Powerful
this is very powerful idea.
Where do the older lifters compete?
Powerlifting is mostly a young persons game. With that said, there are about 4.1% of entries in the meet results dataset where the lifter was over the age of 60. Are those lifters competing in the most popular federations? Apparently not. The older lifters over the age of 60 are competing in the federations that […]
How much stronger do powerlifters get?
Most powerlifters usually have a very short career as it’s a taxing training process that puts a lot of stress on peoples’ bodies. With that said, I wanted to look at the median dots for lifers through their career and how much their dots increased from meet to meet. Lifters make the most increase in […]
Where are all the elite powerlifters?
The Dots score is a bodyweight-adjusted strength formula used in powerlifting to compare lifters of different sizes on a level playing field. A powerlifter who has a dots score greater than 400 is generally considered to be really strong. The elite lifters tend to have hit those lifts in the states of Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, […]
Bombing out…
In powerlifting, bombing out means failing all three attempts on any single lift (squat, bench press, or deadlift). It is not a common occurence, but certain lifters do not plan well for their meet and that sometimes leads to people not successfully hitting their attempts. In this graph, we share the percentage of lifters who […]
Powerlifter Retention: Good or Bad?
Every sport needs to attract new participants and retain those who have got exposure to that sport in the past. Powerlifting retention rates tend to be around 50%, meaning that half of the lifters who competed in a particular year had competed in the past. Is that good? I don’t know as I don’t have […]
Who are the new powerlifters?
Where are the New Powrlifters?
Powerlifting has a big program. The sport is no longer attracting a high proportion of new lifters. This decline has been occuring over the past decade and is largely driven by young gen z men, who don’t seem as interested in fitness as millennials were. Furthermore, this trend is also happening outside the USA.
What is Going on with Powerlifting Federations?
The Growth of Powerlifting
The sport of powerlifting has seen substantial growth. From 2010 through 2024, the US has seen increases in the number of powerlifting meets in all but one year, with the average rate of growth being 18%. This lone exception was 2020, which was largely the result of covid lockdowns. In the latest full year, 2025, […]