One of the most common questions I see from novice powerlifters is “should I compete?” My answer is almost always yes, for a huge range of reasons. Today, I’m going to explain why I think competing is a good idea, when you should compete, and briefly how to prepare for a competition. Let’s get started.
Should I compete?
There’s several great reasons to compete.
The author looking like a tomato in his first powerlifting meet, circa August 2014.
The first and most obvious reason to compete is that you think it might be fun. Sport is about a lot of things; pushing our bodies to new limits, meeting people we like, and long term health, but most importantly we do sport because we enjoy it. If you think preparing for and competing in a powerlifting meet might be fun, you should give it a go.
Preparing for a meet might make you get stronger, faster. Setting goals with definitive time frames tends to make people progress faster. “I want to be strong one day” is a good goal, but a much better goal would be “I’m going to put up the biggest total I can 10 weeks from today.” It can push you much faster than you would push yourself when you feel like you have all the time in the world.
Finally, it gives you a solid point of comparison for strength gains. If you like to be strong and feel strong, powerlifting is a good way to prove you’re making progress. You can, of course, use measures in the gym to ensure you’re progress (and I’d argue you should), but it’s much easier to trick yourself in the gym than in training. If you compete periodically and compare yourself to where you were, you’ll know objectively you’re getting stronger.
There are a few reasons competing might not be a good idea, but the most important one is that if you don’t think it’ll be fun, don’t do it. Competing can be a lot of work, so if you’re simply disinterested in the idea, maybe it’s not the best idea for you at the moment.
When should you compete?
Early and often. Powerlifting is a hobby, but it can be a hobby that takes up a lot of your time if you let it. If you think you might enjoy it, you should try it out as soon as you’re comfortable with the movements. That could be less than 6 months after you first walk in the door of a gym. There is no strength threshold you need to meet, no level of experience you need to have, and competing can be a fun and enlightening experience.
If you find that you enjoyed competing, consider finding another meet. Usually I’d recommend something between 2 and 4 meets per year, so doing another meet after 3 to 6 months would be a good idea.
Am I strong enough to compete?
Short Answer - Yes.
Slightly longer answer - everyone is strong enough to compete. There is a temptation among new lifters not to compete until they reach some sort of milestone. Sometimes, that’s “being strong enough that people won’t judge me”, sometimes it is “being strong enough to win”, and I’ve even heard “strong enough to break a world record.”
No-one judges novice lifters who are trying their best. Everyone started from somewhere, and was exactly where you are now at some point in their career. In my experience, people are very encouraging towards new lifters. Trying something new is a sort of experiment. You’re starting with the hypothesis I am going to enjoy doing this thing. The best way to validate (or invalidate) that hypothesis is to try. You might try it, and discover powerlifting isn’t for new. That’s fine, and if anything it’s better to find out now than after you’ve sunk months or years trying to meet some target which is important to you. Conversely, you might absolutely fall in love (as was the case for me) and never look back.
What do I do before a meet?
Firstly, you should be following a structured training program leading into a meet. If you don’t know how to do that, there’s plenty of great content online. I’ve got a 15 week novice program available for free, and my app has plenty of great beginner options. Your program will probably be 12 to 15 weeks leading up to the meet, with perhaps a one week taper (easy week) beforehand. It can be tempting to head to the gym and max out during that week to make sure you can hit your numbers, but resist the urge! The recovery will do you good at that time.
Otherwise, live your normal life, including food and rest. Don’t be tempted to cut weight for your first meet - you should probably just walk in and weigh whatever you weigh. Many meet directors will let you move weight classes on the day as a novice, so don’t stress (but check beforehand.) If you need to declare a weight class, it will almost certainly be better to pick a higher one, rather than a lower one.
Remember, bench press is a paused exercise.
There’s a few different powerlifting federations - make sure you check which one you’re competing in, and their specific rules, particularly around things like squat depth and bench pressing. Some federations allow your head to lift up off the bench, for example, while others don’t. Make sure you check, and then train according to the rules of that federation (including pausing your bench press!) You can see the IPF Rules here, which are a good standard to train to if you’re not sure.
What happens during a meet?
Attempt selection could be a whole blog post in itself, but in short - be conservative with what you’re doing on the platform. Powerlifting is like The Price is Right rules - you want to get as close to your max as possible, without going over! It’s better to get every attempt and potentially leave 2.5 kg or 5 kg on the platform, than to go well over what you can achieve, fail, and increase your injury risk.
Otherwise, do whatever you’re comfortable with. Listen to music if you like music, banter if you like banter, and eat food that is similar to your regular food choices. Game day is a not a day for experimenting with new things.
If you can, finding someone who knows what they are doing to look after you on the day (a handler or meet day coach) can go a long way towards making sure you get the most out of the day. Don’t stress if you can’t, if you ask around, you’ll almost certainly be able to find someone willing to point you in the right direction.
What do I do afterwards?
Celebrate! Even if you didn’t hit the exact numbers you may have had in mind, you probably went out of your comfort zone and pushed yourself, and that’s something to be proud of. Also, take some time to reflect - did you enjoy yourself, is it something you’d like to do again? If so, what would you do differently next time? Even taking ten minutes to write yourself some notes about your competition experience can go a long way to improving meet to meet.
Conclusion
Powerlifting can be a lot of fun, and competing takes it to a whole new level. If you’ve been thinking about trying it, consider this your sign to go ahead and try.
Do you have any questions about competing, or stories about your first meet? If you do, pop them below, I’d love to hear them.