We've seen some pretty big (if slightly unverified, and completed to football weight room standards) power cleans on video, but there's still one that takes the cake — and all sources indicate it's very ... Continue Reading
2016 Asian Weightlifting Championships Full Results
The 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championships have come to a close. The event — held April 21-30 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan — featured a mix of various nations' best, along with plenty of other top ... Continue Reading
Pyrros Dimas to Hold Q&A Session at Olympic Trials in Salt Lake City
To be the best, learn from the best. Attendees at Next week's US Olympic Trials/National Championships will have the chance to ask 3-time Olympic Champion (and 4-time Olympic medalist) Pyrros Dimas their ... Continue Reading
Throwback: Chad Vaughn Sets American Record with 190kg Clean & Jerk
Before the days of CrossFit boxes on every block, and before everyone from bankers to soccer moms knew the other definition of "snatch," Chad Vaughn was one of America's top weightlifters. To be fair, ... Continue Reading
Weightlifter Profiles: Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Nurudinov (105 kg)
At the 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championships, BarBend weightlifting correspondent Mike Graber sat down with members of Uzbekistan's National Team to discuss their training and goals. First up is Ruslan ... Continue Reading
Aleksey Lovchev Challenges IWF Suspension in Anti-Doping Meeting, Maintains Innocence
Following a provisional IWF suspension after his world record clean & jerk, Russian superheavyweight Aleksey Lovchev continues to maintain his innocence in an anti-doping appeal. On ... Continue Reading
Max Aita Explains Abadjiev’s Bulgarian System. But Is It Sustainable?
For as much that's been discussed about the Bulgarian weightlifting system, there are hundreds of young impressionable lifters who have tried tackling it head on by maxing out their lifts daily and ... Continue Reading
Weightlifter Nathan Damron’s Crazy Strength Gains from Ages 13 to 19
Nathan Damron is one of America's best young lifters, and regardless of how he performs in the Junior Pan American Championships this week, the reigning Junior National Champ has built up an impressive ... Continue Reading
Weightlifting Legend, 3-Time Olympic Medalist Tommy Kono Dies at 85
Olympic champion weightlifter, competitive bodybuilder, celebrated coach, and IWF Hall of Fame member Tommy Kono passed away Sunday, April 24th, in Honolulu. He was 85 years old. Sources and local news ... Continue Reading
Flashback Friday: When Becca Day Cleaned 315 pounds
Call them the lifts that launched a thousand ships -- or at least the cleans that took Becca Day from social media phenom to pro athlete. While there are some seriously strong women in CrossFit and ... Continue Reading
At the Asian Weightlifting Championships, Host Uzbekistan Poised for Greatness
Today beings the 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championships, which will run from April 21st to April 30th in Uzbekistan’s capital city of Tashkent. Fun fact: Uzbekistan is one of two countries in the world ... Continue Reading
Should Athletes Use GoFundMe for Competitions?
Before we dive into a controversial subject, we'll say this: No two people share the exact same circumstances, and no two people face the same obstacles to success, their dreams, or whatever. That being ... Continue Reading
Attention New Yorkers: Weightlifting (and Mattie Rogers) Are Coming to Times Square
In an email blast on April 20th, USA Weightlifting announced Mattie Rogers will be joining a roster of other Olympians and Olympic hopefuls in a sports demonstration/meet & greet to mark 100 days until ... Continue Reading
Watch Mikhail Koklyaev One-Arm Snatch 242 Pounds
Mikhail Koklyaev is one of history's most impressive cross-sport strength athletes. He's been a Russian Champion weightlifter, World's Strongest Man medalist, Strongman Champions League winner, 2200+ lb ... Continue Reading
Fight the Couch Potato Within: Mid-Week Lifting Motivation
Straight from the mouths of powerlifting champs Stian Walgermo and Brett Gibbs, this week's images are no-nonsense. Honestly, looking at pictures of fit people working out won't get you a single step ... Continue Reading
Olympic Weightlifting Weight Classes Throughout History
Weightlifting today is a beautifully simple sport, where athletes from different weight classes are scored on two lifts -- the snatch and clean & jerk -- and the combined total from the heaviest of ... Continue Reading
Men’s Records (Unofficially) Fall at Chinese Weightlifting Nationals
After the women's portion of Chinese Nationals earlier this month — where three World Records were unofficially broken — weightlifting fans were eager to see what the men could do. So far, that hasn't been ... Continue Reading
Norik Vardanian Clean & Jerks 212 in Training, Looks Strong for Pan Am Trials
Norik Vardanian is looking strong in preparation for the USA National Weightlifting Championships/Pan American Trials from May 5-8. So strong, in fact, that he just clean & jerked 1 kilogram above the ... Continue Reading
2016 European Weightlifting Championships Full Results
The 2016 European Weightlifting Championships have come to an end. The event, held in Forde, Norway and organized by the European Weightlifting Federation, came to an end on April 16th. Just as notable ... Continue Reading
Reddit User Solves Our Bumper Plate Math Problems
For those of us who are a little, uh, special when it comes to math and bumper plates, Reddit user "suppersam" came to the rescue. As if we needed further proof that the internet solves all our problems, ... Continue Reading
Could Boyanka Kostova Power Snatch Her Way to Olympic Victory?
Could Boyanka Kostova win gold in Rio by power snatching? The answer is probably not (though power snatches were more than enough to earn her a third European Championship). But maybe! At the 2016 ... Continue Reading
Wes Kitts Jerks 500 Pounds. How Many Americans Can Do That?
American weightlifting has another 500 pound jerker, and his name is Wes Kitts. And before you call out the lift on a technicality: Yes, we know it's from the back rack, and yes, it's still ... Continue Reading
Andrei Chemerkin Was Crazy, Stupid Strong
For most of the 1990s, Olympic weightlifting's heaviest weight class was ruled by the Russian giant Andrei Chemerkin. At his competition peak, Chemerkin's 6 foot frame supported nearly 400 pounds of ... Continue Reading
Dmitry Klokov Is the World’s Favorite Weightlifting Ham
Dmitry Klokov is a living weightlifting legend. Between his 2008 Olympic silver medal, world title, and reputation for just being a really nice guy, he's solidified himself as one of the most ... Continue Reading