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Powerlifting and weight loss [Article]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Oct 31, 2019 9:30:00 AM

Powerlifting and weight loss

Powerlifting and weight loss

 
Losing weight is a result of your dietary choices first and exercise regimen second. If weight loss is the main goal go with cardio instead of powerlifting for best results. 
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What is your why 

 
Before we go into the details of powerlifting and weight loss, let me ask you a couple of questions: 
 
  • Why do you want to lose weight? 
  • Why do you want to change your body? 
  • What happens when you do? 
  • What happens if you don’t? 
 
These questions will have an impact on your success and failure. Research shows that people who write down their goals and reflect on them are more likely to achieve them. When was the last time you did this? Can you even remember? If not, you might want to get out a pen and paper and start. Many people go about their lives like this: 
 
  • What Do I want 
  • How do I get it 
  • Why do I want it 
 
This is a good way to get confused and stuck. What you want changes hundreds of times a day based on who you are with, what you do and where you are. Making this the center of attention will scatter the time between too many projects and spread your resources thin. The result will be frustration and exhaustion. Something interesting happens when you flip the running order of these questions on their head: 
 
  • Why do you want something 
  • How do you get it 
  • What needs to be done 
 
This way your innermost desires and long term goals will get the main attention, not the chocolate right in front of you or the next cool gadget. Your thoughts and actions will become more connected and success will follow. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's TED talk on the golden circle will change your life. 
 
It all starts with forming better habits and rituals which are geared towards your goals. The most impactful change I made was to keep a self journal. Since then my marriage and salary have improved significantly. You can check it out via this link. 
 

What is your goal

 
When you want to reach your goals clarity is of the utmost importance. When you want to powerlift and lose weight it is very likely that there is a lack of clarity, especially when you are a beginner. 
 
When you want to lose weight, focus on losing weight and forget about the powerlifting. Losing weight is mainly about your diet. If you do everything the same way and just stop eating, you will lose weight. Rather than focusing on exercising and diet, focus fully on diet to improve your habits there. For example: 
 
  • Know how many calories you are allowed to lose weight
  • Count your calories 
  • Start cooking 
  • Make shopping lists 
  • Write a cooking plan 
  • Do your weekly meal preparation on the weekend 
 
Those things are already a big change to your daily routine. Having to go to the gym while implementing them will just unnecessarily complicate things. 
 
If your goal is to be strong, diet becomes a lot less important. In fact, the bigger you are, the stronger you will be. That is why strongman competitors are huge. Same goes for Shotputters and hammer throwers. For powerlifting your main focus will be on:
 
  • Getting to the gym 
  • Training hard 
  • Take care of your hunger 
  • Honing your technique 
  • Increasing the weight on the bar 
 
Diet only becomes more relevant when you want to compete. Usually, you just get the water out of your system to drop a weight class for better chances of winning.
 

Powerlifting 

 
Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your total consists of three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, squat, and deadlift. For each lift, you get three attempts. The best attempt for each lift will be counted towards your total. Based on your total you will be ranked against your competitors.
 
The big difference to lifting in the gym is that you will get judged by referees. Three officials will observe your attempts from different angles. They decide whether the lift has been performed according to the standards of the federation you are competing in. You need two out of three judges to agree for your lift to count. It is mandatory to have one qualifying attempt for each lift, otherwise, you will be disqualified. 
 
Your total usually splits into 40/40/20. The squat and deadlift contribute 40% each while the bench press adds 20%. This may vary per individual, age and gender. It is still a good outline and shows that powerlifting really is the sport of strong legs. 
 
Diet plays a role in powerlifting to make your weight class. You can also work on your performance by going one weight class down and go an extreme cut. However, this area is for competitors and elite athletes. For the average joe, powerlifting is not really the magic gate to weight loss. Cardio will usually yield better results. 
 

Weight loss 

 
If weight loss is your main goal you have to turn to track your diet. Know your current weight, what you want to achieve and how much time you will let pass until reaching it. 
 
Weight, however, is quite an arbitrary way to measure what you actually want. Wanting to lose weight is usually an expression of being unhealthy or feeling unattractive. 
 
In terms of unhealthy, we are talking about too much weight for your height. Here it is important to make changes which will stick so you don’t get back to the old weight. Depriving yourself of entire food groups is usually not sustainable. It is preferable to work with portion control. 
 
If you want to lose weight because you feel unattractive you might want to have a look at your perception of yourself and the standards you stress about. If you want that shredded beach look, be aware that it is usually not sustainable all year around. 
 

Powerlifting and weight loss

 
Weight loss is mainly driven by your dietary choices. Powerlifting is a sport that generally promotes consuming more than less food. A bigger individual usually lifts more. 

Topics: Powerlifting, Diet