Here’s why you should do powerlifting
The big-match temperament the sport produces is second-to-none, coach says.
All sportspeople could benefit from doing powerlifting.
So said the owner of the School of Strength, Rodney Anthony, after one of his students won her division in the provincial and then national championships.
Ferndale resident and Northcliff High School learner Surina Devnarain won the female sub-junior 57kg division with her combined total 222.5kg (a total of her best attempts in squats, bench press, and deadlift) in the Gauteng championships, and later went on to win the national championships.
This has qualified her to represent South Africa in the World Sub-Junior and Junior Powerlifting Championships in Ecuador in August.
Her mental strength is one of the keys to her success, Anthony said, and something few sports can produce such as powerlifting can.
“There are few sports where when you go onto the platform it will require your best performance, and you have no tries before the real thing,” he said at his Willowild gym.
“So the mental pressure is much more. You have to face the fear factor before you even start.”
This capacity for growth in mental strength, along with the development of muscles and fitness powerlifting and weightlifting produces, is what led the Australian government to ask weightlifting coaches to assist training in its various sports divisions ahead of the recent Olympics.
If South Africa did something similar, Anthony believed we would see similar success to what the Australians did.
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