Last weekend was our Rainbow Rumble Push Pull competition, and we packed PPG with powerlifting athletes and spectators in a celebration of strength and Pride! Our athletes ranged from pretty new to very experienced, as young as 14-years-old, and with a variety of motivations for hitting the platform. One of my athletes has been doing personal training with me for over a year now and at the start, she thought the idea of competing seemed pretty remote. It was really exciting to see her tackle something new that had once seemed out of reach. We watched folks hit PRs all day. There was a person taking to the platform for the first time after an injury. There was just an incredible amount of love and support all day.
After a competition, it’s important to give your body a bit of time to recover. Sometimes, you may not feel particularly sore or tired (this applies more after powerlifting than after strongman), but your nervous system can be fatigued. It’s good to give yourself a bit of a gentle return to training even if you feel pretty good.
I also encourage folks to reflect a bit on what went well and what could have gone better. It isn’t worth obsessing over minutiae, but it is helpful to do a little reflection to consider what worked well and anything you might do differently. I had a meet a couple years ago where I got into a crappy headspace part way through the day, and it was helpful to take note of that just to be aware of being able to work on that in the future. It’s also a great time to bask in your accomplishments a bit! You’ve spent months working up to this day and did the thing! That’s awesome and you should congratulate yourself! It’s important in your self reflection to note both things that you did well and opportunities for improvement.
After finishing a competition is a great time to think about what’s next. Do you have other goals you want to work towards? This is a good time to consider whether a different competition is in your future, or if you want to pivot in your goals a bit. At PPG, we often do a goal review with our athletes after a competition to talk through what’s next and make sure we’re all on the same page. This helps ensure a program that is helping you to meet your goals.
We’d like to thank everyone who came out this past Saturday, especially our volunteers who kept everything running smoothly all day! Congratulations to all of the athletes who lifted! It was incredible to see you all lifting, and especially awesome to see the support everyone gave to each other. Happy Pride, y’all!
