In this piece of the Powerlifting Competition series, we’ll take a look at all the basics of finding a powerlifting meet in your area.
Alright, you’ve decided to take the plunge and compete in a powerlifting meet. Congratulations! You’ve just taken the first step towards bringing your training and your results to the next level. Now, at this point, if you haven’t gone through the process before, you’re either wondering how in the heck do you even find a meet or, on the other hand, you’re wondering how to pick between all the different meets in your area. We’ll answer both questions here.
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Find out about Local Powerlifting Federations
First of all, some of you are going to live in areas where there simply isn’t a large powerlifting community. You may only have one or two options for competing, period. In some areas, there is only one active federation. Worse yet, in some areas there are no active federations at all. While this is fairly rare, it does happen.
A powerlifting federation is simply an organization which sponsors sanctioned powerlifting meets. In other words, they give their brand stamp of approval to that particular meet which essentially says, “This competition upheld our federation rules and bylines”. There are some very important differences in federations that we’ll discuss later. For now, it is enough to simply find the ones who are active in your area.
In order to see which federations are active in your state/country, simply google the name of your state or country and “powerlifting”. From there, a great way to check for more information is to see if your country has a powerlifting Facebook page. Often times many competitors from your country or state will be a part of that group. You can simply ask the group what federations are active in the area. Once you’ve determined which federations are active in your area, it becomes much easier to find a meet.
Primary Means of Finding Meets
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- Going to the Federation Homepage
Simply going to the federation homepage is a great way to see the upcoming meets. In many areas, these pages are updated regularly. Again, in many areas, all upcoming meets will be announced on the main homepage of the powerlifting federations in your area.
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- Going to the Federation Facebook Group
If it doesn’t look like your local federation’s page has been updated recently, try heading on over to Facebook and checking out their Facebook group. That way you’ll be able to interact with actual people who can tell you what is what when it comes to upcoming meets.
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- Ask in your Country’s/State’s Facebook Group
As previously mentioned, simply going to your country’s powerlifting Facebook group is a great way to find out which federations are active. However, because some federations or pages don’t update regularly, simply asking the members of that group if they know of any upcoming meets usually gets positive responses. The local competitors will almost always know of a few options for coming competitions.
PowerliftingWatch.com has a great database that lists meets in many areas. While it is a fairly incomplete list, because it relies upon meet promoters sending in the info themselves, it can still be another source to find meets. If you’re in the States, this is a particularly good resource for finding available meets.
Moving Forward
Once you’ve identified active local federations and found several options for upcoming meets. Your next major consideration needs to be which powerlifting federation you’re going to compete. Each federation differs in its rules regarding drug use, equipment standards, and rules.
So, let’s talk about how to choose your federation.
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Table of Contents
How to Find a Powerlifting Meet
How to Pick Your Powerlifting Federation