The inaugural 2018 US Strengthlifting Federation (USSF) National Championships will take place on Sunday, January 14th at CrossFit Oakland and we have details for you. The meet will be broken in to two sessions, with women lifting in the morning and men in the afternoon. Our apologies for the early hour, ladies. The lifters in each flight and session are listed below.
2018 Nationals Flight Assignments
Please be aware that after the 7:40 AM start of the women’s session, the schedule might change slightly. In the event that the lifting takes longer than anticipated, the schedule may get pushed back slightly. In general, the meets have run on time, but past performance is no guarantee of future results. Or something along those lines…
6:15 – Doors Open, Women’s Check In, Etc…
7:00 – Women’s Attempts and Rack Heights Due at Sign-In Table
7:10 – Women’s Briefing
7:15 – Women’s Warm Ups Begin
7:40 – Women’s Lifting Commences
11:30 – Open Check In Begins
12:10 – Women’s Lifting Completed
12:20 – Women’s Awards Ceremony
12:30 – Open Attempts and Rack Heights Due at Sign-In Table
12:45 – Women’s Awards Done
12:50 – Open Rules Briefing
12:55 – Open Warmup
13:25 – Open Lifting Commences
19:45 – Open Lifting Completed
19:55 – Open Awards Ceremony
20:15 – Open Awards Done
Generalities
When you register at the door, you will get checked in and receive your t-shirt or tank top. Go and get your rack heights for the squat and press and then provide those numbers along with your opening attempts to the officials at the sign in table. There are about 30 Women and 40 Open competitors and it takes a bit of time to adjust the rack and make sure it is the right height for you. I recommend arriving early enough to do all of this comfortably.
Flights have been organized by the total from your qualifying meet. If all goes according to plan, you will have your position within your flight for each lift available shortly after the rules briefing. No promises on that. There will be two flights for the Women and three flights for the Open division. The rules briefing will be very brief since all of you have lifted in a USSF meet before, which brings us to the next point.
Please read the rules in their entirety. No one likes to read the rules, but these rules are actually riveting. Trust us. They are Hemmingway-esque in their compact and powerful prose. If you want to see a summary of the rules on video, well, here’s the one from the spring meet. The rules have not changed in any meaningful fashion since then.
This meet will be conducted in kilograms and the minimum increment for increases will be 1 kg. You will be given a handy conversion chart at the check-in. It is yours to keep and cherish for as long as you like. If paper is not your thing, it would not a bad idea to have a calculator, or a conversion app for your phone handy if you are not fluent in kilograms.
After your last deadlift, a meet official will guide you from the platform to the scale where you will weigh out. A sex-appropriate official will be present in the event you need or want to disrobe to make weight. Weigh outs are being done because Tom, the meet director, is mean.
As mentioned on the sign up page, all competitors will need to purchase a USSF membership. The cost will be $25 and this can be done at any time up until the day before the meet. The online sign up should be ready to go by the first of the year. That will probably necessitate another email from us to tell you about it.
Attire and Equipment
You need to wear a t-shirt for both the squat and the press. T-shirts need to worn underneath your singlet. For the deadlift, t-shirts are not required. Sun’s out, guns out… In January.
Long socks are required for the deadlift. They must fully cover the calf to immediately below the knee, or your knee sleeve. Soccer, baseball, rugby, etc… socks all fit the bill. We will not let you deadlift if your shins are not covered. This is for the protection of the other lifters as well as for your shins. Your knee sleeves, if you are wearing them, cannot overlap your socks or your singlet.
Shoes of some sort are required for all of the lifts. Deadlift slippers qualify as shoes, but you cannot just lift in your socks.
The gym may be cold, although with all the people in there, it may be fine. Come prepared with sweats in the event things are chilly. This is the Bay Area and it doesn’t tend to get very cold here in the winter. As a result, lots of buildings, CrossFit Oakland included, don’t have much in the way of heat. This will probably be more important in the morning session than the afternoon.
Awards
Best female and male lifters in the All Ages division will be determined via the Wilks equation. As the name implies, all registered lifters are included in the All Ages division. Those over 40 years old, or those turning 40 at some point in 2018, are also included in the Masters divisions. Masters lifters will be grouped by decade and scored by Wilks points. Weight class winners will be determined via total within the weight class. Weight class winners and masters winners will receive medals, as will overall winners. Overall winners may or may not receive large stuffed teddy bears, too.
Closing Details
The competition will take place using a Rogue B&R 2.0 barbell. This is a 29 mm, 20-kilogram, bare steel bar that has a center knurl in addition to the knurl on the sides. The weights used will be from a calibrated Eleiko competition kilogram set. The warm up room has a wide selection of bumpers, iron plates, and two full sets of calibrated Rogue kilo plates.
Spectators are welcome and admittance for them is free of charge. If you have friends coming, please let them know they need to stay out of the warm up areas at all times. Only lifters and coaches back there to keep things less crowded. Also, we will have shelf space for your bags. Please use that instead of putting your bags on the floor in the warm up area.
Lastly, bring food and a bottle for water. The meet will not be catered, but there is an outside chance there will be food for sale, namely freshly made waffles. Details to follow. No promises. There are some restaurants and the Berkeley Bowl grocery store within about two or three blocks of the gym, so you have plenty of options for food. CrossFit Oakland has water for you, but will likely not have any cups, so bring something in which to hold and drink water. The map below shows the gym along with places to obtain sustenance.