Does the Titan Pro Bench Bash Need to be Fixed?

Staff wrote:

The IPF Titan Pro Bench Bash at the Arnold Classic is arguably the highest profile meet in powerlifting.

I would say IPF worlds, IPF bench worlds, World games Powerlifting and perhaps WPC worlds are the "highest profile meet in powerlifting"; also, not sure if a bench-only meet is powerlifting at all...

Bring the WPO back. At least there will be bigger bombs.

AtLargeNutrition
EliteFTS

11 out of 54 lifts made. LOL. If I had been in the audience I would have asked for my money back.

"qualifying was changed to specify that benchers had to get two attempts in at a qualifying meet to be eligible to participate and that those getting all three attempts would receive priority selection. Further, bombs in any international qualifier disqualified lifters from competing in 2010."
Well that didn't work so throw that out as a fix.

I think the scoring needs to change to reward lifters who get attempts in. Example would be if you get 2 benches in than you get 5-10 extra wilks points added to your best bench wilks score and another 5-10 for three successful attempts. Maybe give fourth attempts to lifters who get 3 lifts in.

Bring back the WPO and offer "real" cash for best hvy and light.Like 10,000 for first,5000 2nd,1500 3rd in each division.Then you would see a real bench meet.If I win the power ball,then I will do this (ha) (ha).

Set the prize money as a maximum. So if there is 15000 to be won by the best lifter, then hand out 5000 for every succesful lift he makes.
Get 1 of 3: he wins 5000,
Get 2 of 3: he wins 10000,
Get 3 of 3: he wins 15000.

WPO. I went for 5 straight years when the wpo was there. havnt been since this came in. Its 100% the wrong type of lifting for a DRUG expo.

Some are thinking we should change the rule so if you miss your first 2 attempts you dont get a third attempt at all.
What say some of you???

Same argument was made when the WPO ran it. When you have a huge meet, for $$, lifters are going to try to go big. I know when I lifted there the Arnold was one of the hardest places to lift. Warm ups were nearly impossible, timing was always subject to change, etc. Makes it very difficult to gauge your performance.

There were always a lot of ideas on how to make it work better, but it always seemed like nobody was willing to change the rules. Kidder just did a lot of bitching and went around insulting everybody........

Shawn Lattimer

www.shawnlattimer.com

And I suppose you would pay it out like Kidder right? Pleeasssseee

What were the circumstances of the misses? Was it a super-strict interpretation of the "sternum rule" or were they dumping weights and missing lockouts?

I wish I hadn't have gotten injured and had to withdraw. My training was going great:

650 Bench on 12/28/09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFFrhQkI0H8

716 of 2-board on 12/28/09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCCMYm44ANg

Go to my blog to read about my injury:
www.titan500.blogspot.com

I love the Arnold weekend, but have to complain a bit. The expo is filled with the biggest and the best on the planet. Are they using?? Of course, they have to. Who cares. We all know it, the World knows it but we all want to see the freaks (Cutler, Coleman etc). Why does powerlifting have to be different? Nothing against the lesser known guys or the handful of World class raw guys but I want a chance to see Mendy, Kenelly, Panora, Frankl, Bell Etc banging it out head to head. I know that the decision had more to do with a few WPO problems than trying to clean it up a bit but what is good for bodybuilding should be good for powerlifting. I can go to any meet and see great amateur guys hitting good numbers, I just think that the sports biggest weekend should showcase the best the sport has to offer. Just my thoughts.

I don't think you'll ever please everyone, because there are many, many opinions/points of view regarding just exactly who/what the best PLing has to offer is.

i blaim the lifters.they knew how stict therules are they should have opened and picked number as such.

I understand your point of view.

But drug free/tested lifting is less controversial, and won't run the same risk of getting the whole media controversy that a non testing meet would.

Bottom line - if you want to build the sport real big ass...

You gotta avoid being branded as drug abusers/criminals or whatever.

A drug tested fed has the best chance of keeping the focus on the sport in the long run IMO.

A non tested fed could maybe get away with it for a year, maybe two.

But the media would catch up with it.

Just like they are scrutinizing the bodybuilding scene these days.

The only way to truly fix the bomb outs is to take away the shirts. I hate lifting raw personally but the shirt technology these days almost encourage a lifter to lift so much that more flaws are evident. Perfect technique these days is a rarity. If you study all bench only meets from the last couple years on an international level the bombout rate is ridiculous. Apparently it doesn't matter if its single or multi-ply either.

I seriously don't know if this "problem" can be fixed.

funniest part of the thread: "not sure if a bench-only meet is powerlifting at all..."

Classic

Putt Houston.... now with Ridiculous BCWW

The lifting there was of the highest quality and the crowds continue to get bigger. And there are 30+ sports there that are hardly gassed. The IPF/USAPL belong there. The WPO had its chance, and blew it. Case closed.

As expected, Putt's comments are right on the mark.

The margin of error with shirts are so tight combined with the heavy loads these shirt are taking result in missed lifts. Just compare the number of bomb lifts with shirts vs raw lifts.

I doubt these problems will ever be fixed. Why? Follow the money trail...

Shirts = Sponsors = $$$ = Feds OR

No shirts = No Sponsors = No $$$ = No Feds

Do I lift with a shirt? Yes. Would I prefer not to lift with a shirt? Yes. Will I get injured w/ or w/out a shirt? Yes, it's happened both ways ~ torn pec without, rotator cuff with...

sounds like i missed alot.

Well I'm sure the drug free athletes are happy now knowing they are not going up against a walking chemical factory. They may use shirts that give them 150+ lbs. on their bench, but at least they don't have to say that 70% of that lift going up was due to battery acid in the blood or 9 shots in the butt.

The following comment was made previously in this thread:

"No shirts = No Sponsors = No $$$ = No Feds"

This is not true........if the lifters went RAW, they would still be purchasing shoes, belts, singlets, t-shirts, and other training equipment from the suppliers.

Every Raw ADAU meet I attend you see lifters wearing Titan, Crain and Inzer equipment.

Raw lifters will eventually outnumber equipped lifters and the big equipment companies will still be around selling their products.

AWESOME!

next time a multi-ply lifter bombs out and gets flamed on here for using so much equipment... blah, blah, blah.... just remember this.

it's too bad the WPO folded, at least with them the numbers were more impressive.

as a side note, I compete natural and tested etc... but I'd much rather watch a guy hit a big number than worry about if they were taking drugs, protein, etc... I've seen guys taking unreal ammounts of steroids and still not ammount to anything, drugs won't do the work for you. Bodybuilding is the best example of this... how many natural bodybuilders names do you know? how many have been on the cover of MD or Flex?

Now with more " shut up and lift"

50% of the lifters bombed out.

11 out of 54 attempts.

..and you started your post with AWESOME! I'm still dying laughing!

So...does anyone know the nature of the bombs? Too ambitious on the attempts? Belly benching?

The problem is that lifters use WAAAAY too tight shirts,they think if they will hit that sweet spot on the shirt then they´ll get the enourmus weight up..1/16" wrong and they dump the bar on the chest etc...powelifting is more like gambling nowdays...sad but true!

Opening too heavy. If you are honest, that's the only reason (except for injury) that you bomb out.

You are right and the odds don't look too good.

bombing out makes zero sense you get your first lift in and than you got 2 more to post your big number.there probably not doing the lifts the proper way in training.also get rid of the 2 and 3 board benches use heavy negatives raw this is more beneficial

The problem being with shirts you need a certain weight just to touch which you also need to be able to lock out.

Lifters get into trouble when they can only lock out a weight that's perfectly grooved. The minute you are out of groove, lockout is impossible and you'll also touch to low.

Shirts are a hard thing to master and I think they should be gone.

I find posts like this interesting. Considering the whole debate on what was more pure in respects to geared lifting (single vs unlimited) died around 2003. Judging yes, drug testing yes those topics rage on. Double vs single ply gear, when I was geared I knew that whole subject was done when I became aware of APF lifters exchanging their double ply denims for single ply Furys.

So why anyone wastes a time reading posts comparing gear on gear blows the mind. Unless your looking for a reason to be pissed off.

Year after year I read the same stuff how the USAPL numbers are not as impressive as the WPO after the Arnold. After sitting ground zero with the likes of Ricks and Harris and Mike T, I find it quite stunning that anyone would not sit back and say ‘oh shit’ to that. Hell even the Raw which I had the honor of being part of was amazing. I know Raw is a bad word to some.

Now with more ‘Bring back the WPO’ posts. And how unimpressive the USAPL is.

I sat in the second row for the entire bench meet.The bombs were for a variety of reasons. My friend Mike Kuhns just had a really bad day. I have beeen with Mike when he benched 465 easily in the gym but the other day 446 was a problem. There were some benchers hitting too low and they were called and there were several who could not lock out, not to mention several who fought to get the weight to touch the shirt and had no energy left if they did get it there. When you are in a meet like this you go for it and thats what everyone did.

Sorry, but watching a SHW benching 680 for the win is not impressive.

I must agree with the judges in this competition, they were consistent throughout the day. They know the pressure is on their organization to perform well at such an elite event but didn't sell out and give lifts away. I seen one lifter make an attempt with an uneven load, no way to make up for that even by giving an extra attempt. Other lifters are competing for the win while others are attempting world records, white lights you're a hero red you're a zero. No not at all, these are well trained motivated athletes trying to take advantage of opportunity and do something special on this day. Hats off to those that believe in the USAPL and hats off to those who are drug free.

All the bombs and all the excuses. LOL! heaard it from the usapl guys when the wpo was there. This is funny.

Best insight of this thread related to the "salesmen" in the product booths. How many are drug free?? LOL!

At least the WPO lifters don't lie about taking drugs. that Integrity!

Well, the best lifters lift in the IPF. End of story.

Alot of people may not be familiar with him, but Patrick Holloway here from AZ is a very strong 275'er. Patrick can and has several times gotten 650+ on his bench, and his last deadlift was the WABDL record at 821 which he held at 812 I believe. I don't know much about his squat, but those numbers alone are impresive so he would be a contender if he had an 800. My point was with this, is that not only would it be great to see a battle for best lifter by formula, but see several guys in the heavy weight classes have some competition just in their class. Not just that, but bring our some new faces that are not well known. That's something I think would bring more people and give the crowd a better show. Plus (speaking for myself), I always tend to give it more effort when it's a contest against another guy in my class.