As some of you might know this last weekend I competed in my first powerlifting competition. It was the Minnesota State Open at GYM 365 in Elk River. It was a blast! I hit PR’s (Personal Records) in both the Squat and the Deadlift and got a little greedy in the bench!

The biggest question I got when I told people I was about to enter a powerlifting competition was, “what’s that? “Well, to keep it simple it is a competition where you are allowed 3 attempts at each lift (Squat, Bench, Deadlift), trying for the highest possible total weight lifted. Each lift is judged by three referees.

Judging:

One of the most important things to be aware of while I was training for the meet was the rules for completing a good lift. Each lift has its own set of rules which definitely can be frustrating if you move the weight and get called for a bad lift. There are three referees that will determine whether your lift was good or not; one in front of you, who also give you signals for starting lifts and one on each side of you.

I trained for this meet for 18 weeks leading up to this last weekend… talk about a relief to get that off my mind!

Squat:

A good lift in the squat is determined by walking the weight out of the rack and standing with it until the judge gives you the signal to squat. Then you squat down until the crease of your hips are below the top of your knees and back up top to standing until the ref signals you to rack the weight.

Bench:

The bench is the most technical of the lifts. You can have a partner or coach help to lift off the weight from the rack then you have to hold it steady until the ref gives you the signal to start. Next, the bar gets lowered to your chest where you have to hold it until you get the signal to press ( this can be a while if you don’t look stable down there)! After the signal to press, you need to drive the bar back to the top and hold it until you get the signal to rack.

On top of all this your head, shoulders, butt, and feet all need to remain in contact with the floor or bench throughout the lift!

Deadlift:

The deadlift is my personal favorite of the lifts! You take a heavy weight and pick it up off the floor! This is probably the least complicated of the lifts as far as judging. The most important part is to pull the weight from the floor to a standing position in a smooth continuous motion. Hitching and heaving is not allowed. Also you have to keep both hands on the bar until you place it back on the ground. I much prefer to drop it in my training, the noise of a lot of iron hitting the floor is oddly satisfying!

Results:

At the end of a long day I had a great time, learned a lot of things, and left with a new appreciation for the human body and what it is capable of! A prime example of that appreciation is this squat by Jonathan Krogman of Marshall, MN. Jon set the American record in the squat at 793 pounds. It was an amazing thing to see in person!

If anyone has questions about training for powerlifting or any other aspects of the sport feel free to either leave a comment on the blog or email Steve, Mike, or myself. It is a very exciting sport and something I definitely intend to stay active with.

Dustin