Power Lifting

Heightened interest in weight lifting and bodybuilding the 20th century led to the introduction of the sport of powerlifting into the AAU in 1964. Beginning as a competition called “oddlifting,” this is a 3-event competition similar to Olympic weightlifting. The modern version of the competition is focused on the bench press, the squat, and the deadlift.

Each event comes with it a rigorous set of instructions in proper form and various ways to be disqualified. In fact, different federations often have slightly revised rules that participating athletes must attend to and abide by. This has a history of causing confusion within the sport, but the largest upsets have occurred as the result of entire teams disqualifications when there is a failure to adhere to certain federations’ zero-tolerance approach to chemical enhancers.

The sport’s various organizations also pride themselves on being non-gender exclusive, with strong ties to the Paralympics. In contrast with the often insular nature of its Olympic counterparts, the competitive aspect of sport is almost secondary to its emphasis on family, community, and personal growth.

Like bodybuilding, training for the sport is focused on low repetitions at higher weight. The people who are dedicated to sport set up weekly training routines that focus on different muscle groups in order to achieve total upper-body strength. The events that face a competing powerlifter do not focus on muscle size or endurance, but instead the ability to call upon pure, explosive power. So while basic overall fitness is important, strength training is key when planning to become a powerlifter.

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