Finding new talent to train is one of the most important aspects of any sport, and USA Weightlifting has had some pretty innovative ideas in the past. Last year they launched “development camps” around the ... Continue Reading
Check Out This 2-Minute Documentary on Iraq’s Female Weightlifters
These female weightlifters are training with the goal to win medals — and to have a source of income. Al Jazeera has released a quick two-minute documentary about the challenges faced by Iraq’s female ... Continue Reading
Need a Lift? Watch CJ Cummings’ 2018 “Road to the Arnold” Video
"Do it again, do it again!" Every yells in the gym before 17 year old 69kg weightlifer CJ Cummings runs and jumps to grab and hang on the rim of his high school's basketball hoop. To the normal person, ... Continue Reading
Harrison Maurus Becomes Youngest American to Clean & Jerk 200kg
Last night in Spokane, Washington, 17-year-old American weightlifter Harrison Maurus etched his name in the history books at the USA Weightlifting 2018 National Junior Championships. On Maurus' second ... Continue Reading
Harrison Maurus PRs His Clean At 205 Kilograms
It was just last week when Harrison Maurus, who currently weighs around 81 kilograms, hit a personal record in his clean with 200 kilograms (441 pounds). At the time, that was 5 kilograms heavier than the ... Continue Reading
British Weightlifter Sonny Webster Announces His Transition to CrossFit
Back in early December, news broke that British weightlifter Sonny Webster had tested positive for Ostarine. This is a substance banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) and is known as a Selective ... Continue Reading
Weightlifter Harrison Maurus PRs His Clean at 200 Kilograms
One of the United States' most promising young weightlifters, Harrison Maurus, is getting better every day. The 17-year-old athlete made a pretty significant personal record over the weekend, cleaning 200 ... Continue Reading
Harrison Maurus Front Squats 200kg for a Strong 9 Reps
Weightlifter Harrison Maurus has been hitting multiple PRs since the 2017 IWF World Championships. His latest Instagram video highlights possibly the biggest front squat set we've seen yet from the young ... Continue Reading
IWF “Had No Other Choice” Than to Give Ilya Ilyin a 2-Year Suspension
The International Weightlifting Federation has announced that Ilya Ilyin will receive the “maximum allowed” sanction under the World Anti-Doping Code: a two-year suspension, which will end in June this ... Continue Reading
Is Kratom a Performance-Enhancing Drug?
Kratom is an unusual target in the War on Drugs. A relative newcomer to the American market, kratom hovers in the space between plant-based medicine and prescription drug, and while it’s usually used as a ... Continue Reading
IWF Publicly Announces Anti-Doping Results From 2017 World Championships
As of today, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) publicly disclosed initial findings from last year's IWF World Championships anti-doping tests. They report that four athletes have come back ... Continue Reading
Lasha Talakhadze Talks to IWF About Being Named Georgia’s ‘Athlete of the Year’
Two days ago, the IWF released a press release highlighting that Georgia named +105kg weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze 'Athlete of the Year,' along with his quotes on the topic. This award came for good ... Continue Reading
Romela Begaj May Lose Snatch Gold Medal for Doping Violation; Mattie Rogers in Line for Silver
Will Mattie Rogers be retroactively named a World Championships silver medalist? According to the English-language Albanian newspaper Tirana Times, the -69kg Romela Begaj may lose the medals she won at the ... Continue Reading
Mario Martinez, Three-Time Olympian and 1984 Silver Medalist, Passes Away At 60
With heavy hearts we report on the passing of Mario Martinez, one of America's most decorated weightlifters of the past 40 years. USA Weightlifting and Martinez's long-time coach, Jim Schmitz, both ... Continue Reading
With One Working Arm, James Spurgin Crushes His First Weightlifting Meet
James Spurgin is a rare athlete in that he’s an active Olympic weightlifter, powerlifter, strongman, and CrossFit® athlete. That’s already pretty darn unusual, but when you add to that the fact that ten ... Continue Reading
Ilya Ilyin Eligible to Compete in 2018
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) updated their Sanctioned Athlete list on Friday, January 12th, and several athletes who failed reanalysis drug testing from the London and/or Beijing ... Continue Reading
Why the Belt Squat Could Be Your Secret to Strength Gains
There’s a certain simplicity in a lot of basic barbell movements. Squatting is a natural human movement, so rack some weight on your back and make the muscles that perform the squat get stronger. Picking ... Continue Reading
Fernando Reis and Alyssa Ritchey Win 2018 Wodapalooza Weightlifting Face Off
The annual Wodapalooza festival is currently underway in Miami, Florida. It kicked off on January 11th and goes through January 14th. This festival brings thousands of athletes from multiple countries ... Continue Reading
Harrison Maurus Hits a Very Strong 185kg Clean Triple for a New PR
Fresh off his podium finish from last year's IWF World Championships, Harrison Maurus is already back to moving big weight. And in case you missed Maurus' performance at Worlds, he ended up earning a ... Continue Reading
Check Out Kianoush Rostami Taking His Workout to the Desert
While some weightlifters are worrying about whether or not their platforms should rest on rubber or plywood, Iran’s Kianoush Rostami is dragging a shard of rubber into the desert to do snatches. The ... Continue Reading
Jim Schmitz Talks Modern Weightlifting, Competition, and His All-Time Favorite Lifters
Jim Schmitz is a pillar of American weightlifting. He's competed since the 1960s and coached Team USA at the 1980, 1988, and 1992 Olympics. He's a man who helped the United States win multiple Olympic ... Continue Reading
Rogue Fitness Acquires OSO Barbell
In a post recently published on their blog, Rogue Fitness has announced they have acquired OSO Barbell, Tyler Stilson’s weightlifting equipment company that’s best known for their range of specialty ... Continue Reading
Sohrab Moradi Just Cleaned and Almost Jerked 9 Kilos Over His World Record
Stop the presses. It’s not super uncommon to see the world’s most elite athletes breaking their world records in training. For whatever reason, the stars may not be perfectly aligned on competition day, ... Continue Reading
Dmitry Klokov Bench Presses a 231kg (508 lb) PR….Underwater
When you think of the name Dmitry Klokov, what comes to mind? At BarBend, there's two things, a very strong elite weightlifter and someone who loves to push the boundaries of strength, while having ... Continue Reading