Powerlifting

When I was in high school I joined a powerlifting team and we went to various competitions to compete. Powerlifting is a unique sport that puts people in competition with themselves. Many people start powerlifting to increase their strength and better themselves in other sports or for some people powerlifting is their only sport. There were about 15 members on my team and almost everyone held some kind of record, either state or national, in their age and weight class. There are several federations in the sport of powerlifting like WNPF, IPA, USAPL, and many more around the country. Powerlifting is a growing sport that is popular is some places but unknown in others. The weight classes were 114, 123, 132, 148, 165, 181, 198, 220, 242, 275, 308, and unlimited. There are also more weight classes in different federations of the sport. Powerlifting has three exercises that portray overall body strength; the squat, bench press, and dead lift. Most powerlifters compete in all events but there are specials where some lifters only compete in one or two of the three events. There are state, national, and world records for all of the events. After the events are completed by everyone at a competition the total of all of the three events are added up and you are given a trophy if you place in the top three. In team competitions the individuals that come in the higher places receive the most points and the team with the most points wins. Teams can participate in the raw division or the equipped division. The equipped division is when you where safety equipment for your lifts like a squat suit for the squat event, a bench shirt for the bench press event, and the dead lift suit for the dead lift event. These suits and shirts are very tight and keep your muscles tight and in place to prevent injury, but there are techniques to use with this equipment to move higher amounts of weight. The raw division is where people just wear regular clothes for their events.