The last line of "Elite Fitness in 100 Words" consists of "Regularly learn and play new sports." So... do you?!? While I'm far past my initial recreational metCon infatuation, I still find that small group of sentences to be a great little guidepost in my general fitness aspirations regardless of other opinions I may hold. While I realize that the Performance Menu is definitely weightlifting-centric, there is always room for other pursuits, including (*gasp*) powerlifting. Heck, Matt Foreman (PMenu WL article author extraordinaire) writes articles tying the two sports together, while competing in both as well.

If you are a weightlifter, you're already squatting deep and pulling from the floor regularly. Two-thirds of the way there! Add some bench presses once a week in the 1-2 months before a meet and you're ready to go. My simple goal in this article is to inform PMenu readers of these raw/unequipped meets and the potential for improving and adding to your training experience, much like Allison Barnes' article on competing in her first WL meet did for me (that was my inspiration to finally compete).

The "slow" lifts. Squat, bench, dead. Many people scoff at powerlifting due to the number of federations and all the gear (worn, ingested, and injected). I was included in that group, along with my training partners. However, after learning about the 100% RAW Powerlifting Federation, I decided to try my hand at a meet in Prescott, Arizona, a mere 3.5-hour drive from Tucson.

What does 100% RAW mean? Complete rules are here, but in a nutshell the restrictions are thus: "100% RAW does not allow the use of wrist wraps, elbow sleeves, knee wraps, knee sleeves, tape applied around a limb or finger, supportive lifting suit, supportive briefs, compression shorts, supportive shirts or compression shirts." A belt of up to 4" wide may be worn as "equipment"."

That's it. Heck, even weightlifting allows knee sleeves! For those of you looking for "gear-less" powerlifting, this may be what you've been waiting for. Drug testing was done to five guys at this meet; it was said it was "random", but it basically appeared to come down to the biggest guys and/or guys who set national or world records that day.

So, How Much Ya Bench?

I'd guess that many people in the "functional fitness" crowds justify their avoidance of powerlifting because of one thing—the bench press. Either they don't want to do it, don't know how to do it correctly, believe it to be a dangerous/injurious lift, don't have a bench, or some other excuse. I used to be one of the people using any/all of these excuses. I also wanted to try a new sport. So, how did I address those?

I don't want to do it. If you want to open up the world of "full powerlifting", you have to do it. Otherwise, you can compete in single events. 100% RAW PL Federation even adds a Strict Bar Curl to the mix... to my bemusement there were quite a few people there doing what I deemed the "Beach Competition". You guessed it—they were there just for the bench and curls!

I don't know how to do it right T-Nation put out an incredible video & article where Dave Tate walks you through how to bench properly. Seriously, watch and learn. If only the O-lifts were this straightforward!

Benching is a shoulder/elbow/wrist injury waiting to happen. Yes, this is true, particularly if you bench WRONG. See above. Many of us love exercises (e.g. O-lifts) that are plenty risky to musculoskeletal health if done incorrectly. Do it right, you'll feel fine. To be quite honest, when my right shoulder would get mildly irritated from my Saturday morning gymnastics strength sessions, a bench session on Sunday morning had it feeling better afterwards! I still have a tough time explaining to my wife that I don't think the bench is as dangerous as I used to bitch and moan about it being. The things we learn...

I don't have a bench. Most of us didn't have bumper plates, rings, or kettlebells at one time or another, but we found solutions to those issues, correct? My solution was to get a great long-time training partner (I now have several great training partners) who works as a personal trainer in Tucson's only truly powerlifting-friendly gym. We would go train bench and deads at 8am Sunday mornings, not having to worry about anyone else getting in the way. If you have a good spotter and a power rack, all you need is a bench.

Blah blah blah not functional. Please go back to the forums... debate away.

Fitting in the Lifts

After deciding on actually doing the meet, it became time to prepare. Since December of 2008, I've competed in three local weightlifting meets. I had been to a local PL meet to watch some buddies compete, but that was a geared meet, which was off-putting for a while until I learned of 100% RAW. Due to my background (however small) in weightlifting, I felt pretty confident about things like meet preparation, equipment, warm-ups, and the difference between practicing in the garage and the real thing. I would have 5 weeks from my last weightlifting meet until my first powerlifting meet. I always take the week off from lifting after meets, this last weightlifting meet was no exception.

My training typically consists of weightlifting (snatch, clean & jerk, and hybrid low-bar landing-stance back squats and conventional deadlifts, both 1x/week) and gymnastics-based strength training 2x/week (basically pursuing front & back levers, press to handstand, and planches). For interested parties, I've kept a 1.5-year-long, relatively detailed workout long on the Performance Menu forums here. My stats and videos from the meet are located there, see entry for Saturday, July 18th, 2009.

Obviously, the problem was that benching was nowhere in my routine. This was fixed by adding bench press to my Sunday workouts, done prior to deadlifts, just as the meet would be. If you do the bench press technique as Mr. Tate describes in that video, your back WILL get tight from arching the first couple workouts. Getting used to that position and following it with deadlifts will leave you no surprises come meet day. This approach worked like a charm.

All About the Raw Meet

This was a great powerlifting FAQ that one of my training buddies sent me prior to the meet. So many things that he discussed in that FAQ prepared me for the meet, leaving me feeling calm and not anxious. If you decide to do a meet, read the 100% RAW rules and that FAQ. You'll be glad you did, trust me!

There were two weigh-in times, one the night before, one the morning of. I liked this aspect. I had to weigh in the morning of (I lived 3.5 hours away from the meet and needed to put in a full day's work, so we got to the hotel late that night). I squeaked by into my desired 82.5 kg. / 181.8 lb. weight class, banging against the ceiling at 181.8 lb. exactly. I'd never had to "make weight" before. While I only had to get a couple pounds down from my normal weight, it was slightly stressful, and I hope I'm never one of those guys that has to try to drop 7-10 pounds for a meet. No thanks. All my training partners made their desired weight classes. The day was starting off well.

FAQ said that the meet would likely not start on time. Meet was slated to start at 10am, meet actually started at 11am.

FAQ said that the meets would probably go long, possibly very long. After the late start, the meet ended up lasting until 7pm, with the awards finishing up around 8pm. We were all very glad we went to the grocery store to stock up on food after the weigh-in and before the meet. This was a stark contrast to my previous WL meets, all of which lasted around 3 hours from start to finish! By the time we finished dinner, we were on the road around 9:30pm, arriving home around 1am. I'm extremely thankful we had my brother the night owl with us, as I get basically narcoleptic after the combination of caffeine & adrenaline wearing off, post-meet fatigue, and a big late dinner.

Da Squat

WL is very simple in terms of listening for the judge's commands: "DOWN!" PL is not so simple. Unrack the bar, get your stance set up (no monolifts in 100% RAW). Judge gives the "SQUAT" command. Get your hip crease below the top of your knee, come back up to lockout. Hold that position until the judge says "RACK", and put the bar away. Seems simple until you get your potential new PR weight on your back and your world starts wanting to go "fight or flight" on you. My buddies and I all called out "UP!" whenever a team member had hit his depth. We all discussed later how when we were the lifter we never heard anybody's call.

Da Bench

If the squat sounded complicated, the bench is even more so, as another command is introduced. Unrack the bar, get it motionless. Judge gives the "START" command. Bring the bar down to your chest, get it motionless. Judge gives the "PRESS" command. Press the bar to lockout, but you're not done yet! Get it motionless one final time, then the judge will give you the "RACK" command. The final "RACK" command was the toughest for me to remember. On my final attempt, going for a 15 lb. PR of 270 lb. after just hitting 260, I made the press but started the motion to rack before I was given the signal. This wasn't a problem in and of itself, as I never hit the rack with the bar. However, the effort of trying to stop the bar from going into the rack caused me to lift my butt off the bench, getting me three red lights.

Da Deadlift

This was more like it! Step up to the bar, lift it to lockout, and "DOWN"! Easy-peasy. Now I just need to work on getting more weight on the bar...

For those who were wondering, the strict bar curl competition was done between the bench press and the deadlift. I didn't compete in it this time, but I will come next meet!

So What Did I Learn?

100% RAW Powerlifting Federation is a relatively new organization, and they're really trying to pursue PL the way that I think most of us feel it should be done. I'd highly suggest that anyone who is into WL try at least one raw/unequipped PL meet. Trust me, if you like the feel of WL meets, you'll feel right at home at a raw PL meet.

Oh yeah, if you're really lucky and your state doesn't have a long history of meets with the 100% RAW Federation and there's no other people in your weight class & age division, you might get what I did—a state record in the squat and an invitation to compete in the 100% RAW World Championships in Las Vegas! Talk about a way to get someone hooked on the sport...