Friday Spotlight: Emily Biberger of Precision Powerlifting Systems
AND we are back!! I haven’t done a highlight of someone I admire in a while! I started writing again but wanted to bring this portion of my blog back on Friday’s because highlighting people in my life is really important for me and I think it helps spread a little good into the dark holes of social media and the comparison trap we are all in.
With that said, today I am highlighting Emily Biberger of PPS. Emily and I started with Kevin Cann and Team PPS around the same time a year ago. Emily and I both compete in the same weight class and this year, at our last meet she qualified for Raw Nationals in Chicago (I hope to go and cheer her and the others on this year!). I like to say we look alike and we both do this cute thing where we take pictures at meets with our long blonde pony’s to look like the “twin emoji”, we have fun together! Emily is a great person to have by your side on meet day or any regular day in the gym.
Watching Emily train/compete as bystander is an inspiring experience. She is very sweet and friendly but when she goes under the bar her attitude and focus change visibly. She is intense yet remains posed and professional at all times. She is a class act. Also, she is super fucking strong.
Here are some questions I asked her and they are really worth reading for a little inspiration!
Q: When did you start lifting/working out and why?
A: I was a dancer growing up, though my legs were a bit bigger than those of your typical ballerina, something that was quite clear to me as I stared in the mirror struggling to perfect my plies and arabesques. During and after college, I struggled to find my way in fitness, dabbling in everything from cardio kickboxing to Bikram yoga to spin classes – all in the quest to be as skinny as possible.
In 2012, a Crossfit gym opened up directly across from my office, and a friend dared me to try it, having heard about the intensity of the workouts. I was hooked after that first session, and my enthusiasm only grew as, through much dedication and effort, I achieved my first pull-up and learned the barbell movements of the squat, deadlift, snatch, and clean-and-jerk. Without mirrors in the gym, my focus was directed towards beating the clock during a workout for time. My athletic role models were women like Annie Thorisdottir, who had serious quads and were not afraid to show them off in shorts.
A few twists of fate ultimately brought me to powerlifting – and the Precision Powerlifting Systems team – a sport and community which has proven a wonderful fit for my talents and current fitness goals. However, Crossfit was my first exposure to the empowering effects of training with barbells in a supportive atmosphere, and training towards goals not measured by the scale.
Q: Does powerlifting help you outside of the gym? If yes, why?
A: Absolutely. When I’m feeling stressed about the workday ahead, I love to reflect upon some of my best moments at the gym for a confidence boost. If I can put a fair amount of weight on my back, squat that weight below parallel, and then stand back up, then surely I can apply that work ethic and courage to professional challenges.
The sport has also clearly demonstrated to me that progress isn’t linear, which is true of both lifting and life. I won’t always be able to add 5 or 10 pounds to my lifts each week, nor will my career progress just the way I thought it would upon entering college…and that’s ok! It is vital, however, to maintain good communication with my coach and mentors during these difficult periods, and to continue showing up and putting in the work.
Q: What is it like to be on a powerlifting team?
A: I never played a team sport growing up, so I was particularly delighted about the fact that – at the age of 31 – I now have a PPS team jacket with my name on it!
In all seriousness, though, my lifting would not be what it is today if not for this team. The friendships I’ve made are far more meaningful to me than the pounds I’ve added to my total. We have such different backgrounds and careers and yet are united by a passion for the sport and the fact that we are all kind, supportive individuals. I feel so lucky to spot my teammates and cheer them on as they work to achieve their goals, and I’m deeply appreciative that they do the same for me.
Q: You qualified for Raw Nationals 2019 (woo!) How are you going to approach training going into this meet? And meet day prep?
A: Meeting the Nationals qualifying total back in April was a really special achievement for me. I’m now looking forward to savoring every moment of this opportunity to compete alongside some of the best lifters in the country, and to learn as much as I can from this experience.
I’ll be sure to have open and honest communication with my coach, Kevin Cann, throughout this prep to ensure that I am doing all I can – within the constraints of my other personal and professional commitments – to have the best meet possible. Since I tend to hover at the top of my weight class, I’ll need to be careful that my nutrition and water consumption are on point in the days leading up to the competition, even while flying on an airplane, as I’ve never traveled such a distance for a meet.
I’ll be nervous the day of the meet; that’s just who I am. But I practice channeling that nervous energy into productive energy every time I step on the platform.
Q: Precision’s style of training can be really hard and frustrating with our daily maxes (top sets) How do you get your mind right for this type of training? and How do you deal with missing reps/not having a good training day?
A: Though I love reflecting upon those successful moments in my powerlifting “career” as a means to build up my confidence in my professional life, it is very important that I do not allow myself to dwell too long on subpar training days. Yes, it is good to acknowledge reasons for why the miss happened and craft strategies for improvement, but I can’t allow negativity to ruin the next 24 hours until I step into the gym again…or, even worse, ruin the next few training sessions. Here, too, I am a work in progress, but I only get better at the mental aspect of training through practice, just as one does with the physical aspect.
Q: You work full time and have a social life, how do you fit in 8+ hours of training a week?
A: It is challenging! And, frankly, it is something with which I’ve been struggling quite a lot recently. We spend mere minutes picking up weights and putting them back down, but the time devoted to food prep, recovery, commuting to the gym, putting on knee sleeves, and setting up banded squats all must be taken into account.
After some conversations with my coach, I’m actively working on strategies to better manage my training. Even if I leave work late, or I’m not feeling 100%, I’m aiming to still show up at the gym and put in effort for that day, though I may not reach my top sets or might need to cut the workout short. Consistency and effort should pay dividends in the long run even if I can’t follow the program for the week perfectly.
And when my schedule gets truly hectic, fortunately I’ve got a coach in Kevin who understands that sometimes “life PRs” take priority over gym PRs. He helps me adjust my programming, as well as my expectations, accordingly.
In sum, it is crucial that I regularly check in and make adjustments as needed because, though I want powerlifting to be a part of my life for a long time into the future, the sport may well have a somewhat different place in my life during different times. And that, too, is ok.