the.com/powerlifting
three lifts, zero pretense, and a singular obsession with moving impossible weight off the floor.
means A strength sport in which competitors attempt their maximum single-rep effort in three lifts — the squat, bench press, and deadlift — with the heaviest successful totals winning.
from A plain compound of "power" and "lifting," coined in the mid-20th century to name a new competitive sport distinct from Olympic weightlifting. "Power" comes through Old French "poeir" from Latin "potere," to be able; "lift" is a Norse import, related to Old Norse "lypta," to raise. The sport formalized in the 1960s and '70s as lifters sought to standardize the raw "who can heave the most" contests that had long happened in gyms and at strongman shows — and the word, fittingly blunt, simply describes what's happening: lifting, for power.
- the trinity
- Only squat, bench, and deadlift count
- chalk addiction
- Grip slips lose meets, not muscles
- record floor
- Deadlifts exceed 1100 pounds raw
- no aesthetics
- Nobody cares how your abs look
- belt up
- Lifting belts boost core pressure dramatically
ray williams jr — held raw powerlifting world record total of 2,520 lbs (squat-bench-deadlift) in 2023
sheiko protocol — soviet training program by boris sheiko, used by elite raw powerlifters worldwide since 1980s