NAS nationals will have 175lb, LW(200, 231), HW (265, 300, SHW). The effort is to draw in more people and change to LW, MW, HW for 2011.
What do you think about having LW(175) weight class?
I think having so many weight classes waters things down. I can understand the 105kg class and an open class, But that’s because I’m a bias SOB since I only weigh 200# any of the SHW probably wonder who all the other little ants are running around the place.
There’s no 175lb pro card, and they had the same weight classes last year (and the year before). Not sure why so many people are making a big deal about it this year (this isn’t the only site I’ve seen this on).
The way it works is the 200 and 231lb boys do the same weights and are scored separate and together, as are the 265s and SHWs. The OVERALL winner in each class (under 231 and over) gets a pro-card.
[quote]shavethefuzz wrote:
NAS nationals will have 175lb, LW(200, 231), HW (265, 300, SHW). The effort is to draw in more people and change to LW, MW, HW for 2011.
What do you think about having LW(175) weight class? [/quote]
The only Pro Classes are 105 Kg and Open (HW).
NAS Nationals offers the 175 Class so you can be a national champion, and there have been some Pro’s who have won their card with bodyweight in the low 200’s (Justin Blake, etc.).
What makes it different this year, and it is highlighted on the entry form, is that next year they want to change to a LW, MW, HW format. Changing from the current LW and HW format. There may not be a Pro 175lb but if it takes off that may change (my opinion).
[quote]shavethefuzz wrote:
What makes it different this year, and it is highlighted on the entry form, is that next year they want to change to a LW, MW, HW format. Changing from the current LW and HW format. There may not be a Pro 175lb but if it takes off that may change (my opinion). [/quote]
I believe that is just to increase participation for Nationals because the weights used for LW Open classes are not always appropriate for 175 lbs competitors.
When I won 200 lbs Nationals in 2007 (largest nationals to date) we had over 20 competitors in the 200 lbs class and more than 80 overall LW’s. Even though I won the 200’s my overall placing was maybe top 15. The 175 lbs Champion placed lower in the overall. In 2008 the 200 lbs Champion was top 5 after day one but fell a few placing on day two, the 175 lbs champion was never in the top 10 overall out of 48 competitors.
With this in mind I do not think that it would ever make sense to award an ASC Pro Card to a 175 lbs or even a 200 lbs competitor. Even the top guys in those divisions would have trouble hanging with mediocre 105 Kg competitors, so giving them a Pro Card would just set them up for failure at the next level - and just about every Pro contest would have weights that would not be reasonable for a 175 or 200 lbs competitor.
It would be great if there were a 200 lbs pro class but the participating in that class has fallen over the past couple of years and those individuals would not be able to compete in the ASC 105 Kg group so it would require a lot of work and it would be tough to draw fans since the average HW would be much stronger than a 200 lbs Pro. One of the things about the 105 Kg that draws attention is that there are a lot of great athletes who in many cases can place top 3 in NAS HW contests - while giving up 50 or more pounds to the other competitors.
That is just my opinion but I have been in the lighter classes and worked my way up, it was not easy but if you want to compete in the ASC the opportunity is there for you - just need to work hard and pack on size/strength. Otherwise a National Championship is still an outstanding achievement and there are very few people who have won more than one (Tom Kaufman was 200 lbs Champ in 2005 and 231 lbs Champ in 2008).
My thought was that if there was a large draw to the 175lb class at NAS competitions then maybe ASC may add the weight class to the line up as well.
With more garage gyms, "hardore"gyms, and even crossfit gyms popping up, more people have access to implements for events. More “normal”/small people may have the desire to compete. The same way it is impressive to see strong 105KG guys, it may be impressive to some to see strong 80kg guys.
Not a chance. They’d do a 200lb or 265lb pro class before they started doing a 175lb class.
[quote]shavethefuzz wrote:
My thought was that if there was a large draw to the 175lb class at NAS competitions then maybe ASC may add the weight class to the line up as well.
With more garage gyms, "hardore"gyms, and even crossfit gyms popping up, more people have access to implements for events. More “normal”/small people may have the desire to compete. The same way it is impressive to see strong 105KG guys, it may be impressive to some to see strong 80kg guys. [/quote]
If down the road you had 12-20 175’s entering every single NAS contest and 50+ attending Nationals then perhaps there would be something more developed, but until you get to that point and maintain that level of participation for a period of time there would be no reason to create something more.
One of the big differences with 105 Kg guys and 80 Kg guys is how they stack up with the average lifter. A 105 Kg Pro can walk into just about any gym in the country and be one of the strongest people there; for a 175 lifter to hang with the average 105 they would have to deadlift 4X bodyweight and OHP 2X bodyweight - along with being very proficient with events.
I would just have fun and compete, no one except for a handful of guys are making money from strongman (Pro’s included).
This coming from someone who is doing nationals at 175
If your goal is to be a professional strongman then gain some weight, I went up to 220lbs last year and was stronger overall but I added the weight a little to quickly got fatter then I’d like, then injured myself and said why be this big if I can’t lift heavy, so dropped down to 200, then the weight kept coming off quick down to 186 so as a different challenge decided to do nat’s at 175.
Whats my point? If you don’t want to weigh a lot or just want to dabble in strongman, or are in other sports which require you to weigh less compete in 175 or 200. If your goal is to be a professional and specialize in strongman gain the weight. There is plenty of LW Pro’s which don’t weigh 245lbs
On the other hand I wonder if people said the same thing when the 231 pro cards got introduced?
whats the sport called - STRONGman… not "im strong for being under a certain weight"man.
its about being the biggest freak you can! weight classes limit this!
they can GTFO.
I think having different weights for the 175s as compared to 200s n 231s is a good idea (difficult to choose weights that are feasible for 175s yet still challenging for 231s). I think having a pro class would be a terrible idea. There’s enough problems with keeping the 231 pro class stocked as it is.
The idea that more people having access to implements leading to to more “normal” people wanting to compete, but my question is this - how many normal people weight 175 AFTER they’ve been training events for 3-4 months? That kind of training is usually good for adding 10-15 lbs of muscle in a relatively short time - you’d have to either be actively restricting your weight for outside reasons (maybe you’re a fireman, or active duty service) or about 5’5" or something to be serious about strongman and still weigh under 175
No pro card at 175, why? You going to compete with someone who is 300+?
Be a national champ at 175 and be happy with that or gain weight and get your card at 105k.
For a while I thought it would be great to have a pro card as a middle weight then realized, why?
[quote]shavethefuzz wrote:
NAS nationals will have 175lb, LW(200, 231), HW (265, 300, SHW). The effort is to draw in more people and change to LW, MW, HW for 2011.
What do you think about having LW(175) weight class?
[/quote]
As any sport evolves,there is introduction either /of different weight classes,/age categories(junior,senior,masters),other categories.
The same question could be said about boxing.
[quote]thosebananas wrote:
whats the sport called - STRONGman… not "im strong for being under a certain weight"man.
its about being the biggest freak you can! weight classes limit this!
they can GTFO. [/quote]
Same thing can be said about Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting.
Weight classes are needed to better the sport.
[quote]Sveti Ante wrote:
Same thing can be said about Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting.
Weight classes are needed to better the sport.[/quote]
The weight class already does exist, and there is even a national championship for that weight class.
What is being discussed here is a Pro Class - which is something completely different. If there were more participation in the weight class (which already exists) then it may be a different story, but that is not the case. The same holds true for the 200 lbs class (the largest 200 lbs class turnout for Nationals was 2007 with 23-24 competitors, the 175’s had maybe 5 - but the 231’s had over 50 competitors).
I do not think more weight classes are needed it just dilutes the sport. I like the 105kg over or under plan and simple. There is no need for multiple weight classes, federations, and categories. Not everyone can win a trophy or get a ribbon some just have to settle for having fun. As far as I am concerned anyone who gets serious and would be considered to be competing at a high level would quickly push their bodyweight into the 200’s. Shakes is by no means the tallest man I have ever seen but he still weighs 220+. It comes down to how much drive and determination you have to be the best.
I train with a guy who is 60 years old, 5’7", 242lbs and will most likely total pro at his next meet. Someone asked him why he doesn’t compete as a master as he just enters as a 242 and he basically stated all those categories are for pussies and that he comes to compete. It is people like that I want to see compete, people who put in the work and dedication, the people outside of the norm.