There is going to be a big powerlifting competition April 18th, 2009 at the Ronnie Coleman Classic in Texas, 10K in prize money will be offered. It is 4 weight classes <175, 175-225, 226-275, 275 and up and it is basically a raw meet, no gear except knee wraps will be allowed (it is not drug tested). It will use the rounds system of lifting and will have a max of 10 lifters per flight.
I hope some big lifters turn out and we see some good numbers. What do you guys think of this style of PL?
I like raw much better. In my opinion it makes the sport more accessible, because people like me who are simple don’t want to have to worry about bench shirts, squat suits, dead suits, getting them all to fit properly, finding the right technique, etc.
I like the 10 lifters per flight, many more than that, and it can really slow down between attempts.
The 4 weight classes is interesting…I personally like the weight classes the best. I guess that sucks if you are at the 226 end of it, but good for me.
I know you said no gear, but are they allowing wrist wraps? Knee wraps actually give you a little help, wrist wraps are essentially just for safety, imo.
I probably wouldn’t compete at this one since it isn’t tested. That would be pretty big disadvantage to me. (yes, I know it’s naive to think that people aren’t using in tested feds).
I just opened the link, and wrist wraps are ok. Should have checked before asking.
After reading through all the rules, this meet does look enticing. I think the rounds system would be an interesting approach, and it looks like they are going for deep squats, but not killing you on the length of pause on the bench.
Just for everyone else, all “normal” gear is allowed like belts, wrist wraps, plus knee wraps which certainly do add to the squat. You don’t lift in a singlet, instead it is a T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts provided to you, I guess all lifters will look the same (haven’t decided if I like that or not).
The rounds system seems interesting, I don’t like the idea of a short rest if you make small jumps but the idea that you can do more than 3 attempts if you are successful is interesting. I am curious to see how this goes down. I agree in my ideal world it would be tested but baby steps are good for now.
[quote]Tim Henriques wrote:
Just for everyone else, all “normal” gear is allowed like belts, wrist wraps, plus knee wraps which certainly do add to the squat.
You don’t lift in a singlet, instead it is a T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts provided to you, I guess all lifters will look the same (haven’t decided if I like that or not).
The rounds system seems interesting, I don’t like the idea of a short rest if you make small jumps but the idea that you can do more than 3 attempts if you are successful is interesting. I am curious to see how this goes down. I agree in my ideal world it would be tested but baby steps are good for now.[/quote]
I didn’t even know that Ronnie has his own event, damn cool.
The meet rules sound great… They could add a tested division in the future, but I would not want the untested one to be left out, either.
Is Ronnie going to compete? He used to be a powerlifter during his early days and if I’m not mistaken, should be quite able to total elite.
I believe Sean Katterle is running this, and he has put on great Raw bench meets before. I think it will be run well, and if he can get some big names it should be pretty interesting. There is some decent money and no pee-pee testing, so I think some names will show up.
some guys at my gym were asking me asking me if i was going to compet, but since its not tested and i lift at 242- i couldnt cut to get down for it. but i might go just to see some raw freaks.
[quote]masonator wrote:
I really hope this doesn’t become another raw vs gear thread.[/quote]
Why? because gear is bullshit and raw lifting is the only true test of strength. A guy in gear doesnt even lift the weight. He mine as well pur reverse bands on it and do it raw. Because it literally means nothing. Every guy lifting in gear is weak.
I think this is a very creative idea, definitly worth a shot (though the weight classes are pretty general), competing raw…or relitively so is a good challenge for any geared lifters to step up to.
After reading the meet directors attitude towards drug testing that would seem to be the only thing ever keeping me away from doing a competition like this. The don’t know, don’t care policy towards performance enhancers in sport has never really flown with me.
[quote]IainK wrote:
Sounds a fun way of getting people involved in powerlifting.
I cringe at giving names like ‘Hardcore’ to something though. Mind you if it’s a good meet I guess you can call it whatever the hell you![/quote]
Does hardcore mean the card girls are buckass nekkid like in Russia? That would be progress. I usually have to settle for oggling the wives and GFs in the audience.
[quote]Pinto wrote:
IainK wrote:
Sounds a fun way of getting people involved in powerlifting.
I cringe at giving names like ‘Hardcore’ to something though. Mind you if it’s a good meet I guess you can call it whatever the hell you!
Does hardcore mean the card girls are buckass nekkid like in Russia? That would be progress. I usually have to settle for oggling the wives and GFs in the audience. [/quote]
LOL As long as the card girls get it on when they swap the squat rack for the bench then I am game for a bit of hardcore! I am glad I aint the only oggler about
I like the idea, and think it addresses a few issues for lifters and the crowd. You don’t only have three lifts, so you are encouraged to go big. No ridiculously easy lifts that leave the crowd wondering what the lifter “could” do.
It fixes the problem of heavy warmups, which is a bitch as any lifter will tell you. Unless you have 5 racks, spotter loaders for each rack, and close to 2 tonnes of plates, it’s chaos in the warmup room.
I’d love to see this adopted in lower level comps. I’ve warmed up in a flight of 10 people, with squatters ranging in ability from 400lbs to 800lbs, 3 racks, racks in and racks out people, and only 30 mins until openers. Not cool!
I could take it or leave it whether it was raw or equipped. I understand the appeal of raw for a public show. I’d still like to see it with equipped since it’d resolve a lot of the bedlam behind the scenes and allow for some serious battles between lifters of similar ability.
