Alright-- so one day when I was visiting a friend who coaches at a non-PL gym (think similar to a Cross-Fit box, but not Cross-fit-- more like Oly and boot-camp kind of stuff), my friend made a comment that really stuck with me. So the scenario is as follows:
The gym is a warehouse kind of gym-- and in order to get in you can either go the long way and walk around to the side of the building to use the door OR you can hop up/climb up from the parking lot (it's a ledge that comes up a little above my shoulder-- and there are these wooden posts that are a bit shorter that you can use as a ledge to get up there). So my friends who are more generalist athletes/fitness enthusiasts that lean towards the Oly side of the spectrum, easily hopped up as we approached the gym. Whereas I (mind you-- I weigh less/ am smaller than both of these guys, so body weight/mass wasn't the determining factor), had to sort of come up with a "plan of attack" and deliberately climb up (and then eventually climb back down-- rather than just hopping down like they did).
So my friend makes a comment "you're such a powerlifter sometimes". In that moment-- I told him to... well for the internet's sake, I told him to "go jump in a lake" (thats the G rated version anyway). But I've been thinking about that statement for a while now/ it's been in the back of my mind ever since.
While I AM a Powerlifter-- first and foremost, what exactly does that mean? Does that mean I can't be mobile, limber, flexible, etc.? Does that mean I should only focus on being "athletic" when it comes to the Powerlifts and their variations, but nothing else (for fear of falling into the "serving too many masters" or becoming "good at lots, great at none"?).
While I want to be the best Powerlifter I can be, I also want to be athletic and healthy. I don't think I'm alone in this, and it seems as though there has been a big shift in the approach/views on Powerlifters being able to do more than just Powerlift. However, I don't think there's been a full "cultural shift" just yet. Additionally, there's the issue of finding balance-- you also don't want people spending an hour on the foam roller or having their dynamic warm ups take equally as long as their training session, or their GPP work hindering their recovery from actual Training.
Anyway, the point of the rant is: I'm trying to find a sustainable way to not only become a better Powerlifter, but also become a better athlete in general. I'll be posting more about things I'm doing to pursue this goal in the future.