Do you want to represent our country and the USAPL by competing on a national team? There are eight primary international championships that the USAPL participates in. Here’s everything you need to know about how to qualify, purchase team apparel, and remit all team fees . Your Team Head Coach or Manager will give you instructions on what you need to do as a team member and the deadlines for each team. Team Uniforms Read More
This isn’t an article designed to be inflammatory towards other powerlifting organizations. Everything starts from somewhere, and this subject is no exception. In other sports there are sanctioning organizations outside of those which are internationally recognized. But this article isn’t about other sports; its about powerlifting. This topic has been taken up as a passionate cause by many people across the United States and in many circles it’s the proverbial elephant in the room that Read More
You’re scared, a little sweaty and super nervous. That first step out on the platform with all eyes on you can be intimidating. However, you have done the training, you have squatted, benched, and deadlifted hundreds of times. Yet, you feel like you don’t know what to do. Here are some simple guidelines for shaking those nerves and letting your hard work shine through! Pre-Meet: Find out your openers about a week before Read More
Own your performance and take responsibility for your actions. That was the mandate issued in Upholding the Standard in March 2012 and while the more things change, the more they stay the same. I measure individual powerlifting performances by the number of successful lifts, personal records (PR) achieved, and placing within a weight class and/or age group. I also grade novices or intermediates on technical improvements and becoming more acclimated to the competitive experience. Six Read More
It has become obvious to me over the past couple years of coaching and training that when people hear the words “linear” and “periodization” in concert with one another, they automatically turn-off. I haven’t met a single resistance-trained “athlete” that doesn’t consider themselves well-enough experienced in “the art of the iron-game” (to quote Dr. Randall Strossen) to be beyond this “elementary practice.” I guess I can understand where people can have qualms with this type Read More
INTRODUCTION Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue is a topic so unexplored by the scientists of today that we still do not know the specific mechanism that causes it [1]. CNS fatigue, also referred to as neuromuscular fatigue, is a subjective state in which one feels tired or exhausted and in which the capacity for normal work or activity is reduced [17]. Muscle fatigue, the decline in voluntary force during sustained maximal efforts, is caused by Read More
Are you ready to think “outside the box”? Whether due to injury, boredom, or sticking point, allowing some creativity in your program design might yield very satisfying results. Most strength coaches and athletes base their programs around a combo of Olympic lifts and/or powerlifts. After all, the competitive lifts evolved into what we have today because they best represent a balance of strength, power, and athleticism. However, there will be times in your athletic career when Read More
There is no doubt that perhaps a powerlifters’ worst nightmare is a training-inhibiting injury; namely, the type of asymmetrical “bad pain“ that seems to arise at the worst possible time in the training cycle — the part of the cycle where you are seeing the most gains! Some of these injuries include rotator cuff issues, knee problems, and back pain. When these injuries occur, they can ruin the sense of well-being a powerlifter attains from Read More
Several sports have weight classes where the athletes compete against other athletes of similar weights. There are two different types of sports that have weight classes; Sports that pit one athlete against another in a combative format such as boxing, mixed martial arts or wrestling, or sports that demonstrate strength or power, such as weightlifting or powerlifting. Regardless of the type of sport, weight classes exist so one athlete does not have an advantage because Read More
I attended Mike Boyle’s “Death of Squatting” presentation at the 2nd Annual Boston Hockey Summit and Basketball Symposium at Northeastern University Sunday, May 23, 2010. I come from a powerlifting background and consider myself a student of periodization. I have traveled the country to train with some of the best in powerlifting from Louie Simmons to Mark Bell, but perhaps the most influential person I have meet is Saul Shocket. He has trained some the Read More