New Powerlifter (TONS OF QUESTIONS )

[nickrizz]

I am 19 (5'6 160). I have been working out hard since i was 12. I love working out and love lifting heavy weights (Personal bests: Bench 315, Deadlift 405 I tried not to squat for a while but i am going to start again tomorrow!. I wanted to train as a powerlifter and maybe (almost definately) enter contests in the future. I dont have a powerlifting routine, i dont know how to get into competitions. (and i heard you have to wear special things for benching and stuff)
Are there any books i can get? Or any web site i can go to? I also was looking for a good mag to subscribe to. Thanks so much and all help is appreciated.

Nick

[This Is Bench Day]

Check out the llinks page on monstermuscle.com they have links to tons of powerlifting stuff. Some great pages to check out... goheavy.com, elitefts.com articles and q&a section.

I subscribe to powermag. They have a website www.powermagonline.com and I like their magazine. The other big magazine is Powerlifting USA which I have never had a subscription to, so I can't tell you that much about it.

At most meets you'd be required to wear a lifting singlet which fits tightly to your body so they can tell if your back and butt are touching the bench and everything, and that they can see exactly how low you're squatting. Then a lot of lifters will wear what's called squat suits and bench shirts which actually give support and help you lift more weight. You'll learn plenty about them if you stick around PL boards and read up on some PL sites.

GOod luck!!

[nickrizz]

do you have to squat deadlift and bench or can you do only one?

[This Is Bench Day]

hey

Some guys will specialize in benching -- and compete only in the bench press. There are a lot of meets that are just bench meets you'd have no trouble finding them.

Then there are some meets that are just bench and deadlift... push/pull meets. But I say if you're going to train your deadlift for these meets, then there's no reason you won't end up lifting in a full meet since you're training the same muscles you're using in the squat.

If you don't think you'd like squatting and deadlifting -- just give it a chance. I'm 19 too and for the first 3 years I lifted I hated training legs at all. Now that I am powerlifting and doing squat days regularly, I love them -- I actually look forward to squat days. You just need to make it a regular thing even though you'll think it sucks while getting started.

[nickrizz]

where would you find what to do at a powerlifting meet? i dont know what to wear or even how or where to enter? are there books? or good web pages?

[nickrizz]

where would you find what to do at a powerlifting meet? i dont know what to wear or even how or where to enter? are there books? or good web pages?