Powerlifting: A Two Event Sport?

I really don’t understand the push to get powerlifting commercialized, or in the olympics, or whatever. Why can’t powerlifting just be what it is? Who cares if the public recognizes it as a legitimate sport. I always thought most people got into powerlifting because they wanted to move heavy weights and go head to head against other people that lift heavy weights. I thought people did it because of what they got out of it personally, not because they wanted their face in a magazine.

[quote]TYPE2B wrote:
The first thing to do is to remove the superheavyweight competitions from being broadcasted on TV.[/quote]

Have you ever even been to a PL meet? Judging from this statement, my guess is no. There aren’t SHW competitions. There are super heavies that compete, usually at the end of the last flight. And these big guys, the freaks that you want to hide, are usually the ones moving the most weight. Also, if you had actually ever been to a meet, you’d know that they’re fucking boring. Even when the meet director puts on a good show, and you know more than half of the people competing, they still suck. Once again, you’re talking out of your ass about things that you know nothing about.

Why not have the judges call out your depth on the Squat?

They tell you how long to pause the Bench. They tell you when you can set the bar down on the DL. Why not have someone tell you when you hit depth and can stand back up?

I think it could easily be an Olympic sport, for judging squats they would just have to do a replay and check the knee-hip/hip fold/whatever you want Angle, bench wouldn’t be too bad, and the deadlift is easy judging. But this would take away from the sport, you should just squat have the judges make the call and that’s it. Another thing to make it mainstream is they could put a pro-am on ESPN or NBC (like the do with golf) but make the amateurs popular pro-athletes. People would be surprised at how weak some athletes actually are. No offense to anyone but I live in Ohio and people around here talk about Lebron like hes the strongest dude who had ever lived, I give him respect for what he has accomplished… but get real

Anyways I’m just throwing ideas out there, this is NOT how I feel about the subject. There are enough people in the gym squatting, deadlifting, and benching so fucking wrong its sickening (at least at the gyms on my campus) Do you really want people to see this shit on TV and have even more terrible attempts at lifting in your gym? I think of powerlifting as a sport, not a hobby that you do just when you feel like it. Do the best you can all the time period, and if its going to be mainstream in anyway there’s going to be even more retards in the gym not taking anything seriously. I agree with Stronghold on keeping it underground. If you want to PL then pursue it and do it right if not then you don’t need to know it exists.

[quote]Westclock wrote:
Powerlifting will never be mainstream when most of it is done geared.

Also deadlifting is the king of lifts for powerlifting.

Its total body strength even more so than squat, and its so easily judged, when your pulling a weight up there is little you can do to “cheat”.

Suits, odd technique, nothing can really make it significantly easier.

Theres a reason some guys bench 1000 and deadlift 800.

[/quote]

If raw is what the people want to see, then how come raw lifting is- just like its geared counterpart- a cult hobby with few spectators? I maintiatn the problem with powerlifting is that it is boring to watch. I love this sport- but if I am at a meet, I am there to lift, help out, and/or bullshit with friends. It bores me to tears sitting and wathcing lift after lift. That’s one of the things that sucks about judging- you have to pay attenetion to a lot of lifts. It gets old real quick.

As for 1000 lb benchers. Shirt or not, they are really impressive to watch. (even so, probably not entertaining enought to watch for an hour or eight) Even mere 800 lb benchers are mind-blowingly strong- these are guys with high 500s to low 600s raw benches, guys that can do close grip rep-outs with 4 and 5 plates. How often do you that at Gold’s or at the XYZ University Student Rec Center?

As for deadlifting being a “pure” strength movement like some folks like to say, I disagree. Technique and gear can make 100 lbs or more of difference. For me, a conventional puller, a tight suit makes probably 70-80 lb of difference and would make even more differnce if I wasn’t bumping up against a grip limitation on one hand. Technique can make a huge difference- reducing your range of motion, shaving and oiling your legs and talcing your lats to reduce friction, creating the illusion of a lockout without really locking it out- all tricks of the trade that make a difference.

As for wishign it was a mainstream sport- fuck mainstream sports. There is nothing the mainstraming of this sport has to offer us. A guy like Jim Grandick might like to make $1,000,000 a year lifting. But for the rest of us that would not be sponsored pro’s, it wouldn’t do shit for us.

[quote]Hanley wrote:
Westclock wrote:
Powerlifting will never be mainstream when most of it is done geared.

Also deadlifting is the king of lifts for powerlifting.

Its total body strength even more so than squat, and its so easily judged, when your pulling a weight up there is little you can do to “cheat”.

Suits, odd technique, nothing can really make it significantly easier.

Theres a reason some guys bench 1000 and deadlift 800.

I DEFINITELY disagree with this.

I’m sure everyone has come across someone who’s just naturally gifted in the deadlift. Be it long arms, short legs or whatever. They just seem to be able to pull big weights really soon into their training career.

Contrast that with squatting, it’s REALLY unusual to see someone squat big without years of experience.

There’s a reason the squat is the first lift, and there’s a reason there’s so many bench only and push/pull events. Squats are a hard and they take balls. If a deadlift’s too heavy you just drop it, but with a near max squat you seriously need to man up.

Powerlifting is not powerlifting without the squat.
[/quote]

theres just as many little 5’2 pot belly guys who can squat huge as there are 6’2 deadlifters. everyone has a mechanical advantage for one of the three lifts, thats why there isnt just one in a full meet, it helps even the odds so to speak.

if youre a good deadlifter chances are your squat and/or bench arent very great and vice versa.

why wouldnt you want to make a living off doing it?

takes away from how “hardcore” you are or something?

if i could a make a living off something i loved no matter what it was i would rather do that than make nothing and have it be some kind of super underground cultist thing. that just seems idiotic to think otherwise.

@ saying people are ignorant for not being vastly educated in powerlifting i think thats a really selfish way to look at it. theres a lot of sports i know nothing about and i dont really give a shit if they think that im ignorant or not. i dont know anything about squash or cricket or lacrosse or rugby so i dont expect them to know anything about weight lifting and i wouldnt get frustrated if they didnt want to watch bodybuilding competitions or power lifting meets just because i think theyre so awesome.

[quote]Modi wrote:
Why not have the judges call out your depth on the Squat?

They tell you how long to pause the Bench. They tell you when you can set the bar down on the DL. Why not have someone tell you when you hit depth and can stand back up?[/quote]

I second that motion

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:

theres just as many little 5’2 pot belly guys who can squat huge as there are 6’2 deadlifters. everyone has a mechanical advantage for one of the three lifts, thats why there isnt just one in a full meet, it helps even the odds so to speak.

if youre a good deadlifter chances are your squat and/or bench arent very great and vice versa.[/quote]

O RLY? This just shows how little you know. Natural ability in a lift isn’t determined by absolute height. It’s all relative limb lengths.

I can’t think of ANY natural squatters I’ve seen come into a gym that I’ve been a member of (ie guys putting up a significant amount of weight), but there’s looooooooads of good deadlifters. Why do you think that is?

to clarify , I wasnt saying I’d like to see PLing more mainstream ; I was throwing out my own thoughts as to why I believe that it never will be mainstream . I prefer it the way it is .

now back to the original broadcast…

[quote]marlboroman wrote:
to clarify , I wasnt saying I’d like to see PLing more mainstream ; I was throwing out my own thoughts as to why I believe that it never will be mainstream . I prefer it the way it is .

now back to the original broadcast…

[/quote]

Marlb, did you get my PM?

[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
I really don’t understand the push to get powerlifting commercialized, or in the olympics, or whatever. Why can’t powerlifting just be what it is? Who cares if the public recognizes it as a legitimate sport. I always thought most people got into powerlifting because they wanted to move heavy weights and go head to head against other people that lift heavy weights. I thought people did it because of what they got out of it personally, not because they wanted their face in a magazine.

TYPE2B wrote:
The first thing to do is to remove the superheavyweight competitions from being broadcasted on TV.

Have you ever even been to a PL meet? Judging from this statement, my guess is no. There aren’t SHW competitions. There are super heavies that compete, usually at the end of the last flight. And these big guys, the freaks that you want to hide, are usually the ones moving the most weight. Also, if you had actually ever been to a meet, you’d know that they’re fucking boring. Even when the meet director puts on a good show, and you know more than half of the people competing, they still suck. Once again, you’re talking out of your ass about things that you know nothing about. [/quote]

True, noone wants to sit there watching a meet that drags on from 9 AM to 5 PM. That’s why sports like track and wrestling aren’t great attractions. You may tune in for one event, or to see your high school’s 135 lber wrestle, but after that, you’re not watching.

Shoot, I hate watching meets. The only fun thing about them is lifting, watching your friends, and shooting the shit. A bunch of people who have no relation to the people lifting are going to have absolutely no interest.

[quote]Hanley wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:

theres just as many little 5’2 pot belly guys who can squat huge as there are 6’2 deadlifters. everyone has a mechanical advantage for one of the three lifts, thats why there isnt just one in a full meet, it helps even the odds so to speak.

if youre a good deadlifter chances are your squat and/or bench arent very great and vice versa.

O RLY? This just shows how little you know. Natural ability in a lift isn’t determined by absolute height. It’s all relative limb lengths.

I can’t think of ANY natural squatters I’ve seen come into a gym that I’ve been a member of (ie guys putting up a significant amount of weight), but there’s looooooooads of good deadlifters. Why do you think that is?
[/quote]

i know a natural squatter, his name’s Dethazeroth. i know a ton of guys that bench 315 for reps too, with “shitty BBing form”. i dont know any deadlifters personally other than myself. the deadlift is just an easier lift to get big weight on than anything else.

regardless of limb length i think MOST raw lifters have a higher deadlift than anything else. i mean if youre benching more than your deadlift theres a problem.

it also does have to do with limb lengths but if a guy has really short limbs, im guessing he’s going to be short himself or look like a wind-up toy. i dont know any tall guys with “relatively short limbs”

Yeah, I would say Detty’s mid 500’s raw squat at 181 and 19 years old is pretty gangsta.

[quote]zephead4747 wrote
Marlb, did you get my PM?[/quote]

nope , no PM .

taking the squat out of powerlifting, whould be like taking the praying out of church.

[quote]RUHLFAN wrote:
taking the squat out of powerlifting, whould be like taking the praying out of church. [/quote]

I can’t tell if you’re saying if it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

[quote]RUHLFAN wrote:
taking the squat out of powerlifting, whould be like taking the praying out of church. [/quote]

analogy fail

Hey guys, what’s going on in this thread?

In almost every competitive sport there is a judge or referee of some sort (baseball, basketball, football, tennis, i could go on for days). Part of sports is the official and the choices they make. As the lifter we have to always think that the judge is against us and we have to perform the lift so perfectly that there can be no doubt that the lift was good and therefore the judge is FORCED to give the white light.

I am a firm believer that the squat is the bread and butter lift of powerlifting. With all due respect I wouldnt consider a push/pull guy or a bench only guy a powerlifter. I call those guys specialists (see the power unlimited movie). Without the squat is just not powerlifting.
(I give huge props to those specialists though cuz most of those guys move some insane weight)

[quote]Hanley wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:

theres just as many little 5’2 pot belly guys who can squat huge as there are 6’2 deadlifters. everyone has a mechanical advantage for one of the three lifts, thats why there isnt just one in a full meet, it helps even the odds so to speak.

if youre a good deadlifter chances are your squat and/or bench arent very great and vice versa.

O RLY? This just shows how little you know. Natural ability in a lift isn’t determined by absolute height. It’s all relative limb lengths.

I can’t think of ANY natural squatters I’ve seen come into a gym that I’ve been a member of (ie guys putting up a significant amount of weight), but there’s looooooooads of good deadlifters. Why do you think that is?
[/quote]

I need to get in that gym. Nobody around here is any good at deadlifting cuz they never want to do it. If its not easy they dont want it and I think we can all agree that the deadlift is one of the tougher lifts in the sport. (i dunno maybe im alone on this one)