Griffen Malkin, Contributing Photographer

Waves of congratulatory cheers and shouts of “Up! Up! Up!” could be heard at Payne Whitney Gymnasium this weekend as Yale Club Powerlifting held its first intrasquad meet of the year, giving students the opportunity to set new personal records in a competitive setting.

On the morning of Oct. 29 — nearly seven months since their last competition — Club Powerlifting hosted the first of two competitions during this academic year in the Israel Fitness Center of Payne Whitney. Participants and student volunteers gathered to put on their much anticipated mock meet and share their passion for weightlifting through healthy competition. 

“A big part of the team is helping people who have never lifted before, like people that have no experience,” said Jack Barsody DIV ’23, a graduate student in the club. “So it’s fun to see people [improve]. It’s like you came to the gym for the first time four months ago and now you’re powerlifting, like doing decent weight.”

Thirty-six students took part in the event, competing with each other and attempting to improve their personal bests across three compound lifts — deadlift, squat and bench press. Muscles worked in a deadlift include hamstrings, glutes, core, back, and many more. With varying degrees of powerlifting experience, students used the meet as an opportunity to demonstrate the progress they had made in the gym. 

The supportive atmosphere could be heard from each corner of Israel Fitness Center as the encouraging cheers of spectators and competitors echoed through the room.

Participants were grouped into different flights, described as “heavy” and “light,” in addition to being put into various weight classes. The main purpose of separating these “flights” into heavy and light is to help organize the event and change the weights needed on the barbell as efficiently as possible, according to club president Breanna Nguyen ’25. 

Competitors are then ranked based on a points system that accounts for the aggregate weight of their three lifts and their body weights. Each competitor had three attempts to lift their heaviest weight for a single rep, with the common practice being steadily increasing weight between the first and final attempts. 

Alexandra Rakov ’23 placed first in the women’s class on Saturday’s competition, capping off an excellent performance with a total of 625 pounds lifted across her three lifts and earning 295.47 points. 

Barsody placed first in the men’s class. His impressive morning began by setting a new squat PR of 500lbs, on his way to a total weight across the three lifts to 1,305lbs, which equated to 368.55 points. 

“I’ve been gunning for a PR for a super long time,” Barsody said. “So it felt really good to just come in and yeah, hit 500 pounds.”

Other notable lifts included PRs for Camila Otero ’25 and Matthew Dobre ’26, both of whom pushed their previous records and demonstrated significant improvements in their respective lifts. Otero set a new squat PR of 200lbs and earned a third-place finish in the women’s class. Dobre set new PRs for his squat and deadlift, lifting 390 and 500 lbs respectively. Both of these PRs helped him earn a second-place finish in the men’s class.

“I was a bit nervous for my first attempt at the squat, but I feel like I kind of got used to the environment,” Otero said. “When I un-racked, I kind of lost balance and had to settle myself, but then I was able to go up 10 pounds and then 20 pounds for the last squat and I still was able to get it up. So I am really happy about that.”

Many competitors tended to opt for several rest days leading up to Saturday. They also made sure they ate well and got enough sleep the night before so that they had plenty of energy to compete early the next morning.

“Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I didn’t work out,” said Daven Yadav ’25. “I just rested. I was eating a little bit more than usual and I was stretching a bit, especially my legs, so I [didn’t] hurt myself and I have enough energy for [the event].” 

The large crowd of fellow competitors, spectators and volunteers proved to be a challenge for some students but a shot in the arm for others. Many had not experienced a competitive setting and had not competed at all before, so lifting heavy weights with many people watching was a stark contrast to their usual routines of working out on their own.

“I think the hardest thing is honestly, like especially when you’re used to lifting on your own, is a big group of people watching you really makes you freak out,” Barsody said. “I don’t even remember my first attempt to be honest!” 

For others, the eyes and encouraging voices gave them the extra push they needed to set new PRs. The crowd, according to Yadav, “hypes you up, makes you feel good and gives you a bit of adrenaline.” 

Club Powerlifting will host its second meet of the academic year in April.