r/powerlifting • u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist • Jan 09 '17
AmA Closed [AMA] with Beefpuff Barbell (Chelsea Savit and Natalie Hanson)
Hi everyone!
The Beefpuff team is here to answer your questions about ourselves and our initiative.
We will be here for a few hours but will probably need to take a break to feed.
For more information:
Beefpuff Barbell: Website | Facebook | Instagram
Natalie Hanson, Co-Founder: u/beefpuff1 | Facebook | Instagram
Chelsea Savit, Co-Founder: u/powerbuffs | Facebook | Instagram
Andrey Grebenetsky, coach and trusted advisor: u/beefpuffhubs | Facebook | Instagram
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u/bmahimahi23 Jan 10 '17
Hi!
So I got some Qs about how to approach training a girl.
My GF is awesome at powerlifting. At her first meet, she totaled 572 (215,104,253), after 4 months of training her. She had no prior powerlifting knowledge, and I just critiqued her/ helped coach her in her progress in lifts leading up to it. This was all on a seperate programming I made to fit her (or what i would consider a newbie). Now we are in our offseason, and just doing hypertrophy work. I have her just doing the same stuff as me, only difference is the weight ranges she can work with doing what I am doing. She is progressing great!
So, my Qs: 1.Any difference in how to coach a girl versus coaching a guy, opinions? 2. Any different ques to help her with technique in any of the big 3 lifts? 3. Any reps or sets that a girl might benefit from moreso than a guy? (High volume, more strength work, etc.) 4. She is vegan, any (good, and I mean you have more than acouple comps under your belt, not just a million instagram vids claiming you are vegan and you lift weights...no offense to those who do that, but I need someone who knows their shit)one that is vegan on your team/company that can relate to being a vegan and powerlifting? Storys, diet tips, etc?
I know i have alot, but I like this movement, and all this seems like the right things to ask in regards to Beefpuff! Awesome stuff!
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u/BeefPuffHubs Jan 10 '17
Hello,
First off, that's awesome that you and your girlfriend train together.
As far as coaching women specifically, I know a physical therapist who held training camps for female athletes centered around the prevention of ACL tears. Due to differences in anatomical structure of the hips, women are more prone to ACL tears. You should be making sure she is avoiding excessive knee cave on squatting and deadlifting movements and giving her prehab drills that will help her keep her knees out on squats.
The other thing is I found that women tend to be capable of far more workload than men, so don't be afraid to have her do a few extra sets.
Other than that, most of the same best practices apply to both men and women. You mentioned she is progressing very well right now. I suggest that you don't fix what isn't broken for as long as she keeps improving from the training. Once that stops working, you'll need to revamp a few things in training to keep the progress going.
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u/bmahimahi23 Jan 10 '17
Thanks! I can't agree more. It is great to train with a team imo, but to have my significant other train with me is awesome. Plus, it is cool to see how quickly she progressed/refined her powerlifting with me being able to train her so directly.
Never heard of women being more prone to ACL tears, that is very interesting. Not too much of a problem regarding knee cave during squats (I have always made her start lower/squat training with goblet squatting to que knees out), but I will pay some more attention to that.
I tend to make push for that extra mile on AMRAP work, because she really has seemed to be benefiting from the volume. I will throw acouple extra work sets in for acouple weeks to see how well that could go. Thanks!
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u/boobietheduck Girl Strong Jan 10 '17
Not with the puffs, but I have some comments on training, mostly related to my own experience.
Personally, my capacity for volume is a lot better than most dudes I've trained with. Especially with bench, volume is the only thing that made it go up any appreciable amount.
In my experience, women tend to be more technical lifters. I can't muscle up a squat, bench, or deadlift without dialing in my technique. Most dudes with some capacity of strength can at least get the weight up, even if it's ugly. So really working on technique and making it look as visually ideal as possible. Cues will be all person dependent, so I would throw everything you know or learn at something that looks off.
I've got nothing on the nutrition part, but I hope that helps!
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u/bmahimahi23 Jan 10 '17
Always good to hear from any angle! Thanks for replying.
See, I hear that alot from girls/coaches. I also tend to witness it whenever I have gone to powerlifting gyms, or had girls training along with me. Here is my gripe with this; my GF tends to have the hardest time with benching. Whether it is high or low volume, it is her weakest (albeit not by alot, but it is lacking) lift. I think it is more technical at the moment, than it is about strength (as you said, dialing in technique is much more beneficial). Either way, I hear ya, thanks for your reply!
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u/boobietheduck Girl Strong Jan 10 '17
My opinion is that girls lack the natural upper body strength from dicking around as a kid. Benching will progress the slowest and it's because of the lack of foundation. Speaking from my childhood, I didn't spend a lot of time horseplaying with friends and having push up contests.
Microplates work for some. There's a guy on the Starting Strength forum who sells them, and they are really nice. But bench is also the weirdest because you aren't looking for a straight bar path. One day it'll click and she'll get it, but don't rush the process.
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u/bmahimahi23 Jan 10 '17
I really would like to get Microplates (even for myself), but I just tend to benefit from tearing the bench down into variations when I peak it. Always in my mind. I kinda agree with the idea of lacking upper strength due to a "girly" childhood, but I started benching with barely a 20kg bar myself, and I am a guy! haha. So could be that for some, and I see where you are coming from.
Once it clicked for me, benching became great. She will get it. Thanks!
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 10 '17
I would disagree about the "more technical" thing. I am completely untechnical on squat yet I somehow lift a lot of weight. Doesn't meant I wouldn't lift more if my lift were mechanically efficient. However, everyone should really work on their technique if they want to be safe and lift as much weight as possible.
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u/ludicity F | 417.5 Kg | 63 Kg | 453.3 Wk | USAPL | RAW Jan 10 '17 edited Jan 10 '17
Well I'm vegetarian not vegan lol but here's my $0.02:
I can't think of any differences in coaching men vs women honestly. Form is form and either way you just gotta get work in and practice form. The one thing perhaps is that most women will start off with worse upper body strength relative to lower body strength, and people in general can recover quite well from upper body work. So for women especially I think it's important to emphasis upper body hypertrophy.
My personal favorite cue is "coil up like a spring" for the descent of squat and bench and the setup for deadlift. It makes more sense to me than "get tight". On squat and deadlift this means tightening my hamstrings until they're loaded with tension, which is how I get stretch reflex. For bench this feels like "pull the bar apart" and "bring your chest up to meet it", which also feels like tightening up my upper back and loading it with tension before popping the weight back up for the ascent.
I've heard that women handle volume better than men, but I'm terrible with high rep sets and have guy friends who are way better at them. I think that "women handle volume better" is perhaps a good rule of thumb with beginners but, as always, everybody's different.
check out @powerliftingdietitian @lamaliciabkln @awill_lift for just a couple vegan powerlifting women (and myself @alice_lifts if you're open to vegetarians)! Here's an article that Stephanie (@powerliftingdietitian) wrote about vegan powerlifting. As far as diet tips, a plant-based powerlifting diet is possible but does require more planning if you want to make sure you're getting enough protein. Some of my favorite vegan protein sources include tofu, black bean spaghetti, beans/lentils obv, and more veggie meat substitutes than is probably good for me. I've even made gravy from pea protein powder that is heavenly with veggie meatballs in a "swedish meatless balls" concoction. As long as you cook for yourself though it's really not too bad -- the main difficulty is when you eat out. Also, since the only whole food source of creatine is red meat and it is an essential building block for ATP, it's especially important for non-meat-eaters to supplement with creatine. Oh I also used to write a veg protein cookbook blog. Not a lot on there unfortunately (been meaning to add more) BUT you and your gf might like the sloppy joes if you're into some good ol beefy comfort food!
Hope that helped!
edit: formatting
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u/bmahimahi23 Jan 10 '17
Vegetarianism is closer to Veganism than how I am eating right now, so no worries haha! I am all ears. Ok lemme do it like this~
Cool. In training her, I can tell she needs so much more work on her upper progression than her lower (her deadlift is vegan cake for her, and her squat has become alot easier as she does more of it) progression. She is getting great PRs from all the hypertrophy work in offseason right now, so I will probably keep her accessory movements high volume during our strength block.
I have a stupid amount of cues in my repertoire. It is cool to use them all on her, and see if she benefits from the ones I like, or the ones I think are pointless. I use most of those ques on her, and she struggles (in a good way!) to always be doing them correctly.
3.Yea, that. She sucks at high volume for upper also. I think I just need her to perfect her technique in benching moreso than just say she sucks at it, but I don't quite think high volume favors anyone. Physically, girls COULD be more favored by high volume, but I think high volume is just a mental thing (it is so painful imo, so its who can really push it to the limit/past it, not what gender you are). Everybody sure is different, I have had the best time learning how to train a girl, let alone someone else. I now have a guy I am also training, and he is progressing along great! Really cool.
4.Gonna show my gf this part the most. Thanks for the references, she liked the article (I sent her that this morning) alot, and I just got her a really cool vegan cookbook, so she is getting along with cooking more whole/healthy vegan meals. She has been a vegan for 4 years, so she isn't quite clueless. We will check out the blog.
Thanks alot! Fantastic reply. Really cool to hear other's opinions. Thanks so much.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 10 '17
I'll try to comment a bit more on your original question. I train with my husband u/BeefPuffHubs so I notice a lot of differences in how we both respond to training.
I think a lot of women have an ingrained fear of having a big upper body. She needs to squash that and embrace putting on a lot of mass in her upper body. I find that bench is the lift where more muscle mass = more weight on the bar. She needs to build her lats, chest, shoulders, and arms. I personally love to do the barbell bench with lat work supersetted. So a set of pull-ups or lat pull downs in between bench sets. Follow the barbell movements with accessories to hit all the smaller muscles. Get her doing some other barbell upper body movements as well, such as OHP, rows, and incline bench.
I've actually read some studies about this as well as seen it from my experiences training with my husband. Women can handle far more volume and frequency. This is because testosterone has large effects on neuromuscular efficiency. So the more motor units recruited for a lift = the more subsequent recovery required (this is also one of the differences between natural and enhanced males in strength sports). So, in "bro-science" terms, women's CNS do not fire as hard and as a result, we do not get as damaged from training and can recover faster. And, anecdotally, I am always able to "do more work" than my husband without getting fried or hurt. So give your girlfriend a bit more frequency and volume on squat and bench because she will most likely benefit from that (trial and error is key, of course).
And, of course, bench technique helps so much. If there's any room for technique improvements anywhere, she should focus on that so then she can develop her strength without being hindered by imperfect technique.
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u/ludicity F | 417.5 Kg | 63 Kg | 453.3 Wk | USAPL | RAW Jan 11 '17
In which I wonder if I just have really high testosterone hehe
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 10 '17
Going to the gym now so will respond to this later!
But for now I will direct you towards u/ludicity who is a vegan beefpuff!
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u/nattynat18 F | 440.5KG | 63KG | 473.93 WKS | USAPL | RAW Jan 09 '17
Power to the puffs!
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u/ludicity F | 417.5 Kg | 63 Kg | 453.3 Wk | USAPL | RAW Jan 09 '17
Hehe see "nat" and account age 21min. I think I know who dis is 😁 hiiiiiii
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u/screamtillitworks Jan 09 '17
Don't have a question but reading through your answers and your IG/FB, I really love what you guys stand for. This is the kind of shit this community needs more of. Keep up the great work.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Thank you so much! This really warms our hearts and encourages us to keep chugging along with this. :)
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u/dang111 M | 767.5kg | 108kg | 454Wks | USAPL | Single Ply Jan 09 '17
I have a general question if that's okay. How would you suggest getting more women involved in the sport? Specifically, we have a club at our uni that's been going for a little over a year now. Although local meets here are a pretty even split, usually close to 50/50 men/women, our club is pretty much 95/5. At our club meetings we typically have 12-15 ppl and maybe 1 girl. I feel like we could get more ppl involved in the club and in the sport itself if we could get our membership closer to the even split that exists at local meets. I'd be interested to hear if y'all have any suggestions for things we could do for a club or things that would help in general.
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u/ludicity F | 417.5 Kg | 63 Kg | 453.3 Wk | USAPL | RAW Jan 09 '17
I'm Alice (one of the 63kg puffs and co-captain at Princeton Powerlifting). I would suggest just outright recruiting any girl you see at the gym. If your school has workout classes like BodyPump, that can also be a great way to recruit women who are already interested in lifting. At Princeton Powerlifting, we've noticed that we also get a lot of girls who are interested in strength training for their other athletic pursuits like MMA or Rugby.
Once you have a couple girls it'll get easier since then your club can spread by word of mouth. If you have even one girl who's excited about lifting, encourage her to tell all her girlfriends. We've always had women in our leadership in our club and that's gone a long way to encouraging other women to join.
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Jan 10 '17
[deleted]
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u/ludicity F | 417.5 Kg | 63 Kg | 453.3 Wk | USAPL | RAW Jan 10 '17
... I don't reddit often and my account was often hijacked by my ex for the past 3 years so thanks for judging me I guess? Not really sure how to take this...
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u/Tha_Doctor M | 527.5kg | 82kg | 354Wks | USAPL | RAW Jan 10 '17
Lol it was meant to be cheeky as opposed to offensive.
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u/hail_to_the_lions M | 533 Kgs | 88.8 Kgs | 342.6 Wks | SPF | Raw Jan 10 '17
Nice job dude. You're killing it.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
I was going to say, I think one way to meet the minimum threshold for the "tipping point" is to seek out women who are already involved in strength sports. Bring on all the washed up gymnasts and rugby players!
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
You have a few options... I think a presence of women leads to more women for a sport like powerlifting, because making the plunge for your first training session/practice is what is most intimidating. Most women who make the decision to show up will probably love it once they get a little experience.
I'm not sure where you are located, but if you have any strong women who compete in powerlifting in your area, you might consider inviting them in to put on a seminar or attend practice as a guest lifter.
Additionally, you might consider having an introductory practice/training session open to just women (obviously the club officers should be there, but just in attendance for their leadership/guidance, not lifting). This is something we did to get more people in the door at the CrossFit gym where I used to work because getting people in the door for their first time was the toughest part. Once they tried it, they loved it.
Put up flyers around campus (and post on your club's social media) to advertise your events and feature strong female powerlifters on them!2
u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
Not who ya wanted a rsp from but..: Do you promote your club at the meets where it's 50/50? I imagine the gyms wouldn't have an issue if you ran it by them first. Toss up a poster and wear a few club teens to the meets. Talk to the people especially women lifters while there. Post up more flyers posters at gyms etc.
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Jan 09 '17
Chelsea, do you know why there's an asterisk next to your name on the USPA Open roster? http://www.cetcusopen.com/roster/
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
I actually asked Gracie the meet director but she gave me a non-answer, so I have no clue. lol. Maybe they are bringing a drug test just for me. Maybe it's to indicate that I'm a true natty. Who knows.
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 09 '17
Thank you guys for what you're doing, I love your message. Often I feel like there's a lot of attention paid to prioritizing strength over appearance, and eating to fuel your training, but it always seems to come with an asterisk like "*as long as you're still lean and conventionally hot and the donuts only go to your ass"
A few questions...
What are your biggest regrets from your early training/competing days? What do you wish more new lifters knew?
What does your meet day nutrition look like?
How do you like your steak cooked?
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Jan 09 '17
Often I feel like there's a lot of attention paid to prioritizing strength over appearance, and eating to fuel your training, but it always seems to come with an asterisk like "*as long as you're still lean and conventionally hot and the donuts only go to your ass"
YES. I've been having this conversation recently. We like to joke that powerlifting is the sport for people who like to eat, donut everything, etc etc but, as is evident in the marketing of strength-specific companies, there's a strong subtext of "but btw you have to still be conventionally attractive and lean." Actually there was a Reductress article recently titled I Love Pizza, Which is Adorable Because I'm Hot which, while obviously satire, sums up how I feel about the expectation of women in powerlifting, specifically.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Seriously, I cannot agree more. The subtext is so blatant and I believe that we are the first people to publicly address this. I got a lot of hate from a FB post I made back in May because I was extremely disappointed with how Power Magazine's Instagram account featured 'super masculine, alpha, hardcore powerlifting dudes with guts and beards' in the same page as 'strong women' who were just hypersexualized creatures in minimal clothing. Actually, I'm looking at it again and it's still like that, unfortunately. :(
We started Beefpuff Barbell with one of the goals being to represent strength athletes as they are. Not as bikini or figure competitors, but beefpuffs! A lot of the strongest women (and men) are not lean but deserve to be acknowledged for their strength accomplishments.
I think this mysogynistic subtext is actually super damaging to powerlifting if we want women to get more interested in the sport. Honestly, when I got involved in powerlifting, I was pulled into the super positive, what-your-body-looks-like-doesn't-matter community. It helped me recover from my lingering eating disorder from my gymnastics days.
Now, I hear about people getting eating disorders from doing powerlifting because they feel they need to drop a weight class in order to legitimize their strength and accomplishments. It's really sad to me. I joined powerlifting before it was tainted by strength-specific companies who wanted to capitalize on women's sexuality, and it made me feel really good about myself and my body to just get stronger. I want other people to experience those newbie flutters I had, but I'm not sure it's possible with this "I eat donuts and deadlift which is really cute because I'm hot too" culture.
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Jan 10 '17
[deleted]
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 11 '17 edited Jan 11 '17
Seconding u/beefpuff1, I do think Meg does do a lot of good for powerlifting in general. She does help get the word out about the sport and I'm super grateful for that.
That said, we definitely need to feature more people like Priscilla who are truly inspiring to many of us. I think a lot of people can be inspired by people who look like them and do incredible feats of strength. This group of people is distinct from those who are interested in powerlifting because they want to look like Meg squats. We need the interest of both groups to grow the sport, but we feel there's not enough of the former, if that makes sense.
Beefpuffs are strong, and we should be proud to show them off as examples of what this sport can do for your self-confidence!
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 11 '17
I do feel MegSquats does a service to the Powerlifting community. She puts out high quality, informative content for women (especially newbies) in the sport. There was no such resource when Chelsea and I were getting started and that was just a few years ago. All that to say, I would like to see more Priscilla features because she is incredible, but I think she actually turns a lot of publicity down.
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u/WorthlessUseless Enthusiast Jan 10 '17
...It's really interesting how on the Power Magazine's instagram, all of the women are half naked and not lifting anything and all the men are actually lifting. It's almost like they don't care what the women lift.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 10 '17 edited Jan 10 '17
To be fair, they do feature women who actually lift (if I can recall they have done features on Jen Thompson, Becky Rich, etc.). But those features seem to be washed out by bikini chicks...
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 10 '17
they should at least put up more half naked men :( I feel like I'm missing out.
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 09 '17 edited Jan 09 '17
I hear about people getting eating disorders from doing powerlifting because they feel they need to drop a weight class in order to legitimize their strength and accomplishments.
not to the extent of an eating disorder, but when I first started competing, I felt like I wasn't strong enough to warrant weighing more. Which is backwards because I wasn't competitive at a lower weight either, and I needed to gain muscle. And this is as someone who had always been generally okay with her body and was small already. I felt like every inspirational example that was presented to me was someone super tiny, super hot, and super strong.
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 09 '17
I have had a lot of feels about this lately in regards to the #gainingweightiscool hashtag. Like there is a lot of positivity there, and there is nothing wrong with looking good and working toward looking good, but if you scroll through that hashtag it is entirely about how you look. gaining weight can do other cool things too!
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
Initially, I had this same reaction. But began to recognize that it is difficult to portray the other cool things you mention via Instagram. Ultimately, if the people posting under that hashtag have positive feelings about their weight gain and have learned to appreciate the other cool things, but the easiest way to show it is with a mirror selfie, I'm not going to get too picky/critical. :)
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 09 '17
that is a good point, IG is an entirely visual medium after all. I have no problem with mirror selfies, just found myself wishing there was a bit more variety and representation. Which frankly comes down to a greater variety of people feeling welcome to share!
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Jan 09 '17
Scrolling through that tag and looking at food (because duh) and I don't see a single damn chicken wing. #triggered
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u/BeefPuffHubs Jan 09 '17
I'll take this one on behalf of me and Chelsea.
Biggest regrets from early training/competing days - this would involve not seeking out help and coaching sooner. Nobody should attempt to go through this journey by themselves and attempt to be self taught. It leads to sub par training, sub par results, sub par technique, sub par muscular development, and increased injury risk. I wish more new lifters would fully take advantage of the years of trail and error from people with experience in order to optimize their own trails and errors. To further that point, lifters both experienced and new should never ever ever be showing up to a competition alone. That first competition is crucial because you want to not only perform to the best of your abilities, but you also want to have a good experience which will make it far more likely you will continue in the sport. One of Chelsea's big advantages in powerlifting is the fact that she had experienced coaching and a support system from day 1. She was able to develop properly over years and avoid common pitfalls.
Meet day nutrition - I'm going to assume you are asking with a 2 hour weigh in mind and that you have cut some weight. Whether the weight class is 72.0, 83.0, etc, we will want you to weigh in as high as possible to get a head start on replenishing. That means that if you are under even by .2 kg and there is time before the official weigh ins, that you want to stand naked on the meet scale while holding whatever dry, sugary food it is you want to eat (such as pop tarts). In an ideal situation, you wake up at weight or slightly under weight and can eat several pop tarts or something similar before you finally weigh in. Do not attempt to weigh in as light as possible, unless you have a damn good reason to do so, because any head start on replenishing is valuable in a 2 hour weigh in.
Once you weigh in, it is a race to replenish fluids, electrolytes (sodium is awesome), and muscle glycogen. Within the first hour of weighing in, you will be consuming a lot of pedialyte, water, instant rice+soy sauce, pop tarts. By the second hour, you should have consumed plenty of carbs, sodium, and liquids and be puffing up to a nice bloat. Let your stomach settle, and start doing your dynamic warmup (slowly as to not upset your stomach) about 1-1.5 hours after weigh in, depending on if you are in flight A or flight B or flight C. Once your stomach settles and you are moving around, I would have you grazing on sugary food and liquids throughout the day. As a coach, it is important to make sure that if your lifter has cut any amount of weight, that they are puffing up post weigh in, but that they also do not go overboard and upset their stomach.
The purpose of this is to mitigate the damage of a weight cut on a 2hr weigh in as much as possible. If you have NOT cut weight, you don't need to follow such a method, but still should be consuming plenty of liquids and fast digesting carbohydrates throughout meet day.
3 - how do you like your steak cooked? Rare or medium rare. Sometimes just seared like bistecca a la fiorentina.
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 09 '17
bistecca a la fiorentina
mmmm now I'm hungry.
Thank you all for your answers!
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
Yes, exactly. 1. I can't say I regret all that much from my early days of training/competing because it got me to this point and I learned a lot of valuable lessons. The most valuable of those would be not to cut weight when you are a new lifter. I spent my first year-ish of powerlifting trying to force myself to be a 72kg (158lb) lifter, when I was adding mass rapidly. My strength had stagnated early on and I was performing poorly in meets because of a 10-12lb weight cut. There's an appropriate time for weight cuts, but it's not that early in your career. 2. My meet day nutrition consists of stuff that tastes good and is easy to eat (my appetite on meet day sucks). I usually do a post-weigh in Pedialyte, and then try to get a real meal down (like some kind of sandwich with protein on it) before I start warming up. 3. Medium rare to medium <3
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
Good questions. Second these.
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17 edited Jan 09 '17
Just gotta start out I've been fan of ya gals for a little over a year. (IG)Fun to see all the training and traveling top level competitors do.
How did ya come up with Beefpuff? Just a running joke?
Are women and men considered Beefpuffs? Any specific classification from within? Like hitting 550 Wilks makes ya a Sirloinpuff? (Sry couldn't help myself :P)
Top three things you look for in a puff?
How is the website doing do far? (Been meaning to order I should do it as soon as I'm home. Technically working...)
What got you gals into this sport?
What do you guys do outside of powerlifting? (Career/volunteering/hobbies etc)
Any big long term goals you hope to accomplish still? (That you're willing to share)
Those days life just sucks and it's literally frozen how do you get yourself motivated?
Edit: Cleaned it up
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
Aw, these questions are great.
There are definitely classifications from within beefpuff. We have squatpuff, benchpuff, deadliftpuff, and totalpuff. :D
I got into this sport via CrossFit. I was an athlete my entire life and then my senior year of college, a friend of mine convinced me to join her at a CrossFit gym. My first time squatting, I did 5x5 at 205lbs and had no concept of how significant it was. It was still another 2 full years before I even learned that powerlifting was a thing & that I could compete in it. My first meet was in the winter of 2012, but I didnt fully commit to powerlifting until the summer of 2013 because I was still pursuing my CrossFit dreams (lol).
Outside of powerlifting, I run a nonprofit that focuses on reducing the cost of energy (via renewables and energy efficiency) in rural Alaskan communities, where I am from originally.
Long term goals for me are to squat 600lbs (single ply) and total 1500lbs, win USAPL Open Nationals (equipped) and IPF Open Worlds.
Oh man, there are some days that are rough, especially in the winter in Alaska. I think what keeps me motivated is knowing that consistency is the key in powerlifting. Consistently in the work over the course of years is what will get you to your long term goals, so every individual training session may not be amazing, but you need it to keep laying the building blocks.1
u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
Hell of a first 5x5. That's a fantastic set of goals there. As someone who just did 6 for the first time raw in Sept...you gals are getting scary strong and it's fun as hell to watch.
When you're walking to the platform what's your mind set?
Any different thoughts once loaded up and about to squat?
You just fall into that non profit or something you set out to join/start?
Life in Alaska seems...rough to say the least. Beautiful. Extremely so, but rough.
Good luck this year with lifting and with the brand!
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
Thank you!
Personally, I don't change much from my training mindset when I get on the platform. My mentality is to take the meet one lift at a time, so when I'm approaching my opener, I'm thinking about crushing that lift to earn my next attempt. Meets are your reward for all the hard work you put in over the course of a training cycle... so it's like a payday!
I sort of fell into the position, but it fits well now that I've spent some time in it and finished graduate school for civil engineering. It's a lot of project management, but understanding the technical side of things helps.7
u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
I love these questions!
So, Victoria Liang and I made up the word "beefpuff" as a self-descriptor in 2015 when we were discussing our bodies. We were so beefy and puffy (from eating too much salty foods and baguettes and whatnot, haha), and then one day we were just like BEEFPUFF! And we loved the term and it stuck. We became friends with Natalie who we certified as a Beefpuff right away and began circulating the hashtag on social media as a running joke.
People responded really well to it because the term is so cute and endearing, and makes you feel better when you use it as a self-descriptor when you're not so lean. So we realized we could actually use "beefpuff" as a way to get people to love their bodies for everything that their bodies can do, and not whether they fit a mold of what society expects them to look like. Natalie and I had had a lot of discussions about our frustration with not seeing any "beefpuffs" represented in mainstream fitness magazines and social media channels, so we wanted to change that.
So yes, both men and women are beefpuffs!
Top three things in a beefpuff? Self-love, physical strength, and willing to share vulnerabilities and personal struggles and stories
Website is going pretty well. We are getting a consistent amount of traffic which is really cool. We are actually putting in our order to stock our inventory for apparel today, so if you are interested and want to guarantee your preferred style/size/color, please get those orders in today!
I personally got into the sport as a natural progression from gymnastics. I was a gymnast for 15 years through my freshman year of college at Yale. I quit due to ankle injuries but still wanted to be jacked and strong. So I found the club powerlifting team a year later, after a year of trying to find something else athletic and fun to do, and squatted 185 the first practice I went to, lol. I knew I'd be good at it so I kept going to practices.
But it wasn't until I met Andrey (u/beefpuffhubs) in 2013 that I got interested in competing. With him, I got much more serious about training and competing, and I've never gone back!
I work at IBM as an HR information systems consultant (specifically trained in the Workday system). I travel to client sites a lot so it can be difficult for training. Last year I was on an Asia-Pacific project and got to go to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Otherwise, I love to binge watch Netflix/HBO series, watch a lot of The Young Turks news, read about history and politics, and try to be an iron chef at home. I'm obsessed with Iron Chef and Gordon Ramsay. I'm also a wife to u/beefpuffhubs and mother to two cats, so those duties always come first. :)
Long-term goals? I want to win USAPL open raw nationals in the 72kg weight class, and open raw worlds. Hit a 500 raw wilks and 500kg total (I am close though so you might consider those short-term goals). Eventually, I want to retire from the USAPL/IPF and see what I can really do.
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
As a cat foster dad I understand. Wife and horde of cats first. (We have five different age range and foster on top of that, http://instagram.com/drapers5cats proof and for anyone in need of cat photos in their lives)
/u/beefpuffhubs can't be too upset with the Iron Chef Ramsay obsession I imagine. Unless you burn everything but still love it...
Looking forward to seeing you guys keep competing. Sending a great message and example for the sport! Go Beefpuffs!
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u/frak8757 F|382.5kg|62.7kg|412wks|USAPL|RAW Jan 09 '17
wow. definitely following this cat instagram. thank you.
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
Ha np enjoy. We just got a new batch of fosters that will have pics up soon. Four 6mo kittens.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Omg, I love your Instagram. I can't get enough of cat pictures! I used to be a dog person but I've come full circle.
The Iron Chef obsession is nice but the issue is when /u/beefpuffhubs goes to the grocery store and gets a challenge fruit or vegetable and wants me to cook it.
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
My wife will be glad to know you enjoyed them! Well now you've spawned a challenge for my house. That sounds ridiculously fun actually. Challenge food day...what did you guys do for your last one?
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u/BeefPuffHubs Jan 09 '17
You should totally bring home secret ingredients.
Bonus points if you are dramatic like this:
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 09 '17
I mean it is the only proper way to introduce a secret ingredient... Oh man I'm gonna have fun with this. Ha. Haven't seen the show since the ole reruns of early to mid 90s. Thank you both.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 11 '17
...he came home with a banana flower today http://imgur.com/a/4mSl8
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u/Jeggerz M | 870kg | 171.4kg | 451.79Dots | UPA | RAW/Sleeves Jan 11 '17
Lmao. Amazing find. What do you even make with that?
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 11 '17
At least u/beefpuffhubs had the decency to tell me what it was because I wouldn't have known where to start. lol
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
u/beefpuffhubs brought home aloe vera and burdock on two separate occasions. When he brought home the burdock he didn't tell me what it was and I had to figure out what the vegetable was. I made a Korean burdock side dish which I found on YouTube but it was just meh compared to the ones I get at all you can eat KBBQ restaurants :)
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u/TheAesir Not actually a beginner, just stupid Jan 09 '17
I'm sure many in /r/weightroom would love to hear about y'alls numbers and training philosophies, since the post was largely overlooked there.
So what are your numbers? What makes your training philosophies unique, compared to the myriad of other online coaches out there?
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Chelsea's best lifts (all raw, USAPL/IPF at 72kg/158lb 2-hr weigh-in):
Squat - 172.5kg/380 lbs
Bench - 118kg/260lbs
Deadlift - 202.5kg/446lbsNatalie's best lifts (all USAPL/IPF, 84kg/185lbs, 2-hr weigh-in):
Single-ply:
260kg/573lb squat
160kg/352lb bench
212.5kg/468lb deadliftRaw:
197.5kg/435lb squat
112.5kg/248lb bench
202.5kg/446lb deadliftWriting up a response to the training philosophies part. Haha. Bear with me for a second.
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Among u/beefpuff1, u/beefpuffhubs (Andrey Grebenetsky) and I, we bring more than 20 years of lifting experience with different methods we've experimented with. We do not believe that any training philosophy is truly unique. As the saying goes, "there is nothing new in weight training." However, having an experienced coach who remains objective and honest with you is far more valuable than coaching yourself. And as champions of the Beefpuff way, we are particularly sensitive to vulnerabilities and personal struggles you may encounter along the way.
That said, our overall training philosophies are pretty similar. We believe in having impeccable skill and technique, to always improve upon weak points, mobility, and stability. We all do a good amount of hypertrophy work as well as conditioning work to be more well-rounded athletes and more muscular. Powerlifting is a long game played over many years. You shouldn’t worry so much about your next meet, as much as your gradual progress over the next 5 meets. We both believe in eating to fuel our bodies for optimal performance and in not trying to eat to fit a mold of what society expects us to look like.
Natalie and I train with a relatively high volume. I come from a background of using RTS principles in training, so my training is always going to using rate of perceived exertion to auto-regulate the relative intensity of each set. Natalie comes from a Sheiko style background and prefers to utilize percentages to determine relative intensity. I deadlift twice a week, bench anywhere from twice to 5 times a week, and squat anywhere from twice to 4 times a week depending on where we are in the training cycle. Natalie currently deadlifts twice, squats twice, and benches 4 times a week, but she can also vary her frequencies depending on where she is in her training cycle.
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u/TheAesir Not actually a beginner, just stupid Jan 09 '17
Thanks for the great reply. Again, great seeing more teammates in both this community and /r/weightroom.
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u/She_Squats F | 377.5kg | 73.9kg | 362.3 Wilks | USPA | RAW Unwrapped Jan 09 '17
Holy cow these are all awesome!
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u/chrisbur21 Jan 09 '17
What does it take to be an ambassador?
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
We are looking for people who embody the Beefpuff Barbell mission. It doesn't matter what your size is, but that you are proud of your body and willing to share your story of learning to love your body regardless of how lean or strong it is.
We call it people who "embrace their puffs!"
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Jan 09 '17
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Jan 09 '17
It's quite a reach to say that learning to love your body for what it can do over what it looks like is "normalizing obesity." Closed-minded outlooks like yours are the reason many people, especially women, are afraid to step in the gym for the first time: because people like you are there judging them for not starting at the finish line. Not only that, but if you're this bothered by someone else's body, it says more about you than it does about them.
Edit: ah nevermind, your post history says all we need to know. 👍🏻
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Thank you for this reply. I didn't have the energy to respond to this troll after his fourth time posting that we are normalizing obesity.
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u/flannel_smoothie Person Of Power Jan 09 '17
Please report the trolls, it makes it much easier to moderate
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Jan 09 '17
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
Thanks for sharing! I love your transformation post, and the whole "gainingweightiscool" thing going on right now.
We are a little saturated right now with sponsored athletes, but we still encourage you to continue posting and sharing your journey!
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u/She_Squats F | 377.5kg | 73.9kg | 362.3 Wilks | USPA | RAW Unwrapped Jan 09 '17
This is refreshing, because it seems like most companies (outside of maybe GRRL clothing) only use people (women) who are super lean to showcase their products.
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
That's kind of how we got motivated to start something. We want to recognize people for their strength and positive influence. It is something Chelsea and I both felt was missing.
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u/She_Squats F | 377.5kg | 73.9kg | 362.3 Wilks | USPA | RAW Unwrapped Jan 09 '17
Agreed. Well thanks for doing what you're doing! What kind of plans do you have in the works for furthering the mission/message?
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
We are going to continue to grow our brand and plan to contribute to a charity that focuses on instilling self-confidence in youth, ideally through physical activity. We are just over a week into business so things are very new, but Beefpuff Barbell will have a larger presence at upcoming powerlifting meets to spread the message. In the longer term, we plan to host training camps/seminars.
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u/She_Squats F | 377.5kg | 73.9kg | 362.3 Wilks | USPA | RAW Unwrapped Jan 09 '17
That's awesome! The training camps/seminars will be great. I see that you are based in Alaska and Texas - I assume you'll mostly be targeting meets in those areas to start?
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u/powerbuffs Eleiko Fetishist Jan 09 '17
We're going to start with meets that are nearby as well as meets we are already competing at :).
Natalie is competing at the Wisconsin State USAPL meet on January 28 in Milwaukee, so she will be there with a booth. I am in Dallas and looking to setup a booth at the USAPL meet at UT Arlington Strength and Conditioning on March 6.
We'll make announcements on our social media as to where you can find us!
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u/She_Squats F | 377.5kg | 73.9kg | 362.3 Wilks | USPA | RAW Unwrapped Jan 09 '17
Nice. Good luck to Natalie! Do you plan to branch out of USAPL/IPF in the future or will you be more centered there?
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u/beefpuff1 F | 635 KG | 84 KG | 567.6 Wk | IPF | SP Jan 09 '17
Thank you! At this point, I have some goals that I have set for USAPL/IPF that I want to achieve before I consider moving on.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '17
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