By: Curtis Dennis Jr.
I remember when I first discovered powerlifting (if you don't know how I got into powerlifting refer to my past articles), I had a hard time finding where it was and at the time I was living in Columbus, Ohio. If I had known about Westside Barbell, who knows where I would be today. But anyways, I had trouble finding it or someone who was in powerlifting. I hooked up with a personal trainer who did some volunteer work at a YMCA and I told him of my interest in powerlifting. I go to boards a lot and see many people, including myself, looking around for lifters and gyms that support or have powerlifters. Here I'll give you some tips if you are looking to get into powerlifting.
Get The Weights
For one, look around at what your have. Do you have a home gym? If so, what do you have? If you go to
www.westside-barbell.com you'll see some of the recommended equipment, but the basics would be a power rack, 700-1000lbs of weights (500 bare minimum), barbells and dumbbells (I think its optional but 100 pound set would be great). If you can't afford this, its ok because you can call around town call gym and see if any powerlifters train in them.
Find Powerlifters
If they don't have powerlifters' at a gym, make that last on your list of gym to go to. Usually the 'hardcore' looking gym will have powerlifters in them. Once you find a gym, visit it. See who's there and see for yourself if any powerlifters are in the gym.
www.elitefts.com has a directory of gym that support powerlifting, see if have any in your town.
Once your make up your mind and joined the gym, try your best to reach out to the powerlifters that are there in anyway. Powerlifters are usually the nicest lifters around so they are approachable. Put a flyer up or see if any the people that work at the gym will help out. If this doesn't work, try and meet them in person. Your next step would be to find out what organizations in powerlifting hold meets in your state. Sometimes the gym owner or manager would know something about it but most likely the powerlifter your meeting/training with will know more.
Learn
If not, visit the powerlifting boards on the net. I have a list of links on my site at
www.trainordie.com. Also, be sure to check out Bodybuilding.com's forum for info Once find the organizations that come to your area, signup to be a member of them. You can wait until they hold a meet to do it but then it will be more expensive, but either way is up to you.
Get A Workout
If you become a member before a meet, they'll send you some flyer or a list of meets happening in your area. This is useful now because your next step is how to being training for that meet. There are 1000 of sources including here at Bodybuilding.com, design your own program with the awesome workout database.
Performing The Exercises
Learning how do to some of the exercises would be the next thing you can do. Everything about powerlifting is mostly on the internet now and days. Check out Bodybuilding.com's huge exercise database with over 300 exercises. But if you don't have access at home, go to a local library. These sites are the best for learning the lifts and exercises. The next step would be equipment and this would depend on how much money you have to invest. The basics would include a belt and knee wraps.
Equipment
Later you would add on a bench shirt and a singlet.
www.titansupport.com has a power singlet available that you can utilize for squatting and deadlifting. Then further down the line, you can upgrade your equipment to another bench shirt (you need two just in case) and a suit. You can also go to
www.inzernet.com,
www.karinsxtremepower.com,
www.worldpowerliftingcongress.com for even more equipment.
Supplements
And as for supplement, creatine and protein will suffice for the time being and you can always experiment.
Competing
Last thing you need to do is decided what weight class and division to compete in and always look for the records in your class/division. The list of weight classes and division can be found on any organization website. Here are a few:
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www.apa-wpa.com
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www.worldpowerliftingcongress.com
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www.wabdl.com
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www.uspf.com
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www.usapl.com 
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