THE STICKING POINT

Anyone who has competed in Power Weight Lifting Championships such as I have knows that the critical point of pushing up that heavy weight successfully is getting through what we call “the sticking point." It’s that part of the lift that suddenly reaches the point of whether or not the “lift” is going to be successful or not and it will show up about halfway to two thirds of the way up.

I started working out regularly when I was 59 years old. I met 4 other guys who were involved in the sport of power lifting and they talked me into going to a local meet in the Twin Cities area when I was 60 years old. 

I won my first meet and that was exciting. There were other meets coming up and we worked together with common minds to be the champions, and we were. None of us crossed over into the categories of body weight, age groups etc so we didn’t have to compete against each other.

We used to train together and to blast through the sticking point we would wrap big logging chains around the metal bar the weights were placed on. As you pushed up the iron barbell the chains would increasingly come up of the floor and lift got heavier and heavier gradually as the heavy chains were lifted off the floor. We also would spot each other by standing behind the lifter and when they hit the sticking point we would tap upwards on the bar or lift it more aggressively if that was needed. All of the time while doing this we would cheer our friend on by saying things like “You’ve got this!” or “It’s all you” meaning we weren’t helping them.

While the sport of power lifting isn’t designed to be a team sport it is very advisable to have a team of like minded people to train with, to hang out with, persons with the same mental attitude and goals.

If you watch my 21 second video again you will plainly see where I hit my sticking point. You’ll notice that when I hit that crucial point I slow up temporarily and that’s when the training and strength and mental focus come into play, and up it went! Remember this was my first ever attempt to punch up 400 pounds, Ever! So I didn’t know when I put the weight on the bars if I was going to be successful or not so when you see me hit my sticking point you’ll see right after my excitement of pushing through it.

I believe we all have “sticking points” in whatever we do. If you’re a sales rep, or a network marketer, a minister, and in life in general. Don’t you?

At what point in your life are you going to “Power Up?” At what point in life do you need extra hours of training to be able to push through any or all of your sticking points.

Those pressure points that cause you to stop trying to do that thing you really want to do. To mentally give up and let the bar come back to rest where it was.

Like many people today you may not even know what to do to push on to a victorious life. You know where you want to go but you’re stuck and the weight goes back on the station for the next futile attempt?

My suggestion is to find a few like minded people and make a pact with them to work together as a team toward a common goal. You won’t be competing against them but everyone shares their support and expertise for the common wealth of the team.

Do you have the desire to build up your personal power to move on

Get a Spotter That one person who stands behind you while you’re competing and calls out encouragement. “Go for it!: You’ve got it!” through it and become a Champion?

Get a team of like minded people.

And in the event of a failed attempt they’re there to grab the weight so it doesn’t fall on you. Now you know what weakness to concentrate on, don’t you?

I trained with 4 other men who wanted to become world champions. Why? Because we had a common goal and we shared our expertise with each other to better each other. Could someone who didn’t have the same mindset, the same goals be someone for you to train with? My answer would be no. They aren’t ready for the championship yet.

In my 3 years of competing in the exciting sport of Power Weight Lifting I won 8 first place trophies. I never lost in any competition I entered.

Oh, and as a final note, All five of us who trained together became World Champions in Las Vegas NV in December of 2003. We were known as the

”Fabulous Five”

PUSHING THROUGH THE STICKING POINT WITH 400 POUNDS AT AGE 79