College can be one of the greatest times of your life as you meet new people, tackle life-changing challenges, and face new experiences. Many powerlifters start in college, and it is a great time to train and begin competing. As you juggle school, work, relationships, a social life, and training, it is important to start on the right foot.
To help those of you who are current or soon-to-be college lifters, I’m sharing some important things to consider as you pursue powerlifting. My own time in college taught me many of these things. As you begin to understand the role these things play in your training and in your life, you will grow as both a college student and a competitor.
Choosing a Program
A quick internet search will offer countless programming options. It can be difficult to decide on a training program, especially when you’re bombarded with statements like “World Record Holder X did this program,” “This is the best program ever for raw lifters,” or “This NEW program will bring gains like no other.”
All exaggerations aside, it is important to make sure that your program matches your goals, experience level, and abilities. As a college lifter, there are two specific questions you should ask yourself when you look at a program:
- Will I consistently stick to this program?
- Will I recover from this program?
Chances are, the biggest difficulty you’re going to have with a program will not be determined by whether or not it is “perfect.” It will be determined by whether or not you can stick with the program. Obviously you should do some research and make sure that you choose a proven program, but don’t waste precious training time over-thinking your decision. The worse thing you can do as a college lifter is bounce around between programs every few weeks. This will lead to inconsistent training and discouragement, because you will not be able to tell whether or not you are making progress. Pick a program and make the commitment to stick to it for at least one semester. Most semesters are roughly 16 weeks, which will be a good amount of time to set short-term goals that include learning to train consistently.
Your ability to recover in regards to your lifestyle will also play a huge role in program selection. This doesn’t mean that you should live a life in fear of overtraining. However, it does mean training in the best way possible according to your life choices. Remember that a program is only worth doing if you make progress, and progress will only come with proper recovery.
A program that works for a lifter who is getting eight hours of sleep each night, eating perfectly, and places training as number-one priority will probably not work for a college lifter who sleeps five hours a night, drinks every weekend, and eats Ramen noodles for three meals a day. Programs like 5/3/1 are great because they have flexibility (like all programs should) with a three and four-day per week training template that can be used to fit your schedule. A high-frequency program may work great for some lifters, but consistently following a basic four-day plan is better than inconsistently following a high-volume six-day training plan.
There are several issues you need to take into account when selecting a training program. Pick one, and then stick to it. Learning how to be patient and work through plateaus will make you a better lifter and set you up for long-term success.
Sorting Out Sleep and Stress
A big factor of training recovery is management of stress levels. For all the articles and videos that discuss foam rolling, stretching, and other recovery methods, the effect of daily stress on training is often passed over. You have to remember that the body sees training as just another type of external stress that affects a living organism. You can only bombard the body with external stressors so much until your performance will suffer. The types of stressors that you face in college are diverse: classes, work, internships, relationships, finances, etc. Some of these things are unavoidable, but often times the best thing you can do is work on organizing the roles these things play in your daily life. Knowing that any of the above stressors will tap into your body’s reserves, you will have to make smart choices about how you organize your time.
Find the things in your life that burn you out, and work to either eliminate them or work on improving how you react to them. You might be surprised how much of an effect things like faith, time management, and healthy relationships have on your training. On the opposite side, procrastination, poor choices, and life-sucking relationships can bury your progress in the gym.
Sleep works hand-in-hand with stress and recovery. One of the biggest struggles of a college student can be getting enough quality sleep. Whether it’s caused by studying late for classes, working a night job, or going out with friends, sleep takes a huge hit. Lack of quality sleep will affect your performance in the gym. There’s no way around it. The key will be adjusting your lifestyle and training so that you’re able to get enough sleep to recover. It’s never going to be perfect, but doing simple things like shutting down electronics at night, keeping your room dark, and forcing yourself to get in bed at a certain time will make a big difference. Beware of “artificial sleep,” as well; drinking heavily or using certain drugs to sleep on a regular basis won’t lead to proper sleep cycles and can cause insomnia down the road. As tempting as they may be, temporary solutions are rarely the answer to any problem.
Where Do I Train?
It can be a challenge in college to find a good place to train. Many college rec centers lack the equipment or freedom to train as a powerlifter. Commercial gyms offer the same obstacles. My first recommendation is to seek out a powerlifting gym and crew in your area. This is not only for the right equipment, but also for the training atmosphere. It is easy to become content with being the “big fish” in your college rec center, and that can be one of the worst things for an aspiring powerlifter. Get with a crew of lifters who are stronger than you and who will keep you accountable as they teach you from their experiences. If this means travelling a little farther to lift, it will be worth the effort. If you talk to the best lifters and coaches, most of them will tell you that at one point in their lives they traveled hours to train with a good crew. If you’re serious about training, it will be well worth the investment.
If you do have to temporarily lift in a college rec center, you will have to get creative with what you have. Some universities like Ohio State and Purdue have powerlifting clubs that you can join. If this is available, I highly recommend it. If you do have to train on your own, make sure to reach out to more experienced lifters and coaches online for advice and to critique your training videos. Ask questions on the elitefts™ Q&A and make a habit of learning through articles.
You’ll need to be creative with training equipment as well. Ideas like laying bands across a slippery bench or facing away from mirrors while squatting will be things you have to think about to optimize your training environment.
Avoiding Nutrition Nightmares
Nutrition is one of the components of training that suffers the most during college. Inconsistent schedules, cheap food, and Taco Bell at 3 a.m. aren’t conducive to optimal performance. When you consider all the different diets, it can become very confusing. Paleo, Intermittent Fasting, Carb Backloading, IIFYM — which do you choose?
My suggestion is to resist the temptation to try to implement a diet that is a 180-degree change from what you’re currently doing. If you try to go from eating junk food and drinking coke for six meals a day to a strict Paleo diet, the chances that you will stay consistent are slim. Try to implement small changes one at a time. Make your number one goal be consistency. For example, if you’re currently eating fast food every day for dinner, make your first goal be to cook dinner each day instead. Over time, that change alone will make a difference regardless of the exact nutrient amounts. It will also save you money as well as improve your nutrition. Set goals such as cooking more, filling up on meats and vegetables instead of sugary foods, and making other simple changes to build long-term habits. Similar to programming, consistency is much more important than finding the “perfect diet.”
Once you build the discipline to stay consistent with some small changes, you can broaden your nutrition goals with specific methodologies. Learn basic nutrition principles such as how macronutrients work and how what you eat affects your hormones. Educate yourself and learn discipline with consistency and you'll be set up for success.
What Are Your Priorities?
Organizing your priorities will make every aspect of college life easier. Training is no exception. Chances are, if you’re a regular reader of elitefts.com, then training is one of your top priorities. Determining exactly where training falls in your list of top priorities will play a large role in organizing your expectations as a powerlifter. As you plan your short and long-term goals, make sure they align with your personal priorities, and not those of someone else.
For instance, if powerlifting is your fourth priority behind faith, family, and school, your goals will be much different than those of someone who puts training above everything else in his or her life. The reality is that many powerlifters at the top of the sport have sacrificed many things and placed training at the forefront of their lives in order to become the best. If powerlifting isn’t your number one priority then don’t expect your lifting career to parallel that of your favorite world-record holder.
There isn’t anything wrong with keeping your priorities organized this way, and in many ways having other important priorities will help your training. It is important, however, to be realistic and understand that your time management, priorities, and personal values will all factor in to your expectations as a lifter. As you constantly re-evaluate your priorities, you’ll find that you’ll need to make important choices based on how seriously you take powerlifting. There may be certain things, such as drinking or staying out late, that you realize must be eliminated because training means more to you. Other things like faith or family may remain at the top of your priority list. These are decisions you will need to make as you grow as an individual and as a lifter. They will each have a crucial effect on your future.
Your college years are a great time to train and compete, but it’s important to approach each aspect of powerlifting with the right mindset. Be consistent in your programming and nutrition, place yourself in the right environment, and ensure that you make recovery a priority as you organize the busy aspects of your college life. Powerlifting can be a great life-long endeavor, and starting off on the right foot will allow you to enjoy every step along the way.