What is Focus Zone?

Welcome to Focus Zone – the home for Powerlifters’ wellbeing on the web!

Focus Zones are dedicated spaces at competitions for you to get away from the noise and fuss and to focus your mind on the task at hand. Working in conjunction with British Powerlifting’s Safeguarding Officers, the Focus Zones will be trialled first in the North Midlands and then rolled out further afield. If you’re interested in having a Focus Zone at your club or in your region, please contact us.

Focus Zone is the first lift… it’s getting your mind and body ready for what you’re here to do and helps you get over that initial anxiety – James Brincat-Smith, Chairman, North Midlands Powerlifting

What can I expect at the event?

Each Focus Zone will have a volunteer trained in mental health awareness, on hand for you to talk to about what you’re feeling on the day of the competition. If you don’t feel like talking, that’s also fine. The Focus Zone is there for you to focus on what you need to…perhaps to do some breathing exercises, perhaps to put on your headphones and chill out for a bit… whatever you need to do to get you ready.

There will also be Focus Zone contact cards around the venue, these feature a QR-code which provides you with a link to further coaching and wellbeing resources you may find useful.

What if I need to talk to someone about Safeguarding?

If you feel you need to talk to someone other than our volunteer about something that has happened, please ask to speak to the event’s Safeguarding Officer. They will be able to assist you further.

Volunteers Login

Resources for Competitors

Coaches Tips

  • Get there nice and early to familiarise yourself with the venue & how the day will flow, from the warm up room to the platform.
  • Give yourself plenty of time to warm up, warm up rooms can be fairly busy so it may take you a little bit longer than usual to work up to your final warm up, especially if on a busy rack. This should hopefully minimise any surprises/potential stresses whilst getting ready to lift.
  • Open nice and light to set up your day. There are no prizes for the heaviest opener, so think of a nice and routine opening lift that will set up the following 2 attempts. The biggest total you can put together is one where you go 9/9.
  • Play to the day. Make attempt selections based on how the weights are moving on the day to the competition standard. We all want to hit “x” numbers when we compete, but take the step back to consider building up the total rather than risking a miss.
  • Sometimes missed attempts happen and that’s okay. Whilst in an ideal world we’ll never miss attempts, it does happen and is an opportunity to learn and identify areas to improve for next time, compartmentalise and move onto the next lift and attempt.
  • You’ve done this all before. Even if it’s your first competition, these are the same 3 movements you do day in day out in the gym, just in front of referees. Simplify it down to “just another gym session” and this may help you relax and enjoy the day.

  EST Barbell – www.estbarbell.com

Competing during your period

You could consider increasing the frequency of training during the follicular phase of your monthly cycle, e.g. 4 sessions during the first half of a cycle, reducing to 2-3 in the second half. However, the practicalities regarding recovery and fitting in training around work/study/family life may make this impractical and the effects on progress negligible. Download this useful PDF file for more information and resources…

Here’s some more useful info, courtesy of EST Barbell…

Nutrition

I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.