ExRx.net

Ok, so understanding my situation, obviously I have never competed. I was going to do one school-run competition last year, but I ended up leaving the school gym because it was too expensive for not enough gym. It wouldn't have been much of a competition anyway, from what I heard. Now, with all of the different powerlifting circuits out there, I'm wondering what I should enter into, and would like to get some of your opinions on the different circuits. I know right now with the USAPL, I have an advantage because I've never juiced and never lifted with any gear other than a 4" belt and knee wraps when I do heavy squats, so I can pretty much crush all of the raw records for Washington State right now in my weight class (I'm 275 currently). They test for Andros and other such drugs 3 years out, and even guarana and stuff like that that they put into energy drinks for 3 days out from competition.

So what are your feelings about some of the other ones out there? I think it would be good to take advantage of my lifting experience and set a few records under the Washington USAPL, and then maybe move up to some of the more difficult ones where the guys have been juicing. I'm not really interested in lifting suited or shirted, as it just seems like a gimmick to me. Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated and definitely considered. Keep in mind that I am really only competing at this point to promote the gym.

In my opinion, if you're doing it to promote the gym, then competing locally will give you more exposure to your target audience. Also, you should compete where you have the best chance of doing well first. That way you can get some experience and hopefully a little success before you get to the more challenging comps. Good luck wherever you compete and good luck with the gym.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

I was thinking the same thing stu, and I think I'm going to I am going to do the USAPL, because it also grants me the opportunity to compete in the world cup as well. I like the idea of doing natural powerlifting competitions raw.

This is just my opinion, but, to me, the USAPL is probably the most legit organization for all the reasons you stated. Having said that, I think for your first meet it doesn't really matter. Don't go out looking to beat records or win. If you do, hey great. Go out there and get the experience. Figure out the timing of your warm-ups, the rules, how to eat during the meet, etc. In other words, just go out and have fun. Do your best, but have fun. In my limited experience in competing, I have found in the meets I've competed in that your competitors are not really your competitors. They root for you, help you out, etc. I'm not too far removed from my first meet. I was shocked at just how friendly everyone really was. I had a couple of guys kind of take me under their wing, er lats, and help me out with what I needed to do. It helped that I could actually put up some decent weight, but they were all pretty cool.

What I guess I'm saying, is go through the experience of ramping up for a meet. Read a lot and ask a lot of questions, not just here, but seek out other competitors. Go through the experience of the check-in, weigh in, where you want the racks, and equipment check (I had to run out and buy soccer socks for the DL). I learned so much from my first meet, that the experience alone was worth it.

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Thanks TimD.

Though I have not yet competed in the USAPL, it's also my opinion that of all the various feds out there, they are probably most legit of the bunch, especially since performing at high levels there gets you an invite to IPF, TRUE Worlds competitions. I train with a local club that competes almost exclusively in ADAU and USAPL meets and several members have competed on the international level now. But as was said, if you are doing this just to promote a local gym, doing well at a locally recognized meet at first seems prudent. Good luck!

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King Squat author