In a fitness world dominated by cardio and HIIT workouts, powerlifting remains misunderstood and intimidating to many. Steven Ridges, a certified Barbell Rehab Specialist and powerlifting coach with over 14 years of experience, is on a mission to change that perception. With a focus on making strength training accessible to everyone—regardless of age, experience, or background—Coach Steven has helped over 300 clients build strength, improve mobility, and transform their lives through powerlifting principles.
As one of the few Black coaches in the sport, Ridges is particularly passionate about increasing representation and breaking down barriers for communities that have traditionally been underrepresented in powerlifting. In this interview, he shares practical advice for beginners, addressing common concerns and offering simple ways to start incorporating powerlifting movements into daily life.
What are some affordable ways for people to start powerlifting if they don’t have access to a gym?
Honestly, the quickest, easiest way is you can squat. You can do some type of movement pattern if you can’t get to a gym. You can just start with some body weight squats and then try to load. I even tell people if you can’t necessarily get to a gym, you can always have a backpack, load up a backpack, and that can turn into a weighted squat.
Start with a push up as well, push up, just being able to push yourself up off of the floor because you have to be able to do a bench press at some point. But some people might have some shoulder pain. Go through that range of motion from the floor first, and then you can add on, maybe even like a weighted vest from there.
With a deadlift, if you pick up groceries, if somebody puts something on the floor, you pick up a package, you’re doing a deadlift. Just being able to get comfortably into that position and just stand up. You can load that with a lot of everyday things. For people with kids, I’ve seen some people will pick up their kid and just stand up and then come back down, turn it into a game. You can make it fun as well. Don’t have to be at the most expensive gym. You can still just do this at home and have fun with it.
What advice would you give to someone intimidated by powerlifting?
First things first, powerlifting is about you versus you. A lot of people will go, and they might see these things, and they might compare themselves automatically to what they’re seeing. Don’t worry about that. We all start at some point. So I would say, if you’re thinking about doing it, that means the bug and the seed has already been planted. All you need to do is just go ahead and just start with something that is very simple.
If you go into a gym and you see those people over there, the community itself is very warm. I’ve never seen somebody go to a powerlifting gym or seeing people powerlifting and not get any type of conversation. I would even say, if you’re intimidated, you see somebody doing those type of things, go walk up to them and ask, “Can you show me something?”
Our community is very welcoming. I think that’s something that people don’t get to really understand. They just see all these heavy weights. The community itself is a beautiful community. We have people that have never done this before, and people who’ve been doing it for over 10 years. So just go ask.
What would you say to someone who thinks they may be too old for powerlifting?
That’s a great question. For African Americans, we are in a special space now, where with powerlifting, you might in the past not have seen someone who looks like you. It’s starting to change, myself included. I am a powerlifter, and I personally know of what we call masters lifters.
There’s categories. You have the open category, you have teens, you have T1, T2, which is like 13, 14, 15. There’s different categories, but we also have Masters 1 which is like 40 through 49, Masters 2 50 to 59, Masters 3 60 to 69. There’s even a Masters 4, which is 70 to 79, and we have athletes in all of those categories.
So I would say to that person who was thinking, “Maybe I’m too old.” You’re limiting yourself already. One thing what powerlifting has shown me to do is not limit myself. So you’re never too old. I know someone personally she is 70 plus years old and she is over here power lifting. She’s picking up 200 plus pounds, and she’s over 70 years old so anyone can do it.
I think we just got to really just find the community. There are more gyms starting to pop up that can be accessible. But if you’re not in that state, and you just have a gym, I just want you to go and catch a barbell. Start light. You don’t have to go heavy, but just go touch a barbell.
What are the best exercises for someone new to start powerlifting?
If you’re starting powerlifting, you have to be able to squat to a certain standard. There is a thing called parallel in the sport. So your hip crease, you have to be able to comfortably squat down where your hip crease is below the top of your knee. That is if you plan on competing. For someone who’s just getting right into it, I just want them to be okay with squatting up and down.
So start with body weight. This can be for somebody who’s never trained. I would never tell somebody to just start with weight. If you’ve never trained your squat, you need to make sure that you know how to move in space first. But once you get comfortable, a good way to start is maybe 3 sets of 10 reps. When you think of body weight, you got to get repetitions. So you have to be able to do reps at a certain number within a set where your body can go through the process of learning. So for me personally, I say 3 sets, 10 reps. That’s not for everybody, but that’s really good for beginners.
Go through a squat. Go through pushing yourself up from the floor, especially if you’re not okay with laying on your back and letting something come down. Push yourself up off the floor. Some people can’t do push-ups, so I’ll say, start from the knees. You have to be able to be okay with pushing yourself up.
Going to the gym for the first time, if you want to do a deadlift instead of doing a bar, start with a dumbbell. Be okay with setting that dumbbell down, and then you just picking that dumbbell up. That would be some really good starters just to get into the patterns themselves.
How would you suggest beginners prevent injuries?
If we’re just talking about pieces of equipment I feel like everybody should have from a recovery standpoint is a foam roller. Muscles get tight. There are some camps that believe foam rolling can be great. Some people feel like foam rolling can be done after. I don’t really care as long as you foam roll because your muscles do get tight, and it can help with some of that.
Other pieces of equipment just to start with, bands. Bands are really good. I’m talking about like the mini bands. You can also do stretches with those. If you just had a band on your hips and you were to open one side at a time, that helps with you getting direct hip strength. A lot of people have tight hips. A lot of people have lower back pain. It’s because they’re not moving their hips and trying to train their hips.
Those are going to prevent a lot of injuries. A lot of people when they first start, they’re like, “Oh, my knees, my back, my hips, my ankles.” Those are probably the four most common areas that I hear. So those are the areas that need to be stretched. Those are the areas that need to be mobilized as well. So that’s what I would say to start.
What are some nutritional tips for people who want to build strength?
For building strength, I’m just going to keep it 100. I probably have this conversation with a lot of people and 95% of people are not eating enough. They are not eating enough because a lot of people think that for me to lose weight, I have to be in a deficit. But a lot of people don’t even know how to calculate their maintenance. What does your body need to maintain?
People will go so deep into a deficit, and then they’re hangry. “Oh, I don’t want to do this. I have cravings.” Cravings come from your body saying, “I just need to eat food.” Not to say that you cannot eat food and be satisfied, and you lose weight.
Protein is very important. Protein helps with recovery, and a lot of people who are trying to build strength when they go through strength training, you are breaking that muscle down, and your muscle has to then repair itself. That’s how muscle gets bigger. It has little rips in the fiber. I know it sounds crazy, but it is. That’s literally what happens. You get small tears in your fibers, and they repair themselves, and that’s how you get bigger muscles.
If somebody was really wanting to get serious about strength and increasing their strength, I’m a big advocate of Creatine monohydrate. Your body makes creatine, and all it is is actual energy when your body needs it. Taking Creatine is like storing a battery in your muscle. So when you actually go through your reps, you will have more energy to attack your workout. Those would be the first two things if anyone just wanted to start with getting stronger.
How can people follow you online to get more access to training regimens?
My Instagram is probably the social media account that I’m the most active on. That’s where I give like my stories, I give daily tips. So even if it’s just like you just want insight and information on what a strength athlete would do, follow me on Instagram at @thelastkiloking.
You can also follow me on LinkedIn, Steven Ridges as well. That’s more just so you can see some accolades. You’ll see some of my athletes who have gone through competition, some of my previous clients as well. I also have some beginner programs that are on certain links on my LinkedIn, but also through my Instagram as well. If you just go to my Instagram, there is a link in my bio that has all of my communication through email.
I do train online as well. There is an app that I use for my online clients where you’ll have all your workouts there. There’s also a sample workout as well if somebody is interested in that, basically guided for beginners. So that would be great if you just wanted to get in contact with me.
