Master Equipped Lifting 2019
with Joanne Barnes
Occasionally, we are lucky to have people come out and help us. More so in Romania this year, for which we are all extremely grateful.
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Equipped lifting is a huge team effort. The backroom during squats is one of my favourite places. Timing when to get knee wraps on, straps up, wrists wrapped and hopefully just at the right time, then out you go…
Wrap too early and you loose feeling in your legs, too late and you will time out. As a lifter you are hugely reliant on those helping you.
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Then of course, you actually have to squat!
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The Europeans this year saw team GBs 30 lifters win 15 individual gold, 22 silver and 15 bronze medals. Created 12 champions, 7 silver and 3 bronze medalists. 2 best lifter awards went to team members, 6 team placings were also won. The team had 3 lifters who have won international titles as junior, senior and masters lifters: John Maxwell, Phil Richard and Dean Bowring. Amazing stuff!
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The same Championships saw 22 lifters from all nations bomb out. Equipped lifting walks a very fine line: too little weight and you won’t get depth or a touch… too much and you can’t stand up or press the weight. A “safe opener” is finely judged.
The Worlds saw a smaller but none the less strong team, Sponsored with some great kit by Titan USA.
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A team of 11 lifters, brought home 3 champions, 1 silver and 2 bronze medalists overall. An individual medal tally of 7 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze. As at Europeans, some brave lifting and clever coaching meant that even those that didn’t get a lift in one discipline went on to get medals in others. The perils of masters lifting, we are often working round injuries old and new. Lives are complicated, families, work and finances take their toll. The family that is powerlifting keeps us strong.
