Geared lifting is more fun than raw lifting. It is also a lot more difficult to train safely. I can train raw by myself in my garage. If I’m going to train with gear, I need 3-4 other guys to spot/hold boards/etc.
Training with gear is also a lot more physically taxing. The day after a squat or bench workout I would feel like I got hit by a fucking truck, almost like I was coming down with the flu. I’ve never been so physically exhausted from raw training.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
Geared lifting is more fun than raw lifting. It is also a lot more difficult to train safely. I can train raw by myself in my garage. If I’m going to train with gear, I need 3-4 other guys to spot/hold boards/etc.
Training with gear is also a lot more physically taxing. The day after a squat or bench workout I would feel like I got hit by a fucking truck, almost like I was coming down with the flu. I’ve never been so physically exhausted from raw training.[/quote]
train raw with me and it be like you been hit with paddy wagon 
Training in gear is much more taxing in my opinion.
[quote]celticstrenght wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
Geared lifting is more fun than raw lifting. It is also a lot more difficult to train safely. I can train raw by myself in my garage. If I’m going to train with gear, I need 3-4 other guys to spot/hold boards/etc.
Training with gear is also a lot more physically taxing. The day after a squat or bench workout I would feel like I got hit by a fucking truck, almost like I was coming down with the flu. I’ve never been so physically exhausted from raw training.[/quote]
train raw with me and it be like you been hit with paddy wagon :D[/quote]
I would say geared lifting is hurting the Olympic thing. Raw, in my opinion is the true test of strength. If a guy sets a raw record, only someone who is truly stronger will break that record. Great powerlifters from the past records have been broken due to the advancement of gear. Who is to say that person who is the new record holder is truly stronger if he isn’t using the exact same equipment. That is my only problem with gear lifting. I agree that they are two different sports but I lift raw because breaking a record knowing I have way better equipment isn’t as satisfying as breaking a record knowing I am the strongest person in the world because I am the strongest there has been hands down. I only use a belt so take that however you want.
[quote]T11 wrote:
I would say geared lifting is hurting the Olympic thing. Raw, in my opinion is the true test of strength. If a guy sets a raw record, only someone who is truly stronger will break that record. Great powerlifters from the past records have been broken due to the advancement of gear. Who is to say that person who is the new record holder is truly stronger if he isn’t using the exact same equipment. That is my only problem with gear lifting. I agree that they are two different sports but I lift raw because breaking a record knowing I have way better equipment isn’t as satisfying as breaking a record knowing I am the strongest person in the world because I am the strongest there has been hands down. I only use a belt so take that however you want. [/quote]
The majority of sports records have also been broken with advancements in PED technology. Aluminum bats are superior. More aerodynamic swimsuits are designed. If we haven’t killed each other off in 200 years, our descendents will probably have automatically ideal fitting lifting belts perfected with nanotechnology and will laugh at the shoddy antique jobs we had. There will always be a certain appeal to “raw” strength, but face facts: like it or not, science and technology change the face of sport. So deal with it.
Why on earth would gear be hurting PLing’s Olympic possibility? The Olympics is nothing more than a pissing contest on the international stage for the biggest, richest countries to exert their dominance. Sports that are heavily reliant on equipment mean that richer countries can afford to give their athletes a much heftier equipment advantage than the less affluent nations.
I could care less whether powerlifting gets into the olympics. I have been around this sport for the past 4 decades. If I could teach anyone anything, you do this for fun. If you are looking for something greater than that, you have chosen the wrong sport.
I’ll clue you in on something else, nobody outside of this sport really cares that much about how much you squat, deadlift, or bench whether it’s in gear or not. I have told people I bench 605 and I have told them that I bench 850. Both are inconceivable to most. The response either way is “Wow, that’s a lot.”
We are not splitting the atom here people, get over yourselves.
It seems impossible to have a sensible discussion about the topic on the Internet. Both sides do a bad job arguing, but as usual the “haters” are worse.
It’s been good to read this thread and I’m new so I’m not really knowledgeable about equipment. However, if I want to ‘lift’ more, I could also attach a rubber band to the ceiling and hang the barbell from it. Or maybe I could puts springs between the barbell and the floor pushing the barbell up. Now what if I put those springs on the back sides of my elbows and across my chest to help extend my elbows and adduct my chest?
That’s a bench shirt, at least that is what it seems like to the uninitiated. That isn’t trying to take anything from a guy that can bench 1000 pounds in a suit since he is still incredibly strong, can probably put up incredible numbers without the suit, and certainly has to train extensively to be able to control those ‘springs.’
Powerlifting is about a man or woman figuring out how much iron he or she can move upward. But if we allow an unlimited amount of technology, we already know that number is huge, perhaps unlimited. So equipped lifting exists in some space where a certain, somewhat arbitrary, amount of technology is allowed but other pieces of technology are disallowed. But to be fair, the same is true of practically all sports, although more so for auto racing than for sprinting.
So, how about the hurricane heading for the mid atlantic?
[quote]celticstrenght wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
Geared lifting is more fun than raw lifting. It is also a lot more difficult to train safely. I can train raw by myself in my garage. If I’m going to train with gear, I need 3-4 other guys to spot/hold boards/etc.
Training with gear is also a lot more physically taxing. The day after a squat or bench workout I would feel like I got hit by a fucking truck, almost like I was coming down with the flu. I’ve never been so physically exhausted from raw training.[/quote]
train raw with me and it be like you been hit with paddy wagon :D[/quote]
Nah, bullshit bro. My dad could totally beat up your dad.
[quote]vdizenzo wrote:
I could care less whether powerlifting gets into the olympics. I have been around this sport for the past 4 decades. If I could teach anyone anything, you do this for fun. If you are looking for something greater than that, you have chosen the wrong sport.
I’ll clue you in on something else, nobody outside of this sport really cares that much about how much you squat, deadlift, or bench whether it’s in gear or not. I have told people I bench 605 and I have told them that I bench 850. Both are inconceivable to most. The response either way is “Wow, that’s a lot.”
We are not splitting the atom here people, get over yourselves.[/quote]
Well said Vin.
The funny thing is I have been a part of several sports and activities over the years and every one of them starts off as a small, underground if you will, activities that suddenly wants to become mainstream. It tries hard to break through any preconceived notions and the practisers of said activities spread the gospel of their chosen sports like evangelists. Ultimately to accept its fate as an obscure and small thing. A great example of this is PAINTBALL. It started out as Australian farmers shooting each other with their cattle “markers”. Each rancher had different colors to mark their cows. Then it came to the states where “weekend warriors” got to shoot each other. The guns themselves used BB gun co2 cartridges and held 6-8 shots. Like most things in America, we are not satisfied with mediocrity so the guns themselves became more powerful, held more ammo. Rigs then became the norm where one can hold several hundred rounds of paintballs. Suddenly the game went from one shot one kill in a game that lasted for hours to hundreds of round being fired in a game that lasts minutes. The wearing of old surplus BDU’s or fatigues was " not cool" as the sport tried to distance itself from the “militia” image it morphed into. The old guys of the sport called the new semi auto stuff “cheating” because back in their day it was “pure”. The semi auto guys bitch about the full auto guys ruining the sport. Ultimately no one outside of Paintball really gives a crap about the nuances of the game…
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
So, how about the hurricane heading for the mid atlantic?[/quote]
All I know is it’s going to effect my fishing trip on monday.
Using paintballing is a great example. People are shooting 20+bps semi-auto these days. I actually used to have a gun (some spyder I think) that had a little button that can change it from burst to semi- to auto- auto without the use of tools or whatever. People would complain to me all the time, when in fact I was still shooting far less BPS than the guys with $800+ markers.
I havent been around this sport for decades, a decade, or even half a decade. Im a newbie to it, and a weak one at that. In the 3 years Ive been involved with this great sport, Ive learned to respect anyone and everyone no matter what equipment they use. Whether it be a belt and ssome chaulk or a squat suit, lets freakin lift!!! The guy above me, “im not taking anything away from the guy benching 1,000lbs” Thats exactly what you are doing with your back handed comments. Id love to see you explain that Mr. Dizenzo’s bench is the same as hanging a rubber band from the ceiling or tell Chuck Vogelpohl that his 800lbs deadlifts and 1,100lbs squats are the same as having springs on the floor.
Their seems to be a lot of disrespect around powerlifting, and its usually from the raw zealots and aimed towads the geared guys…and yes I train “raw”, but its just “raw” because I use a belt and wraps, so im not “RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW”
As far as the hurricane STB, my grass could use a bit of water so bring that shit on!!!
[quote]Silyak wrote:
It’s been good to read this thread and I’m new so I’m not really knowledgeable about equipment.
[/quote]
Then why are you commenting on a thread about why you would WANT to use powerlifting gear? Your incongruously asinine statements that followed confirmed that you are in fact not really knowledgeable and uninitiated.
[quote]Silyak wrote:
if we allow an unlimited amount of technology, we already know that number is huge, perhaps unlimited. [/quote]
yep. unlimited. first it’s a thousand pounds. What’s next? A million pound bench press? probably. I betcha I can bench press a million if you give me a good enough shirt to do it in. Maybe I could even lift infinity pounds. Maybe more.
Whats more impressive to you? What one shows you the true capability of man? You can compare other sports to this all you want. Its like a what if pissing contest. We are talking about powerlifting here so lets not get sidetracked. The thing is your opponent(the weight) never changes.
or
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
[quote]Silyak wrote:
if we allow an unlimited amount of technology, we already know that number is huge, perhaps unlimited. [/quote]
yep. unlimited. first it’s a thousand pounds. What’s next? A million pound bench press? probably. I betcha I can bench press a million if you give me a good enough shirt to do it in. Maybe I could even lift infinity pounds. Maybe more.[/quote]
heck yah man! when I’m not pimp slappin Aliens with my forklift suit, I’m squatting like a MOFO in this thing.
[quote]T11 wrote:
Whats more impressive to you? What one shows you the true capability of man? You can compare other sports to this all you want. Its like a what if pissing contest. We are talking about powerlifting here so lets not get sidetracked. The thing is your opponent(the weight) never changes.
or
[/quote]
Don’t know if this question was rhetorical, but… they’re both awesome beyond description. Period. These both show true CAPABILITIES of man. It’s not like we only have 1 capability, right? These two videos are essentially showing 2 different types of lifts that involve very different techniques.
Thanks for the vids, it’s a great illustration of how fucking badass geared AND raw lifting can be.
Sweet Jesus, this thread is horrible. This discussion is mind numbing.
Who gives a fuck what other people do? All this time and energy could be spent being constructive somewhere else on the internet or, even better, in real life.