Skills Inventory
To be a successful powerlifter, all you really have to do is be strong and able to complete a squat, bench press and deadlift. However, to truly be successful in achieving those goals, one must dedicate themselves to learning their processes. Powerlifting has taught me one essential skill above all others: discipline. Going to the gym consistently is hard, but consistently subjecting your body to its limits in the pursuit of strength is even harder. For the most part, I really love going to the gym and working out, but there are definitely days where my body is sore, when I don’t feel strong, and when I’d much rather allocate that time to a more leisurely pursuit. However, without consistency, progress dips or halts completely. Where motivation fails, discipline prevails. If will power is a blade with which you cut your way through life, then discipline is the sharpening stone. Discipline is transferrable to a professional setting as it will drive you to show up every day and perform to the best of your abilities, even when you don’t want to. This is applicable in the general sense, but even more so when it comes to a career like Conservation Officers – often times you’ll have to work in some seriously awful weather and deal with voracious bugs.
Powerlifting has also taught me planning and record keeping- in order to progress, you must be following a structured workout plan and keeping records of what exercises, sets, reps, and weights you’re using. This data helps inform your next training session, training block, and can even help you make projections across a year or more. Records can be kept simply by hand-writing in a notebook, or by utilizing computer processes like Excel Spreadsheets. Above all else, it is important for your records to be accurate. If your notes are not accurate than you may end up working too light, too heavy, too much or too little, and when it comes time for competition, you will not know how much weight to attempt for each lift. It is also important to keep accurate notes so that you may look back at your training logs and decide what worked best and what did not work at all. It would be frivolous to continue to use a methodology that does not result in optimal strength gains. Accurate planning and record keeping is transferrable to a professional setting as nearly all professions require some form of record keeping. For Conservation Officers, report writing is an essential means of communication and these reports could even be called on for presentation in a court of law. If your records and reports are not accurate, it is possible that the wrong person could be apprehended, or that a guilty person could end up walking free.
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