Powerlifting Competitions
Powerlifting competitions can be a lot of fun. And whether you win or lose, you are likely to have a great time and learn something too. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about competitive powerlifting.
What is Competitive Powerlifting?
Competitive powerlifting is a strength sport. You will perform the squat, bench press and deadlift. You will have three attempts for each lift to help build your total. The lifter with the highest total wins the meet.
You can only add weight for each attempt or stay at the same weight if you miss a lift once. If you do make a lift, you must go up by a minimum of 2.5 kilograms on the next attempt. You can make bigger jumps, but your attempts must still be a multiple of 2.5 kg (5, 7.5,10 kg jumps).
To prepare for a powerlifting meet, you will need to learn and practice the squat, bench press and deadlift long enough that you are proficient at each lift. You will also need to perform accessory movements and keep track of your weight to make your weight class.
How Much do you Have to Lift in Powerlifting Competitions?
There are no prerequisites before competing in powerlifting. However, if you go in with a certain strength level, you will probably do very well.
Women should aim to squat about 1.5 x body weight, bench press close to 1 x body weight and deadlift around 2 x body weight to earn a very respectable total.
Men should aim to squat about 2 x body weight, bench press 1.5 x body weight and deadlift 2.5 x body weight to earn a very respectable total.
Masters female lifters should aim to squat 1 x body weight, bench press half of their body weight and deadlift 1.5 x body weight. Masters male lifters should aim to squat 1.5 x body weight, bench press 1 x body weight and deadlift 1.5 x body weight or more.
Many Masters lifters are just as strong as open lifters, but these totals will help you put up a respectable starting total.
Even if you have not hit these numbers, you can certainly still compete and expect nothing but respect from your fellow competitors at a local meet.
Powerlifting Competition Guidelines
Powerlifting has a ton of guidelines for your attire, weight classes, movement standards and more.
Basically, each meet follows a standard format. First, you will weigh in and establish your weight class. You will then warm up for three attempts for the squat. Your goal is to use your three attempts to build to your best squat.
You can only add weight for each attempt or stay at the same weight if you miss a lift once. If you do make a lift, you must go up by a minimum of 2.5 kilograms on the next attempt.
Once you finish your squat attempts, you warm up the bench press and perform your three bench press attempts in front of the judges.
And finally, you warm up your deadlift and then perform your three deadlifts in front of the judges.
For each lift, you have to follow certain technical standards to get credit. Obviously, if you are unable to make a lift, you do not get credit.
Each federation has different rules and standards for technique, so you should read your federation’s rulebook to find more information.
Powerlifting Federations
There are so many powerlifting federations including the USAPL, USPA, the USPF, APF, AAU, APA, IPA and more. These federations all have different rules. Some of these federations have different rules for each lift.
For instance, some federations allow heels up on the bench press while others do not. Some are drug tested and others are not.
The strictest federation is the USAPL. The USAPL is drug tested and it is the most stringent federation. It feeds into the IPF.
The USPA is another popular federation. A lot of strong lifters compete in the USPA. Some meets are drug tested and others are not. The USPA meets are known to be a lot more fun. This federation uses a deadlift bar which may help you lift heavier weights in the deadlift.
If you are a natural lifter, you should stick to the USAPL or USPA drug tested meets.
If you are not natural, go for untested federations instead of breaking the rules.
Powerlifting Competition Divisions
Powerlifting has a lot of divisions. The first divisions are weight-based. The weight classes for women and men are different for each federation.
The second divisions are age based. There are divisions for teens, adults and people over 40, 50, 60 and 70.
The next divisions are based on equipment. Do you want to compete in the raw division and just use a belt and knee sleeves? Or do you want to compete in the equipped division and use knee wraps and special suits that help you lift more weight?
Frankly, I think most new lifters should just compete in the raw category. Equipped lifting is harder on your joints and using knee wraps may damage your knee joints.
The next divisions are based on your events. Do you want to perform all the lifts, squat and deadlift, or bench press only?
And finally, powerlifting is grouped into divisions based on your weight class so similar size lifters can compete against each other. This guide to weight classes will help you choose your weight class.
Powerlifting Competition Costs
Competing in powerlifting can require a small ongoing investment. Here are some expected costs for a year.
- Federation Membership $100 per year
- Meet Registration $100-200 per year
- Hotel $150-300
- Travel $25-100
- Singlet $75
- Knee Sleeves $100
- Belt $50-100
- Squat and Deadlift Shoes $100-200
- Coaching $500-1000
For most people, competing costs around $1000 per year. You could try to purchase items used and use a basic template instead of hiring a coach to save money. Once you buy some of these things, you do not have to purchase them again. Your belt and shoes should last a very long time. And if you need to, you can opt not to stay overnight before the meet or just cut a few non-necessities out of your budget.
How to Pick a Powerlifting Competition
There are five tiers of competition.
- Local
- State
- Regional
- National
- International
If you are just getting started, you can start with a local meet! Then progress to other meets as you get stronger.
State and regional meets are a great way to get more practice and challenge yourself at a slightly more competitive meet.
And you may even set a goal to compete at nationals.
It may take you five years or longer to qualify for nationals. You will need a specific total to qualify for a national meet.
Even if you don’t qualify for nationals or worlds, you can still test yourself, make new friends, and get better at powerlifting.
Judging and Light System
When you perform each lift, you will have specific commands you need to obey and criteria you need to hit. If you do not follow the commands or do not hit the technical standards of each lift or you have an error, you may not get credit.
Three judges will watch each lift.
If a judge thinks a lift was good, they will give it a white light. If they do not think the lift was good, they will give it a red light. You need two white lights for your lift to count.
How to Score
Over the course of the meet day, you have nine attempts total, or three per event. You will build your total by making successful lifts. The lifter in each weight class with the highest total wins that weight class.
Each lifter also receives a Wilks Coefficient, which is a calculation to compare lifters from different classes. The lifter who has the highest Wilks Coefficient wins the best lifter award.
Prize Money
Some meets have prize money! The best male or female lifter usually walks away with a couple hundred bucks. You can’t expect to make a living from powerlifting competitions, but you can win a little cash if you win the meet.
Preparation
Preparing for a meet is hard work, but it is worth it. You will probably weight train 4 or 5 times a week for a long time before you decide to enter a meet. You will perform a peaking program for 12 or 16 weeks before the meet to help you hit your best weights on meet day.
As the weeks draw closer, you will work with heavier loads. You will probably drop the reps per set so you can practice hitting singles like you will do at your meet.
About one week before the meet, you will probably test your openers and then you will do a few light sessions before your meet the next weekend!
What to Expect on Meet Day
This is what a meet day looks like start to finish!
Rack Heights
Your meet will probably begin with rack heights. This is usually around 7 am for female lifters and 2 pm for male lifters. You will find the heights you want to take the bar from for squat and bench press.
You will record these settings and hand them to the person who weighs you in.
Weigh Ins
Your name will be called to weigh in to determine your weight class. You will do this in a private room with someone of your same sex.
Then you will hand your rack heights and opening weights for all three disciplines to the referee who weighed you in.
Meal Time
Next, after you weigh in, you can eat. You want to focus on eating a meal that will start your day off right for a long competition. Don’t try anything new today. If you cut weight to make weigh ins, consider drinking Pedialyte to rehydrate.
Some good examples of meals to eat after weigh ins.
- Turkey Sandwich and Fruit
- Greek Yogurt and Granola
- Cereal with Protein Milk + Banana
Warm ups
After you finish eating, you will have roughly an hour to do a warm up for the squat.
You should stick to your usual routine, but a good guideline is to perform 3-5 minutes of light cardio before doing mobility and activation drills. Then you can start warming up for the squat.
Depending on your flight and your order within the flight, you should start warming up for squat about 30-40 minutes before your first attempt.
Start warming up for bench about 20-25 minutes before the bench. You will probably do between 4-8 warm up sets.
Start warming up for deadlift about 30-35 minutes before the deadlift. You will probably do between 5 and 8 warm up sets.
You can always slow down but speeding up is more difficult and stressful. Give yourself enough time to take one warm up every 3-5 minutes. You can always start with a bit less time between warm up sets and a bit more time between your heaviest singles near the end of the warm up.
I would recommend working up to about 90-93 percent of your opening attempt. Make sure you plan out your warm up sets and reps and have a plan for your warm ups.
Try to time your warm ups so you take your last warm up about 2-3 minutes before your first attempt.
Squat
You will take 3 squat attempts.
The commands for squat are “Squat” and “Rack.” The head judge will tell you to “Squat” once you demonstrate that you have feet flat, knees and hips straight and control over the bar. Once you squat and stand up, you will receive the “Rack” command.
You must wait for both commands to receive credit for the lift.
If you cannot make the lift, the spotters will help you. DO NOT ever drop the bar. You can seriously injure the spotters and you will be disqualified from the meet.
If you make the lift, you must go up 2.5 kilograms on your next lift.
If you miss, you can repeat the same weight or go up 2.5 kilograms.
Once you complete all your squats, you can take a breather, have a snack and get ready for bench.
Bench Press
You will get three attempts for the bench press as well.
Each federation has different rules for bench press technique. Follow the rules of your federation and listen to the commands!
You need to listen to the bench press commands for “Start,” “Press” and “Rack.” You must pause for the specified time period to gain credit for the lift. If you miss any of the commands, your lift does not count.
Just like the squat, you will have three attempts for the bench press.
Deadlift
There are no commands for deadlift, besides “DOWN” once you finish the lift. You must demonstrate a full lockout, total control at the top and remain motionless for a couple seconds to receive the “Down” command.
Once again, you will have three attempts on the deadlift to build your total.
Awards
Once you finish lifting, you might get the chance of medaling in your weight class or even be the best lifter of the meet! Even if you do not win, you will feel good about completing a training cycle and completing all the hard work to get to a meet!
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this guide gave you a ton of information about powerlifting competitions. If you have not competed yet, you definitely should. Powerlifting can be a fun and healthy activity. It can help motivate you to work hard on your weight training goals, and you will meet some great people in the sport too. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
