Today I have a very special post from someone I really look up to. Sable is a fellow blogger who’s strong both emotionally and physically–can you believe she’s a powerlifter? I”m such a fan of everything she has to say about working out! Here’s a little something from her:

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be strong.

I was obsessed with strong female leads in movies, plays, and TV shows.  I was on the junior high football team. “Strong” was the best adjective anyone could possibly use to describe me, even if they were referring to emotional strength.

Yet I never lifted. My school had a weight room and offered a weight lifting summer program every year; I never partook. It seems like common sense that lifting weights would make you feel strong, but evidently not to me.

It wasn’t until my husband finally coerced me into just trying it that I realized the euphoric high of lifting, the sense of accomplishment at the end of a workout, the feeling of strength and power, was exactly what I’d been silently seeking out for most of my life.

For the first year or so that I lifted, I did so as a bodybuilder. Yes, lifting in the 6-8 rep range made me feel strong, but I loved lifting in the lower  (1-5) rep ranges: I loved the feeling of power, the anticipation, the adrenaline. I loved the explosive power of my body. I would always brag to Max and my friends about strength gains, not that my biceps had grown half an inch.

In September I made it official and started training as a powerlifter. I’m so glad I did. Now I get to lift in those lower rep ranges all the time, and as a result my strength (the ultimate goal!) is growing even faster. Plus, I’m not as focused on my body and how it looks; I spend way more time thinking about how it performs.

Thanks for reading my story, and thanks, Justine, for letting me guest post! J I actually have never guest posted before because I want to be sure I’m posting on blogs that I stand behind 100% — and yours is one of the best I’ve ever read! I blog at http://SquatLikeALady.blogspot.com — check me out over there for lifting videos, workouts, body image rants and life in general. J