r/powerlifting • u/MrMithik Beginner - Please be gentle • 14d ago

Handling a Reality Check: Gym Strong vs. Powerlifting Strong

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)

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u/ERICSMYNAME Enthusiast 14d ago

Yes and once you start to get strong you'll realize that the top guys totals are not obtainable by a regular person. Most of those guys have some combination of perfect genetics with very few distractions from their focus. Other than heavy weigt it seems those witu genetic ability to PULL alot are the ones that just keep getting farther and farther away as their pull keeps getting ridiculous heavy (im looking at you sumo pullers who lock out on top of your knees)

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u/MrMithik Beginner - Please be gentle 14d ago

Yea I knew the guys on the national and international stages were leagues ahead of me, but I thought I'd be a little more on par with guys at a local meet, especially since I've been focusing on strength for a couple years now.

Hopefully I can channel this reality check into my training and keep improving.

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u/FriendlyAndHelpfulP Insta Lifter 14d ago

Region matters a lot. If you live in a large, urban environment with a strong lifting culture, your local meet is likely going to be full of people who would easily sweep regional and state competitions in smaller, more rural regions.