Introduction and background
I’m Chris Simpson – I’m 33 and I live in beautiful North Yorkshire with my wife, two children and I’m also a dog owner. By day I’m an accountant.
I’ve been lifting for about four years now and in 2021 have completed my first two meets – totalling 407.5kg in both – I’ll be posting up my reaction video to my second meet soon, so you’ll hear more of that story. I compete with the ABPU.
I compete raw (no wraps or sleeves). In my first competition I competed in U75kg and in my second comp at U67.5kg. I anticipate competing at U67.5kg for the foreseeable.
Why I love powerlifting
Although still new to the sport I’ve identified four main reasons that I love the sport, namely:
- The people – this is the main one for me. Passionate, supportive and dedicated are a given in this game – and that is a combination that really resonates with me. Even competitors in the same class cheer each other on. If you’re brave enough to step on the platform you instantly gain people’s respect, and I love that.
- It is the definition of an infinite game – if you want to understand more about the concept of the infinite game then see the work of Simon Sinek. But powerlifting is a perfect example of it. You can’t ‘win’ powerlifting – even if you win your comp there’s always a new target, always something you can be working on. You’re never complete.
- The focus – I work in a high-pressure job that can be all consuming at times. Training and competing are a release from that. To paraphrase Brian Shaw ‘the iron doesn’t care’, it’s completely neutral to everything else that’s going on in your life and constantly poses the same question – ‘can you lift me?’ The level of focus required to answer that question is a release from anything other than the answer to that question, and provides an oasis of mental clarity that I really cherish.
- Learning about myself and life – I’ll post an article here that I wrote recently but lifting has taught, and continues to teach, me so much about who I am as a person and what I’m capable of. It’s a fascinating journey of discovery and that is drawing me into a deeper and deeper love for the sport.
What are my ambitions
I thought I’d put myself out there and make myself accountable early, by posting up my five ambitions in the sport. They are:
- I will win a competitive international
- I will add at least 10kg a year to my best annual total for the next 10 years
- I will complete a 2.5x bodyweight squat
- I will complete a 1.5x bodyweight bench
- I will complete a 3.0x bodyweight deadlift
Conclusion
I’m really thankful to have this platform to share some of my thoughts on and I’m looking forward to interacting with people on here, as well as adding to the number of people that I’ve met in real life too. I’m really open to feedback, so please feel free to share your thoughts on anything I share, your insights would be most welcome.
