Starting a sport as an adult can seem quite daunting if you’ve never tried it before. I was overwhelmed when I was first considering Olympic weightlifting at 25 years old. Little did I know that I would absolutely fall in love with the sport. I played many sports growing up but for whatever reason, strength training was never emphasized. Softball was my primary sport and we never once lifted together as a team. At the time, I didn’t understand the benefits or how much it could have improved my performance.

Fast-forward to now, in physical therapy school. I’ve learned that strength training is often overlooked and underutilized. Since I was always studying and not exercising as much as I had been before, I figured it was the perfect time to try out weightlifting.

My trainer started me out slow, learning the basics and smaller parts of the whole lifts. I remember the first time I tried a lift. My body had no idea what it was supposed to do and some of the movements seemed impossible. I tried again and again and again until I got it down. Failure became a regular part of training and for the first time in my life, I was okay with that. What I love about Olympic weightlifting is that the process never ends and it is everchanging. One day I would be really good at one lift and the next day I would completely suck at it. I quickly learned, that’s the beauty of the sport. You’re never perfect and there’s always room for improvement. When I was younger, I never thought I would start a sport in my mid-twenties. I thought for the most part, the only way to be good at something was to start when you were a kid. I am definitely not anywhere close to the best at Olympic weightlifting and I’ll probably never compete at a high level. I do surprise myself though. I progressed fairly quickly in the first few months of training and the movements became muscle memory. My trainer is better than some of the physical therapists I have worked with. He knows how to progress or regress any exercise for you depending on your needs that day. He seems to always know the right things to say, whether it’s meant to kick your butt in gear or to empathize with you on a bad day.

COVID has thrown a wrench in my plans. Due to being away on clinicals, I had to step away from training for a bit. I know when I do get to finally go back, my trainer and my lifting friends will welcome me with open arms.

If you’ve wanted to start a sport as an adult but have been hesitant, I encourage you to at least try it! You might be surprised with yourself. Reach out to your community to see what’s offered for adults and go from there! No matter how challenging the sport may be, it’s never too late to put yourself out there and give it a go.