The year 2020 presented some very unique challenges for the sport of Powerlifting and Strengthlifting, with many gyms outright closed and restrictions on larger gatherings making in-person meets impossible or at-least illegal. In adversity comes opportunity for creativity and the United States Strengthlifting Federation experimented with running competitions entirely online. Not only were the meets successful but they were also fun! In 2021 the USSF would like to expand upon this idea.
Online events are convenient, fun, and in the spirit of self-improvement. Compete from the location of your choosing, with familiar equipment, surrounded by those that you care about. No need to sit through 8+-hours of strangers, now you can complete your attempts on your schedule with your own group of lifting friends. You also have the option to livestream or share your video on the USSF Discord to celebrate with the community at large. There are already 5 online competitions scheduled for this year. To find an event take a look at our competition calendar here: https://usstrengthlifting.com/events/
To support this new direction the USSF we are making some important changes:
Powerlifting, Strengthlifting and Exhibition online events will be run throughout the year. These events will qualify you for the yearly in-person championship where we shall crown the champions. Smaller supporting in-person events will be run in conjunction with the online competition and provide a fun-centered lifting celebration for you to complete and submit your attempts. Know a gym that might be interested in running a fun-focused lifting event? https://usstrengthlifting.com/supporting-event/
Membership to the USSF is now just a one-time purchase and it is only $25! This membership will allow you to create your very own lifting profile that tracks your competition metrics, achievements, special events, and special trophies through the years! ***Under Development***
A new ruleset is in development for online competitions in order to create events that are fun, fair, and easy to follow. The general rules can be found here: https://usstrengthlifting.com/rules/.
Rulesets for in-person events have only two changes for 2021, one large and one small. The small change is that elbow sleeves of single ply rubberized materials are now allowed on the press and the bench press. This has been a much-requested change by our more senior lifters.
The big change this year is that we are redefining the term Strengthlifting. Historically Strengthlifting was the squat, press, and conventional deadlift. The truth was that the squat was held to exactly the same standard as the Powerlifting squat and since we are running Powerlifting events as well, we wanted to differentiate Strengthlifting further by changing it to a press and pull competition. Strengthlifting will now be a contest of the press and conventional deadlift.
The United States Strengthlifting Federation would like to thank our competitors for sticking it out in 2020 and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the digital platform of 2021. The next event is the 2021 USSF Powerlifting Spring Challenge and we would love if you could join us. https://usstrengthlifting.com/events/spring-challenge/
Best Regards,
Jordan Stanton
USSF President
