I was a powerlifter for 25 years - lifter, coach, referee, admin, but that's a story for another time and place, I guess.
Huh... I met a dude online (like two decades ago). Then, for reasons, I drove around the country for quite a while (more or less six months and largely 'at random'). I just happened to be in that area, so I stopped in to meet him in person. They were not the only people I visited on this journey.
Anyhow, he was a power lifter. He was even on the US Olympic team. I believe he also coached the team, but not during the Olympics. Or, at least, he didn't go to the games with the intent to coach.
He also did some of the Olympics' color commentary on TV. I don't want to go into too many details, but he was a pretty fun guy to visit. We've since lost touch. I'm not sure who is to blame for that.
He had an impressive set of equipment in his garage. I was younger then, and probably stronger than I am now. I can deadlift a lot of weight for someone who isn't into powerlifting.
And that's where it ends...
It was a reality check when I tried the other lifts. It was humbling to try Snatch and Clean and Jerk with proper form. My lifts were a fraction of what I thought I could lift. Like, I could
barely get in the triple digits (in pounds). My best Clean and Jerk wasn't much more than 60 kg. (It was 135 pounds.)
On one hand, he was impressed with that. (We limited me to just three tries, so that I wouldn't do something stupid and hurt myself.)
On the other hand, I thought I was pretty fit. I figured I could bench about twice that for multiple reps and could military press a solid chunk of weight. I figured I'd throw up about twice that, maybe more.
Nope...
I probably smirked a little when he started me off with just two 25 lb plates (plus the bar). After that, my smirking was over.
It gave me a bit of insight and appreciation for the lifts they do in competitions. Today, I can still bench about 1.5x my body weight, but I guarantee that I can't Clean and Jerk even half of my body weight. I sure as heck can't Snatch it. I can't imagine doing it with nearly 500 lbs, which is close to the current record.