Today I'd like to give you guys a more in depth insight on powerlifting. It is such an amazing sport and I wanted to introduce you to this sport a bit more. Maybe I can convince you to give it a try. You really should!
Powerlifting is a strength-oriented sport like bodybuilding, olympic weightlifting and strong men. It's such a simple sport. It consists of three disciplines: squat, bench press and deadlift and you try to move the maximum weight possible in each lift. Your main goal is to get stronger and stronger in each lift.
You can perform powerlifting just for yourself at your local gym, which is already pretty awesome and so much fun!
But most powerlifting are actually competing in a powerlifting meet.
Squat
With a loaded barbell across your back, you are squatting down until the crease of your hips is below the top of your knee caps and then you get back up in the starting position.
Most powerlifters are squatting low bar. In a low bar squat the barbell lays across your rear delts, whereas in a high bar squat the bar lays right on your traps. It's up to the mechanics of a lifters which style of squatting he chooses. But as mentioned earlier, the low bar squat is more common and it allows you to lift 5%-10% more.
Start position and lowest position of a low bar squat
High bar squat. Bar placement is a bit higher.
Bench press
While laying on a bench your lowering the barbell to your chest, pause and you press it back up.
A powerlifting bench press looks very different. The main difference is that powerlifters are benching with an arch and the entire body is involved, even the legs. Arching during the bench press allows you to press more weight. The arch is quite a controversial topic, since a lot of people (non-powerlifters), claim that arching during the bench press will injure your spine. But in fact, there is no stress on the spine during the lift and arching is absolutely safe. Benching with an arch is not very common in a conventional bench press and it is more like a chest isolating exercise.
My little arch during the bench press. There are a lot of female lifters who can arch like crazy.
Deadlift
You pull the barbell off the ground and pull it up until your shoulders are back and your knees and your hip are locked out. Then you put the barbell back down.
It is such an easy lift, isn't, it?
There a two styles of the deadlift. The conventional and the sumo deadlift. The style of your deadlifts depends on individuals mechanics and individual preferences. The style of the deadlift is actually very controversial among powerlifters and thus some lifters say that 'pulling sumo is cheating'. People say this because of shortened
range of motion of a sumo pull. The range of motion might be a little bit shorter, but a sumo deadlift is in fact not that easy. Some are better at sumo and some are doing better on a conventional deadlift. Choose a style which feels the best to you.
Conventional deadlift
Sumo deadlift
Powerlifting meets
In meets you are competing against other lifters. Usually federations are organizing those meets, but there are also a few meets where no specific federations is involved, e.g. a gym is organizing one.
In a meet you perform of course the three main lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift. In this particular order. You have three attemps for each lift. The first attempt is your opener. You can decide the weight for your opener. For the following attemps you increase the weight you want to lift. The lifts have to be performed according to the rule book of the federation. You have to follow the commants of the main judge. There are three jugdes who decide if your lift is a good lift or no lift. The decisions by the judges are shown by three lights, one light for each judge. A white light is a good lift, a red light is no lift. Two or three white lights are a good lift.
The goal of a meet is to build the highest total possible which is the sum of the highest lifted weight in each lift. If you are failing all three attemps in a lift, you are 'bombed out'. This means you don't get a total, since a total requires a good lift in all three lifts.
In each meet there are different weight and age classes. The categorization of the classes depends on the federation.
Federations
There are quite a lot of different powerlifting federations. Each federation has different rules and regulations. These differents concern the lifts itself, the equipment you are allowed to use and drug testing. Just to name a few.
The largest federation is the IPF with its subdivisions in each country. Take a look at the federations rule book and then pick a federation which appeals you the most.
Raw vs. equipped
Powerlifting can be performed in two different styles. The only difference is the equipment you are allowed to use. In raw powerlifting the allowd equipment is limited. Usually you can use a belt and wrist wraps. Sleeves and wraps are often allowed too.
Equipped powerlifting relys on the use of equipment like bench shirts, knee wraps or squat suits. All this gear helps the lifter to lift more. Actually quite a lot more than in raw powerlifting.
What I really love about this sport is that it requires a lot more than physical strength. It's mental strength. If you're squatting sets of 10 and youre already out of breath after your 6th rep, it really takes a lot of will power to get the last sets done! Or even lifting heavy doubles is equally challenging. You might have already guessed that you really have to focus when you lift in order to contract every muscle fiber possible. You really can't think of anythink else. To me it's a like meditation and makes me forget about all the other problems I have. And of course it's one of the best tools for anger management! I highly recommend a heavy deadlift session when your angry!
And although you compete against others in a meet, the one you are really competing with is yourself.