Competitors will gather at the Wellness and Recreation Center (WRC) tonight to squat, bench and deadlift it out in a battle of brawns. UNI is hosting its very first Powerlifting Competition, replacing previous year’s intramural Bench Press competition, according to Rochelle Koehnen, kinesiology graduate assistant.

Nathan Kubik, senior movement and exercise science major and personal trainer at UNI, will be participating in the upcoming competition for the first time. He has been lifting since the age of 15.

“Powerlifting is unique because it takes hours upon hours, likely over many years, of working out in preparation for nine lifts that take just a few seconds each,” Kubik said. “[And] you’re not only competing against everyone at the meet, but you’re also competing against yourself by attempting to set new personal records for each lift.”

Training for a competition such as this is a balancing act, as competitors must ensure they don’t experience burnout from too many heavy weights while at the same time, preparing to compele at a high caliber. He prepares his workouts months in advance as well.

Each event, including the squat, bench and deadlift, is performed and scored in a very specific way.

“Each competitor gets three attempts to lift as much weight as they can for all three lifts,” Koehnen said. “The max totals, or highest successful attempt, are added at the end for an overall actual weight lifted score.”

Koehnen and those hosting the competition are hopeful for 20 competitors in the competition, and have had 10 registered as of Nov. 17.

Kubik and Koehnen recommend that students attend the competition because it will be a unique experience.

“I think students should attend because powerlifting is likely something they’ve never been exposed to,” Kubik said. “Maybe it would [even] motivate them to become more active themselves.”

“Students should attend the event to experience the atmosphere and see what a powerlifting competition is all about,” Koehnen said.

The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the UNI Athletic Weight Room in the WRC and is open to the public.