Gaily's powerlifting competition 
By Gaily




As everyone knows by now, I competed in my first APA (American Powerlifting
Association) powerlifting competition on May 5, 2001. Since this was my first
competition, I started preparing for it early...... as in the beginning of the
year. This was in order to make sure that my joints would be able to take a
full strength building training session. I was fortunate enough to get a
strong, knowledgeable trainer, who really enjoys strength training, even
though he's a bodybuilder (in his words 'I love training heavy'). At least, it
made training that much easier, knowing that he was as anxious for me to
be able to do well as I was. After months of training, the big day was finally
approaching. After a week of rest, I was ready to get out there and kick
powerlifting butt.

So...... on May 4, I find myself driving through rush hour traffic with a
trunk full of gear (kindly provided with Diana's sponsorship check), water,
food... and my mother in the front seat. Oh, yes..... I also had the
well-wishes of the chat members as well (thanks, gang!!!) Weigh-in was an
interesting experience....... nothing like stripping down to your skivvies in
front of a person who didn't have a clue to how to work a doctor's
scale....... then having her look at you...... look at the weight.......
and trying to equate the two. I topped the scales at 212lbs, by the way.......
I had to add some weight just to be able to handle the workouts. It will be
interesting to see how much of it is actually muscle.......

After a good dinner...... and some inspirational powerlifting magazine
reading, I got a reasonably good night's sleep...... in preparation for the
upcoming day.

The next morning, after a good breakfast, I found myself at the gym......
ready to get started. There was another woman there in my age group, a bit
comforting for me not being the only woman on the floor. We struggled into our
'penguin wear' (my pet name for my lifting suit) and headed out to warm up.
Finally the first event, squats. My first attempt didn't go well...... I
worried too much about clearing the rack..... and wasn't able to drive the
weight up. I collected myself for the second attempt, and made the lift
perfectly. My next attempt would have been perfect...... except that I didn't
go down far enough...... I was off by a couple of inches. Oh, well.......
250lbs was nothing to sneeze at, especially for a person who only started
free-weight squatting two months ago.

Next was benching. This was the one thing I had the most worries about. Early
in my gym career, I had a nasty spill down my stairs at home..... which messed
up my shoulder for months. My trainer and I worked on it, but we weren't
really sure how it would hold up for competiting. After being pushed and
pulled into my bench shirt, I took my first attempt. Unfortunately, the
shirt wasn't pulled down enough under my arm....... and it pinched as I tried
to press the bar. By the second attempt, I had tugged the shirt enough to
bench a perfect 180......perhaps too perfect. When the rack command was given,
I was concentrating so hard on waiting for his command that I paused a second
longer than necessary (but it was a good lift). I attemped a third lift, but
for some reason, my left elbow decided not to play fair, and I immediately had
the spotters rack the bar.  Oh, well...... something else for me to work
on, I suppose..... but I like to think of it as a learning experience.

By now, it was deadlift time. I grabbed some water and a quick bite of some
pasta salad I'd brought with me. Now this was the event that my trainer had
the most worries about. In the gym, I'd always had problems with both my
grip..... and stance. It took quite some time for me to be able to work up to
deading 315, and that was by adding weight 5lbs at a time. However, I chalked
up my hands......got to the platform...... dropped down into perfect position,
and knew the weight was mine. 270 went up like nothing. I then asked for 300
for next attempt, and although my hands were a bit off, it went up as well.
Then, I decided, 'let's go for it'......and asked for 320 for my final
attempt. The head judge looked at me strangely.... but wrote it down anyway.
For some reason, as I chalked up for the last time, I had far too much on my
hands. Perhaps it was the extra chalk......or the fact that I was just
going to go for it....... but the 320 went up easy. Yippee.....new personal
best!!! More importantly, it impressed the heck out of all the guys there.....

Finally...... at the end of the competition it was time to hand out the
awards. Even though I outweighed the other woman there....... I lifted enough
to win a first place plaque. Hey..... I have several welts on my legs from my
suit..... aching quads/hams..... and a stiff right hand (from sleeping funny
after that last deadlift), but I got me an award, darn it!!!

Considering this was my first event, I was extremely pleased with how I held
up under the pressure. I was able to figure out what went wrong with my
unsuccessful lifts, and I know what to work on for the future. What's really
important is that I met a lot of wonderful and supportive folks out there.
Even my mother got caught up in the camaraderie of the whole event....... we
all rooted for each other when lifts were good..... and comforted each other
when the lift wasn't successful.

And.....if you haven't guessed by now........ I'm now hooked on powerlifting
as long as the 'old body' holds up. Hmmm...... gotta see where the next
available APA competition is in Illinois.........................