Powerlifting 101

I was trying to figure out how to present the results of a powerlifting meet to the listeners and readers at WFHR and WIRI. The fact of the matter is that not a lot of people understand what Powerlifting is. That it is a sport at all in High schools around the world. Let alone one where Wisconsin athletes have been competing at the world championship level for over a decade. So here is where I decided to begin.

What is a Powerlifting?

Welcome to Powerlifting 101. I will do my best to explain the sport, and how it works. I will also be publishing an article explaining how Powerlifting meets work. With these two articles I hope to create a foundation upon which we can build a thriving fandom for some incredible athletes in our state. You can expect some articles next week with results of the meet for Wisconsin Rapids, Adams-Friendship, Tomah, and Necedah powerlifters.

Categories

Powerlifting is organized in three ways. Weight class, gender, and equipment used by the lifter.  There are 12 girls weight classes ranging from 97lbs – 242lbs+ and 11 boys weight classes ranging from 114lbs – 275lbs+. In those weight classes each lifter then can decide whether they will lift as Equipped or Raw. Raw lifters are those who skip the additional equipment of the Equipped category. There are still rules and regulations about what these Raw lifters are meant to wear at competitions. However, those regulations are less restrictive.

In the early days of the sport there was only equipped lifting (if you wanted to remain competitive). So as an elder millennial I lifted equipped in High School. In order to lift in the equipped category a lifter needs to compete in a compression suit for the Squat and Deadlift events. They also have the option of incorporating knee wraps in the squat, and compression bench shirts in the Bench Press event. The benefit of these items is they allow lifters to lift more weight due to the support provided by their compressive qualities. They are also expensive, and can cause discomfort and even pain for the lifter wearing them. However it is part of the sport and experience, and has its rightful place in the sport.

The Goal

There are three events for which a powerlifter will train during the season (and beyond): Squat, Bench, and Deadlift. All three of these events have many technical requirements laid out by the USAPL and WHSPA in order for the lifter to complete the lift correctly. In addition to the normal expectations of form, as most people already understand for those lifts, there are added minute details that will often be the difference between a perfect lift and merely a lifted weight. I will not get too tedious on the details here. I will expand on each of these lifts and the details thereof in the Powerlifting meets article later this week.

The goal of each powerlifting athlete is to lift more weight than the peers they are competing against in their weight class and category. At powerlifting meets a lifter is able to qualify for state championship competition. A lifter at state is able to qualify for national championship competition. At nationals they can be invited to world championship competition. Qualifying for state is done by lifting a designated total combined weight at a meet between the three events (best squat attempt+best bench attempt+best deadlift attempt=total) specified by the lifters weight class. Similarly to qualify for nationals a lifter needs to lift the designated total for their weight class at state competition. Placement at national championships is what is the deciding factor for an invite to compete at the world championship each year.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for the upcoming companion to this article expanding on the technicalities of the lifts and how powerlifting meets work.

Laura was a guest on a recent episode of Playmakers. Her portion of the show begins at the 26:41 mark.