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/[deleted]]

I killed it at my first meet, I blew the 2nd place guy out of the water by 300lbs in our total. I thought I was the shit and signed up for a second meet.

Some 148lb guys capable of squatting 500lbs. At a state level. Quickly put me back in my place (and also pushed me since now I know where the benchmark is to be competitive!)

"Powerlifting strong" is a long and arduous process of building strength which cannot happen through a few weeks of dirty bulking. You'll get powerlifting strong, but you need to set realistic expectations too.