please! help me set up my bench press contest

[Matt Schumann]

As some of you might know, i am setting up a bench press contest at the gym i work at.

I would appreciate some help on setting up the contest itself. Succh as divisions etc....

iknow there will be a high school division, a mens and possibly a womens

i have no idea about any weight classes, i do know that my budget will not be very much as far as trophies and t-shirts are concerned so i was looking to have a larger space between weight classes

[Matt Reynolds]

HS Light (200 and under)
HS Heavy (200 and over)
Mens Open Light (200 and under)
Mens Open Middle (200-250)
Mens Open Heavy (250+)
Womens

That's only 6 divisions, which works pretty well.

[Dave Bourgeois]

Plus you can have a 10-20$ entry fee, to help off set the cost a little.

[Matt Schumann]

yeah but the thing is, they wa nt to make money off of this thing,,,, I personally do not care and would spend every dime we got and put it into the contest...

right now im looking for sponsorship to offset some of the cost for us. I did like the division matt posted and i really think that will be the basic format of the contest.

Im going to go to every gym i know of around here and post fliers for this thing, i am also going to go to every high school around here and get the youngings interested... They are the most ego driven "how much can you bench" type of ppl there are lol

any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am also going to have a few feats of strength as a Side show as well.... Mike Pelosi has already shown some interest, if anyone else around the massachusetts area would like to do a feat of strength please PM me

[WesleyInman]

What gym...and what part of Mass are you holding the event in???

Im in CT, and depending on how far you are I will show up if you can give me the date, time and location, thanx!!

[Matt Schumann]

Wesley...

We are holding the event at the end of June... the date is still up in the air but i believe we are going to shoot for the last saturday in june. I really would like to make this contest a huge success for the people who want to come watch and for the athletes themselves.

Once we tie up a few details i will be going around to every gym i can think of and i will be recruiting and advertising the contest. My goal is to make this a very good contest with alot of strong benchers so that each division will be interesting and competitive

Let me know if you are interested, the event will be held at the North Suburban YMCA in Woburn Massachusetts, off of both route 93 and 95. It would be awesome if you competed

thanks
Matt

[Steve Trippe]

HS Light (200 and under)
HS Heavy (200 and over)
Mens Open Light (200 and under)
Mens Open Middle (200-250)
Mens Open Heavy (250+)
Womens

That's only 6 divisions, which works pretty well.


Something to think about is that your "average" gym goer will weigh no where near 250lbs. In fact, the under 200 division may be filled with 200+ with only a few guys.

One idea would be to use powerlifting weight classes (132, 148, 165, 181, 198, 220, 242, 275, shw) or every other weight class. I might also suggest using powerlifting rules (USAPL) to level the playing field with a straight sest of rules, as well as eliminate dangerous practices like bouncing off the chest.

[Jason Poulos]

Sent you a PM, Matt.

Take a look at IPF rules & weight classes.

http://www.powerlifting-ipf.com/congress%202006/IPF_rulebook_changes_2006.pdf

[WesleyInman]

I looked it up, and I think where you are at is about 30minutes north of Boston..maybe more, is this right???

This would be approximately 4+hours from me...Please let me know when you find outmore about the event, thank you!

[Steve Trippe]

I looked it up, and I think where you are at is about 30minutes north of Boston..maybe more, is this right???

This would be approximately 4+hours from me...Please let me know when you find outmore about the event, thank you!

One of the guys I train with at school is going to be in southie this summer, so let me know as well. Might be worth the trip.

[Matt Schumann]

saturday june 30th, 12-4pm

137 Lexington St
Woburn MA 01801

more details to come soon

[Matt Schumann]

this is the entry form to my contest and the flier if anyone is interested or know someone who is interested print it out ...

also if your not interested in competing stop by

ps
the actual entry form looks better than what will come up sorry

[WesleyInman]

Hey Matt,

When do you need this by??? I'm gonna try and get up to this, are you expecting a big turnout, or do you have any idea how many people are involved?? You say the max is 15 per actual division, correct??

How far are you from Walpole?? I have a friend that lives there, gonna try to make it up for the weekend, then stop by for the contest...would love to participate, or watch!!! LMK

[Matt Schumann]

according to mapquest we are about 45 mins away from walpole.... mightbe less like 30-45 mins away

If you want to compete and your definitly sure that you can make it down for the event i will hold a spot for you with no problem....... I can email you the entry form and you can type it out and email it back to me or fax it and just pay on the day of the contest itself....
As of right now, i have just started to branch out and promote this thing so the turn out is up in the air..... but....... Theres a really good chance that there will be a good turn out of both athletes and spectators

whats your email address and what division are you in?

and just out of curiousity how much are you putting up???

[WesleyInman]

Matt,

Thanx for the feedback, wouldn't mind coming up just to have some fun, but it's a long trip, so I'm not 100% sure....

Right now, I'm 5'8" 190...very lean, on a good day I'd hit 405-415 on bench...By contest time, i wouldn't be as lean, and my bench would be up a bit more....but not a ton...

My email is "body2see@cyber-rights.net"

Feel free to PM me or email me anytime, thanx :)

[Matt Schumann]

awesome bro... if you can make it.... pklease do, would love to have another 4+ bencher.

really want to make this contest as competitive as possible.....

[Matt Schumann]

just to update the info on my contest

this is the new divisions, let me know what you think

mens masters 50+ 150-174, 175-199, 200-224- 225-249 and 250+

mens 150-174, 175-199, 200-225, 226-249, 250+

Womens 100-124, 125-149, 150-174, 175-199, 200+

high school, 125-149, 150-174, 175-199, 200-224, 225+

plus i am starting to finally get sponsors:) everything is coming together.....

[WesleyInman]

Hey Matt,

Any updates on the list of contestants so far?? I am trying to plan to come still..have to get work off and all, so I just want to make sure it's worth it....The sponsors sounds like a good start congrats!! Before I drove 3-4 hours each way, I want to make sure you have enough competitors, no disrespect :)

I hope it starts moving along nicely for ya...It would be very cool to meet a few other board members from the area at the comp...Ill be in touch

[Matt Schumann]

sign ups are still in the early stages... i totally hear where you are coming from. I did alot of ground work to a whole bunch of local gyms yesterday and i got a good amount of athletes with good numbers on the bench ... about 6 or 7 definites last night... So we are definitly getting a good list together,,,, i will update you more on the progression of the list.

did also get yet another sponsor today so we are definitly looking good...

Mike Pelosi from the board is planning to be there and do a demonstration for the crowd... Probaly a huge over head press etc... and i am working on a few other local great strength athletes to do some other demonstrations