Blood Testing in the IPF

For those who haven’t read that the IPF is now blood testing for steroids here is the post on powerliftingwatch.com : http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/node/11570

I am all for strict testing in a tested division but this is going way too far IMO! Let alone the fact that it was done in a foreign country which may not have the best healthcare practices.

I hate giving blood in general, but more or less giving blood after having lifted? Screw that, my blood pressure would already be messed up enough as is.

For a sport where you don’t earn much if any money this seems a little excessive to me. This isn’t the Olympics or a professional sport where millions of dollars are on the line, it’s a sport about pride and getting a $2 medal.

Anyway, enough of what I think, how about the rest of y’all?

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
For a sport where you don’t earn much if any money this seems a little excessive to me. This isn’t the Olympics or a professional sport where millions of dollars are on the line, it’s a sport about pride and getting a $2 medal.

[/quote]

I agree with you here. The problem is, what’s the point of testing if you’re only going to do urine tests while the “assisted” products develop into forms only currently detectable with blood tests?

The testing either has to advance or there is no point. Personally I think the out of meet testing is more of a pain in the ass, but also needed.

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
For a sport where you don’t earn much if any money this seems a little excessive to me. This isn’t the Olympics or a professional sport where millions of dollars are on the line, it’s a sport about pride and getting a $2 medal.
[/quote]

This.

I prefer to compete natural in an untested federation than to deal with stuff like that. Having blood work done for a tacky trophy and bragging rights is just too much. I do this for myself because I think its fun, not because I’m looking to beat the other 2 women competing. And if I was winning, why would I care what everyone else was taking?

The IPF can be tricky organization to lift in. At some level, you have to wonder if they have lost their perspective on what powerlifting about- lifting, not taking drug tests. That said, you don’t have to lift in the IPF. Particularly in the US, there are various sanctioning bodies that do not share the IPF’s zeal on this matter. The choice is yours.

[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
CrewPierce wrote:
For a sport where you don’t earn much if any money this seems a little excessive to me. This isn’t the Olympics or a professional sport where millions of dollars are on the line, it’s a sport about pride and getting a $2 medal.

I agree with you here. The problem is, what’s the point of testing if you’re only going to do urine tests while the “assisted” products develop into forms only currently detectable with blood tests?

The testing either has to advance or there is no point. Personally I think the out of meet testing is more of a pain in the ass, but also needed.[/quote]

I would be OK with hair testing which is better than urine. I think the main issue I have is that it was in another country which may not have the best healthcare.

Wow that’s a bit too invasive for my tastes. Piss or hair would be just fine and easy to do right there after the meet.

Thankfully there are so many fed’s here in the US. At the AAU and USAPL meets i’ve done and attended they are pretty lenient (AAU moreso then USAPL) as far as testing goes. Both make you sign and say you are “clean” essentially but USAPL usually snags the top people afterwards and has them pee.

I’m not willing to bleed my own blood for a metal and my name on their website.

[quote]B rocK wrote:
Wow that’s a bit too invasive for my tastes. Piss or hair would be just fine and easy to do right there after the meet.

Thankfully there are so many fed’s here in the US. At the AAU and USAPL meets i’ve done and attended they are pretty lenient (AAU moreso then USAPL) as far as testing goes. Both make you sign and say you are “clean” essentially but USAPL usually snags the top people afterwards and has them pee.

I’m not willing to bleed my own blood for a metal and my name on their website. [/quote]

B rock - The USAPL is the IPF affiliate in the US.

Hmmm…I must be in the minority. As long as the procedure is clean, I really wouldn’t care. Forgive my ignorance, but isn’t the quantity pretty negligible? I assume it’s the same amount they would draw for any other blood test, which is a small vial or two?

Also, if I’m willing to give a hair sample, or piss in a cup, I’m open to other forms of testing.

I compete in a drug tested federation for a reason. Not because I think it’s cheating, or it makes you a bad person, or it’s bad for you, or any of that. It simply gives you an advantage, and I don’t want to compete against that.

If you don’t want to get drug tested, there are plenty of other feds to compete in (at least in the US).

[quote]Modi wrote:
Hmmm…I must be in the minority. As long as the procedure is clean, I really wouldn’t care. Forgive my ignorance, but isn’t the quantity pretty negligible? I assume it’s the same amount they would draw for any other blood test, which is a small vial or two?

Also, if I’m willing to give a hair sample, or piss in a cup, I’m open to other forms of testing.

I compete in a drug tested federation for a reason. Not because I think it’s cheating, or it makes you a bad person, or it’s bad for you, or any of that. It simply gives you an advantage, and I don’t want to compete against that.

If you don’t want to get drug tested, there are plenty of other feds to compete in (at least in the US).[/quote]

I agree with your statement 100%!

I’m in favor of all forms of testing to help catch cheaters and even the playing.

If you don’t like the testing, then compete in another federation. There are probably 50 federations to pick from.

TRAIN HARD

“BIG WILLIE” J.T. HALL

I don’t think its that big of a deal. I mean, I hate needles, but are you really that scared that you won’t let them take a couple CC’s of blood for them to send off? What’s invasive about it?

From what I hear, it was clean and well done, probably cleaner than the needles that most people get tattooed with, and probably safer than driving into Jersey.

I personally think that if you are going to compete and say you are natural, you better be natural. I have no problems with people that want to compete on gear, but if you are, at least have the decency to go into one of the hundreds of untested feds.

On another note, like was mentioned, if it’s that big of a deal, then there is nothing wrong with competing drug free in an untested organization. Respect to those that choose that route.

Currently a blood matrix test is the only way to detect HGH, and various other substances. The IPF is moving to follow WADA’s steps to make drug-free sport closer to actually being drug-free, since we are WADA affiliated we didn’t have a choice but to eventually follow their methods if we wish to stay in the World Games etc. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, WADA first used blood tests on athletes in mass at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

[quote]Power GnP wrote:
Currently a blood matrix test is the only way to detect HGH, and various other substances. The IPF is moving to follow WADA’s steps to make drug-free sport closer to actually being drug-free, since we are WADA affiliated we didn’t have a choice but to eventually follow their methods if we wish to stay in the World Games etc. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, WADA first used blood tests on athletes in mass at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.[/quote]

Do you know if they are intending on pushing this down to the affiliates for routine testing? Or is it still more of in the early stages and only for international competition?

I’m with Modi on this one.

[quote]Power GnP wrote:
Currently a blood matrix test is the only way to detect HGH, and various other substances. The IPF is moving to follow WADA’s steps to make drug-free sport closer to actually being drug-free, since we are WADA affiliated we didn’t have a choice but to eventually follow their methods if we wish to stay in the World Games etc. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, WADA first used blood tests on athletes in mass at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.[/quote]

Yes and last I checked that was the Olympics. I think the urge to cheat to win that is a little higher than it is to beat Joe Blow at your local powerlifting meet.

Not too mention the federations and divisions (NCAA as an example) that Olympic athletes are pulled from do urine testing for the most part, not blood.

I just think this is going to turn a lot of people off to the federation and I mean the 100% clean people.

[quote]NASAKYCHAIRMAN wrote:
There are probably 50 federations to pick from.

TRAIN HARD

“BIG WILLIE” J.T. HALL

[/quote]

Isn’t that a whole other problem in itself? I mean now we’ll have 51 federations because another one will pop up that has the same rules as the IPF but keeps the urine tests for those who don’t like needles.

I dunno about the rest of you but I get sick of buying memberships to all of these federations just to do local meets!

[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
Power GnP wrote:
Currently a blood matrix test is the only way to detect HGH, and various other substances. The IPF is moving to follow WADA’s steps to make drug-free sport closer to actually being drug-free, since we are WADA affiliated we didn’t have a choice but to eventually follow their methods if we wish to stay in the World Games etc. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, WADA first used blood tests on athletes in mass at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Do you know if they are intending on pushing this down to the affiliates for routine testing? Or is it still more of in the early stages and only for international competition?[/quote]

Yes, CCES (Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport) who is Canada’s WADA affiliate has already made it known that they have the ability to do these tests. But I would guess a few years before these tests trickle into the CPU as they are cost prohibitive (at 50%+ more then a urine test), require " a Doping Control Officer and Certified Phlebotomist" and will always be done as a no-notice OCT (out of competition test) which would require a proper whereabouts program to be in effect for the lifters to be tested. We will see, I would say a few years but it could be sooner.

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Power GnP wrote:
Currently a blood matrix test is the only way to detect HGH, and various other substances. The IPF is moving to follow WADA’s steps to make drug-free sport closer to actually being drug-free, since we are WADA affiliated we didn’t have a choice but to eventually follow their methods if we wish to stay in the World Games etc. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, WADA first used blood tests on athletes in mass at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Yes and last I checked that was the Olympics. I think the urge to cheat to win that is a little higher than it is to beat Joe Blow at your local powerlifting meet.

Not too mention the federations and divisions (NCAA as an example) that Olympic athletes are pulled from do urine testing for the most part, not blood.

I just think this is going to turn a lot of people off to the federation and I mean the 100% clean people.

[/quote]

This is a relatively new test and WILL begin to trickle down to regional, state/provincial and eventually local levels, like it or not. I wouldn’t be worried about getting pricked for blood at a local USAPL meet just yet, but this may happen in the future…keep in mind this isn’t just an IPF thing, any drug free sport federation worth its weight will be implementing this soon, that means NCAA schools, amateur WADA affiliated sports etc.

Urine tests are still the backbone of any drug testing protocol but HGH is not readiliy detectable in urine, so its pretty easy to see why testing needs to evolve. Point is this is the future of drug testing, so you can either bitch about it or accept it…or get your PhD in Bio.Chem or some related field and get to work on a HGH urine test (good luck).

If I chose to compete in the IPF or USAPL it would be because I wanted to compete on an level, natural playing field.

I wouldn’t mind blood tests, it’s not a big deal, it takes a few seconds.

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
NASAKYCHAIRMAN wrote:
There are probably 50 federations to pick from.

TRAIN HARD

“BIG WILLIE” J.T. HALL

Isn’t that a whole other problem in itself? [/quote]

Come to Canada, we only have two, I think. Lack of choice makes things so easy. :slight_smile:

Edit: PowerGnP just covered the other part of what I posted here.

Wonderful news. Those who don’t like it can lift in untested feds.