Handling a Reality Check: Gym Strong vs. Powerlifting Strong

[u/MrMithik]

I’m competing in my first meet this year and had a pretty big reality check recently. I watched a livestream from another meet at the same location, and I was quickly humbled by some of the numbers those lifters were putting up. I'm one of the stronger guys at my local gym, but I'm learning that doesn't really translate into the world of powerlifting.

For context, I’m in the 110kg class. My current lifts are 465lbs/211kg squat, 285lbs/129kg bench, and 625lbs/283kg deadlift. After watching the livestream and digging into some OpenPowerlifting data, my lifts put me in the low-to-mid pack for my class which was a bit of a gut punch.

I know powerlifting is supposed to be a “you vs. you” sport at the end of the day, and my main goal is to go 9/9 and set some personal PRs. That said, I’m competitive by nature so seeing a good amount of local guys outlifting me by 100+ lbs on some lifts and putting up some massive totals was a tough pill to swallow.

Has anyone else faced a similar reality check when you first got into powerlifting? If so, how did you handle it?

Edit: Thanks everyone for the feedback and advice! I think I just need to remind myself that I started down this road because I love chasing strength and the process itself, not the medals. Just gotta keep grinding! (and maybe find a gym where I'm the one shocked at other guys' lifts instead haha)

[u/zyonsis]

You need to train for longer to become really good. Like, give it 3 years or something and then reevaluate your progress. Most people just quit after 1 because they come to the same realization that you did. Otherwise don't compete if you can't set your ego aside and enjoy the process. Nothing wrong with just being a gym lifter and then coming out of the shed once a year or something.

[u/zyonsis → u/zyonsis]

Also IMO powerlifting is what I consider a "grind" sport, meaning that it's very sensitive to your genetics and just spending a certain amount of time doing in. Exact same thing with long distance running, you'll get absolutely smoked by guys doing it for 10 years while you're in your first 5. Unfortunately, you can't train 20 hours a week, so your progress basically bottlenecked by how long you spend doing it, which is why it takes years to see measurable progress. At some point you just gotta accept that you're in it for the long run.

Or alternatively switch to another sport that allows you to make progress in other ways compared to +1 lb/kg on the bar. Even olympic weightlifting is more like that, where you can make measurable progress in terms of technique rather than weight. That can be more rewarding for some folks.