Any girls here into powerlifting/Weightlifting?

2

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    I've been doing Stronglifts for about 4 months now. Just signed up for a meet in May. No coach, just a husband with a bit more faith in me than I have sometimes. :-)

    Feel free to add me as a friend!

    What would you suggest to someone who is interested in competing but doesn't have a coach...or much help at all?

    Search in your area (google or facebook) for a local powerlifting club. They are almost always willing to help a newbie. If you let me know your area, I can TRY to find a club for you.

    I am close to one...but it's 200 bucks a month to train there. I can't afford it. Not even close to being able to.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    navyjen wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    navyjen wrote: »
    I want to be but.... I need someone to teach me and I just don't want to go up to some big dude and the gym and be like hey will you help me out?? So, as I get more adventurous at the gym I am trying new things.

    Go for it! Read one of the beginners programs/books. If you don't understand an exercise, watch a video on bb.com (they have one for everything you can imagine) over and over again before you go in to do it.

    Thanks. I will get a book. And will check out the site. You look great. I can see your hard work is paying off.

    Thanks! That was only accomplished on a calorie deficit. Important to keep as much muscle as you can while you lose fat! Start lifting yesterday.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I've been doing Stronglifts for about 4 months now. Just signed up for a meet in May. No coach, just a husband with a bit more faith in me than I have sometimes. :-)

    Feel free to add me as a friend!

    What would you suggest to someone who is interested in competing but doesn't have a coach...or much help at all?

    Search in your area (google or facebook) for a local powerlifting club. They are almost always willing to help a newbie. If you let me know your area, I can TRY to find a club for you.

    I am close to one...but it's 200 bucks a month to train there. I can't afford it. Not even close to being able to.

    Why not hunt up a couple of competitions, go, observe, and ask a few folks how they do it? A coach is helpful, very, but expensive cause they gotta eat all the whey. Having the support would be excellent, but if you're on a consistent program, know your way around the big three, you should be fine.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I've been doing Stronglifts for about 4 months now. Just signed up for a meet in May. No coach, just a husband with a bit more faith in me than I have sometimes. :-)

    Feel free to add me as a friend!

    What would you suggest to someone who is interested in competing but doesn't have a coach...or much help at all?

    Search in your area (google or facebook) for a local powerlifting club. They are almost always willing to help a newbie. If you let me know your area, I can TRY to find a club for you.

    I am close to one...but it's 200 bucks a month to train there. I can't afford it. Not even close to being able to.

    Why not hunt up a couple of competitions, go, observe, and ask a few folks how they do it? A coach is helpful, very, but expensive cause they gotta eat all the whey. Having the support would be excellent, but if you're on a consistent program, know your way around the big three, you should be fine.

    Yeah! I've looked some up but it seems they're almost never in NYC, unless I'm totally missing something. I'm reluctant to go out of the city because I don't have a car. Maybe I can find one close to a train line.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    There you go.

    There is a ridiculous number of powerlifting orgs, be sure to check them all.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    Go watch a competition, see how its ran and what they do. and there is nothing wrong with walking up to a guy in the gym and asking for help, that's what i did... he name was ummm.... Mark Bell. and he was super helpful and got me in the right direction.
    At competitions most people do have coaches and are with a team they train with. But there are a lot that train themselves and show up by themselves. I'm made the best friends ever at the powerlifting gym.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    edited February 2015
    If you're going to ask a bro for advice.

    That's a good bro to ask.
    47c41f18e6markbell.jpg
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Wow.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    yeah i was a bit awe struck. He added 50 pounds to my deadlift in just a half hour of coaching. Nicest guy ever.
  • Shawshankcan
    Shawshankcan Posts: 900 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    I've been doing Stronglifts for about 4 months now. Just signed up for a meet in May. No coach, just a husband with a bit more faith in me than I have sometimes. :-)

    Feel free to add me as a friend!

    What would you suggest to someone who is interested in competing but doesn't have a coach...or much help at all?

    Search in your area (google or facebook) for a local powerlifting club. They are almost always willing to help a newbie. If you let me know your area, I can TRY to find a club for you.

    I am close to one...but it's 200 bucks a month to train there. I can't afford it. Not even close to being able to.

    There has to be another option that is a stupid price. You can train on your own for a lot, but seek a group for contest prep, even if you have to travel.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I liked the documentary he was in. Interesting.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    my coach charges 100$ a month for 4 times a week, at her gym so there isn't any additional gym membership.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    my coach charges 100$ a month for 4 times a week, at her gym so there isn't any additional gym membership.

    That's amazing.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    Im just getting back into heavy lifting after having my 4th baby 5 months ago.

    Its the only exercise I enjoy, lol.
  • jenny3008 wrote: »
    Deadlift 100kg (1RM)
    Strict Shoulder Press 22kg (1RM)
    Push Shoulder Press 29kg (1RM)
    Back Squat 55kg (1RM)
    Front Squat 30kg (5 x 5) just started doing these still working on technique

    Wow! Your DL is so impressive compared to your squat!!

  • navyjen wrote: »
    I want to be but.... I need someone to teach me and I just don't want to go up to some big dude and the gym and be like hey will you help me out?? So, as I get more adventurous at the gym I am trying new things.

    Is there any staff at the gym?? They would be more than happy to help you. I find at my gym the bigger/stronger guys are more willing to help you! I can always ask for advice or a spot.
  • paj315
    paj315 Posts: 335 Member
    I have competed in powerlifting but wouldn't consider myself a powerlifter. I do compete regularly, for the last year, in strong(wo)man. I enjoy lifting heavy too!
    Those are some good numbers keep it up!

    I've learned the hard way that nutrition is an important part of the equation of getting stronger! Get a handle on that so your diet increases your strength instead of depleting it.
  • 5rm back squat 195; 1rm back squat 215
    5rm bench 105; 1rm bench 115
    5rm deadlift 250; 1 rm deadlift 285
  • arditarose wrote: »
    I've been doing Stronglifts for about 4 months now. Just signed up for a meet in May. No coach, just a husband with a bit more faith in me than I have sometimes. :-)

    Feel free to add me as a friend!

    What would you suggest to someone who is interested in competing but doesn't have a coach...or much help at all?

    Search in your area (google or facebook) for a local powerlifting club. They are almost always willing to help a newbie. If you let me know your area, I can TRY to find a club for you.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/novice-lifters-start-here.html
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    navyjen wrote: »
    I want to be but.... I need someone to teach me and I just don't want to go up to some big dude and the gym and be like hey will you help me out?? So, as I get more adventurous at the gym I am trying new things.

    Go for it! Read one of the beginners programs/books. If you don't understand an exercise, watch a video on bb.com (they have one for everything you can imagine) over and over again before you go in to do it.

    I second reading a book. A book and a lot of Internet reading really helped me. I'm on he Internet daily reading up on tips. I had ZERO confidence in the weight room but now I feel pretty confident and knowledgeable for a beginner and lift 3 times a week
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    terar21 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    navyjen wrote: »
    I want to be but.... I need someone to teach me and I just don't want to go up to some big dude and the gym and be like hey will you help me out?? So, as I get more adventurous at the gym I am trying new things.

    Go for it! Read one of the beginners programs/books. If you don't understand an exercise, watch a video on bb.com (they have one for everything you can imagine) over and over again before you go in to do it.

    I second reading a book. A book and a lot of Internet reading really helped me. I'm on he Internet daily reading up on tips. I had ZERO confidence in the weight room but now I feel pretty confident and knowledgeable for a beginner and lift 3 times a week

    Good for you! Though I tell people to just go for it, I myself had some help from a trainer. She at least got me in the weight room for squatting and dead lifting. I did have to do a lot of research on my own though, especially when I stopped being able to afford her.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    Its possible to read a book, but the benefits of a trainer are way more than just being trained. To make a power lifting workout effective you have to push limits, which means having spotters. Also my trainer judges my working weights based on my effort level, which i couldn't do on my own. She'll adjust my weight to keep me in the right zone for the specific workout we're doing. That's stuff you can't get out of a book, or from friends or regular fitness trainers at the gym.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    Its possible to read a book, but the benefits of a trainer are way more than just being trained. To make a power lifting workout effective you have to push limits, which means having spotters. Also my trainer judges my working weights based on my effort level, which i couldn't do on my own. She'll adjust my weight to keep me in the right zone for the specific workout we're doing. That's stuff you can't get out of a book, or from friends or regular fitness trainers at the gym.

    Couldn't agree more. I read New Rules and watched a lot of YouTube videos, but I got more out of just one session with a trainer.

  • I don't have a trainer, but I go to my university gym. The staff there are all olympic lifters, and compete nationally in the UK, and the majority have training qualifications. I learn a lot from them, and they always give me advice when I ask it, so it's like having a trainer! If i could afford it I totally would!
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    I've been lifting heavy for almost a year. Thanks to eating foods higher in Protien as well as trying new lifts I am starting to see better definition in my upper and lower body. I definetly see the advantages in heavy lifting.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    Its possible to read a book, but the benefits of a trainer are way more than just being trained. To make a power lifting workout effective you have to push limits, which means having spotters. Also my trainer judges my working weights based on my effort level, which i couldn't do on my own. She'll adjust my weight to keep me in the right zone for the specific workout we're doing. That's stuff you can't get out of a book, or from friends or regular fitness trainers at the gym.

    I was inspired, and am going to visit a power lifting gym in Brooklyn tonight. There are a lot of group/private training options. It's painfully expensive but I have a feeling you might be able to pay per training session, and not pay the monthly fee. Either way I will get my foot in the door.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Not a girl (I'm a woman) but yes.

    Me as well.
  • MmmDrop
    MmmDrop Posts: 160 Member
    Back squat - 250lbs
    Front squat - 170lbs.
    Deadlift 265lbs.
    Overhead press - 100lbs
    Bench - 100lbs.

    Working on that upper body. My other pr's used to be a bit higher, but I took 2 months off to travel and decimated my strength. lol

    I started lifting heavy with a trainer (MARSOC recruiter, a friend of my hubby's) 4 days a week the first 4-5 months. I'm on my own now, and lift 5-6 days a week.
  • aprilh203
    aprilh203 Posts: 11 Member
    If you are interested in powerlifting, weightlifting, bodybuilding, crossfit, strongman topics specifically geared towards women, please check out "Belle of the Bar" on facebook. It provides support, guidance and community for those of us in strength sports at all levels, beginner to advanced. A good friend of mine is a moderator for the page and there are several competitive female experts who monitor and post on a regular basis.

    I am currently doing a second cycle of beyond Wendler 531. I have also run some smolov jr bench cycles in the past with good results.

    My stats (all raw):
    DL Actual 1RM - 350lb
    Bench actual1RM - 145lb
    Squat actual 1RM - 265lb