Failure Is Not an Option

Training and competing optimally is a big deal. Likewise, Shane Sweatt of Westside Barbell says it’s not OK to miss lifts.

“We teach people in the U.S., ‘As long as you try hard, it’s OK.’ It’s not OK to fail if you try hard. If I have … people who are willing to try hard, I want them to succeed,” says Sweatt, who is accompanied by elite powerlifter Laura Phelps-Sweatt.

In training, the lift should end before the form breaks down, he says at the CrossFit Powerlifting Trainer Course.

“The thing is I want people to do things optimally. If we don’t miss weights, our bodies (don’t) get beat up as bad. We don’t suffer injuries,” Sweatt explains.

When the form does break down, then trainer and athlete must figure out the reason, he continues.

“I like the mindset that if you miss something, we go back to the drawing board,” Sweatt says. “Why did I miss it?”

5min 48sec

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Additional reading: Left-Coast Westside by Mark Bell, published Feb. 16, 2011.