Put up or shut up....

Article reading

I read an article today by a professional powerlifter who has recently disappeared from the scene of powerlifting. I have a very bad opinion of her for so many reasons, and it has gone so far that I was banned from outlaw powerlifting (boooo hoooo) but still, a Strongwoman I follow tagged her and it all linked back to the her blog. In May of 2011 she wrote that women are going from the cooking for the hubs and cleaning/taking care of family variety to the lifting/strong type. I disagree. I do both. Candace Pupulo, Stephanie Rodgers, Jill Mills and Nicholle Gregg all do what I do. We cook for our family, we lift, we hold records, we do dishes, laundry, clean, change diapers, study lifting techniques and read about them, help and support other lifters, diet, grocery shop, run errands,  scrub the house clean and somehow manage to take care of our husbands and hold a job! So PP is gonna show the world how she can change that idea... Good luck with that, like Miranda Lambert says "I can do it all with a baby on my hip".

I would like to continue on by saying not ONLY do I do it with a baby on my hip, but I loooooove doing it, I mean sure, there are days when Michael ticks me off (usually low carb days) by not rinsing her dipes or disagreeing with me disagreeing with his training program, but in total, I love my life. I do enjoy having dinner ready for the husband when he gets home, or having his clothes set out. I also love that my daughter listens when we tell her it is time for bed or that she has never had a diaper rash (or even that she is with us!!!) BUT I also love the 90 minute alone time with the gym... They all make me who I am and always wanted to be. I mean, we do not have the best of it all material wise, but we get by and are super thankful for all of our friends and family. I would trade being at the top of pl for my family in a heartbeat because honestly, I am no one without them. I did this sport single and motherless for two years and my gains back have been so much more positive and stronger vs being single. Now do not get me wrong, there is not a damn thing wrong with single, but I think your spouse/life partner/gf/bf  whatever should lift or at least run (gag!) and if you are single and hollerin' it should not be in a bar.  Honesty and respect should lead a relationship be it in public,  in the home or with the weight on the bar. My conclusion on this small ramble is this... There is nothing wrong with being a wife and mommy first and a lifter second, but the gym should never overtake your family because...

POWERLIFTING IS NOT A SPORT THAT REMEMBERS ANYONE.

Do you know Becca Swanson?  What were her last numbers? Shawn Frankl?
Sam Byrd? (for the record all of these lifters either have taken a break and focused on family or job or some other sport but still train). Powerlifting  is not a sport that remembers anyone except maybe Louie, Mark Bell and Laura (and people still do not know Laura's name!!) and honestly most people do not even know what a powerlifter is. I am curious what makes people think they are gonna be famous off of pl? Because you hold all the state and junior and teen angst records? No. Because you run a lifting program (this does not apply to Louie or Chad Smith obviously)? No. Because you wrote a blog? Nope. You are remembered when you hold top numbers, produce people with top numbers or sell a product... and even then it is very hit or miss.

The only thing pl does for anyone is a hobby at most, with the exception of a few who sell gear, shirts, own a gym or maybe training programs. In the gym or in meets or even in public people who have these fantastic numbers think the world owes them something. Nope.... News flash, you are just a gym rat who "does those competitions where you put a bathing suit on" or "that guy who lifts those rocks onto that platform", the outside world could care less unless you do something big and even then you have 15 minutes so quit thinking you are the shit and start putting your big ego into big numbers because eventually we all end up like me "that girl who puked all over the head judge pulling weight" instead of "Erika,  pulling 425 (2.5x my bw) who was allergic to muscle milk."