Intro * Rules * Sign-up *Accessibility
🏋️ Do you like lifting the heavy thing and also putting it back down? 🏋🏾♀️
Are you a big ol’ queer? Do you want to get together with a bunch of other powerful queers to lift heavy things? Did you miss last year’s Power Meet?!
💪🏾 Well, have I got GOOD NEWS for you! 🏳️🌈
The Underdog Power Meet is returning in 2025!!
To ring in Creepy Season, on Saturday the 4th of October at 1:30 PM, queers who wanna lift and their friends and fans of queers who lift will get together for the second annual Underdog Power Meet! People will be competing in Deadlifts, Bench Press or Squats with other fans of heavy things designed for lifting.
If you’re someone who doesn’t lift but you like people who lift heavy, we want you there to spectate and donate to support your favourite contestants!
🏆 Do you like prizes? 🏆
MORE GOOD NEWS! There will be prizes both silly and serious for those competing. Most improved lift? Yes! Best Lift Face? Why not?! Coolest costume? It’s October; Absolutely!
🏳️⚧️ Do you like supporting trans people’s fundraisers? 🏳️⚧️
THE BEST NEWS OF ALL! This entire event is put on to support Coach Huld’s (that’s me!) transition fundraiser, as I am fundraising for facial feminisation surgery. Anyone who wants to enter the competition will have the option to fundraise for their entry up until the day of the competition or pay for entry via a suggested donation of £20 (feel free to go higher! 👉👈 ). And you better believe there will be a prize for most money raised! :D
25% of the total amount raised on my fundraiser will be paid forward to other people’s transition fundraisers with a focus on Black, Indigenous and People of Colour and disabled trans folks. So the support you give me will in turn support other people’s fundraisers you might otherwise have missed. 🏳️⚧️
Once I hit my target of £32’000, everything I raise in all future events will be paid forward!
Get HYPE and get LIFTING!
Stay updated by following @UnderdogHealth on Instagram!
This is a Powerlifting Meetup and a friendly competition for fun, so don’t expect the usual rules if you’ve been to powerlifting competitions in the past. Please see rules and guidelines below.
These rules are a living document, so some rules and prizes might change in the months leading up to the competition, but most likely only to help clarify current rules, increase safety for participants, or to make it more fun.
The lifts in competition will be Deadlift, Bench Press and Squat. You can choose to compete in one category, and you will be asked for your first, second and third choice of category upon entry. You don’t have to pick more than one, but if you only have a first choice and that lift is full you won’t be able to compete.
Each lift will have a maximum of 15 spaces.
Entry:
All queer-identifying people can enter this competition, and anyone can come to spectate and support the lifters! We do not police identity and will not question your “right” to join.
This is a fundraising competition. To enter, you agree to either fundraise among your own circles to donate on to Coach Huld’s Transition Fundraiser, or make a sliding scale personal donation at a suggested £20.
After entering the competition, you will be asked to submit a One Rep Max test of your competing lift.
If you are still fresh in the game and don’t trust yourself to safely lift a true 1RM, that’s fine. Lift the heaviest you can safely do for one rep. Obviously this would put you in the Beginner category, even if you have been lifting for longer.
In most powerlifting competitions, you’d enter by estimating your competition lift. Not the case here. You will enter with a test lift in order to try to improve it on competition day.
I will try to organise test sessions at The Club Gym for each lift in April for those who’d like to test alongside their fellow lifters.
There are no weight classes.
The competition classes for entrants will be Beginner (3-12 months experience), Intermediate (1-3 years) and Experienced (3+ years). Please provide this information as you enter, using the time of entry as the marker.
The experiene level for competition classes is a guideline, so use your best judgment. If you’ve lifted for ten years but you’ve recently been recovering from an injury, you can use a lower class if you prefer. We’re not strict here, it’s supposed to be fun!
If you’d like to compete for strongest proportional lift, you need to be weighed at the start of the competition in order to measure the proportional lift. I’ve not yet decided if I want to include this.
Clothing/ Kit:
Absolutely anything you feel comfortable moving in. If you want to deadlift in dungarees, we’re not going to stop you!
If wearing shoes, they need to be clean (not as in sparkling, just not trailing dirt/ sand everywhere). You don’t have to wear gym-specific shoes, or shoes at all. Some good non-lifting brands are Vans (specifically the Old Skool profile with a wide toe box) Vivo Barefoot and Xero. I would personally recommend not lifting in trainers with big heals or very cushioned soles, but that’s a personal preference. Feel free to ask about it upon entry.
Costumes are heavily encouraged!
You can use lifting straps/ belts, heel wedges or any other accessories that help you, as long as you also use those in your entry test.
Lift Specific rules:
Bench Press
Butt and Shoulders must be touching the bench at all times.
You can use a height booster for your feet if the bench is too tall to comfortably reach the floor.
Bar must touch your chest but must NOT bounce off the chest.
Squat
Your hips must come down to the height of your knees or below, unless you’ve specifically mentioned a mobility issue limiting this. In those cases, test in the same way you’ll compete.
No bounce at the bottom!
Deadlift
Lift the heavy thing.
Wide or narrow leg positions are both fine, but use the same style you used in your entry test.
Attempts:
For each lift, you get three (3) attempts on the weights of your choice, with up to four minutes rest between. You can increase the weight in each attempt. My recommendation is to start at least a few kg shy of your top weight.
You will be lifting in groups of up to five people, and every person in that group will do their first attempt before we move to the second attempt.
Each attempt is one minute (60 seconds) long, so if you fail to get the weight off the ground, you can still take a step back, reset and try again without losing your attempt.
You can forfeit an attempt at any point if you know it’s not going to go well. STAY SAFE.
Prize Categories:
Biggest Increase
One for each lift.
Measured in a percentage increase in weight lifted between the entry test and your biggest competition lift.
Strongest Proportional lift (not finalised)
One for each lift
Based on what percentage of your body weight you lifted in your heaviest successful attempt.
Best costume
This is not necessarily an award for the most elaborate or fancy costume. It’s about being creative and having fun.
Most Money Raised for the Fundraiser
Maybe some surprises?! 👀
Safety
In order for your entry to be complete, you will need to attest that you are physically able to safely engage in physical activity. Most lifters will be familiar with this basic form known as a PAR-Q. The PAR-Q will be provided to fill in after you have entered or on the day of the competition.
You are responsible for your own lifting safety. You make your own choices and we don’t police safe lifting technique. If you throw your back our trying to lift a weight that is too heavy for you, that is your own responsibility though obviously we’ll support you if anything happens.
A minimum of two spotters will be present to aid in moving the weights into position and help out if the competitor has to bail mid-lift.
There will be at least one first-aid trained person present at the event in case of an injury.
When a lift is occurring, the designated lifting area must be clear of anyone who is not the competitor and their spotters.
Spectators are to stay out of the lifting areas at all times.
Behaviour (spectator/ competitor alike!)
Should be obvious: Absolutely no bigotry allowed.
This is a body neutral space. No anti-fatness tolerated.
Don’t police gender or sexuality.
Generally, just be respectful. Give people space to be themselves.
If you are told by the organisers or lifters to move, please move. This is for safety more than anything.
Do not photograph anyone you don’t personally know and have consent to take photos of.
If you are told your behaviour is borderline or unacceptable, correct it or leave.
No uniforms allowed at the competition, of any kind, including as costumes. Even if it’s a super cunty Village People style police officer. No cops at pride, no cops at Power Meet!
HAVE FUN! Think of this as a sober drag/ burlesque night in a gym during the day with people lifting heavy shit instead of lipsyncing!
SIGN UP FOR THE POWER MEET!
Entries are NOW OPEN and will close at the end of April.
Accessibility info SUBJECT to CHANGE depending on the venue, but the below will be a minimum requirement for access.
Entry at street level. Entrance has ramp, but threshhold is not flush with ground so wheelchair users might need support getting in.
Binary Gendered Changing rooms with toilets (at Ground Floor). I will confirm with gym owner if it’s doable to make them gender free for the duration of the competition. (this depends on whether there are classes in the studio next door at the time of the competition)
Accessible & Gender neutral toilet/ changing space at Ground Floor
Spectator spaces will be mostly on mezzanine level, stair access only, but there will be some spectator space on floor level.
Music will be mostly set at a lowish volume.
We do not currently have specific lifting accessories for access needs of competitors but will endeavour to acquire what we can based on competitor needs.