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Yesterday we held our first powerlifting comp since moving to our new location. The Novice Push/Pull was relaxed, heaps of fun, and plenty of PBs were made. Big thanks to our 5 competitors - we're so proud of you all. To our brand new refs, thank you! You guys are awesome. We're waiting to hear the results from @valhalla_strength_townsville, who ran a simultaneous comp. If you're interested in competing in our next comp, make sure you get in touch! #takemetovalhalla #valhallavalkyries @ Valhalla Strength - South Brisbane

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Great little push-pull run at Valhalla Strength - South Brisbane today, in conjunction with our sister gym at Valhalla Strength - Townsville. Of our 5 lifters, we had almost a perfect day across the board, with some excellent grinds and PB's coming left, right and centre. A big thankyou to all our competitors, spotters/loaders and spectators! Congratulations to our male winner Triston Seymour, and female winner Terri Creevey. The next competition at Valhalla Strength will be South East Queensland Strength Events - Round 2 on the 2nd of April, a strongman competition where competitors will be gunning for their spot at the Australian Strongman Alliance Nationals later on in the year, and a chance to qualify for Strongman Champions League 90/105kg World Championships in Finland in September!

Regardless of how much you know about yourself, how much you can control your environment and how single-minded you are, you can never plan for every eventuality while progressing as a strength athlete. On more than one occasion I've seen people balls up at powerlifting competitions because they had only planned for certain numbers for each lift (for example, I've seen people warming up to squat, failing their final warm-up weight and REFUSING to drop their opener; which they missed). I've seen people trying to train through niggling injuries because "that's what the program said", only to get hurt and require a long recovery period. I know people on strict diets who have gone out for dinner and instead of being flexible enought to eat what was available, they went WITHOUT food rather than eat something that wasn't "clean". I've even been guilty of feeling like my training was "ruined" as I missed a session or two because of life events (such as traveling internationally). With all that being said, what then can you plan for? Simple - the intangibles: *effort - never half-assing a training session or wasting time while in the gym *flexibility - being comfortable and thinking long-term to modify your training and competing to suit any eventuality (as they occur) *calm - dealing with negative outcomes in a logical and relaxed manner, and not resorting to unresourceful anger or becoming stressed Finally, the most important thing to always plan on - the continual pursuit of excellence, and always being 'better'. This doesn't necessarily mean stronger, leaner or faster (as achieving all of the above is never linear). This could mean anything from dealing with disappointment in a more productive manner, or becoming more proactive instead of reactive. This could be making smarter decisions for the long-term despite short-term suffering, or simply improving on any of the above components. Doing that consistently is how you become truly great in whatever capacity you are able to.

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Have you been struggling to add muscle mass, or not able to change your body composition despite spending hours a week in the gym? Are you unsure how to best program yourself to win the hyper trophy? Are you interested in how to best utilise advanced training techniques such as mechanical drop sets, giant sets or BFR training? Our semi-private group sessions run 6 days a week, giving you a massive choice between sessions with a focus on powerlifting, strongman, barbell fundamentals or hypertrophy. That's 3x45 minute, fully coached sessions of your choice, weekly, for slightly more than the cost of a single personal training session! Get in touch today to book in soon, as spots are strictly limited to 4 lifters per session!

Still in this day and age, there are people that don't appreciate the intrinsic link between psychology and physiology - nowhere is this more evident than a strength competition. It's no surprise that people who end up throwing a tanty or in tears following a bad event or lift, or when a call doesn't go their way, tend to miss any following lifts or have a poor competition overall. Experienced competitors know this, which is why you don't see any of the actual greats losing their composure (for more than a second or two, at least), and immediately getting back to the job at hand. Also unsurprisingly, it's no wonder a lot of these people tend to approach any other issues that come up in their lives in the same manner, and end in a self-perpetuating cycle of frustration and disappointment. If you find yourself in this boat, learn to start appreciating the challenges you face as they're occurring for a reason. If it's happening over and over again, then chances are you just haven't learned the lesson you were meant to the first time. Get your head right, and your body will follow. You owe it to your coaches, your supporters, your family but most importantly - yourself.

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On International Womens Day, it's only fitting that our badass Valhalla Valkyries, with experience from this being their first footsteps in the door, to coming back from an 18 month semi-retirement, would be deadlifting. It's no secret - we have an exceptional number of female members, all of who which train as hard as anybody I've met and are brilliant representatives for strong women; a fact we're incredibly proud of. We've often been asked why we have such a large proportion of female members (exactly 50/50 with the men) and I think it comes down to one reason - we aren't aiming to treat them the same as the boys, but aiming for equity. It's no secret that men and women, as a generalisation, respond differently in the gym. Women have more of a mental and/or emotional component of their progress, something which must be met in order for them to thrive. With this being said, it's not something we regard as a weakness - harnessed properly, it's the most powerful asset ladies have in their arsenal for becoming the exceptional women that we know they can become. "Here's to the strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them"

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If there's one thing I can't stress enough, it's that one of the most important and also most underrated area to target for great results across all strength sports and anything 'functional' is the thoracic erectors. Whether it's being able to support anything heavy overhead, not going into excessive thoracic flexion while squatting or deadlifting, or just general posture and functioning, putting a focus onto these muscles will go a long way to getting you significantly stronger in most movements. One of the best developers of thoracic strength in my opinion is the paused front squat. General cues - keep hips externally rotated, elbows up and forward (clean grip is best, but bodybuilder/crossed will do while you're working on it), make sure you're leading with the shoulders (so hips aren't rising first). I normally like to program these in after deadlifts, as those two lifts have always paired together excellently in my opinion.

A big mistake that I see coaches and lifters make is thinking that in the last few weeks of training before competition that you can get stronger by doing more work. Whether that's adding in extra training sessions, increasing workload or working at too high of an intensity, the ONLY outcome from this (for the majority of people who have been lifting for over ~6 months) is that you will retain too much fatigue to peak properly for competition, or hurt yourself before you get there. Essentially you can't get stronger, but you can definitely make yourself weaker. In all well-structured training programs, the final few weeks of training have only a few outcomes - increase intensity and specificity to the point where your body is used to performing under competition conditions, and decreasing fatigue so you're 'peaked' ready for competition day. This is called your 'taper' for a good reason! This period of time is highly dependant on the individual, with no hard and fast rules. For example, somebody that has been lifting for less than a year and is still squatting/deadlifting less than 180kg may only need a single week of light training before competition (and for example, testing 'openers' 5 days before), whereas a 125kg lifter that has been training for 3-4 years may hit their final heavy work 3-4 weeks out, and taper off in the following few weeks. Things that increase the time period of time in which you need to taper off include total body and muscle mass, absolute strength, what the individual lift or attempt is (for example, bench requires much less time than something like yoke or farmers walks), training age and a large amount of training volume leading up to the competition. Another aspect which is often not considered is the mental aspects of a taper pre-competition. For anybody that has done a large of volume of training leading up to a taper, you will know the mental fatigue can often get to the point where you lose motivation to train. Being able to hit a lower volume of training with weights that get lighter close to the competition often means you'll feel much more motivated, and eager to get on the platform and lift. Likewise, not dropping enough volume or excessive intensity can lead to the opposite effects - remaining demotivated, which can be compounded by the fact you are less likely to hit anything close to a 'true' max before the final deload week. This can be disastrous for an athlete leading into competition. Finally, something I've been asked a bit lately is why don't people drop all training prior to competition? There are a few important reasons - the first being that lower volumes of training (even that which is comparitively intense) drops fatigue much faster than no activity whatsoever, and the other that most people will become 'deconditioned' to the individual lifts within 10-14 days of not performing it. As an example, try to squat after a few weeks of not squatting and see how tight everything feels and how strange the movement is! Remember, the best athletes training smart THEN hard, not just one or the other.

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MEMBER PROFILE Name - Renee Ludlow Age - 30 Training History - After losing around 10kgs, I was introduced to powerlifting by a friend about 3 years ago. I fell in love with the sport straight away! I obviously love the strength and conditioning aspect of it, but I also love the mental & emotional challenges and growth that it has brought me. Best lifts/sporting achievements or what you're proud of - To date, my best competition lifts are 105/60/120. What you're currently working towards - My current training goals are to simply build muscle through hypertrophy work, and building more strength in general. Although I love competing, it’s taken a back seat this year. My focus is on helping others, especially women. I’m keen to build a community of strong, supportive women within Valhalla Strength - South Brisbane and also contribute to the community of existing strong women within Australia. Coaches notes - from day 1, Renee has been an absolute asset to the gym, and we are looking forward to soon being able to have her officially on our coaching team!

Novice Push Pull Competition

Only one week out from the first powerlifting competition at our new location! This competition is suitable for all competitors, however if you have competed in a sanctioned competition or won a novice competition you will be ineligible to place. Sign up today as spots are limited! https://goo.gl/62iJGH

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Have you been grinding away for months without adding a gram to your total, or are you interested in powerlifting but not sure where to start? Our semi-private group sessions start next week, giving you a massive choice between sessions with a focus on powerlifting, strongman, barbell fundamentals or hypertrophy. That's 3x45 minute, fully coached sessions of your choice, weekly, for slightly more than the cost of a single personal training session! Get in touch today to book in soon, as spots are strictly limited to 4 lifters per session!

Australian Strongman Alliance

Valhalla Strength is proud to support the Australian Strongman Alliance, and are very pleased to be able to offer competitors at the upcoming South East QLD Strength Series Round 2 a chance to qualify for the 2017 ASA Nationals, which can in turn qualify you for the Strongman Champions League 90/105kg World Championships!