They are tight to make you tight. The tighter you are the more you lift as it becomes easier to transfer force through a rigid object to the bar than through a pudding. 

 

 

Before we go I tot the details of why powerlifting suits are so tight, let me ask you a couple of questions: 

 

 

These questions are essential to your personal success and failure. Research shows that people who write down their goals and reflect on them are more likely to make them a reality. When was the last time you did this? Can you even remember? If you can’t it is time to get a pen and paper and start. Many people go about their lives like this: 

 

 

This is a great way of getting mixed up. What you want changes hundreds of times a day depending on what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Your impulsive instincts will always chase your sensory input. This is great for survival in the wilderness. It is suboptimal when you want to act right for early retirement. Humans usually do better with instant reward systems than delayed reward systems. Read the nudge to dig deeper on this. Something interesting happens when you flip the running order of these questions on their head: 

 

 

This way you will focus on your long term goals and create a bias towards action. Your thoughts and actions will become more connected and success will follow. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's TED talk on the golden circle will change your life. 

 

It all starts with better habits and rituals. The best way I found to get this done is to keep a journal. The self journal from best self is with me for more than two years now. Since then my marriage and salary have dramatically improved. You can check it out via this link. 

 

 

Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your total consists of three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, squat, and deadlift. For each lift, you get three attempts to establish the highest weight. Your best attempt for each lift will be counted towards your total. Based on your total you will be ranked against your competitors. 

 

A big difference to lifting in the gym is that you will be judged. Three referees will observe your actions from three different angles. They decide whether you have performed according to the standards of the federation you are competing in. Two out of three referees have to agree for your lift to qualify. You need at least one qualifying attempt for each lift to make it on the board. Otherwise, you will be disqualified. 

 

You total usually splits into 40/40/20. The squat and deadlift usually contribute roughly 40 percent each while the bench press adds up to 20 percent. This numbers vary by age, weight, gender and individual build of a lifter, but are a good rule of thumb to start. 

 

Powerlifting competitions are either done equipped or unequipped. Equipment you da use for powerlifting depending on the competition rules are:

 

 

The first four are often allowed in raw competitions. The knee wraps are a borderline case. The suits and shirts are only allowed in equipped powerlifting competitions. 

 

 

There are three forms of powerlifting suits: 

 

 

Each of them is cut a little differently and has resistance added to them to help you through the lifts. This varies a little by purpose as the weakest parts of the bodies are supported based on whether you do the squat, deadlift or bench press. What all these suits have in common is that they are very tight and stiff. 

 

The single reason for them being so stiff and tight is that it helps immensely with your lifts. One of the main factors of strength is that you are able to get very very tight for moving big weight. This is exactly what a lifting suit does for you and brings to the extreme. 

 

 

They are tight to make your body more rigid and make your flabby bits more compact. This helps to better transfer your bodies power to the floor and to the barbell itself.