UpLIFT You: Strong Body, Strong Mind
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UpLIFT You: Strong Body, Strong Mind
25 | "Firsts": A Turn The Tables Episode Where Leanne Is Asked, "Why Compete?" And "What's Different Going Into Cairns?"
Ever wonder why some athletes choke?
Could it be because they see things in black and white and there's far more to it than that...?
We Turn The Tables on Leanne and put her in the hot seat as Mike Schwartz, Producer, Musician, Coach and good friend of the show gets the goods on what lead to her decision to complete in a powerflifting competition out of the blue.
Today we learn...
- What drove Leanne to compete
- What markers of success she's using now
- The benefits of cross-training
- What's been the highlights/challenges of this preperation
- What every single athlete could do more of...
To watch Leanne compete at the Deep North Powerlifting Competition on September 21, head on over to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f25DM-z-McM
Things get underway at 8 am and run til 5 pm. Show some love!
Follow Leanne on Instagram @lkstrengthcoach
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Okay. So there's going to be a lot of firsts in this competition, and one of the firsts which I'm very excited about is going to be the blinging of the competition. So what that entails is we have orange and silver hair ribbons, we have diamantes silver diamantes for our face. We have glitter for our hair. For our face, we have glitter for our hair. We have, um, those blinged up shoes and we have very colorful lifting socks. So when we step onto that platform, we are going to outshine everyone there with our bling oh my goodness pun intended, that was incredible out bling everybody.
Speaker 2:Guys, that is worthy of the air horn right in there. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we're doing a. Tables have turned. I've got leanne knox sitting in the hot seat today. I'm usually hiding out behind the scenes doing the, the podcast production, but that story just feels like a good time to lead right into what we're talking about. Your competition coming up now, leanne, you are impressive beyond belief and my first question to you is, being a barbell athlete, being a competitor of nearly anything like, I've eaten Tim Tams with you and it's a competition, you know.
Speaker 1:Competition can bring out the best in you. It sure can right.
Speaker 2:My question, though, is you're an Olympic lifter, you're a gymnast. Why powerlifting now?
Speaker 1:Why back into competition now? Glad you asked Now the reason. Powerlifting now. And for those of the audience that don't know, I used to do powerlifting years ago and made a very deliberate, conscious decision to focus on Olympic weightlifting. And that was three years ago now. And what happened was I? What happened about three, four months ago was I still coach a lot of powerlifters, right? And I remember back to my powerlifting days and I went into a competition. I went into quite a few competitions up in Cairns, north Queensland, with Jackie and Elias, who are fantastic hosts, and they host the most amazing powerlifting competitions because everything is so well organised.
Speaker 1:The commentary is out of this world. Mike, I know you'd really appreciate it, because it's like DJing right. Yes, it's like DJing right. Yes, it's like a whole performance. So when you get a great DJ or a great MC at a competition, it changes the whole competition, it changes everyone's experience. So, elias is fantastic. When you come onto the platform, you know it's like. It's like the boxes. You know how the boxes get introduced and the music's going and they're like and they like really ramp it up and they give you the background of each lifter, which is impressive. They don't just go leanne knox from whitsundays no, he'll, he'll, he'll like do the whole spiel. Leanne knox, world record holder, olympic weightlifter, and it's just a fantastic experience competing in Cairns.
Speaker 1:So this competition came up and none of my powerlifters have competed this year as yet and I wanted to give them an opportunity to go in a competition. So when it came up, I thought you know what? I want to be part of it. I want to experience that fun like competitive but fun atmosphere and I want to be part of the community. I want to be one of the crew. I want to go on the road trip and I want to compete alongside my lifters. Rather than than be the coach of the lifters, I want to compete alongside them, inspire them to, you know, to step up to the platform. So I put my name down.
Speaker 2:Now, god knows what that means, being such a competitor. And before we move into the next, the next question I have for you, because that was just such a great, a great feeder. It was so easy because, for those who don't know, this is Mike Schwartz, all the way from Canada, coming in hot from the past, technically from my Aussie friends and we got to work together preparing for this. Because I remember this one little voice message, this freaking out, leanne, going, and you were frantic and you were sitting there and you're like you and Sue as well, were sitting there going like, how do we do this, what are we doing? And there was so much panic and I'm just sitting here going like, oh, my goodness, you're doing what. And you filled me in and I'm interested in learning what has been since that time, because we did get to work through a bit of it Since that time. Because we did get to work through a bit of it Since that time in preparation. What has been the biggest challenge for you in setting up for this?
Speaker 1:knowing full well you are a competitor. The biggest challenge all along has been stepping out of the mindset that when I compete, I need to break world records. That that's what. That's why I'm competing, I'm going to break a world record or any type of record, and looking at the outcome and the number. So and then, and in saying that, if that is my goal, my goal, if I'm staring at the outcome of the competition, then the training that goes along with that is extremely intense. Okay, so the biggest challenge was finding the middle ground and understanding that when I step onto the platform, I can still be world champion warrior Leanne, when I'm on the platform, but when I'm off the platform, I don't need to be at the level where I am grinding myself into the ground in order to just focus in on only the outcome. And the outcome has been up until now to break some type of record or get a bigger number.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing with barbell sports it's very number oriented. So get a bigger number than what I'd ever done before. That's always been, very often 99% of my competitive 13 years in the sports both sports it's been. Can I get a better number than last time I did this? So think about it. I haven't been training powerlifting. It is unrealistic for me to think that in three years later, with virtually with maybe two to three months of training, that I can get a bigger number.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and your audience. We know we're all competitors. So, like what it sounds like, what you're saying is that there's something more to this than just numbers in competition, which I know in my world in athletics and over here, it's no different. I know you guys are in a totally different time zone. Is it different? Is the currency the same? Is there not this huge to do so like what you're saying is blasphemy for most athletes. Why is that? Why are you? Why are you so passionate about? Oh, there's something more to this, because how are you? Why are you competing then, if it's not about the numbers?
Speaker 1:okay, um, I just I just wanted to point out that tilly's very, um very passionate about this because she's, you know, barking out there. I can hear it, I can hear it, she's great yeah she hasn't chimed in in any type of podcast for quite some time now, so I'm impressed that she's chimed in on this one. She's pissed. She doesn't believe it Now, mickey as well, I'm thinking. The dogs definitely are not impressed.
Speaker 2:Outrage because you're saying crazy shit. You can't possibly be saying that there's something else going to a competition than smashing world records. Leanne, I want to hear from you, the dogs want to hear from it.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's get back to why the dogs are so upset that I'm daring to go in a competition to not break some sort of record.
Speaker 2:It sounds insane.
Speaker 1:And why am I doing that? And I had a really good think about this prior to this podcast and reflected because it has been a really big challenge for me to go into a competition not focused on that outcome or the numbers, and that's breaking my pattern. My, that has been my pattern for 12, 13 years and I've thought long and hard and the re that the the biggest thing that comes back at me is let's rewind, 12 months ago, when I started was leading into this podcast and I hadn't started it yet and we were going through my top values. Okay, so my very number one value that I became aware of, um, as I did that process of of thinking what I, you know, what do you value the most? Um, as a person, as a coach, as a business? And that was community, okay, why?
Speaker 1:And then I thought back now all of the world championships that I've been in. I've been to Finland, I've been to Hong Kong, I've been to America, I've been to New Zealand and I've competed in world championships in both sports. If I think back to those times, do I remember breaking world records? And the answer is absolutely not. I don't remember the process of breaking the world records. What do I remember about those moments? And I can tell you with certainty it is the people that I met, the people that I met overseas, the experiences that I had alongside my Australian fellow lifters, or even lifters from another country, the relationships that I built and the great times that I had off the platform. So that is the reason why I'm going into this competition with a different mindset, because I have realized that that value of community is so important to me and that is where all of my joy really lies.
Speaker 2:I love that. To me, what that brings up in me as a former athletic addict, that I was always the same way. I was always the same way. I was always right in there. I was always go, go, go. If you're not first, you're last. Ricky Bobby, if you're not first, you're last. I'm sure I've got a thing here somewhere for that I probably do. Here we are, yeah, you ain't first, you're last, and for a long time. What I noticed in my own athletic career tell me if you were the same is that when we go in with that all or nothing, everything on the line, we lose sight of being in the moment, and what it sounds like you're really changing up here is the fact that you're being present with yourself right now so that you can enjoy the whole atmosphere and all the people around you up in Cairns. Is that correct?
Speaker 1:people around you up in Cairns. Is that correct? Absolutely yeah. I want to be able to sit in that warmup room and, instead of having a laser focus on myself and not seeing anything that's happening around me, which is essentially what I've done in every competition I've been in most competitions I've been in up to date. I'm going to take out every, because you remember a year and a half ago, when I went in world uh, nationals I think it was nationals and I, um, started utilizing music. I had a different experience then and that's that's a story we can go into a bit later in this pod. In this episode.
Speaker 1:I want but one thing I want to be able to do, which I want to be able to sit in that warm-up room and soak in the human behavior. That is like the humanness of what's happening. And I want to be able to sit back and you watch someone. You can see on their face the self-doubt, you can see the interaction between the coach and the athlete, and then that person does that warm-up lift and you can see the relief flood over their face and then you know you'll look over the other side of the room and you'll see someone with their headphones on, you know sitting there, being in their own world, and you can see the intensity on their face. That sort of thing as a coach is really intrigues me.
Speaker 1:I love looking at the psychology behind why people are doing what they're doing and how they're doing. You know how they're doing it basically. So when you're sitting in a warmup room and you're going in to yourself, you don't see notice anything else. You're present within yourself, but you're not present in the moment. And a really good example of that, mike, was my first Olympic weightlifting world championships in Finland. I was so focused only on what was happening inside of me, because there was a lot happening inside me and a lot of it wasn't good.
Speaker 1:I was, I was freaking out, I was freaking out, so all I could do was sit there and close my eyes, or just sit there and stare at something in front of me and breathe to try and stay calm. And then, when we were finished that competition, I went out that night to dinner and there were four Americans in the room at the pub and I introduced myself to them and I said so which session were you in? And they just looked at me and said we were in your session. I said what, you were in my session. I didn't see anything. I didn't see any other lifters.
Speaker 2:I saw nothing because I was so internally focused. Yeah, Reflecting back on that now. What feelings come up when you think about that and how you were in that moment.
Speaker 1:How I was in that moment was not enjoying. I wasn't enjoying the moment. Honestly. All I was doing was trying to remain calm so that when I went out on the platform I had some chance of doing a successful lift. So I'm going to be honest and say it wasn't a pleasurable experience. And I know when you're competing at your very top, you know you're putting everything into your competition and you have a lot of that pressure that of course, there's going to be an element of. You know I've got a job to do, let's get it done. But I was at the next level from that, where my heart rate was through the roof.
Speaker 1:I would have been sweating, panicking, and the common narrative that was going through my head for the first, I'd have to say, the first 10 years of breaking world records was this why am I doing this? I'm not enjoying myself. What am I here for? Why did I sign up to this? I hate this. I'm not competing again. This is it. This is my last competition. That's what would be going on repeat in my head. Then the competition would be over and I'd be like, oh, thank goodness it's over. Actually it wasn't that bad. I might do that again. But then the next competition. The narrative would stay the same.
Speaker 1:I hate this. What am I doing here? I'm freaking out.
Speaker 2:I can relate. I know exactly what you're saying. I was in the same. I loved training for the sport.
Speaker 2:I hated competing, Hated it. If there was an Olympics for long track speed skating training, I would have won guaranteed. I love the process, I love dry land, I love doing the conditioning, I love going to bed on time, waking up early, doing all the things in training and then, as soon as it got to about Wednesday because we usually compete on Friday and Wednesday rolls around and I'm just sweating Like I wouldn't sleep and I would just get this performance anxiety. So I completely hear. And I would just get this performance anxiety. So I completely hear. I think what I'm really interested in for the listener's sake here too is like afterwards, when you get told and it's brought to your attention that you were so zoned in, so in your own world you didn't see four or five other people in the room. How did that experience make you feel?
Speaker 1:be honest. It made me feel I felt. The first thing that came into my head was leanne, you're so self-centered. I'm so centered in myself, but you're so. But what I mean by that is you're so selfish. All you care about is your own performance and no one else matters. It didn't make me feel good about myself.
Speaker 2:No, because, like, you're sitting there and they're like they knew you were there. I've been in that situation where you're just so in your zone Maybe you're going to a party or you're going out to and people are like I saw you, I said hey, and you just didn't see them. You legitimately didn't see them and they're just like were you blowing me off Like I thought we were buds.
Speaker 1:No, I just zoned right out yeah, you feel like trash? Eh, yeah, yeah. So that was my first world championships and that that was close to would be close to 10 years ago now, wow.
Speaker 2:So then my question is with it sounds like quite a bit of a transition from from the way that you were performing and I know when it comes to performance there's a large part and I know you're the best in the world for it for for preparation. So what kind of things have you done to take stock of where you were, where you want to be, and how are you preparing for it now?
Speaker 1:This upcoming competition. Yeah, the first thing that I did for this upcoming competition that is different to what I've done for any other competition was number one. I did not stalk the other competitors, so I didn't get the competitor list right and go where's everyone in my weight class? How much can they lift? What do I need to lift to beat that person?
Speaker 2:Now hang tight. Can we give some context to this, because you and I know what we're talking about? Leanne is a professional stalker, ladies and gentlemen. Her hubby, steve O, he says it all the time. Can we give a little bit of background? Just a quick little 30 second blip on? What do you mean by you're stalking Like? Is this a pattern?
Speaker 1:According to Steve, it's a pattern. I like to call it networking or collaborating. When I'm really passionate about something, I do a lot of research into the thing or the person, and if I really enjoy what that person does, I want to connect with them. So I will reach out to someone just to tell them how much I appreciate their work, and my husband calls that stalking. Okay, I call it networking or collaborating. And when it comes to stalking other lifters in a competition and any lifter listening to me right now or any competitor who's listening to me will know exactly what I'm about to say you get the competitor list and everyone in your weight class is fair game. Okay, it's fair game. The game's on, game's on, you know. So let's go and see how much they can lift, so that you know how much you're going to have to lift to beat that person.
Speaker 2:All right, Okay, what's the danger with that then?
Speaker 1:Comparison straight up.
Speaker 2:Okay, have you fallen into that before?
Speaker 1:every single competition I've been in, except for the last 12 to 18 months.
Speaker 1:Yes, interesting and this time's different yes because, because this time, instead of looking at the, the numbers, how much I can lift, how much other people can lift and what I need to do to beat another person or even beat myself, the focus is completely different. And the way that I've done that has been a variety of different strategies and, like I was saying, number one was, when the start list came out, I'm like cool, there's the start list, put it away. When the start list came out, I'm like cool, there's the start list, put it away, don't look at it, don't even look at people's names. The main thing is is that I'm in the competition, okay, tick, done. So there's no comparison. I have no idea what other people can lift and so, therefore, whatever I'm lifting is what I'm currently capable of lifting. Whatever I'm lifting is what I'm currently capable of lifting. So that that was my first strategy going into this competition. The second one, the second one, has been, instead of dropping everything and going, okay, I now, instead of snatching and clean and jerking because that's my sport right now Okay, I am an Olympic weightlifter, I'm not, not a powerlifter.
Speaker 1:In the past I'd be like, well, I've, I've got to get rid of olympic weightlifting because I can't possibly go into a competition and not train my ass off for it, so that I can be the best that I can be. And this is this has been the biggest uh, internal, uh, what I can't even think of the word resistance for me. This has been the biggest struggle for me because I've maintained my Olympic weightlifting training, because that's the sport that I love, I'm so passionate about it and I know that health-wise, that that sport is long-term better for me because it's less load, it has more mobility in it, it moves fast You're moving a barbell with speed, coordination, balance. So I know that. And what I've done in this competition is I've disciplined I like to use the word disciplined, I've disciplined, I like to use the word disciplined, but I've disciplined myself into deadlifting once a week, bench pressing once a week, and that's it.
Speaker 1:I haven't changed anything else. I haven't added more volume, I haven't went oh, just do two bench presses a week. I haven't given in to that temptation because in the past I'd be flat out, I would have ditched Olympic weightlifting and said, right, for the next three months I'm going flat out with powerlifting training because I don't want to take a 20-kilo hit. And here's the big thing. We're talking numbers. Three years ago I could deadlift 180. Now I'm going for 160. That is a 20 kilo decrease and that's where the ego can start creeping in, where you're like I now have. I now get to face the concept that I am no longer as strong as I was three years ago. That's a struggle.
Speaker 2:That makes sense to like most normal people, like it does, like most people that aren't hardwired for like, if you're not first, you're last. You know, and what you're saying here is that you've given what I would term grace to yourself. You've been like, listen, things aren't moving. This is a long-term thing. I see a pattern of the all or nothing, the black or white, and that's been removed. Have you noticed in your training anything really different, aside from like the strength, the numbers, aside from that, like we can, we can assume that, yeah, I'm not lifting as quite, as quite as heavy yeah anything outside of that?
Speaker 2:are you more or less injured? Are you recovering well? Are you sleeping better? Have you noticed anything with that cross training? Uh?
Speaker 1:regimen 100. The. This is and I said this to my training partner, sue, this morning this is the very first competition because it's all about firsts for this competition I like that word first. Here's the thing. Normally I'd be focusing on first, as in coming out first. Now I'm focusing on firsts of the human experience, like I'm experiencing some firsts here.
Speaker 1:One is I have no major niggles that I would normally have going into a powerlifting comp. By this stage of preparation of a powerlifting competition, I would have my knee double strapped, my left knee, because pretty sure I have a bit of osteoarthritis going on in there. So I'd have my knee double strapped and I would. My shoulder would be. The tendon in my shoulder would likely be playing up to the point where you don't sleep well because you can't roll on that shoulder. You can't sleep on that shoulder. Don't sleep well because you can't roll on that shoulder. You can't sleep on that shoulder.
Speaker 1:My whole sleep pattern would be affected with a lot more waking like. My cortisol levels would be a lot higher, so that my sleeping pattern would be a lot worse than I'd be waking up constantly throughout the night and there is, I feel, inside of me a calmness and a willingness to to. I'm happy with where I'm at. Wherever I'm at, I'm at Like I'm at where I'm at right now. I can't get any stronger. We're four days into the comp, we're four days until the comp, and I feel a peace, an inner peace, of being able to step onto that platform and enjoy the moment. So I can honestly say, out of all the powerlifting competitions that I've been in, I've never felt as recovered as I do right now. I have virtually no pain, my knee is absolutely fine and I'm sleeping. My sleep pattern has not been disrupted. So there's been a world of difference in this approach.
Speaker 2:I love that. Thank you so much for sharing all that. I think it's invaluable for young athletes, older athletes, every athlete in between, to hear that from you, because I truly look up to you when we first met your mind and the way that you train. You care so much about the person on the platform or under the barbell. Your attention to detail is so so far. You're on another planet. You're in a different galaxy when it comes to that as a coach, and it's really inspiring to hear that you can remove the ego, you can pull yourself back and look at things from an internal win, and I love that because, like, maybe if you're not first, your last is right, if we use your first, because if you're not starting new things, you're failing in life, like you're not experiencing life. That's what I'm getting out of this. This is incredible. I'd like to wind things down here with some magic and I'd love to hear from you and I'm sure the audience would as well.
Speaker 2:Your loyal fan base would love to hear what's the dream outcome? What is the dream outcome? You go up there, you. You have a, you have a competition. Your dream outcome? You've done imagination stuff with me. What are? I want to play this game. What are the five things that you can see?
Speaker 1:The five things I can see as a dream outcome. One and this is a really powerful moment for me in Auckland last year when I was utilizing functional frequency music that you developed in the Walmart room and there was cameras rolling the whole time. And normally I do not like any photos of myself in competition because my eyeballs are popping out of my head, my face is red, I'm pulling the most ugly faces and I'm yet to see a nice photo of me when I'm really pushing those heavy weights, okay. But this competition in Auckland burnt into my memory was the cameras were rolling in the warm-up room, which is fantastic. The warm-up room that's where the action's at People think the action's out on the platform, no, okay.
Speaker 1:The action's actually in the warm-up room, because that's when people let their guard down. That's when you'll see lifters doubt themselves. You'll see coaches patting people on the back. You'll you know, you'll see the real stuff's in the warmup room. So if there's a camera in the warmup room, you know that's great viewing and I remember watching the playback of my Olympic weightlifting competition in Auckland and I had the presence of mind and the and the peace, the peace in my heart, to be able to look at the camera and smile. So if we go back to the outcome, one of the outcomes to see a whole heap of moments in this upcoming competition where I have a smile on my face, that's the number one. That for me, would be the most important outcome, because if I'm smiling, I'm enjoying being present in the moment.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:So that's the number one. Number two as far as my lifts go, I'm going to give it my all. Of course I am. Every competitor does you. Don't go out and go. I'm just going to do 90 today.
Speaker 1:I'm only going to give 90 effort, right right, I'm going to give it my all and and be able to like look at whatever my all is, is enough for me now, whatever my all is, whatever that number may be, because we're not focusing on the number. If I've put put in a hundred, I know I'm going to put in a hundred percent effort. So, looking back at the competition and going, I put in a hundred percent effort, right, numbers don't matter, it's a hundred percent effort on the platform. Number three and I've already touched on this in the back room, so in the warmup room, being able to stand back as an observer of what's going on around me and just soak all of that in, because you can learn so much as a competitor and so much as a coach. And I know, mike, we did do some work on me being competitor and coach, because that in itself I was struggling with with the division there. Am I the competitor or am I the coach of the seven people that I'm going to the competition with my lifters? People I coach? You know which role? Which hat am I going to have on? And if I could sit in that back room and just slow my breathing down, stop, be present and really rejoice in watching my lifters become independent and warm up and go out on the platform without me thinking my ego, thinking I have to be there to hold their hand. They're not going to be able to lift properly without me. So because I've decided not to do that, I'm there as a competitor. They are my fellow lifters and I really am looking forward to watching them shine as lifters because I know I've prepared them for that. So that's the third outcome.
Speaker 1:The fourth outcome is meeting. If I can meet as many people as possible that I haven't met before. Go up and say hello to a lifter that I've never met before Like that to me that's a real highlight of a competition meeting people and saying to someone what's been the highlight of your competition, you know, and helping inspire people to think about the big picture while they're in the warm-up room and being that kind supportive person that's focusing not only on herself but on the other people in the room and being supportive of them, because when you give out you get back tenfold. So that's my number four. You know, ultimate outcome of the competition.
Speaker 1:And number five is is the whole uh community being with my community of people and looking back at it in five years time and laughing and going. Remember the time when we were on the road trip and we stopped on the side of the road and you were busting to go to the toilet or you, you, you ate too much protein, you're in the toilet or you know. You peed yourself on the platform like, and laughing and and having those wonderful memories. That's so important to me because, like I said to you before, I look back at the six or more world championships I've been in and I think of the people and the experience and the human connection.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're creating moments out there, right, and I think one thing the listeners, if you didn't pick up on this is that a true born leader is the one that goes out there and performs. And it takes a lot of courage, a lot of bravery, to release that control that we have where we think, whether it's you being a parent or you being a supervisor at work or you being the bus driver you know any role where you're in command. Some of the hardest conversations I've ever had with leaders is relinquishing that power and trusting in somebody else to be able to do it and giving them you know it's like letting it's mama bird, letting the bird go fly out of the nest, and I think what's so admirable about this whole situation is that I've seen it over the last three, four months now where you've really just you've stepped into that wise leader. You're like a sage out there where you just trust. You trust that everybody's going to get there, we're going to have a great time, and you no longer have the need to and you can do the same thing you always do and just show them how it's done when you get under that bar Right, and that's, that's inspiring.
Speaker 2:You're going to get a whole different kind of appreciation as a leader from that, I truly believe. So I want to save the best question for last and give you an opportunity to share with your audience anything that we didn't cover here today. Before we step into that last question, anything else that we didn't cover here today. Um, before we, before we step into that last question, anything else that we didn't share about the competition about whatever you want to talk about.
Speaker 2:Is there anything else you think is important here for somebody listening to this going into their competition?
Speaker 1:yeah about firsts and lasts and competing and the, the pressure of competition and the pressure of not performing and the preparation, anything like that, honestly, I do believe that, at the end of the day, if this is someone's first competition, they can't look back in hindsight, they don't have the wisdom. Because if you're listening and you're going into your first competition, my, you know, the thing that I have found the most helpful over, you know, the past 13 years of competing is when you focus on your own effort and say a kind word to a fellow competitor, even someone sitting next to you waiting for the next warm up. If you can bring your focus on helping others, even if it's a kind word, like you know, have a laugh with someone sitting next to you that will immediately relax you. So, just, there's a lady sitting next to me and you know she's sitting there shaking her legs and I'm like, yeah, I, I get you. You know, I see that nervous energy in your legs and you both have a laugh. So as soon as you can have a smile or a smile on your face, it will downregulate you and in whatever way that that, in whatever form that that may take, that would be my.
Speaker 1:My for competitions is to to find a way to smile. Find a way where you, where you're inspired to smile, whether that's talking to someone else talking to your coach? Um, taking a step back and looking at some of your funny, funny mannerisms? Um, you know, like even get your phone out. If you've got your phone there, I mean, the only reason I would have a phone at a competition would be to listen to music, because music has been transformational for me in that warm-up room. Um, in keeping yourself down, regulated, because you want to stay as calm as you can until it's your turn to get on the platform there's a lot of competition is all about waiting. What are you going to be doing while you're waiting? Are you going to be sitting there all upregulated, breathing into your chest like thinking God, I hope I can do it. I hope I can do it. What if I fail my first lift? Or you can listen to music which keeps you downregulated. You can put a smile on your face and have a chat to the person next to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's all cheery after that. Everybody's like all right. We make it oftentimes a bigger pedestal than it needs to be, I think, and that's just the nature of the beast, I think, and that's wise words. I want to put a spin on your infamous last question, the mic drop motion right here. If you had the opportunity to thank anybody in particular for giving you the inspiration to go compete in such a different nature from what it seems like in your previous competitions, who would that person be? And another way of saying this who uplifts you?
Speaker 1:I would say my lifters, my lifters that I coach, uplift me. So their belief in me as a coach and a lifter who uplift me every day, like, for example, I know I've talked about Sue a couple of times on this podcast, but Sue and I have been training partners leading into this competition, and to hear Sue say to me, leanne, this is your opportunity to show me what you can do, that was so uplifting, because I know that the words that are coming out of her mouth are words that I've empowered her with. The word opportunity is such a wonderful word to use, it's better than chance and the fact that she spun it around and said this is your opportunity to show me what you can do, like that's her becoming coach, and the same can be said for a couple of my more experienced lifters. They have the tables have turned a little bit and they've taken on a coaching role and they inspire me by, honestly, by coaching me as well. So so now we're we're partners in the process.
Speaker 1:So that has been definitely the people who have uplifted me and I know this is may sound a little bit cringy to people, but, honestly, the ability to be able to stand back and notice the patterns that I've been in for the last 12 years and the courage to be able to change that has 100% come from our work together right from the start, understanding my values. That was a really big one for me, understanding why I'm doing what I'm doing. Up until then I was like the ship on the ocean. Just the waves were just like bouncing me around. Why are you doing this, leanne? Oh, because I like competing and I like weightlifting. Yeah, but what do you really value? So that was a really momentous life-changing moment for me just understanding my values and that was our work that we've done together right at the start. And I've already talked about music. That's so uplifting.
Speaker 2:You're just such a legend and I think that's a really great place to wind things down here. Think that's a really great place to uh to wind things down here. Have a moment share with, uh, your audience, where they can follow along if, um, uh, if the competition is being recorded or if it is, uh, if it's something that you can head up to, if it's a, a spectator event, um, have a little share and, uh, take the spotlight one last time and then we'll wrap it up.
Speaker 1:So if you're living, if you're in the North Queensland area in Cairns, you can come along and watch Saturday, the 21st of September. We are lifting at 8 am. If you're not in that area, it's being live streamed and if you go to my page L strength coach on instagram or with sunday weightlifting instagram, the link will be posted on there the live stream link and I do believe that we'll be able to post it um in the notes of this podcast as well. So there's plenty of opportunity for people to be able to watch me smile yes, that's what I was waiting for.
Speaker 2:Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to turn the tables on you here, leanne, and for, on behalf of your podcast, uplift you. This is Mike Schwartz signing off. Thank you so much for your time, leanne.
Speaker 1:Thank you and stay strong.