1. Lifters know meet results AS THEY HAPPEN. We used to have to wait four to six weeks to see meet results. Now, if the lifter is not posting them on Facebook as soon as their wraps are removed, someone in the audience probably is uploading the video.

 

2. Lifters know and can access the best lifters in the world no matter WHO you are — and the majority will respond in kind. They have been "humanized" by being online. They are seen as "real people" and not superhuman beings that you only see on meet days and in the magazines. They are just like everybody else, just stronger and wiser about their training.

They are also willing to help!

3. The camaraderie is WAY better than it has ever been. Think of how many top lifters you know, email or hang out with. When you go to a meet, you know almost everyone and everyone gets along (key point) AT THE MEETS, where it REALLY MATTERS, everyone gets along great, regardless if they compete raw, classic raw, single-play, or multi-ply; whether they are in the tested or untested division, and no matter what training style they adhere to. This is because the ones who create the most noise are so few and/or do not compete. This is not to say there are still not assholes at meets and egos that are out of control but, if they stay with it, those egos will fade. The weights eventually will humble everyone.

4. The level of training knowledge and information is insane right now.There is so much of it that it can be argued that there is too much. I think it's better to have too much than not any at all (or just made-up BS). With very little money and/or effort, you can find great training information, programs and advice that can help a beginner all the way up to the most advanced lifters. In many cases, you can have advanced lifters (or just friends in the sport) look at a video of your lifts and tell you what you are doing wrong — and have all this done in less than one hour. I used to have to drive two hours to have someone look and help me with technique. So technical advice today can be gained for free within minutes, while when I was coming up it took an entire day to get the same advice (assuming you knew the right people and were within a couple hours driving distance).

5. There are also WAY more lifters than ever before. There were some years that PLUSA couldn't run 100 lifters deep in the top 100 and the women were always hard-pressed to fill a top 20 list. There are now top 100 lists for raw, multi-ply and single-ply. Meets are now within driving distance for almost any beginner — multiple times per year. I was lucky to come up in Ohio where the sport has always been popular. This wasn't the case with many other states.

Today, there are more lifters who have greater access to training info and top lifters than ever before. They ALL get along at meets GREAT with better camaraderie than ever before and, to be dead honest, maybe better than any other sport in the world! The ease-of-entry to the sport has also never been better. Finally, you know how your friends are doing in their meets while the meet is going on. When you step back and look at the forest instead of the trees, the sport is bigger and better than it has ever been in the entire history of the iron game!

 

NOTICE: NOT ONCE DID I SAY WORLD RECORD,  PERSONAL RECORD OR GOALS.

 

* These would be "personal" reasons why the sport is great. This list is about "the sport" regardless of the level, division, gender, lifter or experience.