Powerlifting for Beginners: Squat, Bench, Deadlift (India Guide)

Powerlifting is a strength sport with three lifts, the squat, bench press and deadlift, where you get three attempts at each and your best legal lift from each adds up to your total. As a beginner in India, spend your first few months learning clean technique and adding weight slowly, then enter a local meet run by a state association affiliated to Powerlifting India, the national member of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF).

What is powerlifting, and what's classic vs equipped?

The lifts always go in the same order: squat, bench press, deadlift. Per the IPF Technical Rulebook (effective 1 March 2026), "each competitor is allowed three attempts on each lift" and the best valid attempt on each counts.

There are two divisions:

• Classic (raw). Non-supportive singlet, plus an optional belt, wrist wraps and knee sleeves. Almost every beginner starts here.
• Equipped. Adds supportive suits, bench shirts and knee wraps, which let you lift more but take time and money to learn.

You compete by sex, age and bodyweight class. IPF men's classes run from 59 kg to 120+ kg and women's from 47 kg to 84+ kg.

What are the competition rules for each lift?

Most failed lifts at a first meet are about missing a command, not strength. The 2026 rulebook, simplified:

Two details catch beginners out:

• Bench pause and depth. The bar must be motionless on your chest before the "Press" command. The 2026 rulebook also requires the underside of both elbows to come level with or below the top of the shoulder joint.
• Attempt timing. After each attempt you have one minute to hand in your next weight, and attempts must go up by at least 2.5 kg (except record attempts).

Weigh-in starts no earlier than two hours before your session and lasts one and a half hours.

How do you start powerlifting in India?

The IPF lists Powerlifting India as its member federation for India. Competitions usually run through state associations affiliated to it, from district and state meets up to national championships. Other federations also hold meets in India, with different rules and testing.

A practical route:

1. Train the three lifts to competition standard for a few months.
2. Ask your state powerlifting association (or a coach who competes) about the next district or state meet and how registration works. Confirm directly before paying any entry fee.
3. Film your training lifts and judge them against the rulebook honestly.
4. Do a mock meet two to three weeks out, with a friend calling the commands.

Will you be drug tested, and are supplements a risk?

Yes, you can be. The IPF anti-doping rules say the IPF is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code and has rules that conform with it. India's national anti-doping agency is NADA India, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that runs sample collection and testing in the country.

The part beginners underestimate is supplements. NADA India's supplements guidance is blunt: "no supplement is 100% risk free", supplements may contain substances on the WADA Prohibited List, and under strict liability you are responsible "regardless of how the substance entered" your system. Its advice: food first, and if you must use a supplement, pick one batch-tested by a third-party programme.

Also check any prescription medicine against the current WADA Prohibited List and ask NADA India about a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) if you need a banned medicine for a real condition.

What does a 12-week beginner powerlifting plan look like?

Below is a sample plan, not a prescription. Train three days a week with at least a day between sessions (for example Monday, Wednesday, Friday). It uses simple linear progression: small weight jumps, as long as every rep looks the same. Start each lift at a weight you could do for 8 to 10 clean reps, even though you'll only do 5.

• Pause every bench rep on your chest from week 1.
• A "comfortable single" is a weight you could have lifted once or twice more. Not a max.
• The sets and reps guide explains why sets of 3 to 5 suit strength work, and how many rest days you need covers recovery if you feel run down.
• Use the barbell plate calculator or the barbell loading guide for plate maths.

What are the technique cues that actually help?

Squat

• Bar on your upper back, not your neck.
• Big breath into your belly, brace hard, then sit down between your heels.
• Knees travel in the same direction as your toes.
• Film from the side at hip height to check depth.

Bench press

• Shoulder blades pulled back and down.
• Feet flat and planted, bum stays on the bench the whole time.
• Lower the bar to the lower chest, wait for the pause, then press back towards your face.

Deadlift

• Bar over the middle of your foot, shins close to the bar.
• Take the slack out of the bar before it leaves the floor.
• Push the floor away with your legs, then finish by standing tall. Don't lean back.

How do you pick your openers?

Your opener (first attempt) has one job: get a lift on the board. A common practice among coaches is to open at about 90% of a weight you've recently lifted comfortably for a single in training, and to go for a new best only on your third attempt.

A hypothetical example, rounded to 2.5 kg:

If the second was slow, keep the third jump small. The one rep max calculator and the 1RM percentage chart help you estimate these numbers from your training sets.

What equipment do you need?

For classic lifting, very little. Limits below are from the 2026 IPF rulebook:

• Singlet and t-shirt. A singlet is required in competition, worn over a t-shirt for all three lifts. IPF rules require approved manufacturers, so check what your meet accepts before buying.
• Belt (optional). Maximum 10 cm wide and 13 mm thick. Learn to brace without one first.
• Wrist wraps (optional). Up to 1 m long and 8 cm wide.
• Knee sleeves (optional). Neoprene, up to 7 mm thick and 30 cm long.
• Shoes. Indoor sports shoes, weightlifting shoes or deadlift slippers are allowed. Avoid soft running shoes for heavy squats.
• Chalk and long socks. For grip, and to protect your shins on deadlifts.

How risky is powerlifting for injuries?

Less risky than many think, though aches are common. A 2017 systematic review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found 1.0 to 4.4 injuries per 1,000 hours of powerlifting training, similar to other non-contact strength sports and low compared with contact sports. The spine, shoulder and knee were the most common sites.

The picture changes with a broader definition of injury. In Strömbäck et al. (2018), a cross-sectional study of 104 sub-elite Swedish powerlifters, 70% were carrying a current injury (defined as pain that affected training) and 87% had one in the previous 12 months. An updated 2024 review agreed: injury incidence was low, prevalence of nagging pain was high, and pelvic floor problems such as leaking urine were reported by about half of female lifters.

• Small, regular weight jumps beat big jumps.
• Stop a set when form breaks.
• See a sports physio or doctor for pain lasting over a week or two, sharp pain, numbness, or leaking during lifts.
• See a doctor before starting if you have high blood pressure, a heart condition, a hernia, are pregnant, or are under 18.

How do you compare totals across bodyweights?

A 100 kg lifter totalling 400 kg and a 60 kg lifter totalling 300 kg can't be compared on raw kg. The IPF ranks its best lifters with its own IPF points formula, and DOTS is another widely used score. Check yours with the DOTS and Wilks calculator.

What should you eat while training?

The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand suggests 1.4 to 2.0 g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day for most people who exercise. For a 70 kg lifter that's about 98 to 140 g a day, spread across meals. Work out your own target with the protein calculator.

Don't crash diet to make a weight class. At your first meet, lift in the class you naturally weigh.

The short version

• Start in the classic division; you need a singlet and t-shirt, while a belt, wrist wraps and knee sleeves are optional
• Squat below parallel, pause the bench, lock out the deadlift and wait for every command
• Train three days a week, add small amounts of weight, and only when every rep is clean
• Open at about 90% of a comfortable single, chase a best only on your third attempt
• In an IPF-affiliated federation you can be tested; treat every supplement as a risk

This is general information, not medical advice.

Useful links

• IPF Technical Rulebook, effective 1 March 2026 (PDF)
• IPF member federations in Asia (Powerlifting India listed)
• IPF Anti-Doping Rules
• NADA India and its guidance on supplements
• WADA Prohibited List
• Aasa et al. (2017), Injuries among weightlifters and powerlifters: a systematic review
• Strömbäck et al. (2018), Prevalence and consequences of injuries in powerlifting
• Tung et al. (2024), Injuries in weightlifting and powerlifting: an updated systematic review
• Jäger et al. (2017), ISSN position stand: protein and exercise

Cover photo: Gym Weights by Marcin Czaja, CC0, via stocksnap.