Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a mid-40s mom of 4 and into powerlifting. I didn’t get into it deliberately, I just realized I like the three main lifts. You don’t have to go nuts with it. I’m not aiming for PRs or to compete. I just do the main lifts regularly and that’s about it for strength training. It gives me a balanced, hourglass figure.

Most women don’t really bulk up, and definitely not if you’re a casual powerlifter like me. You just end up looking sculpted and balanced.

OP here, are you doing this at a home gym or in a commercial gym? Also, can you tell me how long your workouts are and how often you do it. I also have a few kids so I want to make sure I'm efficient with my time. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:I’m a mid-40s mom of 4 and into powerlifting. I didn’t get into it deliberately, I just realized I like the three main lifts. You don’t have to go nuts with it. I’m not aiming for PRs or to compete. I just do the main lifts regularly and that’s about it for strength training. It gives me a balanced, hourglass figure.

Most women don’t really bulk up, and definitely not if you’re a casual powerlifter like me. You just end up looking sculpted and balanced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am not sure powerlifting is a match for what you are looking for. Powerlifting is not something you just add to your routine once a week, it is more of a full time commitment. I have been lifting for years and just decided to start training for my first powerlifting meet. That means I have my training structured around the three big lifts. I squat and deadlift twice a week and bench three times a week. Each workout also includes accessory movements. The days I squat and deadlift I easily spend 1.5 to 2 hours at the gym because it takes me forever to warm up and you really need those longer breaks between heavy attempts. My upper body and accessory days usually don’t take me more than an hour though. In terms of the impact on the physique, your nutrition will determine what will happen. If you are already quite developed muscle wise, you are unlikely to gain much more even eating in a surplus. And lifting heavy can make you hungry, so I would watch for any unwanted fat gain. People sometimes confuse strength gain (which is to a large part neural) with muscle gain and do not realize that their weight gain is mostly just due to fat.

Thank you! Would it be feasible to do twice a week which is how often I do weights? A previous PP spoke about the thrill of lifting heavy and that's kind of what I want to do. As I mentioned already, I am fit already and am toned/have muscle so it's a relief to know that I won't necessarily gain more muscle. I have the build that this conducive to heavy lifting (short and stocky) so I probably have always just wanted to try it. From the feedback and I guess I can Google more, there are distinct exercises for powerlifting and olympic lifting and I think it is Olympic lifting that I'm envisioning. The clean and jerk in particular, although deadlifting is always fun too.

Thanks everyone!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am not sure powerlifting is a match for what you are looking for. Powerlifting is not something you just add to your routine once a week, it is more of a full time commitment. I have been lifting for years and just decided to start training for my first powerlifting meet. That means I have my training structured around the three big lifts. I squat and deadlift twice a week and bench three times a week. Each workout also includes accessory movements. The days I squat and deadlift I easily spend 1.5 to 2 hours at the gym because it takes me forever to warm up and you really need those longer breaks between heavy attempts. My upper body and accessory days usually don’t take me more than an hour though. In terms of the impact on the physique, your nutrition will determine what will happen. If you are already quite developed muscle wise, you are unlikely to gain much more even eating in a surplus. And lifting heavy can make you hungry, so I would watch for any unwanted fat gain. People sometimes confuse strength gain (which is to a large part neural) with muscle gain and do not realize that their weight gain is mostly just due to fat.

Thank you! Would it be feasible to do twice a week which is how often I do weights? A previous PP spoke about the thrill of lifting heavy and that's kind of what I want to do. As I mentioned already, I am fit already and am toned/have muscle so it's a relief to know that I won't necessarily gain more muscle. I have the build that this conducive to heavy lifting (short and stocky) so I probably have always just wanted to try it. From the feedback and I guess I can Google more, there are distinct exercises for powerlifting and olympic lifting and I think it is Olympic lifting that I'm envisioning. The clean and jerk in particular, although deadlifting is always fun too.

Thanks everyone!