I was just looking into this myself. I am not sure where you are located but here are some upcoming competitions with the Southern Powerlifting Federation. http://www.southernpowerlifting.com/calendar.php Good luck!

I'm doing a USAPL meet this August.

I've been following Paul Carter's blog for a while now so at some point I'd like to do a USSF meet as well.

My favorite fed in which to compete is the APF. They have the square judging reminiscent of the USAPL but not quite as nazi-esque without any politics. Here in TX they generally have loud *kitten* metal playing (real metal bands are not excluded: Meshuggah, Hatebreed, Machinehead) which is a big selling point for me at least.

Search for a meet nearby. powerliftingwatch.com has a meet search function.

find a fed you want to compete in, read their rulebook and do some research on them, then register.

you can compete raw, I'd reccommend using a belt at least though.


If you squat high, do an SPF meet

It's worse than that honestly. I've seen them pass **** lifts, and then within five minutes of that, redlight squats that probably couldn't have gone any lower if they'd have been performed by Kowalski himself.

LOL about the SPF squats! I was actually a little worried about getting red lighted for squatting too low (aka squatting normal). Sad huh! Everything went fine though. I could've posted bigger numbers if I had down the BS wide stance barely move down 5 inches squats that all the top dogs were doing, but to me that is not real powerlifting.

LOL about the SPF squats! I was actually a little worried about getting red lighted for squatting too low (aka squatting normal). Sad huh! Everything went fine though. I could've posted bigger numbers if I had down the BS wide stance barely move down 5 inches squats that all the top dogs were doing, but to me that is not real powerlifting.

I agree, to an extent. However, I have to say, it just works better for some people. I am not one of them. I tried squatting super wide, once...then spent the next three weeks not being able to squat due to a ridiculous amount of pain in my left quad. People with really long legs compared to their torsos seems to do pretty well with them. Hell, look at Efferding's record setting squat. He was wide as hell, but also went plenty deep.

The only thing that truly "isn't powerifting" to me, is the ridiculous gear that we have now. I've read more than one statement about guys who are shaky with a raw 405 squat being able to hit a 700 in a triple ply suit. A 72% increase? Seriously? Why not just come in with a ****ing excavator, and pick the weight up that way?

Sorry, should clarify that it's not the super wide stance that upset me, just the not going low enough part! I'm lucky to be short so I don't need to worry about width too much, although I have widened my stance some since starting (super narrow).

The only thing that truly "isn't powerifting" to me, is the ridiculous gear that we have now. I've read more than one statement about guys who are shaky with a raw 405 squat being able to hit a 700 in a triple ply suit. A 72% increase? Seriously? Why not just come in with a ****ing excavator, and pick the weight up that way?

Have you been in gear? It's a different sport in itself and is extremely difficult. I prefer raw lifting, but after spending a couple training sessions in gear, I have a tremendous respect for the guys who can handle it. Lots of technique, lots of pain.

The high squatting has gotten out of hand with a few feds. There is a reason SPF has a ton of squat "world records" but very few deadlift world records. Because it's hard to cheat a deadlift and get 3 whites.

I am not saying that it isn't still difficult, at all...just like picking up a loaded barbell with an excavator would require a totally different skill set. It's to the point now where it's almost like comparing apples and oranges, but that's my actual problem. There is such a disconnect now between geared lifters and...well, pretty much any other strength sport in the world. Has anyone noticed that as the gear got better, powerlifting's popularity waned? How do you explain the "zombie walk" that multi-ply bench shirts cause to the average person watching an event on TV? How about the fact that a multi-ply suit makes you walk like you have a pipe shoved up your *kitten*?

As for the deadlifts records, yeah, I get that. But having a look at the deadlift records, is it any shock that they haven't been touched in general (other than Perryman's new entry from last month)? I get the feeling that Gant's 123 and 132 won't be cracked in our lifetime, just because...well, that little man was roughly insect like in his strength to weight ratio at that time. 148 is hardly a competitive bracket anymore, and then the next four weight class records are held by Coan. His 242 is the most easily toppled, but even that's asking a lot of the lifters of today. Why? Most pro lifters seem to consider the squat 'their lift', and the deadlift seems to get trained just enough to not completely suck. From there we have records held by KK and Benni, and well, do we really need to go there? They are both in their prime years, so I think both have plenty more gas to give it on the deadlift should anyone rise up and crack their records...especially Benni...holy ****...

ETA: also, a lot of lifters seem to have forgotten all about relative strength. This would explain why the lower weight classes generally show comparably low numbers compared to the high end. Most people have become enamored with absolute strength...the whole 'bigger is better' thing, and this has put the focus on higher weight classes. How many guys do you see these days under 220 who can pull over 800? Not many.

I dont know if anyone else has said this but a great beginner fed is 100% RAW i believe they now allow knee wraps but dont hold me to it...wrist wraps and belts are acceptable.....check out the rules...i usually lift without anything but i might don the belt and wraps coming up soon at the kumite classic near my hometown