 | Bench Press | | Deadlift |
In the middle of the year 2000, I began to consider the possibility that building muscle for purely aesthetic purposes was not enough. I wanted to test my physical strength in a judged competition. Not long after that, I decided I would try powerlifting.
Powerlifting is probably the most popular pure-strength sport in America. Unlike weightlifting in Olympic competition, powerlifting tests the competitor's strength in three lifts that are common to gym training: Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift. The competitor is given three opportunities to attempt each lift. After each attempt, the competitor may increase, but not decrease, the weight for his or her next attempt. The rules on form are very strict, and three judges surround the competitor for each attempt. The head judge issues commands to the competitor, and each judge holds an electric key switch that illuminates one of two lights at the completion of the lift: white for a good lift, red for a bad lift. The competitor must receive at least two white lights from the judges for the lift to be deemed good. The whole concept was simplified by a slogan on a T-shirt that I saw at a powerlifting meet:
Although several powerlifting federations exist in the United States, I chose to compete in USA Powerlifting (USAPL), an American association that is a member of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF). The rules and practices of the USAPL are much too detailed to repeat here, so I refer readers to the official IPF Rulebook. Readers should also be aware that powerlifting training is different from bodybuilding training. The purpose of powerlifting training is not to efficiently increase muscle mass and decrease body fat, but rather, to train one's muscles and nervous system to effectively move as much weight as possible through a specific movement. Several different powerlifting training routines may be found at Andrey Butenko's World Powerlifting Web Site.
In March of 2002, I competed in the Battle of the Great Lakes, a USAPL meet held annually in northeast Ohio. As one might expect, my performance was a combination of successes and disappointments. I anticipated that my best abilities would be in the bench press, and I performed fairly well for a first-time lifter, but I also learned how it feels to complete a lift but to have the lift disqualified for a failure in form. Still, it was a good experience. Although I have not competed for a couple of years now, I plan to do so again, probably after my 50th birthday. Links to brief videos of the bench press and deadlift from my first meet are shown below.
| Bench Press | | Deadlift |