I have been competing in powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting since I was 13 years old. That means I have been in the Iron Game for over 27 years, and I have watched both sports advance light years. Weightlifting is my love, but I am much more naturally gifted in powerlifting. Although weightlifting has advanced, powerlifting has gone through a metamorphosis. It started out as a worm, formed an ugly cocoon, and now a beautiful butterfly has emerged. Let me explain.

Powerlifting started in the 1950s, and was a sort of spring off of Olympic weightlifting. It started out being called the “odd lifts” and included any combination of lifts other than the snatch and clean & jerk. These became popular because America was becoming less competitive in the weightlifting world, so certain influences like Joe Weider and Bob Hoffman started emphasizing the so called “odd lifts”. Also, bodybuilding was starting to become very popular in America, so the ‘odd lifts’ (which later become known in the 1960s as “powerlifting”) were a much more popular choice than weightlifting. Bodybuilders could relate to the squat, bench, and deadlift, and so in 1965 the first National Championship was held.

Powerlifting coaches and athletes have confused strength training with bodybuilding for decades. Workouts of powerlifting athletes of the 70s and the bodybuilders of the 70s were very similar. Powerlifters trained body parts way too often, and rarely considered neurological programming. In the 90s, powerlifting legend Louie Simmons stepped outside the box and started turning powerlifting into a sport. He applied Russian weightlifting methods to powerlifting and the sport started spinning out of control--in a good way. With the rise of Louie Simmons and what would come to be known as the Westside Methods came the rise of equipment in the sport: squat suits that would add 300+ lbs., bench shirts that would add 300+ pounds and deadlift suits that would add up to 100+ pounds. The sport evolved from including some amazingly strong athletes to people who could afford the best equipment, people who could use the equipment the best, and people who could get the most equipment on their bodies. Also, in the 90s the sport went from one governing body to what is now 100 or more Federations, each with their own drug testing policies, uses of equipment, observance of rules, and in some cases, greed. This is the downfall of powerlifting.

Compare this to the sport of weightlifting. Its legitimacy comes from having a simple governing body. If you compete and win the title of Senior National Champion, then you are the only champion. In powerlifting, there is a National and World Champion for every federation, so basically everyone is a world champion, so long as you don’t bomb out.

I have personally competed raw (no equipment), single ply (one ply of material that aids the lifts), and multi-ply (with unlimited plys of material worn as a squat suit, bench shirt, and deadlift suit, all of which significantly aid the lifts). I competed multi-ply because when I was coming up in the sport, the only pro organization was the WPO. "I have personally competed raw (no equipment), single ply(1 ply of material that aids the lifts), and multi-ply(unlimited plys of material worn as a squat suit, bench shirt, and Deadlift suit that significantly aid the lifts)."

It was professional; it paid well; and the best athletes in the sport were there. It was the best choice for me. While I was competing in the multi-ply world, I would continue to do meets that were raw and single-ply. I wanted the world to know that I was strong no matter which federation was judging. I found that I loved the raw competitions much more. When you compete raw, you feel good knowing that you are strong, not that your equipment is better than everyone else’s.

Louie Simmons advanced the training methodology of powerlifting, but he still centered his training on the equipment. Box squats were used for his primary source of training back squats. Box squats teach the lifters to sit their butt way back and to keep a vertical shin. Bench training was done with a lot of partial movements, tricep training, and an extremely wide grip. The deadlift was trained the least of the three, and once again partial lifts that mimic the deadlift were used. Louie used what he called the dynamic effort to train all three of the lifts. He would take submaximal loads with a goal to move the weight faster. It was his opinion that more force would be created from the increased speed, and therefore teaching the athlete to me more powerful.

The sport of powerlifting has taken a new step. A newer generation of lifters is shedding the equipment, and they are crushing records. Guys like Chad Wesley Smith, Dan Green, and Brandon Lilly of Juggernaut Training Systems and the Cube Method are taking powerlifting by storm. These guys are training more like great weightlifters and strongmen, and their results are killing it. These guys are training powerlifting like a sport! They are practicing their sport like other athletes do, instead of squatting once a week for leg day, benching once a week for chest day and deadlifting once a week for back day. Instead, powerlifters can now be found squatting, benching, and deadlifting three or more times per exercise each week. People are practicing the lifts like a basketball player practices free throws.

There are multiple combinations that one can use like pauses, high rep, low rep, clusters, or contrast, but at the end of the day, the best powerlifters in America are focusing on neurological adaptations much more than muscular adaptations. Simply put, the more efficient that one becomes with a movement, the stronger that athlete becomes.

At Mash Elite Performance, we still use the conjugate method, meaning we change training stimuli all the time. We still use bands, chains, and boards. We just mainly focus on training the big three lifts in rotating combinations, and we are seeing results that we haven’t seen in the past.

I’m still a fan of Louie Simmons, and I believe that he opened the floodgate of knowledge. I just believe that other exercise scientists are now taking the ball and running with it. Weightlifters have trained this way for years, and anyone who has ever competed in Olympic weightlifting knows the snatch and clean & jerk must be practiced. Daily. Olympic weightlifters also know that the back squat and front squat are extremely important to the main lifts. Almost every weightlifter in the world trains the squat three or more times per week, and I would dare say that the best weightlifters in the world would smoke the best powerlifters in the back squat. Pyrros Dimas, the Greek weightlifting legend, could squat 765lbs raw, rock bottom, at a body weight of 187lbs. My former weightlifting teammate Jackie Berube could front squat 330lbs for reps, without a belt, at a body weight of 128lbs, and she could have probably done more. Powerlifters have a lot to learn from the Olympic weightlifting world, and I believe that the floodgates are down. On the other hand, I believe that Olympic weightlifters have a lot to learn from powerlifters, specifically about squat routines, posterior chain exercises like reverse hypers and glute/hamstring machines, as well as targeting weaknesses. We all need to work together in a quest for strength in America. Too often we bash each other instead of learning from one another, and only when we work together can we start to dominate the world of strength once again.

On August 10-11 at Mash Elite performance, we are bringing the worlds of strength together! We are hosting a two -day “Strength Extravaganza” with competitions in Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, and strongman. We will have one overall winner. Anyone welcome to compete, or just come watch this great show of strength! For more information, or if you have any questions, email me at Travis.Mash@MashElitePerformance.com or check me out on the web at MashElitePerformance.com, or on Twitter at @mashelite.