Powerlifting 101: The Meet

As part of my series on Powerlifting this article will explain how Powerlifting Meets work.

Now that you understand the basics of Powerlifting as a sport it is time to get to the action! Walking into a powerlifting meet for the first time there is A LOT to take in. I hope to make sense of it all for you here. We will start with the meet itself and how it is organized. Then I will introduce the judges at the meet. After that I will go through each of the events (squat, bench, deadlift). I will not detail every technicality of each lift, but will cover the most common technicalities cited in a failed lift.

How does a Powerlifting Meet work?

A powerlifting meet will be organized by assigning the weight classes in flights and platforms. The platform is the location where the lift will take place. Most meets have between three and five platforms based on the number of lifters registered. A Flight is the order in which the weight classes/assigned group of lifters will take turns on their platforms. At many meets you can get a sheet from the admission table that will list which weight classes have been assigned to which platform and flight. It will help you keep track of your favorite lifters during the meet. Generally the lightest weight classes will lift first with the heavyweight lifters going last. I like to think of it as a finale because, in my experience, those are some of the most impressive lifts you’ll see.

What are those lights for?

At each platform are three judges, some spotters, and a column with rows of light bulbs. If there are no columns/lights there will be a display on a screen visible for the audience that will perform the same task. The spotters are really the heroes of a lot of these meets. It is their responsibility to keep lifters safe in case of failed lifts, or injury. When a lifter attempts a weight that is too much for them to complete there is a huge risk of injury, and it is the spotters that prevent that. You will see more spotters when a lifter is attempting heavier weights due to the added risk. The column with light bulbs will have three white lights and three red lights.

Each of the lights is assigned to one of the judges. Each judge will turn their light red or white to display whether they considered the lift good or not. There is a head Judge positioned at the front of the platform facing the lifter with their back to the audience. There are two side judges on either side of the lifter positioned slightly behind them but off to the side, facing the lifter. Each judge is watching for a list of specific movements that are required for the lift to be good. If two or more judges turn the light white the lift is good. If two or more lights are red the lift is failed.

Introducing the Events

Each lifter will complete three attempts at squat first. If the lifts go as planned the three squats will increase in weight for each attempt. The last being the scored squat used for their total at the end of the meet. After the squats have finished, the platform will be changed to accommodate the next event, bench press. In the same way each lifter will complete three bench press attempts. The attempts increase in weight if all goes to plan with the last being the heaviest bench. The heaviest will be used for the total at the end of the meet. After bench press is the deadlift which will be performed in the same way, with the heaviest weight lifted used for the total score for each lifter

Up Next

I’m going to expand on each lift individually in the next article of the series. I will also explain how scores are counted. 

If you would like to catch up, here is the previous article Powerlifting 101.