Episode 15: How to get Started in Powerlifting with Danna Snow

Josh Rohr: All right, welcome to episode fifteen of the USA Powerlifting Podcast. some of the questions we've been getting are more geared towards getting into the sport and how to sign up for your first competition and things like that. So who better to help us help walk us through that than Danna Snow? Danna, how are you? Danna Snow: I'm good, thanks. Josh Rohr: So a little bit about Danna. She is the state chair of Washington and also the chair of chairs, meaning she kind of oversees all of this all of the 50 state chairs. So that's that's very, very abbreviated of what you do, but we'll we'll we'll we'll stick with that. We can talk in more detail about what you do in the organization. But Danna, I guess we'll we'll kind of start just for people that are new. And looking to get into powerlifting, I guess, where where does somebody even start? Danna Snow: Well, the easiest thing to do is to find an event near you. And I always like to recommend to people that to go watch something, see see what it looks like, have an idea what the flow is gonna look like. so you don't show up just sort of completely blind. But if you can't, that's okay. and so say you have a say you live in Ohio and you want to find a meet to do, so you can go on to USAPowerlifting.com and look at their calendar and you can search by state. So you can search each state, find out where where in the state the next meet is. If it doesn't look like there is a meet, there might be a meet later. the calendar is updated as meet directors sanction their events. Sometimes those events are sanctioned years in advance or a year at least and some of them are sanctioned six to three months before the event. So you keep on Just keep track of the calendar and find out where a meet is, see if it's close enough to you that you want to participate in. There's going to be information that you can click on to find out how to sign up for that meet. That it can be done usually on it could be done on Lifting Cast directly, which is a hosting scoring system program that also takes registrations. Some meet directors also have their own forms that are outside of Lifting Cast. And so you get on there. Hopefully there'll be information about the meet itself, where it is, who can sign up. Some meats are specific to high school lifters only, or women only, or youth only. So there's sometimes you'll see restrictions. Josh Rohr: what is the youngest and oldest that somebody can compete? Danna Snow: So the youngest in USA powerlifting is eight years of old eight years of age by the time of the event. So by the date of the event, you have to be eight years old. The oldest is ninety-nine plus. And we do have we have some ninety, some year old athletes competing in USA powerlifting. So once you find Josh Rohr: you off. Danna Snow: an event that you want to sign up for, then you can look at all the information. If you have questions about the event itself, most places, most meet information sheets should have the contact information, meaning the email address or phone number for the meet director. If you can't find that, you can always reach out to your state chair to find out more information. State chair emails are always going to be the name of the state. at USAPowerlifting.com. You can reach out to them if you have questions that you can't find the answers to on the information sheet. So then you sign up for the meet. You usually have to pay the registration fee right there. And then a lot of times you'll start getting emails a little closer to the meet from the meet director that it's not required, but a lot of meet directors do send informational emails out. And that is how you sign up for your next your first meet. Josh Rohr: Are there any I guess, you know, you want to talk about USA powerlifting membership a little bit, how that works and that is a requirement for anybody that competes, but what is that what I guess what does that cost and how long is that good for? Danna Snow: Yeah, so to register for an event, you have to have a valid or current active USA powerlifting membership. And that is $75 for a year. The year does start technically October 1st of the previous year, following into the next year and then ending on December 31st. So even if you purchase your say you're gonna sign up for an event in April, if you purchase it right before your meet, that That membership deadline, it will be inactive as of January 1st, the next year. If you have, for instance, a state championship coming up in Octo in November, if you wait until October 1st or 2nd and sign up for your membership, then that membership will be valid all the way into the next year. So technically, valid from October 1st. The previous year following into for instance for instance, October first, two thousand twenty six will be valid until December thirty first, two thousand twenty seven. Is that clear? Josh Rohr: Yeah, yeah, I think so. So yeah, basically memberships always expire on December thirty-first of that year unless you purchase it in October, November, or December. Then it's good the Danna Snow: That's correct. Josh Rohr: following December 31st of the following year. Yep. Danna Snow: Yes. That's said more clearly. Josh Rohr: yeah. So some of the questions that we've had come in as well, is pertaining to new lifters signing up for the first meet is like what equipment do they need to have? Danna Snow: you don't you don't have to go out and buy a three hundred dollar belt and two hundred dollar singlet. You the only things you have to have to compete in USA powerlifting are you have to have a t-shirt that does not have any derogatory terms on it. And it's not the federation of doesn't have logos of other federations, powerlifting federations on it. You have to have a singlet, which is a one piece Singlet, it can have long legs, it cannot have arms, it cannot have zippers, it can't have velcro snaps, strings attached to it. It has to be a singlet that is usually you see them in wrestling, so a wrestling singlet. you have to have long socks that cover your entire shin all the way up to your kneecap. You have to have shoes and underwear. those are the only things you're absolutely required to have and wear. A lot of lifters also have belts, weightlifting belts. The belts have to be no higher than 10 centimeters, and that is not that is not four four inches. It's just under four inches. So be careful of that distinction. 10 centimeters, and that is the height of the belt while you're wearing it. most belts will fall into that category. However, there are quite a few of the Velcro belts that we're seeing now that are too tall. And there are a couple other that are four inches. So be sure you ask the manufacturer, make sure and double check the specs on the belts. other lip other pieces of equipment that lifters might use are wrist wraps, and those are the wraps that go around your s your wrist, not Not the ones that wrap around the bar. So you cannot wear wrist straps, which are the straps that wrap around the bar to help you hang on to the bar. In powerlifting, you have to be able to hang on to the bar just naturally with the grip of your your hands. and then other another piece of equipment that we see sometimes are knee sleeves. And the biggest thing about the knee sleeves is they have to be made of neoprene. sometimes we see the medical. kind of tissue paper like knee sleeves and those are not legal to wear so they have to be made of neoprene. Josh Rohr: And so if somebody is wanting to do a competition, they don't even know where to start in terms of even how to train for it and you know, things like that, where would you what would you suggest for them to do, I guess? How would you find resources and in those things? Danna Snow: You could reach out to your state chair to find out if there are coaches, USA powerlifting coaches in your state. A lot of the USA powerlifting coaches do have online presences. they do over virtual trainings, and they also have in-house training, so in-person training. You could find a powerlifting coach just in general. lots of powerlifting coaches out there nowadays. Just I I I always suggest that people interview. coaches to find out if they feel like they're gonna be a good fit for them. I all I I highly recommend you invest in a coach. It doesn't mean you have to do one-on-one five days a week with the coach, but it will help get the the proper techniques set for each lift that you're gonna have to perform on the platform so you don't fro show up to your first event and not be successful. Josh Rohr: And and to to piggyback on that, some of the resources I guess to find coaches and even training programs, you can find at USA Powerlifting.com. They have a list of certified coaches, they have a training app that you can subscribe to, and then there's also a list of basically certified gyms, regional training centers that are affiliated with USA Powerlifting. And you can also find registered clubs, which are essentially teams that are registered with the with the organization, and you can find you know, training partners and resources that way as well. So those are those are that would be a good place to start if you're looking for you know, resources and how to train and a coach and some of those things. Danna Snow: Yeah, and it's I I do like to let people know that USA powerlifting is very specific to its rules. if you find a a trainer who is not familiar with USA powerlifting, they may not have all of the rules down to how how we really need to have them performed on the platform. So just be aware of that. Josh Rohr: Yeah. Yep. And what just from your perspective, like I know you've you've hosted a lot of rookie meets for, you know, lifters competing for the first time and things like that. What are some common mistakes that you see that, you know, you might be able to help somebody avoid? Danna Snow: well there's a few of them. one is that they're not practicing the commands for each lift as they're training. So leading up to four weeks, six weeks out from their training, we would want to see them start practicing the commands for each lift because there are commands that have to be performed on the platform and one of the most common things we see are people not listening to the head ref for the commands and then beating the commands, which results in a non a non-lift, no, no successful lift. so that would that would be one. The other one is not educating themselves on the equipment, not showing up with long socks, Josh Rohr: Well let let's go let's go back to the commands. So we're we're we're we're talking to people that have never competed and might not even know what that means. So can you elaborate on what what the commands are and what what that means Danna Snow: Sure. Josh Rohr: to to wait for the commands? Danna Snow: Sure. So each each movement has its own commands. We'll start with the event always starts with squat. And so squat has two commands. You're gonna be your name is gonna be called and you're gonna get under the bar and you'll stand straight up with your knees locked. The head ref sees that you have control of the bar and you're ready to go, they're going to say start. At that point, anytime after that point, you squat down and come back up. There's no pause at the bottom of the squat. So go down and come back up, lock your knees, have control of the bar, and the head ref will see rack. At that point, you then step rack, step forward and put the bar in the rack. bench, we have three commands. I always say bench press is like Simon says. You can't do anything until the head ref says so. So on bench you had a handoff, which is generally some of our one of the staff members for liability reasons would be a handoff person. You do have a second or two to tell them how to give you the handoff. If you have to give them a book dissertation on how to do that, then try to pare it down into something shorter so you don't take up so much of your time. So you tell the spotter how you like the handoff, they hand it off to you, you have to lay down, your feet have to remain flat on the floor, your bum has to be on the bench. And you have to have your shoulders or your your arms locked, your elbows locked with the bar ready to go. At that point, the head ref, when they see that you have control of the bar, you're ready to go, they'll stay start. You go lower the bar to your chest, and the bar must become motionless. If you're someone who drops the bar in your chest and it bounces around a little bit, you might feel like that's a very long time to pause down there. Let's not technically. Technically it's not a pause. If you come down controlled and stop the motion of the bar, the head ref will then say press. At that point, you press your arms out, lock your elbows, have control of the bar, then the head ref will say rack. At that point, you put the bar back in the rack. Josh Rohr: I think that's one of the that would be on my list of of mistakes I see a lot is lifters think that the press call is based on a certain amount of time the bar is touching your chest and it has nothing to do with how long it's touching your chest. It's as soon as the bar becomes motionless. So there's a big distinction there of of how Danna Snow: That's right, exactly. I think that is one of the biggest things, one of the biggest complaints we hear. my gosh, that was so why were you holding me there so long? And well, yeah, you were moving around. You have control of the bar, and you're gonna get much faster press. and then deadlift is is super easy. you stand in front of the or the bar is in front of you on the platform, you walk up to it. I always say you do whatever is popular on TikTok now and you you're twerking or you're whatever it is, and you grab the bar, you stand up straight, lock your el lock your knees. You should be upright. Your shoulders should not be slumping forward. They should be upright. the rule book says completely erect. At that point you have control of the bar. Head ref is going to see you have control. They're going to say down. Then you lower the bar to the ground. It doesn't have to be a negative, but your hands cannot have your hands cannot come off of the bar. until it's on the ground completely. So don't drop the bar. One of the other things we see is that we like to see celebration. We like to see excitement, but reserve it till after you're done with the lift. Because if you get excited, you just did your 666 pound deadlift and you shove the bar to the ground because you're so excited, then it becomes a no lift. So wait till the bar is on the ground and then celebrate. So those are basically Josh Rohr: Yeah. Danna Snow: the commands. Josh Rohr: Yeah. I I think that pretty much, you know, w again, we're just trying to give the the basics of, you know, how to get started. I think that pretty much sums it up. There are I I I think in general the the place to start if you're looking is just go to the website USA Powerlifting dot com. There's a actually an FAQ section for new lifters that you can go to and find a lot of good information. you can also go to the very bottom and there's a link for athlete. representatives and state chairs and that would be your contact points for, you know, locally in each state. and from there you can go to the calendar, sign up for a meet, sign up for a membership, and you're ready to roll just and you know, from there, then it's just tur a matter of getting ready for it. So and and one thing I, you know, this is this is my opinion, but one thing I do encourage people to do, and you already mentioned it is attend a meet to see what it's like. but also like there's no harm in signing up for the meet even if you don't feel strong enough because the reality is most people I I've never met somebody that regretted how soon they started. I meet people all the time that have regretted that they didn't start sooner. So I think wherever you are, I that's where you're that's where you are. Like and the that's the beauty of it, with powerlifting, you can start wherever you're at. that was one of the that was one of the questions that came in too. what what's the minimum that you need to lift to be able to compete? Like do you have to be a At a certain strength level. Danna Snow: So 20 kilos is that which is essentially 45 pounds is the the lowest that you can be as long as you're an adult. if you're a youth lifter, then it's 10 kilos, which is essentially 22 pounds. And if you're a master's four is also twenty-two pounds or or ten kilos. That's the lowest that you need to be able to lift. And I was go ahead. Josh Rohr: That actually I was gonna say, that actually reminds me of something we didn't talk about was the age divisions. So there are specific age divisions for, you youth lifters is eight to thirteen. There's there's subdivisions within that as well. Teenages fourteen to nineteen, subdivisions within that, juniors twenty to twenty three. Open division is basically fourteen and up. And then you have masters divisions that starts at age forty and it basically goes until till nobody's living that long. Danna Snow: And increments of 10 years, essentially. Josh Rohr: Right. Yep. Danna Snow: records are held at every five years. yeah. One of the things we get a question on from new lifters is, well, I don't want to compete until I can but what are the records? It's like, well, you know, if you're if you're striving to beat all the records on your very first meet, I always recommend that you just do a meet. Do a meet first. And then let's let's think about the records. If you beat the records, great, but It's a whole lot different competing in an event than it is lifting in the gym. It it is nowhere close. So sometimes your your numbers you can do in the gym are not going to translate to what you can do on the platform. And vice versa. Sometimes people some people can lift way more on the platform than they do in the gym. It just depends on it depends on a lot of factors. Nerves is one of them. the other thing that I recommend for people that we see is not dieting down. This is not wrestling. Yes, there are weight classes involved, but there are consequences to making drastic changes in your weight if you've been training at a specific weight and then you crash diet two weeks before and can't figure out why you can't get your opening attempt. So for your especially for your your very first event, I strongly recommend not trying to make weight. Just step on the scale, enter that as your weight class and then and then not stress about it. Josh Rohr: Yeah, I agree. And I started to mention this and I got distracted with what I was saying, I guess. But one thing I do encourage people to do if they decide they want to compete is sign up for a competition sooner than later. And if you're let's just say your current squat is three hundred pounds, maybe you go in and you plan ahead of time that you're not going to do anything over, you know, two seventy-five. And you just use it as an experience meet, knowing that you're not going for new uncharted territory numbers so that you can focus on the details, take in the environment, BS and meet people, and have a good time and just learn the ins and outs of just how the meet works. That way when you do start really pushing for those higher numbers, you've already worked the bugs out, I guess. and Danna Snow: Exactly. Josh Rohr: that just helps people have a more successful day and and honestly have a a better experience overall. Danna Snow: Yeah, you get an idea of how much weight you can make, you know, how many, how big a jumps you can make between your attempts, how how your body handles that, how how your mind handles that. one of the other things I'd like to mention is that you know, there are quite a few rookie meets all over the country now, and those are great events to do for your first event. However, it doesn't have to be a rookie meet. There is there is nothing different about the rules for a rookie meet. It just happens to be a meet full of brand new people, just like you might be. but most local events are rookie friendly. And all of our judging should be held to the same standard at every meet. We would hate for you to compete in a rookie meet, qualify for a bigger meet and then get there and not be as successful because the judging was more lenient at your rookie meet. That is not that's not our goal. So it w It I would it does you know, look for any meet that you can do and just sign up. Just do it. Josh Rohr: Yep. I agree. I think that sums it up. obviously there's more there there's a lot more that we could talk about, but I think that's the basics. If somebody just has no idea where to start, I think we've mentioned some good things here. And yeah, we we definitely encourage you to get involved. like like Danna said, definitely attend a meet. but at the end of the day, just just sign up and do it. I mean, what do you what do you really have to lose? Like go experience it because You know, and and I I'll say this again, I know I already said it, but like I literally have never met anybody that regretted starting when they did, but I have a lot of people that regret that they didn't start sooner. So le learn learn from Danna Snow: Absolutely. Yeah. And and the powerlifting. Josh Rohr: learn from those those folks, I guess. Danna Snow: Exactly. The power powerlifting community is one of the best athlete communities in in all of sports, I think. They're very supportive in it overall I would say. and people are surprised by that. And it's it makes it such a a welcoming experience. Josh Rohr: Yep, I agree. Well, do you have anything else to add or is that that pretty good for for today, you think? Danna Snow: I think that's probably good for a start. Josh Rohr: All right, sounds good. Well, Danna, thanks for joining us. I I appreciate you sharing your insights. And if you are interested in powerlifting, definitely check out USA Powerlifting dot com and find yourself a meet to sign up for. Danna Snow: Yeah, absolutely. Nice to talk to you. Josh Rohr: All right, you too. Thanks, Danna. Bye bye. Danna Snow: Bye bye.