I personally haven’t competed for sometime now and I'm really wanting to get back on the platform, but as I’m contemplating when I will be able to compete again, It got me thinking. It got me thinking about the positives and negatives of competing. I should clarify when I say competing, I mean competing in powerlifting exclusively.
I'm going to start off with the cons of competing in powerlifting. The first one that comes to mind is of course injury that just comes with the territory of training specifically when it comes to doing it for a length of time. With this con you really don't need to compete to be faced with an injury, be that major or minor. Of course when you compete, you're most likely going to go through a peaking phase and that brings an intensity to the table that can be taxing on your body. High intensity lifting can be the culprit to muscular/tendon strains, ligament sprains, vertebral shit, etc. When being on the platform one may tend to push themselves harder than they have in training, which can lead to injury depending on how far the athlete overreaches. Another con of powerlifting can be comparison to others and with that, one may see themselves having discouraging thoughts that kills their motivation to do any further competitions or to keep training powerlifting in its entirety. Now this is really up to the individual on where they start strength wise and how they take witnessing individuals stronger than them, especially in the same weight class. One final con I can think of is price. Powerlifting can be pricey, not as much as say hockey, that shit is expensive, but it can be pricey, especially when it comes to the cost of gear, travel, and the cost of the competition itself. Some people may even pay for coaching that depending on the coach can also be pricey and sometimes not even worth it.
Now onto the pros of competing! The first one is having something to train for and if you're anything like me, having something to train for is very helpful. When I first started lifting, I was just writing what I did down in a journal and would progress different exercises and just keep on doing that with no landmark goal. This bugged me and being a person who likes structure and control along with progress, I wanted a framework of programming that took me somewhere. Having something to just train for also gives training a purpose beyond its obvious health benefits too. Another pro takes the con of comparing yourself to others that you may compete against and gives it a positive spin. When you see someone doing better there is two responses, one being “fuck, these people are strong and Im not” or “fuck, these people are strong and I cant wait to be that strong”, so the motivation that can come from the exposure is pretty beneficial in my opinion, depending how you take it. If you’re part of a team going into a competition, that can always be a nice buffer and help with the prevention of negative comparison with having their support. One final pro I can think of is purpose, which sounds dramatic, but when competing you have the chance of showcasing hard work and can walk away with some accolades. It gives someone who may have been competitive with either team or individual sports in the past another competitive outlet. Others who may have never really had an outlet like that in the past can really blossom with the incorporation of a competitive sport, especially one that is dependent on them and them solely.
What I suggest, with listing these pros and cons out, is that you try it out. With previously competitive people who no longer compete in their previous sport, this can be a great alternative that keeps that competitive flame going and with that population, comparison related issues may be something that they have already addressed or have never had issues with. For competitive newbies, this can be something that makes them more adherent to the gym then what they were previously or can just make them more interesting at parties.
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