A New Strength/Power Competition?

[Gary Gibson]

Coach,

In SS, you mentioned it might be a good idea to have a strength competition that replaced the bench with the press. Now we have Crossfit Total, but I still feel there's room for improvement.

Squat and bench are the best movements for full range strength and for adding size, but they're also the most easily bullshitted lifts in training. They're also the ones that get inflated by gear use. So gym rats throw around their meaningless quarter-squat and bounced/partial bench numbers while powerlifting records become virtually meaningless as gear advances over time. What to do?

Weightlifting manages to keep the squat central without making it a contested lift. Powerlifting push/pull is a step in that direction. It would be great to have a competition that involved three pulls from the floor and an overhead press:

Snatch: quick/technique lift, floor to overhead
Clean and Press: combo quick lift and slow upper body push, floor to shoulder to overhead.
Deadlift: pure strength lift, max weight from floor to standing lockout.

The squat and bench press would still be central to training for such a contest. The actual contest would combine the two coolest lifts from WL and PL and would have a place for the press. I really like the idea and I'm just throwing it out there for your opinion.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The CF Total is my answer to an absolute strength test that solves some of the problems that I think have developed in powerlifting. You suggest combining an absolute strength test with an explosive strength test, and as interesting as this is it's not a terribly original suggestion. Put on a meet and see who comes. That is the real challenge.

[BreezerD]

Strongman, anyone?

[Kiknskreem]

The CF Total is my answer to an absolute strength test that solves some of the problems that I think have developed in powerlifting.

I'm a powerlifter Rip, I think there's a few things really fucked up about the sport, but I'm curious what specifically you are referring to?

[h k]

What about this: squat, snatch, bench, c&j, deadlift and belt is the only approved equipment.
There's a competition like this every year here and it's called Super total.

[Rob18]

I understand where your coming from. I think that the WPO should call their squat a backlift due to the liberal use of gear and judging. However the problem isn't the lifts, its the gear and judging (and liberalism in general).

Rob

[SKURLAND]

I kinda favor the raw suitcase deadlift total - left hand max plus right hand max; more rotational strength required than most lifts test. One shoulder squats maybe train the obliques/quadratus/etc better, but as aforementioned, squats are problematic in competition.


http://www.usawa.com/rules.html for hundreds more bright ideas, don't do the Kelly snatch, just don't.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'm a powerlifter Rip, I think there's a few things really fucked up about the sport, but I'm curious what specifically you are referring to?

I'm referring to the fact that there are 1,657,988 federations in the sport, most of which choose not to judge squat depth and most of which permit the use of suits and shirts that essentially double the amount of weight lifted in the squat and bench, while the Top 100 deadlifts in all weight classes have actually decreased over the last 20 years. The same things you think are fucked up.