Help a newbie

[dw06wu]

I've been lifting for about 6 months now.
stats-

age: 20
height: 6' 3.5" no shoes
weight: 234 lbs no shoes/shirt
bf% 12-14 I'm guessing
bp 310
sq 405
dl 445

(Squats and deadlifts are ballparks. I'm going to max on those sometime soon.)

I would really like to get into powerlifting because I feel like I need some direction, other than to "be in shape". I need a damn hobby. Add that I'm not the best at cutting. This is probably the trimmest I've ever been; I used to weigh 285, got down to 209 with the use of ephedra and 1hr of cardio per day. I've since clean bulked back up to 234 with minimal fat gain. I'm currently dieting, but I'm not sure if I'm just not losing fat or if my composition is slowly changing. I'll have to wait a month or two to actually figure this one out.

So I come to you, WBB PLers. I know nothing about powerlifting. I'll be looking through this forum as much as I can. I was wondering if anyone has some good links to learn as much as I can about getting into the sport. I just came upon the USA powerlifting site, and I was wondering how many different "leagues" or whatever there are, and which are the most popular.

For that matter, should I even bother? Looking through some of the peoples' stats on this board, some 180lb'ers put my numbers to shame, which is a little disconcerting. I don't want to join some sport where everyone is miles ahead of me, I guess.

Thanks for any input.

[Adam]

Hey DW, this isn't the busiest board around but theres lots of good info around.
There are tons of dfifferent federations to choose from. I think in the USA the USAPL(IPF affiliate) is the biggest.
Don't be put off by little people doing big #'s. This is like any sport, there's the begginer, intermediate, and just plain freaky strong guys.
Your numbers look good, especially considering your height.

Heres some links off the top of my head:
http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com/
http://www.nasa-sports.com/
http://www.powerlifting.com/
http://www.usapowerlifting.com/home.shtml
http://www.criticalbench.com/bench-press-world-record.htm some clips here

[Adam]

And I can't leave this one out
http://elitefts.com/elite-articles/home/default.asp

[dw06wu]

Do you just fill out the form, train, and show up at a meet by yourself? Or are most people part of some sort of team/club/coach that they go with?

[Adam]

For the most part its an independent thing.
After going to a meet you meet up with ALOT of lifters in your area, then you usually have training sessions with one and other.
Usually the only teams are Highschool/college.

[dw06wu]

Here is something I am worried about. I'm currently running Max-ot and making very impressive gains from the program, in spite of the fact that I don't follow the guidelines to the "T".

If I switch from the Max-ot program over to a Westside training style, I will definitely gain strength quicker, but will I lose mass?

[Adam]

No

[Gutz981]

How do the compitions work? are you sorted by age weight or what?

[dw06wu]

http://www.usaplnationals.com/newLifters.html


How do the compitions work? are you sorted by age weight or what?