
A big trigger for stress can potentially be relationships, especially if your significant other does not understand your passion for returning to competing. And that is precisely what I sacrificed in my twenties.
While rehabbing my knees for my ACL reconstructions I ended a relationship because I wanted to completely devote my time to work and rehab. Returning to the platform was my top goal. Time cannot be returned once it is taken. Louie Simmons knocked lifters the same way girls come around every twenty minutes.
While pursuing a degree at NIU for PT I was focused on education, work, friendships and training. Post graduation I wanted to make up for lost time dating, so therefore the pendulum shifted back to the Relationship vector.
Improving my personality, image and communication became as important as my approach to lifting a heavy weight. The memories we make in our twenties can last a lifetime. They definitely outweigh a lighter training day, so skipping every holiday or weekend night is something I do not condone.
There have been numerous occasions where I went out on weekend nights to celebrate Black(out) Friday, Halloween, bachelor parties, or simply a Saturday night and struggled in the gym the next day.
The hardest balance act, for me, is not navigating around a career, battling injuries, or starting up an online business. It is balancing family. There is a reason there are not many elite powerlifters in the prime holding down a family. Physically finding time is the toughest part.
In the first few years of my son being born, I navigated around strep throats, the flu, overnights in the hospital for asthma attacks, missed meals, family vacations, doctor appointments, etc. A time I did not listen to my advice and mixed Relationships with Personal is during APF Senior Nationals.
It landed on Father’s Day in Florida. I bombed on bench, and could not be happier to leave that fucking venue. One of the most peaked comps I was ever prepared for was 2021 Perform Storm in FL. Three weeks from the meet my son’s Kindergarten graduation was announced: for the same day. That hurt.
I am far from a relationship expert, so what I can say is it takes a village to raise a child, and a strong spouse to support your powerlifing goals. I have observed a lot of good lifters leave because of family, and return when it dissolves. It is sad but reality.
And now that I have explained why you should not mix any of the three circles together, for the first time my intent is to combine my Professional background in physical therapy with my Personal love for powerlifting. My aim is to connect the powerlifting community, educate someone going through a serious injury and be a mentor for people looking to build strength into their life.
