By Sanjana Jain, Staff Writer
On January 27, seniors Dennis Lee and Orhan Tasci competed in a regional powerlifting meet at Hit Fit Training Center and secured first place in the 60 kgs and 90 kgs categories respectively. They entered under the Men’s Raw Team II category for competitors aged 16-17; both students are 17.
Powerlifting meets are structured by age and weight classes, and most competitors perform all three conventional lifts: the squat, the bench, and the deadlift. Each competitor is allowed three attempts for each lift with the flexibility to change the weight between each attempt. Attempts are also staggered to ensure lifters have enough time to recover from heavy sets: “it’s like lifter A, lifter B, lifter C, then lifter A again,” Dennis clarified.
Unfortunately, Dennis missed his first squat attempt due to being “in the warm up room for too long,” he said. Competitors are not allowed to make up missed attempts and those lifts equate to a failed attempt. However, he recovered quickly as his first lift of 125 kgs (275 lbs) was approved and his second lift of 140 kgs (308 lbs) was a new state record for his competition category.
While Orhan was present for all three of his squat attempts, he failed his second attempt of 190 kgs (419 lbs), which was a 20 kgs increase from his first attempt of 170 kgs (375 lbs). However, he prevailed and skillfully executed 190 kgs on his third attempt.
Dennis thrived on the bench. Not only did he clear all three of his attempts, but by his third attempt he benched 97.5 kgs (215 lbs), a 12.5 kgs increase from his first lift of 85 kgs (187 lbs).
On the other hand, competition nerves affected Orhan’s performance on the bench. “225 lbs is the number that I usually do at home, but when I went for it in competition I failed it both times,” he explained. Luckily, he had already cleared his first attempt of 92.5 kgs (204 lbs).
The deadlift was a double edged sword for both competitors. For Dennis’ bodyweight, his initial chosen deadlift weight of 135 kgs (296 lbs) was already pushing his limits. But he decided to take a risk during his second and third attempts and increase the weight to 155 kgs (342 lbs), both of which he failed.
On his third attempt, Dennis was close to ‘locking out’ – a term used to describe the final point in a lift where all limbs and joints are fully extended. For the deadlift, this translated to standing upright. Dennis believed that he “went for a deadlift that was pretty heavy for [him],” and although not perfect, his “form was fine and I thought I got the lift up good. I was a little frustrated,” he expressed, since the judges decided to penalize his attempt.
While Orhan was more successful with the deadlift, disappointment still prevailed. He cleared his first two attempts of 225 kgs (496 lbs) and 235 kgs (518 lbs) respectively, but he “was kind of disappointed” with his third attempt of 247.5 kgs (546 lbs) “because my last deadlift attempt was going to be the state record,” he explained. “I got it off the floor and I got it to my knees but I didn’t lock it out,” he continued.
Regardless of any setbacks during Orhan’s lifts, he earned the highest Wilks score – 344.79 – in the first session. The Wilks score is a mathematical coefficient that is used to compare the relative strength of powerlifters regardless of their weight differences. Although the first session consisted primarily of novice lifters, Orhan’s score rivals that of even advanced competitors. “I was still happy that I got like a pretty good total,” he reflected.
Mental preparation and having the best attitude are equally important before a competition. Orhan felt “really excited” because in all the videos he watched online, competitions “always seemed really hype like the audience is really involved,” he explained.
Since powerlifting competitions require several months of preparation, it isn’t unusual for competitors to sign up for meets months in advance. “We both signed up around the September-August mark,” explained Orhan, 5 months prior. Generally for powerlifting preparation, “three months out you’ll start a program that’s usually twelve weeks long and it progresses you to get you to a point where for like a week, you’re at your max strength you can be,” he continued.
To achieve this, Orhan engaged in a free 8-week long program by Calgary Barbell – a fitness coaching company located in Alberta, Canada that offers a free, online 16-week powerlifting-prep program.
Rather than his strength or form, Dennis realized a month before the competition that he “actually went overweight.” To be able to participate in weightlifting competitions, on the day of, all participants need to be at or under the weight of their chosen weight category. To ensure he would be able to compete, Dennis “decided to do an extreme cut in calories to make sure I got down in weight in time.” During the morning weigh in, he was 59.56 kgs – just barely under the 60 kgs maximum for his division.
Recovery after strenuous activity is vital. “Apparently during a powerlifting meet you get a bunch of microfractures on your spine and that takes at least a week and a half to heal,” relayed Orhan. While “it’s nothing serious – it’s just pain for a week,” he continued, resetting by dropping weight in the gym is crucial.
“I’m moving more back into a high-rep bodybuilding kind of split and so it’s more focusing on keeping the weights…and intensity light,” Orhan said. The night of the meet, Dennis said he “slept for like 14 hours” and for the next few weeks he “[doesn’t] workout as much and just chills.”
Coincidentally, this was the first time either Dennis or Orhan competed in an official powerlifting meet. However their reasons for entering differed. Orhan started his gym journey just last year. Initially, he adopted a traditional bodybuilding split where he focused on a combination of conventional and accessory lifts. However he soon realized that his “favorite lifts to do were the squat, bench, and deadlift because I was the best at it,” he said.
Orhan also described how he watched YouTube videos on powerlifting meets and decided that “they looked really fun,” and believed that if he “[trained] for that [he] could probably do that too.”
He further explained that he had been contemplating entering a powerlifting meet for several months – and even registered for one in July, 2023 – but finally decided to compete with Dennis this January.
Dennis started lifting weights during his freshman year with his older brother, Justin Lee. “I had absolutely no self-confidence and was really skinny. My brother kinda dragged me to the gym to help me build my confidence,” he said. But, Dennis only recently ventured into powerlifting and wanted to earn some recognition before entering college: “I wanted to do this before I graduated so I could say I got it in high school,” he stated.
Nevertheless, Dennis and Orhan’s inexperience did not derail their confidence. Both boys were determined to set new state records in their respective age and weight divisions for all three lifts. “Other than my deadlift, I was pretty happy about my performance,” said Dennis.
Now that the fears and ambiguity of a first time have been overcome, “me and Dennis are probably gonna do Regionals in July,” Orhan said.