I won't lie, this article is re-purposed (and not for the first time). It's for a good reason
1. Lifters know meet results AS THEY HAPPEN. We used to have to wait four to six weeks to see meet results. Now, many lifters or their friends are uploading their lifts to social media as the meet is in progress. There are even several options for live posting. Even if no social media channels are being used, it just takes 1-2 text messages and you know how they are doing.
2. Lifters 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 humble everyone.
Watch this at the 30-minute mark.
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 none 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.
Technical advice today can be gained for free within minutes. 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). I moved several times just to be with the best training groups I could.
5. There are WAY more lifters than ever before. 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. More lifters also means more competition, more people to train with, and more people to look to for help and mentorship.
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!
As I've noted in several videos we now have what I call "recreational lifters". There is a difference between them and "competitive lifters"
I detail this in this video from July 8, 2016
This is not a new concept at all, we have seen it in bodybuilding for decades. What's cool is that it's new for powerlifting and will help spread awareness of the sport.
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