19th December 2024, 16:53
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| Journey to my first powerlifting nationals ‘It's never too late to pursue your dreams!’. It’s a cliche but they are cliches because they are often true. This is the story of an “अधेड़ उम्र पहलवान” (middle aged wrestler) (that’s what I like to call myself) and how my dream of becoming a national level player came true when I least expected it. The star-cast of this story includes my childhood gym coach, my better half and lastly me. As a full time software engineer (even though one who has been a regular at the gym for a long time now) and ‘slightly’ past the prime of my youth (that’s putting it mildly), the thought of becoming a professional powerlifter was as ambitious as the thought of India winning the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 4-0 or Bhai winning the oscars for best acting. Every good story has an equally impressive backstory. So before going further, a word about my coach. <Back story begins> I had started training under him when I was in class 10th. He took this plump kid who till then would probably be in the bottom 10% of the class in terms of physical strength and made him believe that he could lift! Think of him as Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid or Kabir from Chak De, one who could almost grind you to death and still not be happy with it. But I wasn’t complaining! The gym became my favorite spot and I would spend up to 4-5 hours on some days. Like any teenage kid, I was oblivious to terms like physical limits or tiredness. When I first started, I couldn’t lift even 20 kgs but in a couple of years, with a body weight of less than 60 kgs, I was lifting around 115-117 kgs. Fun fact, when I check the records now, it's a mere 7 kgs more than the national record for that body weight in the sub-junior category (<18 years)  . But with studies as the primary goal then, neither me nor my coach ever thought of putting me into it in a professional capacity. And then life happened….I moved to Hyderabad for my college and then started working, and even though I would train with him once in a while when I was in Jaipur, things were not the same and I had moved into what we call the ‘maintenance mode’. The school gym gradually became a tale of nostalgia. Covid marked a new era in this relation as I could spend a lot more time in Jaipur because of the WFH flexibility and gradually, the intense in-person training schedules were back on the menu. He has played a big role in shaping my personality and I have always felt indebted towards him. I never found a good way to return even an iota of that debt. I was watching a sports movie a few months back and in the end, when the hero got a podium finish, the victory was more his coach’s than his. The joy in the eyes of that coach made me realize that the ultimate gift for a coach is witnessing their student’s success. and I just wished I could have done something similar. <Back story ends> Few days later, I saw an ad for a state level Bench Press championship in Telangana. Was this a sign! It was just 10 days away. I had never participated in a professional competition, I definitely wasn’t in the prime of my youth and I had very little time to prepare. I then remembered these lines from a song in Dangal, “कर दिखाने का मौका जब भी किस्मत देती है, गिन के तैयारी के दिन तुझको मोहलत देती है”. I was going to give this a shot. Of-course, a number of “what-ifs” crossed my mind, “what-if” I finished last, “what-if” I made a fool out of myself in front of the other professionals competing, “what-if” I injured myself….my better half then asked “what-if” you actually win and reminded me of how I had nothing to lose (you see it's purely her wisdom and not any fear because of which I address her as my ‘better’ half). I then pitched the idea to my coach who approved it in his very nonchalant manner and the competition training began... How’s competition lifting different than regular lifting During regular lifts in bench press, most people initiate the upward press of the bench press immediately upon contact with the chest, sometimes utilizing chest rebound to assist the lift. This rebound is something you can’t utilize in competition. In competition lift, after the weight is unracked you have to first wait for the referee to signal “start” before initiating the downward movement. Then you get the barbell to your chest, the barbell must come to a complete and motionless pause on the chest. Then the referee says “press” and only then you have to initiate the upward movement. Also, you are not allowed to wear gloves or elbow sleeves. Only a belt and wrist wraps are allowed. Because of these reasons, I initially saw a drop of about 7-10 kgs from my regular gym lifts while practising competition lifts. The State competition With 10 days left, I had to practice lifting in the competition pattern and also cut down on body weight. I wanted to participate in the 74 kg body weight category and was about 2+ kgs overweight. Coach advised me not to do running as it would lead to muscle loss so a combination of high intensity training and diet control was the way forward. The next lines of the same Dangal song echoed in my head…“मांगती है लागत में तुझसे हर बूँद पसीना” A week of intense training went by in a jiffy and a couple of days before the competition, I returned to Hyderabad. In terms of body weight, I was just at the boundary of 74 kgs and as a final measure, one day before the competition, I completely stopped any food intake and stopped water in-take about 12 hours before the weigh-in. Day of the state championship It was about an hour’s drive to the venue and a playlist with all peppy motivational songs set the mood for the day. Given my coach doesn’t like traveling and didn’t come to Hyderabad for this, it was my wife who was going to be donning multiple hats including that of the DJ, assistant coach, dietician and helper. All set for the states, reminded me of the Shaan song "Aankhon mei sapne liye ghar se hum chal toh diye"  Weigh-in and warmups We arrived at the scene and it seemed like a setting from one of those “Caught at the wrong job?” ads. All you could see was a sea of muscular guys, bulging biceps and intimidating presence. Almost everyone came with their respective gym groups, their t-shirts indicating which gym or akhada they belonged to, some were already warming up with their coaches shouting at them and here we were, two software engineers looking quite clueless carrying their Google branded handbags. With no one paying any real attention to us including the organizers, it took a while to figure out the next steps but then we settled in. After the registration, it was time for the weigh-in and for which, one needs to be in minimal clothes. It was a humid rainy day and I found myself in this long line of half naked men with lots of jostling and pushing going around. Need I say more  . After an hour of treating my olfactory nerves to a buffet of various aromas, the weigh-in was complete. I am not sure I was happier about the fact that it was over or that my body weight was indeed below 74 (73.4 to be precise).After the weigh-in, you get about an hour before the actual lifts begin and this is the time to refuel yourself. While a lot of folks around me feasted on chicken and eggs, me being a vegetarian resorted to almonds, bananas and some energy bars. About 20 mins before the competition, we were asked to proceed with the warm-ups. The warm-up room was really small with very inadequate equipment in comparison to the number of participants and just getting hold of a weight was an achievement in itself. I mostly resorted to basic exercises like push-ups and tricep dips to get the blood flowing. After the warm-ups and between your lifts (everyone gets 3 lift attempts), one needs to maintain the body warm. As I learnt, rubbing a lot of balm on the body helps with that. So with a warm jacket in the humidity of August, my entire body smelling of Zandu Balm and with Dangal and Sultan movie songs playing in my earbuds, I awaited my turn… The lifts begin My coach was in constant consultation with my wife on the phone and he asked me to start with 112.5 kgs as the opening lift. The lift went well. I was at rank 5 after the first lift, not a bad start I thought. Another layer of balm was applied, jacket was back on and now it was time to wait for the next turn. The second lift was 117.5 kgs, my best in practice had been 117 kgs. But I was feeling good and pumped up and another clean lift put me in the top 3 now. All top 3 had done 117.5kg as their second lift and it was going to be a close finish (If the lift is tied, then rank is decided based on the bodyweight and I was the heaviest out of the 3). “Wow, this shit is getting real”, I chuckled. I had to attempt 120kg now, a weight that I had failed multiple times in practice and I was anxious. One of the top 3 contenders attempted 120kg just before my turn and failed. If I could lift it, I would be in the top two. By now, the organizers and fellow contenders had also taken note of me and I was getting a lot of encouragement from the crowd. With adrenaline flowing, nerves jangling, I took a deep breath, gave it my all and up it went! Rarely do I feel such a surge of emotion that I experienced that moment. I let out a loud cry which was almost involuntary. I had tears in my eyes as I hugged my wife, this couldn’t have been possible without her. The last contender tried lifting 122.5 kgs and although for a moment it felt like he would fail the lift, he pulled it off. I would have to be content with second place! But content? I was overjoyed! This was way way beyond what I had imagined, participating in a state level tournament and getting a silver, for me this was the stuff of dreams. I called my coach and almost choked with emotion. I could hear a sense of joy and pride, but the “congratulations” and “good job” came later, first he said that I should try to win in my first lift itself next time. Talk about setting goals! I guess that’s what good coaches are for, never to let you feel settled. The final result sheet  It was then time to call my family and friends, none of whom were even aware of this adventure of mine. It's difficult to put it in words how content and happy I felt that evening. I guess that’s what you play sports for, to give you these moments of unadulterated bliss. The final lines of the Dangal song “बन्दे की मेहनत को किस्मत का सादर परनाम है प्यारे” felt very apt now!    My coach, Mr. Harihar Sharma. After more than 20 years of association, this is the first picture I have with him!  A slightly overdramatized edit of the competition by my rockstar editor sister. Last edited by animeshc : 19th December 2024 at 17:32. |
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19th December 2024, 16:58
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| Re: Journey to my first powerlifting nationals Call up for nationals After the state competition, I learnt that had I won it, I would have been picked to represent Telangana in the nationals. I thought that would be my goal for next year. To my extremely extremely pleasant surprise, I got a call from the state association a few days later to inform me that the winner in my weight category wouldn’t be able to participate in the nationals for some personal reasons and they wanted to check if I would be willing to go for it! The nationals was going to be held in Goa and I had exactly one month left from that day, it was time to get back to training  .My coach very candidly told me that it wouldn’t be possible to gain more than 5-7 kgs on the lifts in such a short time and given the medalists at national level typically end up lifting in the 145-150 kg range, I shouldn’t start dreaming about a podium position. Anything under 10 would be a good goal. Even with the expectations reset, I was very upbeat. This was my first nationals and I was going to give it my all irrespective of what happens in the end. The training intensity now went up several notches. More than 100 repetitions of pull ups, heavy deadlifts and squats were all part of my daily schedule apart from the bench. Sadhguru had once quoted that when you go to bed, physically you should be so exhausted that you should not sleep, you should die and only then you know that you are doing something worthwhile. I was at least sure that I was doing something worthwhile. Every day I woke up with what I call the sweet muscle pains, I was loving it! My youtube feed now had more powerlifting videos than car videos. I tried to incorporate a few new techniques, some successful and some not so successful. It was extremely heartwarming to see the support I got from my family and friends. My training schedules became the utmost priority for the family and it was made sure that I wouldn’t be interrupted for any work during that time. A couple of dear friends also funded some of the athletic gear I would need for the practice/competition. I couldn’t have been in a better frame of mind during the preparations. A few days into it, I realized that my body needs more rest and with office work going on, it was not going to be possible. I decided to take 2 weeks off. After all, this was a nationals preparation, and needed to be shown appropriate respect! That immediately had a big effect on my overall performance. It made me realize how much energy work drains out of you without you being consciously aware of it. By the end of the preparation window, I was comfortably lifting 120+ kgs now and was expecting to lift 125-127 kgs in the nationals. Goa time Weighing machine, oximeter, hot thermos bottles, home made paneer, Tiger Balm, protein powder, energy bar, almonds…..This would have to be the weirdest packing one has done for Goa. The two of us arrived in Goa a day prior to the competition (my coach again would be consulting on phone). We went to check out the competition venue that evening and I was amazed at the extremely professional setup. An air conditioned auditorium, a fairly hi-tech setup with multiple TV screens, a fairly large warm-up area, a dedicated room for weigh-ins..but then this was the nationals, what else should I have expected! The stage was set!  My nationals ID card, the dream of becoming a "national level khiladi" had come true.  D-Day The D-day arrived! I was nervous. Unlike the state competition all my dear ones knew about this and there were a lot of expectations. I was comfortably inside 74 kg body weight this time and the weigh-in experience was a lot less traumatizing. In nationals, there is also a kit check where you have to verify every piece of garment/equipment that you are going to use on the stage. I was amazed at how punctually things were going and unknowingly jinxed it. All set for the nationals, little did I know that the T-shirt caption would be truly realized at the end of the day.  Life is not always a fairy tale Post weigh-in around 11am, I fuelled myself up and awaited my turn. The competition was supposed to start around 12:30 pm and then the delays started…. The mandatory singlet for the nationals, sponsored by a dear friend.  Some of the other body weight categories were scheduled before ours and they took really really long to complete. With a lack of clear understanding of how long it could take, we just kept waiting. The competition that was supposed to start around 12:30 finally started around 5:30 in the evening! Given I was not sure when the competition would start, I didn’t eat anything during the afternoon and by evening, I could feel that it was a stupid decision. The energy levels were lower than ideal. I was still hoping that the adrenaline would take care of it. The warm-up lifts were good. This time I had support from some of the experienced Telangana team players to help with the warm-ups. My coach wanted me to start the first lift at 122.5 kgs but the Telangana team coach suggested against it (it was my first nationals and generally coaches want the first lift to be a safe one). After some back and worth, it was decided that 120 kg would be the opening lift. Sometimes when it isn’t meant to be your day, things go wrong in so many different ways…. Soon after the warm-ups, I realized my body was getting cold as it had started to rain and a cold breeze was blowing (the auditorium was air conditioned and I couldn’t wait even there). I tried applying more balm, it didn’t help. Later on I realized that it was a different brand than the one I had used for the state competition and it wasn’t as effective. I could feel the heart rate going down and my perspiration drying up. (my coach had explicitly told me not to let it go below 100 and that If I lost my warm-up once, then it would be very hard to get it back). I was doing some jumps and squats to get the blood flowing, but that also wasn’t ideal as it takes away your energy. Now it was time for my first lift, my name was announced and also flashed on one of the TV screens, “Animesh Chatterji, Telangana” it read. I felt proud (it somehow reminded me of the introduction scenes in Chak de where every athlete introduces themselves to their national coach). I took position, unracked the weight and waited for the referee to signal ‘start’ which never came. After a few seconds, the referee told me that the elbow was not stable and he wouldn’t allow that (now from what I learnt afterwards, the ruling is that the elbows should be straight which I had, the stability factor is a grey area). He asked me to try again. Again after making me wait for a lot of agonizing seconds, he signaled start. By this time, my energy was over and I couldn’t lift the weight. I was shocked to the core! I had expected this to be a cakewalk and now was facing the possibility of a full washout. As a rule, you can’t decrease the weight and I had to try 120 kgs again. Given what had happened, I was not sure whether I would be able to do it. Video of the opening lift, you can see the amount of time it took before the referee signaled start. Not only was I mentally shaken up, but physically too. In general, after assuming the starting position and bracing your body for the weight, each passing second is an immense energy expenditure and such a long wait was extremely draining. Not only did I fail the lift, but I also had fatigued my muscles. I could feel my chest and arms shaking. The Telangana coaches asked me to practice elbow stability and I ended up doing a couple of more practice sets before my next lift which didn’t help my muscle fatigue and depleting energy levels. As is often said, sports is about mental toughness as much as physical toughness. For a while, my thoughts wandered on the lines of what an epic failure this could turn out to be. I had put in all the energy for the last month, I had even taken leaves from the office, how would I go back and tell folks that I couldn’t lift anything. It took a while to regain my thoughts. I reminded myself that I had done this weight numerous times and even if in the worst case nothing happens, I still had one of the most memorable months of my life preparing for this and at least I had built a good physique to show off on the Goa beaches next day. Gladly the goa beach pep talk to myself worked and the second lift was a clean one. The referee surprisingly didn’t complain about the elbow stability at all. I breathed a sigh of relief. The last lift I attempted was 122.5 kgs but that also failed. What a great equalizer sport is! The state championship was such a breeze and you felt that this was such an easy sport and then on the day of the nationals, it humbly gave you a reality check and reminded you of its innumerous challenges. I ended up being 12th overall, out of about 20 participants in my weight category. My realistic goal was to be within the top 10 and if I had lifted what I was lifting in practice, I would have reached there. I was tired and dejected. This was the same weight I had lifted in the state competition without much preparation and in some sense, it felt like all the month long effort had been in vain! But gradually the realization set in that this still was something I could be proud of. If someone had told me 3 months back that I would be representing Telangana in a national bench press championship, I would have assumed they are smoking up some good quality stuff. In my childhood, I had wanted to play cricket at a higher level but that never happened and finally life gave me an opportunity to be called a ‘national level player’, this was a moment to be cherished. The final result sheet.  It has been 2 months now since the competition and looking back, it gives a great sense of fulfilment to relive what transpired. Of-course a part of the dejection is still there, but that fuels the motivation to go back to the training with even more vigour. Before I wrap up, sharing some info that I am frequently asked. Of-course this is not any professional advice, just my experiences.. Diet I am a vegetarian. My daily calorie intake is in the 1400-1700 range and though on paper it looks less, I never found an issue. A higher calorie intake than this range is a sure shot way for me to start putting on weight. “Protein kitna lete ho?” is almost as commonly asked by fitness freaks as car buyers asking “Mileage Kitna deti hai”. I started measuring it in the last year or so and with Paneer/Tofu/Pulses as my major protein sources, I normally manage about 55-60 gms a day (which is ~0.8 times my bodyweight). I did feel that my body was not recovering well enough during the nationals’ preparation duration and I added a scoop of protein powder in my diet and increased my intake to about 80 gms a day. For regular practice though, I don’t feel the need for it. Training regime I would train 6 days a week. My coach doesn’t believe in things like doing one muscle group a day, we get full body schedules every day of the week. In-case someone is curious, a sample workout for me would be about 100 reps pull ups, 100 reps of abdomen sit ups or leg raises, 100 reps each of bicep and tricep curls, 50 reps of push ups, 50 reps of tricep dips, 2-3 sets of lat pull downs and rowing (all exercises above are considered warm ups and are to be done every day) followed by 3-6 sets each of heavy squats (in the 80-110 kg range), deadlifts (in 120-180 kg range) and bench press. One thing I can say with certainty is that work stress is real. I never thought I was stressed with my work, but the difference in energy levels while training after I took leave from office was very very noticeable. What next It’s still a while before the next year’s competition but I hope to go back stronger. I am tinkering with the idea of competing in the 66 kg body weight category. My coach believes that increasing the bench press lift by 10-15 kgs in a year is doable and would continue to pursue that. There are a lot of learnings for next year; few technical changes, managing my meals better, better ways to maintain warm-ups (I saw people sitting with proper thick quilts) , probably staying closer to the competition venue, having the right balm (Zandu is better than Tiger as I learnt) are a few of them. There are also the full powerlifting competitions that include squat, bench as well as deadlift but my squat and deadlift are nowhere near what is needed to win even at the state level so I will probably delegate those competitions to my ‘better-half’  The one with coach and stand by coach!  Hoping that the coach cap is swapped next year. In true Dangal style, "Gold toh gold hota hai chhora lave ya chhori"  Persistent hard work, a bit of good fortune, an exceptional coach and a solid support system were the ingredients, the outcome was this memory of a lifetime. My most treasured possession of the year, the nationals certificate.  And finally I was able to say thank you to my coach with this  Last edited by animeshc : 19th December 2024 at 17:45. |
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19th December 2024, 19:10
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20th December 2024, 00:28
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20th December 2024, 09:10
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20th December 2024, 12:27
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20th December 2024, 14:32
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| Re: Journey to my first powerlifting nationals Quote:
At 99kg BW & 34 years of age, My lifting stats are Bench: 160 KG Deadlift: 226 KG Squat: 180 KG In my 15+ years of casual lifting, I have competed only once in 2018, Gold Gym's completion without any proper weight category. Please guide me if I can follow your path with a 10-15 kg BW drop, which I've been contemplating for quite some time. | |
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20th December 2024, 21:41
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20th December 2024, 22:27
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21st December 2024, 00:18
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21st December 2024, 11:33
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| Re: Journey to my first powerlifting nationals Congrats for your achievement, looks are definitely misleading here. All the very best for your journey. |
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