USAPL President
Larry Maile
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Shirt Too Much for You?
Or
Give Them an Inch and They'll Take a Mile!
L.J. Maile, Ph.D. (copyright 2005)
"When in the course of human events….." Oh, wait, that is a larger issue than the one to be discussed below. With due apologies to our founding fathers, the problem that recently is becoming more and more evident is that as powerlifting equipment continues to evolve, as is inevitable, lifters and coaches have shown that they do less and less well at judging how much equipment is enough, and how well they can manage the equipment they have selected.
Technically correct powerlifting performance is a balance between adherence to the rules and the strength to perform the lift. If an athlete picks too high a weight, he or she may be able to approximate the movement specified in the rules, but they will either not be able to complete the lift, or they will have to "cheat" in some way. And no, I am not saying that the lifter tries to get around the rules or, well, actually cheat, but they must economize somewhere. In the squat, that can be by cutting the lift short, in the bench, bouncing the bar or dropping it too low. In the deadlift the lifter may not be able to achieve a low enough starting position, so may also finish short of locked.
It is the nature of competitors to want to "push the envelope." On the other hand, it is nature of officials and administrators, some of whom are former competitors to want to "freeze" the sport where it was when they left it. This creates a pull between the athletes, who strive to get better, and the officials who want it to be like it was in "the old days."
Let's look at it from the angle of the lifter. You spend hour-after-hour in the gym getting ready for the "big show." You know that your competitors will be in the best of shape, and have made improvements over the months since your last meeting. And then there is the "new guy" out there who everyone rumors to be 20 kilos over the world record. What do you do? You set your target higher, ramp up your training weights, and buy a tighter shirt. The latest model, if you can just make it small enough, will give you those 20 kilos. You put it on, gather your training partners around you and let it go. The first thing that happens, is….nothing. You can't get the shirt on. The sleeves are too small, the shoulders are too narrow. But with the help of your friends, you manage to get the shirt close to where it should be. You load up your max. Your partners hand it out and….nothing. You can't bend your elbows. So, you load another 40 kilos and try again. It comes down to 2 inches from your chest, and stops. You can't move, either up or down.
Fortunately, you training partner is awake, and saves your life. Being the hardcore competitor, what next? Well, 20 more kilo, of course. If you could just get the bar down, you can get it back up, right? Well, maybe yes and maybe no. If you hit just the right spot, stretch the material just right, pause long enough, push it up in just the right groove, it will be perfect: A new p.r.
I don't know about you, but that seems like a lot of 'ifs' to me.
From the officials' standpoint, this is a gradually spiraling disaster. Lifters, who are probably NOT getting much stronger, are lifting, or attempting greater and greater poundages. But they are also missing more and more attempts. Taken to its logical and probably absurd conclusion, someday we may see a super heavyweight world champion who totals 100 kilos, while everyone else, in the quest for greater weights, will have bombed out.
There is growing concern that use of gear as it is beginning to be used presents a safety concern. As the equipment gets tighter and tighter, the ability to control it decreases. But are these problems the fault of the equipment and SHOULD we freeze powerlifting in time? There are clearly many advantages to improved equipment, not the least of which is durability. Powerlifting equipment is not cheap, and a full wardrobe of competition equipment is a challenge for any lifter, the longer it lasts, the better. Is stiffer or higher performance equipment to blame for athletes exceeding their own capabilities? That is the question. The corollary question must be, "is it necessary to protect lifters from themselves?" If the answer is yes or even maybe, then the lifter is off the hook. Or are they?
Should the many careful lifters who benefit from additional performance lose that opportunity because of a minority who exceed their own abilities by lifting weights that good judgment says they should not try? Fairness says no. As it stands now, those taking excessive risks pay by losing, missing attempts, and increasing their chance of injury.
If successful attempts become any more rare, lifters get injured, or worse, then everyone will lose the opportunity to employ the best equipment, and to benefit from continuing design and materials improvements. That means that the athletes themselves will have to monitor use of gear.
The following are suggested indicators that your equipment is too tight:
1. If it takes more weight to lower the bar than your previous best;
2. If your hands or feet lose feeling or turn blue;
3. If it takes more than 20 minutes to get the sleeves of your shirt or the legs of your suit up without slippers, bags, and rubber gloves;
4. If, when you lay on the bench, you can't drop your shoulders into a normal benching position;
5. When squatting, your straps are so tight that you are not able to get your shoulders back so as to hold that bar securely;
6. If, when deadlifting, you can't reach the bar without straightening your legs and bending over.
My lifters must be able to control the weight during warm-ups or the equipment is too tight. While they may not complete warm-ups exactly in competition form, them must be able to come close. If not, that is the cue that the equipment is too tight or that it needs adjustment. I must be satisfied that opening attempts can be done in good form with no risk of failure or injury.
If you follow these guidelines, we won't arrive at a point where limits have to be placed of equipment, where equipment is "rolled back" or athletes are denied the chance to incorporate improved technology in their pursuit of improvement.
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