I got a gold medal for Powerlifting in the weekend! Not quite real gold, and I've gotta admit that I was the only one competing in my class, but it was a medal and I am chuffed.
I wrote a few weeks ago about my goal of getting stronger by getting more sleep. I'm pleased to report that I have been managing 7 or more hours of sleep almost every night. As predicted, it means I'm not staying up late blogging. This is why this write up comes a few days after the competition on Saturday.
Give my What is Powerlifting post a look-see if you need to brush up on your sport-specific knowledge before reading about what may seem an odd way to choose to spend my ANZAC Day.
I wrote a few weeks ago about my goal of getting stronger by getting more sleep. I'm pleased to report that I have been managing 7 or more hours of sleep almost every night. As predicted, it means I'm not staying up late blogging. This is why this write up comes a few days after the competition on Saturday.
Give my What is Powerlifting post a look-see if you need to brush up on your sport-specific knowledge before reading about what may seem an odd way to choose to spend my ANZAC Day.
Setting up for the deadlift.
Prep and Rego
It was a warm, windy morning in Dunedin on the Saturday of the competition. I met my buddy Mel for a short black before weigh-in at a cafe near the Fryatt St gym and talked hopes and dreams about powerlifting, as you do.
At weigh-in Mel managed with the help of some club members to borrow a soft-suit for lifting. The rules are that you need a lifting suit - a onesie, a unitard, a lifting singlet, a wrestling outfit - to compete in powerlifting. The requirements are usually slackened off for novice competitions but this was the Provincial Champs and Mel had only just found out that she needed one to compete in. It was pretty tight and somewhat short but Mel is brave and it's reassuring that everyone else was wearing them. I still had my suit from when I competed at the Olympic Weightlifting Nationals a couple of years ago. At the time they were very hard to source and I had mine made by a local gymnastics leotard maker.
At weigh-in Mel managed with the help of some club members to borrow a soft-suit for lifting. The rules are that you need a lifting suit - a onesie, a unitard, a lifting singlet, a wrestling outfit - to compete in powerlifting. The requirements are usually slackened off for novice competitions but this was the Provincial Champs and Mel had only just found out that she needed one to compete in. It was pretty tight and somewhat short but Mel is brave and it's reassuring that everyone else was wearing them. I still had my suit from when I competed at the Olympic Weightlifting Nationals a couple of years ago. At the time they were very hard to source and I had mine made by a local gymnastics leotard maker.
The Otago Amateur Weightlifting Clubrooms at Fryatt St in Dunedin. It's down by the harbour in among other neglected industrial buildings. It has a spooky, dingy look to it but be assured, there's a lot of love inside.
We left for breakfast at Capers on George St (eggs, bacon, beans and mushrooms, excellent weightlifter breakfast) in the two hours between weigh-in and lifting, then back to start warming up.
Sylvia preps her squat in the warm up area
Check out Sylvia's outfit as she warms up her squat in the photo above. She's the club secretary, the gets-things-done-person and the one who has been answering my questions about competing. She also holds all the NZ powerlifting records in the Women's Under 63kg Masters III (age 60-69) category. I would like to be like Sylvia when I grow up.
The gym with audience, lifters, judges, spotters/loaders and the squat rack all set up.
Event One: Squat
In the photo above you can see how the gym is arranged for a powerlifting competition. Even in larger venues the arrangement will be basically the same, although often the lifters are in another room to the back or the side of the lifting platform.
The audience is at left. There were a few rows more of people than you can see here. The lifting part of the event went from 1pm right through until about 7pm so the audience drifted in and out as they were supporting their mates. Everyone is careful to be quiet and not to walk in front of the stage while a lifter is on.
At the middle back of the photo are the lifters. They're warmed up and waiting their turn. The lifters go on in order of what weights they're attempting, with the weights getting heavier until the last lifter has had their first attempt. It starts again with the first lifter's second attempt, and goes up through the weights again until the last lifter has had their third attempt. Then they have a break and warm up for the next event, in this case the bench press, while the other group of lifters, called a "flight" has their turn on the platform.
The guys in blue teeshirts on the platform are the loaders and spotters. The load up the weights as directed by the people on the desk, which in this case is out of the photo to the right. The plates are loaded onto the bar which is in the blue squat rack. It's set to a specific height for each lifter, measured at weigh-in. For the heavier squat attempts, the lifter and bar is surrounded by five spotters who's job it is to help with unracking and racking the bar before and after a squat, and to shadow the lifters movements, ready to catch the weight if the lifters fail. The lighter squat attempts have three spotters.
The guy sitting by himself in the middle is the head referee. There are two other referees, one on each side of the platform, who carefully watch each lift and have certain things to watch out for to call a lift good or not. A good lift gets a white flag or a white light, a bad lift gets red. A lift needs at least two white lights to get the lift counted.
The audience is at left. There were a few rows more of people than you can see here. The lifting part of the event went from 1pm right through until about 7pm so the audience drifted in and out as they were supporting their mates. Everyone is careful to be quiet and not to walk in front of the stage while a lifter is on.
At the middle back of the photo are the lifters. They're warmed up and waiting their turn. The lifters go on in order of what weights they're attempting, with the weights getting heavier until the last lifter has had their first attempt. It starts again with the first lifter's second attempt, and goes up through the weights again until the last lifter has had their third attempt. Then they have a break and warm up for the next event, in this case the bench press, while the other group of lifters, called a "flight" has their turn on the platform.
The guys in blue teeshirts on the platform are the loaders and spotters. The load up the weights as directed by the people on the desk, which in this case is out of the photo to the right. The plates are loaded onto the bar which is in the blue squat rack. It's set to a specific height for each lifter, measured at weigh-in. For the heavier squat attempts, the lifter and bar is surrounded by five spotters who's job it is to help with unracking and racking the bar before and after a squat, and to shadow the lifters movements, ready to catch the weight if the lifters fail. The lighter squat attempts have three spotters.
The guy sitting by himself in the middle is the head referee. There are two other referees, one on each side of the platform, who carefully watch each lift and have certain things to watch out for to call a lift good or not. A good lift gets a white flag or a white light, a bad lift gets red. A lift needs at least two white lights to get the lift counted.
My best squat. If you want dignified expressions, you're reading about the wrong sport. Go find a poker blog.
For months before this event I had been bothered by a mild pain in my hip and absolutely no progress, even some regression, of my squat capability. Recently my physio and I had tracked the pain down to a niggly little tight spot and I had been doing my best to fix it for the last few weeks. I knew I had improved significantly and I was looking forward to testing out my squat. Boom! 112.5kg. That's 5kg more than my previous best.
Event Two: Bench
Mel on the bench.
My buddy Mel is the best. She got into powerlifting because I'm doing it. After her first event last month she officially joined the Southern Provincial and National Powerlifting body so she can come lift with me in this comp, the South Islands and maybe beyond! What a friend. It was great having her there so we could look after each other. We can remind each other of our cues, look after each other's gear, be encouraging and motivating and generally what a coach does for their lifters on competition day. Mel is incredibly fit and strong at CrossFit too. She's making a good powerlifter.
Mel did brilliantly with a best of 60kg on the bench press, considering she's very new at it. I got 65kg up fine, 67.5kg felt really heavy, then barely moved 70kg before failing. I was hoping for the 70kg but looks like we'll save that for next time.
Mel did brilliantly with a best of 60kg on the bench press, considering she's very new at it. I got 65kg up fine, 67.5kg felt really heavy, then barely moved 70kg before failing. I was hoping for the 70kg but looks like we'll save that for next time.
Event Three: Deadlift
Ryan deadlifts 135kg successfully. You can see behind him the people at the desk, doing a stellar job of keeping track of everything.
Deadlifting in the picture above is Ryan Stewart, a Special Olympic Athlete and a really neat guy. I had met him before at other lifting events and I've been enjoying getting to know him. Ryan and some other Special Olympians were competing in the Provincials too, on exactly the same terms as the rest of us. Ryan holds the current U54kg South Island Open Men's Deadlift record at 140kgs. He made 135kg on Saturday, I hope to see him at the South Islands in five weeks time.
My deadlifting didn't go so well but was a good learning experience. I warmed up to 140kg, then got a good first attempt at 150kg. I was red flagged twice for my second and third attempts at 155kg for faults at the finish of the lift - I was hitching the bar up to get to full extension, leaving my knees not quite straight. I asked a referee about it after, and he said I am standing up too soon and need to keep my upper body over the bar for longer.
This makes perfect sense. In training, when I'm doing sets and reps at, for example 5x5 at 135kgs, I was wondering why for the last reps the finish was so difficult and I was having to jerk the bar up with my arms. The skin on my thighs was getting sore from dragging the bar up, which shouldn't have been happening. Now I know why! I'm really such a noob at this and have so much to learn.
My deadlifting didn't go so well but was a good learning experience. I warmed up to 140kg, then got a good first attempt at 150kg. I was red flagged twice for my second and third attempts at 155kg for faults at the finish of the lift - I was hitching the bar up to get to full extension, leaving my knees not quite straight. I asked a referee about it after, and he said I am standing up too soon and need to keep my upper body over the bar for longer.
This makes perfect sense. In training, when I'm doing sets and reps at, for example 5x5 at 135kgs, I was wondering why for the last reps the finish was so difficult and I was having to jerk the bar up with my arms. The skin on my thighs was getting sore from dragging the bar up, which shouldn't have been happening. Now I know why! I'm really such a noob at this and have so much to learn.
Libby successfully picks up 95kg.
I got to meet so many amazing people at the lift. Here is one of them, Libby Angus, usually known as figure compeditor. I knew who she was already because I've been following the gym she trains at, Full Spectrum Training Facility. Even though this was her first powerlifting competition, she lifted like a boss and easily qualified for Nationals. Good to see all that bodybuilder strength put to use in her off-season!
Medals!
Mel and I got medals! Much excite.
When the lifting was finally over (it's a looooong afternoon) there was a medal presentation. There's Mel and I with our medals in the photo above. I don't think I've gotten a medal ever before! Mel qualified for South Islands and I totalled 330kg, plenty enough for Nationals. We all went out for dinner and the club AGM at an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant. They may rue the day when they let weightlifters eat all they can eat.
The next day I took the long road home, a gorgeous scenic drive through Middlemarch and the Maniototo. Will put photos up of that later.
Next sports event on my schedule is the Bad As Women's Weightlifting Competition at MaD CrossFit in Wellington in a month's time. Mel is coming too and we're meeting another friend from Rotorua. Can't wait!
The next day I took the long road home, a gorgeous scenic drive through Middlemarch and the Maniototo. Will put photos up of that later.
Next sports event on my schedule is the Bad As Women's Weightlifting Competition at MaD CrossFit in Wellington in a month's time. Mel is coming too and we're meeting another friend from Rotorua. Can't wait!
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