Should Records be set with Non-Calibrated Plates?

are the lifters weighed on a calibrated scale as well?

Back in the 60s, when I was an Olympic lifter, when a USA or World record was set in competition, after the lift was approved, competition was halted and the loaded bar was weighed on a calibrated scale at that time. Sometimes the bar showed a slightly higher weight (which became the official record)and, once in a while the weight was under the supposed weight enough that it did not meet the criteria for a new record. I saw this done at contests using the York Olympic Standard sets and the Swedish Eleiko sets.This policy was used in American AAU competition and worldwide, under the auspices of the FIHC, at the time, the governing body for world and Olympic competition.

In the monolift feds, there seems to be the idea that "tie goes to the lifter" so I can't see how they'd care if the weights are off a percent or two. I mean, if they're not going to judge the lifts strictly, why should they care if the bar and weights are accurate either?

Lifts should only be a record at a sanctioned meet with official weights.
Things are getting too loose with all time records as it is.
Next it will be gym lifts and the fitness instructors will be judging.

Calibrating the actual weight lifted??? This is only a small part of what is been scrutized when it comes to new records being set. In addition to not actually weighing the weight, there are the issues of objective, consistent judging (in both squat depth and bench press pause), limits on gear, and having about a zillion different federations and divisions. How weird is it to tell your non-powerlifting friends that you just broke the "XYZ Federation, men's, single-ply, 220 lb weight class., 40-44 age group, lifetime drug-free, full-lift, police-fire division" world record?

Sorry to slightly get off topic, but weighing the actual weight is just a minor part of the problem in powerlifting today.

Very good point!

I like this idea better, as the price of steel goes up and up, the need for calibrated weights set another burden on the meet director, when many people think it is already a big enough pain in the ass to put on a good meet. We are lucky to have a set (or two really) of calibrated ivanko plates, but i guess the question is how often would those need to be calibrated to consider wear and tear? And who will be the official calibrater?

It just seems easier to have an official scale to weigh out the attempts after they are completed. I bet most people in a meet would just say "go ahead and count the lift as good" instead of taking the time to deload the bar during a meet.

A "tie" is what? If you are talking about a lift that at a key moment is blocked by spotters or poor judging position the call will go to the lifter in EVERY federation. I've held a USAPL judges card and we called it that way. I hold an IPA and WPC card currently and that is how we call it.

It has absolutely NOTHING to do with a "monolift" federation (which by the way is a new term I guess). It has to do with respecting the lifter. Stay Strong, J.R. Bolger, WPC Referee, APF Executive Committee member, AZ APF State Chairman

P.S. I put my FULL information so there is NO doubt as to who I am

I'm talking about the comments that end up in virtually every monolift squat video where posters claim that if the lift is close the lifter should get white lights because:

--they trained really hard
--they're big and you can't see the hip joint
--they traveled far to get to the meet
--if you make them go 3" below like the IPF, no one will want to compete in that fed

ad nauseum... As far as I'm concerned only the USAPL and the CPU judge lifts by the book on a consistent basis because they're held to the IPF standard. Every other fed has the same definitions in their rule book but it's clear that they don't enforce them for the reasons stated above.

This topic is about precision. I have no quarrel with how other feds judge lifts--that's what their members want--I guess it's more fun that way. However, there's no point in getting nitpicky about the bar weight if the lift isn't executed to the same degree of nit-pickyness. If close enough is good for white lights, close enough is good for the record book.

My full name doesn't matter because I'm not a judge or a representative. I am a card carrying member of the USAPL.

At the USAPL National Meets all plates, bars and collars are put on a state certified scale prior to the meet to ensure that they meet IPF standards.

Different feds, different rules. Different lifters approach our sport with different attitudes. If I'm lifting at the meet because I'm at the end of a training cycle and it's the closest meet to home, I may not worry about whether the weights or the scales are calibrated. If I'm qualifying for a World Championship and may be investing more $$ than hours in the gym to get there, I might care a little more about precision in terms of the weights and scale.

NO.
Records for all time should not be counted when using uncalibrated plates as well as home made shirts / suits or back yard unsanctioned meets.

hi,

i cant believe this topic is making news. to set a record, weights should be calibrated. simple. end of story.

these sorts of stories make this great sport of powerlifting look like a joke to most people, and some of us as well.

mark roskell

What about the rigged "calibrated" weights the USPF used for the Mountaineer Cup?

Are we talking about a few pounds here or the worry of a rig up?

as long as the shirt / suit meets the specifications of the federation, what does it matter if its homemade or not? It's the lifters right to choose not to buy gear if they can make it to the standards of the fed.

There's talking... and then there's powerlifting.

Yeah! I always wanted to know too! I don't think they should because non calibrated plates are not as accurate to their face value.

A 45 pound plate can weigh as much as 49 pounds and as little as 42 from my experience.

i wouldnt be surprised at all to find out that meets use plates that are only within 2%. a 1000 lb squat could actually be a 980 squat... little bit of a difference. its bullshit they dont ensure calibrated weights.

Let's say a lifter goes to a meet and squats, a weight that is just under the world record, no matter the fed. Let's also just say that, through subsequent verification of the weight plates, that the weight squatted was ACTUALLY OVER the world record. Should that count?

Dont we have enough categories? sheesh...do we want to water our sport down even more???

World Records using uncalibrated plates??

That's nonsense!

I don't know why people even think about that.....