US Strengthlifting Federation Nationals

[ch]

In many feds, that's grounds for disqualification.

As it should be—in any sport. Throw your temper tantrum in private, away from spectators and other competitors.

[chromoly]

ETA: Jordan complaining about the long time between attempts (~20 min for the squat) on Instagram.

Yeah it does suck. I can't remember much and
honestly the day was all a sleep-deprived jet-lagged blur but I do remember squats taking long. I do take some blame for that because it was my first time managing a platform. I know I misread the spreadsheet or made a typo and hit the wrong number in the plate calculator more than once over the course of the day. It was a long fucking day-- if you think a long meet is sucky when you're lifting in it, working it is even harder. (Moral of the story, don't take a red eye and then barely sleep before you sign up to help out). I don't remember when I got it, but when we started, I didn't have the calculator for competition plates so the loaders could know in advance what to put on the bar. I'm pretty good with 2.5 kg increments but all the small 0.5, 0.5, 0.25 kg plates are trickier to calculate rapidly for me.

The rack itself was frustrating. Too much play with the uprights, and we had to constantly adjust them. At some point (during squats?) we had a hardware problem with two sets of collars and eventually used a mismatched pair: one Rogue and one Ivanko.

I was explicitly told to not help with loading but eventually I started doing it anyway. It seemed to move quicker with an extra hand but it could be just that I wasn't sitting as much.

I think another reason it took a while was that there were only 4 people assigned to spot and load at a time. So someone has to adjust the rack height and someone has to unload and then reload the bar. Loading works best when you have 6 people per platform at a given time-- one to adjust rack, two to load and unload bar. Tom tries to be nice to his loaders and has them take breaks from one flight to another, and we did have 8 in total at one point. But even with breaks, only having four at a time on the platform necessitates slower loading I think than having six continuously.

It can be a little tricky to adjust the rack height if you've never done it before. There were a couple of experienced loaders and some who'd never done it before. One flight had some crazy height differences too (one guy was rack height 7, one was 17!), and sometimes seemed like we were changing the rack height every lifter. Loaders were not particularly efficient at first and guess what--- I don't blame them! Most people are not when they first start.

Spotting and loading is difficult. Until I did it, I never appreciated just how hard and apparently thankless the work is. But here's the thing: the meet doesn't fucking run without the tireless work of the loaders.

[chromoly]

I also thought Chase's little temper tantrums were unnecessary. In USAPL, that's grounds for at LEAST a warning if not throwing someone out of the meet upon warning and repeat offense.

You miss a weight. It sucks. But there's no need for that kind of behavior in a meet, and to be honest, I'm surprised Tom didn't warn him about his language. But maybe it's not in the rules so who knows?

He wasn't the only one who swore after missing a lift, but at the end of the night, I was tired and quite startled by his reaction to a missed deadlift.

[BenM]

You sure seemed to be churning them through as quickly as you could from what I saw (and I had the stream running for a good chunk of the day today - maybe six hours or so). I remember seeing the collar getting stuck, trying to unstick it and having to send someone hunting for new ones too. I thought everyone seemed to do a fantastic job.

As well as the guys in the BBC (there were at least two competing) we were commenting on FB about some of the older lifters too. It was so great to see them getting after it, even the older guy who struggled to press the empty bar and another (might have been the same guy) deadlifting 135. That’s what lifting should be like. Accessible and supportive for everyone no matter your age or skill level.

Having the meet playing in the background actually made my day at work better today. So thanks to everyone who made it possible.

[Manveer]

I also thought Chase's little temper tantrums were ridiculous. In USAPL, that's grounds for at LEAST a warning if not throwing someone out of the meet.

You miss a weight. It sucks. But there's no need for that kind of behavior in a meet, and to be honest, I'm surprised Tom didn't warn him about his language. But maybe it's not in the rules so who knows?

He wasn't the only one who swore after missing a lift, but he was definitely the showiest about it.

This seems like the closest the USSF rules get to it (Lifts and Rules of Performance #5):

Any disrespectful or aggressive behavior directed towards the judges, meet staff, or competitors is grounds for disqualification from the competition at the discretion of the meet director.

There are also rules about not using ammonia in front of spectators (rule #6 in Equipment) and not having offensive graphics on one's costume (rule #1 in Costume), so I'd think yelling "fuck!" multiple times would be grounds for a warning or disqualification.

This is what USAPL rules say:

Any lifter or coach, who by reason of his misconduct upon or near the competition platform is likely to discredit the sport, shall be officially warned. If the misconduct continues, the Jury, or Referees in the absence of the Jury, may disqualify the lifter or coach and order the lifter or coach to leave the venue. The team manager must be officially informed of both warning and disqualification.

[mbasic]

I also thought Chase's little temper tantrums were ridiculous. In USAPL, that's grounds for at LEAST a warning if not throwing someone out of the meet.

You miss a weight. It sucks. But there's no need for that kind of behavior in a meet, and to be honest, I'm surprised Tom didn't warn him about his language. But maybe it's not in the rules so who knows?

He wasn't the only one who swore after missing a lift, but he was definitely the showiest about it.

"Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner"

[Manveer]

https://youtu.be/AIQHHScCZt4?t=12162

[chromoly]

"Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner"

I was there in real time bro, do you really think I'm gonna watch it all over again? Ain't nobody got time for that!

Gotta watch on YouTube directly. Embedding was disabled it seems.

[mbasic]

@chromoly

...why does the bar weight go up and down on press?
They don't go thru one flight in a linear fashion?

[mbasic]

https://youtu.be/AIQHHScCZt4?t=12162

"Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner"

I was there in real time bro, do you really think I'm gonna watch it all over again? Ain't nobody got time for that!

Gotta watch on YouTube directly. Embedding was disabled it seems.

I had linked/timestamped the third deadlift, the one you were talking about . . . I fixed the link if anyone wants to click on it.

Was the guy you dropped the press to floor/into the stands "promptly escorted out the door"? (DQ'd?)
Sorta joking, and I assume not, but I don't see why this would be treated any differently than a dropped squat.
At least the squat you have a shit-ton of weight on your back.

[Wilhelm]

I didn't watch very much of this.

Are there no squat commands?

[Manveer]

I don’t get the rule that spotters can’t help you re-rack. Seems a bit dangerous and unnecessary. After you’ve just done a 500/600+ pound 1RM, it can be tough to make sure you don’t miss the rack by an inch or so.

Also, rules say no back spotters, but I thought I saw them. Can’t see the squat portion on the recorded live video for some reason. Should have 5 spotters on the very heavy attempts, including one behind.

[mbasic]

I don’t get the rule that spotters can’t help you re-rack. Seems a bit dangerous and unnecessary. After you’ve just done a 500/600+ pound 1RM, it can be tough to make sure you don’t miss the rack by an inch or so.

I thought what it was, the lifter has to get the bar back over the supports by themselves . . .once the bar is OVER the stands, the spotters can help lower/guide it downward to make sure it gets ONTO the rack supports.

[Manveer]

Oh, I guess they changed that part. When I competed, spotters weren’t allowed to touch the bar at all for it to count.

[mbasic]

Oh, I guess they changed that part. When I competed, spotters weren’t allowed to touch the bar at all for it to count.

this old, but

[chromoly]

@chromoly

...why does the bar weight go up and down on press?
They don't go thru one flight in a linear fashion?

It should've gone through a flight once through, weight ascending the whole time. Then to the top of the flight again. Finish all thirds and then move to press for next flight.

https://youtu.be/AIQHHScCZt4?t=12162

"Playback on other websites has been disabled by the video owner"

I was there in real time bro, do you really think I'm gonna watch it all over again? Ain't nobody got time for that!

Gotta watch on YouTube directly. Embedding was disabled it seems.

I had linked/timestamped the third deadlift, the one you were talking about . . . I fixed the link if anyone wants to click on it.

Was the guy you dropped the press to floor/into the stands "promptly escorted out the door"? (DQ'd?)
Sorta joking, and I assume not, but I don't see why this would be treated any differently than a dropped squat.
At least the squat you have a shit-ton of weight on your back.

The dropped press was unintentional. Dropping a weight is grounds for DQ at the meet director's discretion but he guy almost passed out. I think DQing him would be unnecessary.

Last year a lifter at another meet dislocated a shoulder pressing and dropped the bar. When it's an accident and no one gets hurt, all is well. But when it's purposeful dumping or dropping of the bar, that's when stuff gets dicey.

[mbasic]

I hear ya.

But I don't thin nobody intentionally dumps a squat either.

[chromoly]

Oh, I guess they changed that part. When I competed, spotters weren’t allowed to touch the bar at all for it to count.

this old, but

This is a thing I disagree with. Maybe it's because I have a background with PL competition, but I wish that the spotters were allowed to guide someone all the way back into the rack and not just once they clear the hooks.

I know, I know, part of it is the whole "control the weight" thing. But realistically I think it's a safety issue. Maybe a lifter steps out unevenly, maybe he/she don't step back in evenly. The racks are not stable and they wobble. THERE IS LITERALLY A BLOCK OF WOODEN SCREWED INTO THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE RACK TO PREVENT IT FROM MOVING OFF THE PLATFORM. You don't need spotters to take the weight and hoist it off someone's shoulders into the rack. But a gentle back spotter guiding the bar and only the bar into the rack can be extremely helpful.

But there's no back spotter in the squat, only 1 or 2 on each side...

[chromoly]

I hear ya.

But I don't thin nobody intentionally dumps a squat either.

You say that but some lifters still purposely bail on squats when they fail. They just drop the bar off their back. You can usually tell the difference between bailing like that and unintentional dumping. Unintentional dumping they usually crumble too much and can't get up or the bar path is too wonky to recover from. People who purposefully bail at meets put everyone else at risk.

[Wilhelm]

I saw a lifter at (i think) the European championships bail on two squats.
May have been IPF worlds though. Don't recall.
Dumped it and nimbly stepped forward under the rack both times.
The spotters were clearly pissed.

As far as i recall, the lifter was DQd after the second infraction.