Powerlifting Competitions

There is probably a good chance he trains at UQ? Is he looking to enter a comp any time soon?

Josh,

Good on you for looking on entering your first comp.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT what the others lift, just worry about your own lifting and getting stronger because SOMEONE out there around the world will always be stronger then you.

Your only new to this and you got to keep in mind that others have been training alot longer and also have worked there ass off to get to where they are, then there are some that as just born strong.

Remember its not where you start, as everyone has to start somewhere, its were you end up in the future.

There is alot of experienced and strong powerlifters training at UQ Powerlifting Club, Theo Lagis 60kg bw deadlifting 240kg, Andrew Logan 122kg Bw Squatting 345kg Deadlifting over 300kg just to name a few, so Steve from UQ will lead you in the right direction.

Just a few things i'll like to bring to your attention, there is no RAW divisions under Powerlifting Australia (IPF). Lifters choose to lift raw like real men or be competitive with assistence gear like Squat Suit, Knee Wraps, Bench Shirts and Deadlift Suits. Using assistence gear gets expensive VERY expensive because these things aren't cheap and if you want to take that path its best to try on a few sizes of fellow powerlifters so you know whats right for you because there is no one size fits all. Picking up second hand gear is a good option if available.

As a beginner to the Sport, RAW is your best bet BUT you must purchase yourself a Lifting Singlet (Like those worn by wrestlers) which can be picked up fairly cheap like $30-$50 as a bear minimum to compete along with Membership fees and Comp entry fee.

A few things you might and might not know, but you will after reading the IPF rules book located on powerlifting australia website


Just a summary:
Squat: Unrack weight, step back and setup when your upright the ref will call "Squat", you squat to below parallel then come back up. When your upright at the end of the squat the ref will call "Rack" and you re-rack the weight

Bench Press: You can get a lift-off from the spotter, unrack the weight hold it out in front of you and ensure your elbows are locked out, then the ref will call "Start" you bring the bench down to your chest(it can't be a belly bench and must be no lower then on your stern) and PAUSE(hold the bar on your chest), when the ref sees the bar has stopped on your chest they will call "Press" you press it back up and lockout and wait for the ref to call "rack" Done.

Deadlift
Walk up to the bar and deadlift it, no hitching allowed. After you deadlifted the weight, you must stand upright whilst holding the weight with your shoulders back and knees lockout then the ref will call "Down". Done

Good luck and hope you enjoy it as much as i do!

Hi Shorty, thanks for that response mate! I was interested to hear what you thought.

I am not expecting anything more than to have some fun and reset a few of my own PB's. One thing that I would like to do though, IS NOT COME LAST! HAHA, I don't know if I will be able to dodge that one though given my short experience in training for strength.

Last night I ended up staying up a bit to late while reading through some of the training logs on powerlifters.com.au, HOLY ****E!!! My jaw was on the ground the whole time! There are some crazy numbers in there!

Thanks for the encouragement as well, I am mainly going in it to have some fun with some mates really. Though I don't want to embarass myself and I certainly don't want to look disrespectful to the sport by jumping in to early and lifting toothpicks. So it was good to see some encouragement from you.

Where is the best place to buy a singlet like that? Also, what about those deadlifting socks? Apparently with this comp, the only assistance gear you can use is a belt. No suits, wraps and whatever else you can use. I will have to get some more info.

Also, thanks for chucking up the breakdown of each lift. I was reading through rules and regs last night and it gets a bit in depth. That was a good round up of what to do in each lift.

As for expense of getting competitive. I really can't see myself going that far as I already have a FARKEN expensive hobby in circuit racing, motorkhanas and hill climbs in my car. My Fiancee would kill me if I got into something else.

I'll keep this thread updated.

Josh,

I reckon with your numbers you won't be coming last so don't worry about that, there is no embrassment in competitions the people are encouraging as long as you respect the sport by playing by the rules.

I've seen people competing with poundages lifted ALOT less then yours, if you keep at it you will be competitive depending on how much hard work you put in it.

You can get the Singlet from a number of places, but the big names which make powerlifting gear are TITAN, INZER and METAL, which usually make powerlifting assistence gear but all sell Singlets. The bad thing though is most of these companies don't have an Australian Distributor so shipping cost an arm and a leg EXCEPT Titan

Titan Australia (Minh Nguyen) 0432-537-444 minh at titanaustralia dot com dot au

He can fix you up with a Singlet and Belt for a decent price.

With Deadlifting socks, you can get them from Titan for around $8-$10 but its pretty much just a any LONG pair of socks that has to cover all of your shins up to your knees.

Also is the Powerlifting Comp with Powerlifting Australia the 2009 South East Challenge on the 28th November 2009 at the Beenleigh Football Club? Because Powerlifting Australia doesn't hold RAW ONLY comps so it must be a different federation so usually different RULES as well for the lifts.

The comps for me is to lift in a competitive environment so i push myself to the limits with the encouragement of the crowd and fellow lifters. I usually use the comps as a Skill Evalution (1RM testing) to see if my training has paid off, so i always try to better my previous competitions result.

Good luck keep us update, if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Great post once again Shorty.

You are making me feel a bit better about not coming last.

I will be sure to contact Minh about the singlet and socks.

Yep, that is the comp Shorty. I spoke to Mark the guy who is promoting it and he said it was Raw and only belts allowed. As I don't know much more at the moment I can't really say much. I can't quite remember what Steve said. I'll have to clarify the info, I was told that I will need socks though.

That is exactly what the comp is to me, to be competitive and to have some fun. I want to push myself and this gives me a reason to really push myself. It will be an interesting experience, though I really can't see myself getting as serious as you are (assistance gear etc.) but I will certainly keep training hard to get my RAW total up and I am looking forward to hitting up a session a week at UQ.

I wonder if I can get some socks like this for deadlifting.

Lol @ the brightly coloured socks! Can I ask though, why do you have to wear socks??

This is a fascinating thread. All the best with it, Josh

yeah very interesting thread, it sounds like you are setting some really good goals for yourself. this will be awesome motivation for you. good luck with it

Josh, those Funky socks are fine also because they cover shins and goes up to your knees.

One of the Strongest Guys that lifting in Powerlifting Australia Richard Hozjan squats >300kg benches >200kg and deadlifts >300kg at 100.0kg Bodyweight wears similar socks to thoese (seriously)

katie said:

Lol @ the brightly coloured socks! Can I ask though, why do you have to wear socks??

This is a fascinating thread. All the best with it, Josh

Click to expand...

The reason you have to wear socks is because when you do a Deadlift properly the bar should be so close to your shins on the way up, that it actually will scrape your shins and sometimes leaves blood which is a bit messy and ugly.

Having long socks avoid this bloody situation.

HAHA, I was just mucking around. I didn't think anyone would be wearing socks like that though.

Katie, I think it is something to do with protection for your shins, so you don't scrape the bar up your legs while deadlifting.

Dave, since I don't have PTC or their comps in my state I had to find something to push me. This was actually on a flier at my gym, that is how I heard about it. I spoke to some PT's and they said they were going in it, that was all I needed to hear.

It will be awesome for my motivation and will certainly help my total if I get down there for AD10, which I am pretty sure I will.

I am certainly looking forward to my first session at UQ. It will be great to get some good coaching, I know they are going to cringe at my deadlift.

Ugh, have never scraped my skin deadlifting, I hope this isn't a common occurrence. Thanks for enlightening me though.

Josh, I thought AD10 was a strongman comp?

AD10 is a lift comp and a strongman comp, it goes over 2 days.

shorty had some pretty funky socks at BATB3

Good on you Josh. You have now done a complete 180 degree turn around. You now have a legit reason to lift.

Dan John, who Powerbuilder quoted in the Tabata post, said the best motivation to train hard, and therefore get strong and progress, is to enter a comp and pay the fee, no backing out.

Its done the trick for Shorty.

Katie, Australia Day is the BIG comp. Will be over 50 lifters, 2 full days of lifting, 2 HUGE nights of eating.

Saturday 5 lift comp......Sunday Strongman comp.

I just got off the phone with the CAPO rep in Vic. He's going to organize a comp and I'm sending 20 lifters. He just had 8 males compete at the State titles, he nearly fell over when I told him I had 32 males compete at BATB3.

I told him what my lifters lift RAW, he was highly impressed. I dont think he believed me when I told him I had 42 lifters deadlift 200kg raw in my garage lol....I sent him the link to PTC so he can view the vids and pics.

Congratulations again Josh, I'm very impressed with your attitude and drive.

Cheers mate, hopefully with this I can bring some game down to AD10.

The way I figure it. If I am busting my ass and wanting to get stronger, well there is only one way to help me get there. I love competition, I am fiercly competitive. This will certainly help me lift more. It is relatively cheap to join a federation/organisation and to compete. The costs sure rise if you want to get right into the assisted stuff and push for records, titles etc.

From my little reading around about Powerlifting, is it possible there are to many organisations around? (I am talking worldwide here) They all seem to have slightly different rules and regs and possibly agendas. From my observations it looks to have caused divides and it is pulling the sport apart a bit? I don't know why this stuff happens, it happened alot in skateboarding too.

Spot on, its killed the sport to a point where it has no credibility in some areas, hence the low number of lifters. In the late 80's early 90's it was absolutely nuts.....one federation.

I've been watching quite a few Powerlifting comp vids. Man I love they way the lifters march in when it's time to lift. They basically run straight up to the bar, grip it, have some deep breaths or a yell and BOOM! So damn awesome, the tunnel vision and the determination they have to lift heavy weights. AWESOME!!