Maybe Powerlifting Isn’t for You
I’d love to tell you that powerlifting is for everyone. I’ve spent my life in powerlifting—competing, coaching, and running a gym. If powerlifting were for everyone, it would make my job a hell of a lot easier. The truth is, while powerlifting is an incredible sport, it’s not for everyone.
Powerlifting requires patience and resilience
Powerlifting requires more than showing up to get hyped and hit one big lift—it demands patience, resilience, and an appreciation for the long game. Strength takes time to build. Unlike other fitness trends promising “six-pack abs in six weeks,” powerlifting requires months, even years, of dedicated training to see significant progress. You must embrace delayed gratification—the ability to put in the work now for results that may not come for months. If you’re not ready to commit to the process without immediate payoff, powerlifting may not be for you.
Expect setbacks and challenges along the way
If you're looking for overnight results or expect progress to be smooth and linear, you’re simply not going to last. You might see some newbie gains—and if you’re working with one of our coaches, I can guarantee you will (shameless self-promo). However, if you’re in the game long enough, you’ll face your fair share of challenges and setbacks, as is the case with any athletic endeavor.
Powerlifting is objective and unforgiving
Powerlifting is significantly more objective than other sports. There’s no one else to blame when progress stalls. There’s no “I just didn’t get the ball enough” like in football or “bad stylistic match-up” like in martial arts. No, powerlifting is much more unforgiving than that. You have a coach and a training program, sure, but a good athlete-coach relationship allows for constant evolution and communication. And yet, even the best lifters will see their progress stall at some point. The powerlifting journey is as simple as it is frustrating. It’s you and the bar.
Gains aren’t always linear: accept plateaus
Gains don’t come at a steady rate. You’ll have periods of rapid progress followed by frustrating plateaus. Whether it’s genetics, injuries, diet, sleep, or any number of external factors causing your progress to stall, it simply won’t be all sunshine and rainbows. Setbacks are inevitable—you will have bad training days, you will miss lifts, and you may even regress at times. If you expect every session to be better than the last, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can figure out how to learn and grow from it.
Perseverance is key to success
If you’re someone who can’t handle failure, who can’t bounce back from setbacks, who doesn’t see the beauty and strength in the perseverance required for this sport… it might not be for you. And that’s okay. You can still lift, compete, have a blast, and build lifelong friendships in the gym! You just have to understand and accept where you’re at. Either you learn not to put so much of your self-worth into the daily ups and downs, or you learn to sit back, enjoy the ride, and set your sights on the long game.
The long-game wins will feel better than the immediate ones
The PR you worked years for after hitting PRs every session your first few years in the game. The national meet you finally qualified for after missing your total time and time again. The post-injury PR that took you a year to reclaim. These long-game wins will feel better than the immediate ones ever could.
If these big wins sound like what you’re after, powerlifting probably is for you. You’ll likely have a long and fulfilling career in the sport. Of course, we’d love to be a part of it, but I wish you the best of luck regardless.
Powerlifting is about consistency, not overnight success
Hang in there and keep grinding. Keep persevering. Keep overcoming. The hardest-fought battles will be the most rewarding.
Powerlifting isn’t about overnight success. It’s about showing up, day in and day out, regardless of short-term results. If that resonates with you, then maybe powerlifting is for you after all.
