Competitive Powerlifters: Why would you move up in weight class

[PhantomMaxx]

For the competitive Powerlifters on this forum, what reason(s) would you consider moving up in weight class?

Recently I was asked to move up in weight class again. My first response was "why would I?" I'd like to hear your reasons. Opinions please as I am considering it.

[utfootball4]

More muscle = potential for more strength. Look at Ed Coan...

[Rags85]

This is a very easy question.

To lift more weight and be more competitive.

[arian11]

To place higher at Nationals and/or Worlds.

[melDorado]

For the competitive Powerlifters on this forum, what reason(s) would you consider moving up in weight class?

Recently I was asked to move up in weight class again. My first response was "why would I?" I'd like to hear your reasons. Opinions please as I am considering it.

I'm just sticking at my preferred bf level
5 years ago that was 69kg now it's 75kg (I'm woman) ...when it gets close to 80kg I'll move up class. If it ever does.
I do bulk up about 3 kilos for a meet.. it makes a surprisingly big difference to my strength that bit of extra fat. So if you want to get your numbers up then do it. But of course everyone in your new class will be lifting more than those in your old class.

[WolfRose7]

why wouldn't you if you can still make hypertrophy gains?

The idea of keeping yourself weaker to maintain a weight class baffles me... (not talking about cutting down to win a specific comp, particular national/worlds)
but between comps not taking every chance you have to get stronger? seems very weird for people who are in the game to be strong.

I'm just another noob though, so what do I know..

super arbitary example but.

option 1.

stay same, add 5kg to total, win weight class.

Go up a class, come 4th, but add 30kg to total. recomp around that weight class for next time and potentially win that in time with a much higher total than in the previous class.

If you're not sure, just check if anyone your height is the weight classes above you, if they all are.. then you probably should be too no?

[PhantomMaxx]

I guess I was expecting different answers other than Bigger=Stronger, because in competitive powerlifting strength is measured in relation to the weight of the athlete. You as a competitor look at the World Records in your current weight class. How far are you from hitting those numbers? Is moving up class going to make reaching that goal easier or harder? Bigger is stronger if you add body weight and all of it is muscle, and we know that is not realistic. As a competitor we train at a higher body weight then we compete at. We then cut down a bit to make that weight class. Imagine for your next meet (12 weeks out) you need to add body weight to go up a class, not much of it will be muscle. You will then be competing agains athletes who are naturally much bigger than you.

More muscle = potential for more strength. Look at Ed Coan...

Thanks.. I think the key word there is potential. I've met Ed Coan, nice guy

This is a very easy question.

To lift more weight and be more competitive.

Yes lift more weights but most likely less competitive depending on the muscle to fat ratio gained. see reason above...

To place higher at Nationals and/or Worlds.

Thanks for your input. I already have all the World Records in the USPA in two weight class as well as two All-Time Worlds (across all federations) and was thinking of moving one more up, but doing so may place me at a disadvantage for reasons stated above.

Definitely true! You must learn in order to get what you want.

Always a Student. Thanks

I'm just sticking at my preferred bf level
5 years ago that was 69kg now it's 75kg (I'm woman) ...when it gets close to 80kg I'll move up class. If it ever does.
I do bulk up about 3 kilos for a meet.. it makes a surprisingly big difference to my strength that bit of extra fat. So if you want to get your numbers up then do it. But of course everyone in your new class will be lifting more than those in your old class.

This is more like the answers I was expecting. I got into Powerlifter to get in great shape and found myself competing. I compete in two weight classes, at the lower weight class I am about 9~110% body fat (see profile pic) at the heavier weight class I'm about 13~15% body fat on meet day. I'm guessing. Not that we are bodybuilders but I do enjoy looking somewhat lean.

[Rags85]

Yes lift more weights but most likely less competitive depending on the muscle to fat ratio gained. see reason above...

You asked why competitive people would move up. They would move up to be more competitive. If moving up makes them less competitive, then a competitive person probably wouldnt do it.(if your 5 foot 6 and moving up puts you in the 275 class, its probably not a great idea)

If you care about aesthetics, then you aren't 100% dedicated to strength. But thats ok. Just accept you won't be as good as you could be and move on.

[bobbydigitaloa]

I just squatted 700 lbs in sleeves, raw and 220 and I’m over 100 lbs off of the world record.

So, this means...who gives a sh!t. Lift and have fun.

[PhantomMaxx]

You asked why competitive people would move up. They would move up to be more competitive. If moving up makes them less competitive, then a competitive person probably wouldnt do it.(if your 5 foot 6 and moving up puts you in the 275 class, its probably not a great idea)

If you care about aesthetics, then you aren't 100% dedicated to strength. But thats ok. Just accept you won't be as good as you could be and move on.

I see what you mean. If you mean more competitive as more challenging and more competition, yes moving up a weight class will do that. I meant competitive as in better ranking. Example: if you take a top ranked 165.2 lifter with a 1665 total and put him in 181.7 he'd have to be in the 1900s to be competitive in that heavier weight class. Sorry I know it's semantic. Part of the reason why I'm thinking of moving up a weight class is because I've already been the best as I could be in my current weight class and division and am looking to see what I can do in the next one up. Thanks for your input John.

[PhantomMaxx]

I just squatted 700 lbs in sleeves, raw and 220 and I’m over 100 lbs off of the world record.

So, this means...who gives a sh!t. Lift and have fun.

Impressive lift! Lifting is always fun and I think for some people chasing the numbers is part of that fun.

[breathinglife]

There are also weight classes that might inherently be more or less competitive, depending on the size of the meet. From my experience, there are generally a ton of guys bunched around 198, 220, 242, 275, and then it starts to thin out on 308 SHW and 181 and below. So you can actually end up being "more" competitive lifting the same weight in a higher class.

This can even be true when the sport is taken as a whole. For example, current all-time WR deadlifts in 220 and 242 are higher than the 275 and 308 records.

Also, even though powerlifting does have weightclasses, the absolute weight lifted is often quite important to those in the sport just given our personalities. I'm most proud of the heaviest lifts I've ever done rather than those that were the best when bodyweight is taken into account.

[Pops1085]

I was recently reading on just this and one person talked about how weight classes are sometimes jokingly called height classes. That said it’s because the heavier you get while still staying shorter than everybody, the better potential you’ll have to have a mechanical advantage due to limb lengths.

[naturalguy]

Most people are stronger when they are heavier. Personally I want to be as strong as possible, I don't care about WILKS.

I usually walk around at about 205 lbs, I have competed at 198 where I cut a few pounds and I've competed in 220 class, I am much strong when I don't cut.