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by Nicola Paviglianiti “Are you actually a man?” “Can I see your calluses? Can you flex for me?” “Would you win if we wrestled?” “Are you strong enough to make a grown man feel like a child?” “Be careful sweetheart! Are you sure you can lift that?” Little do they know I am still working with my warmup weights…. “It’s not normal for a girl to bench with the blue plates..” Referring to the 20kg’s I am about to lift. For reps. “…Would you consider bearing my children? You're very strong!” *** These are just a few of the countless...

by Mark Wasson Humility is defined as a modest or low view of one's own importance. To me, I personally define humility as an understanding there is always room for improvement and to never think something is good enough. #neversatisfiedteam Personally, I enjoy training more than competing. This is evident by my usual 4 for 9 or 5 for 9, if I'm lucky, attempt days at a meet. I often leave my best attempts in the gym rather than on the platform, and I've come to accept that, aiming for around 95% of my best gym lifts on meet day....

by Clifton Pho What? How can injuries possibly be a good thing? Disclaimer: Obviously injuries are not inherently good, but there is a bright side. Context is key. I used to feel depressed and defeated when an injury would prevent me from training properly. I used to think that it'd be the end of the world. My dreams and goals are crushed in an instant, I can't even squat let alone walk without pain. How can I even compete in the coming weeks? Injuries are a way for the body to tell you something very important. Something is amiss and...

by Joanna Rieber   One of my lowest moments in powerlifting came at me by surprise in June of 2016 at IPF Classic Worlds in Killeen Texas. I ‘bombed out’ on bench – my strongest lift. I had medaled at IPF Classic Worlds the year before with the very same weight that failed me three times that day. There was no really good explanation for the question that everyone kept asking – what had happened? Honestly, I may have felt markedly better about the whole thing had I had a really great explanation – injury, hard weight cut, illness –...

by Maria Htee Valuable lessons from Failing! Many of you who have been following my powerlifting journey know what happened at IPF Worlds 2016. It is impossible to compete without failure at something, unless you compete so cautiously that you might as well not compete at all. In which case you fail by not trying your best effort. Why talk about my failure? It hurt so much to fail at that level but it was also good to learn from it and move on like it never happened. I have failed and got knocked down many times in life, and...