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TSC Spring 2019 registration open

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Ryan Toshner

SFG TL, SFB, SFL, FMS
Senior Certified Instructor
Elite Certified Instructor
In case you haven't seen, registration for the spring event is open!

There have been a few changes, particularly to the Pre-Comp / Comp (formerly Elite) division. We're hoping to see that division become a little more competitive -- which requires both increased participation and some weight adjustments for a more-equitable challenge between lighter & heavier competitors -- while emphasizing community & personal challenge in the Novice and Classic (formerly Open) divisions.

Check out the Rules and Sign-up pages for more details. And make sure to register on or before March 22nd to get your t-shirt! :)
 
Just read about the changes in the rules. Is it correct that also +10 kg in pullups for the elite division are changed to just bodyweight pullups?
 
@Boicis , that is correct.

The deadlift favors the heavier person (absolute strength). The pull-up favors the lighter person (relative strength). The snatch favors neither (strength endurance). That's the idea anyway.

With weighted pull-ups -- particularly with a static weight -- the lighter competitors are hindered more than the heavier competitors (since the weight is a higher percentage of the lighter competitor's body weight)... which skews the advantage in the heavier competitor's direction.

That is also the reason behind the snatch weight change... Snatching a 32 kg kettlebell for 5 minutes is an entirely different event for someone who weighs 210 lbs vs someone who weighs 145 lbs.

So the previous weights for the pre-comp / comp (elite) division skewed all three events in favor of heavier competitors. We're just looking to even that out a little bit to increase the competitiveness between the lighter & heavier competitors.
 
@Questionfear , no.

Facilities can currently technically register right up to the date of the event. If you know there are StrongFirst-certified trainers / gyms nearby, you could contact them to see if they would be willing to host (and to let them know that they'd have at least one participant). :)

In the future, we're looking into making some adjustments to this process so that most / all facilities are registered by the time that participant registration opens.
 
@Boicis , that is correct.

The deadlift favors the heavier person (absolute strength). The pull-up favors the lighter person (relative strength). The snatch favors neither (strength endurance). That's the idea anyway.

With weighted pull-ups -- particularly with a static weight -- the lighter competitors are hindered more than the heavier competitors (since the weight is a higher percentage of the lighter competitor's body weight)... which skews the advantage in the heavier competitor's direction.

That is also the reason behind the snatch weight change... Snatching a 32 kg kettlebell for 5 minutes is an entirely different event for someone who weighs 210 lbs vs someone who weighs 145 lbs.

So the previous weights for the pre-comp / comp (elite) division skewed all three events in favor of heavier competitors. We're just looking to even that out a little bit to increase the competitiveness between the lighter & heavier competitors.


Thanks for explanation!
I agree, the changes are good for snatching. However, I do not quite agree about pullups - lower % of the bodyweight would favor heavier athletes in case of exercises where you interact with external resistance, like presses, the mentioned snatch. With pullups where the bodyweight acts against you, the relation is not so straightforward.

I think that the TSC has lost a bit with the changes for pullups - now the only difference between different divisions is snatch. But still just my opinion, and I believe you know what you do!
 
Speaking as somebody who isn't in the elite division but would like to be someday... I'm also not sure the pullup rule change makes sense.

I postulate that the biological cost of a movement isn't a linear function of % of 1RM - doing two reps at 45% isn't nearly as taxing as doing one at 90%, right? I would suspect that even with the weight on, the lighter guys are still experiencing far less biological cost per pullup than the big guys because they are still so much further away from the 1RM.

Pulling some numbers out of thin air to illustrate the idea, a 10% increase in weight for a big guy might increase the biological cost per rep by 15%, vs. a 15% increase in weight for a smaller guy only increasing the biological cost by 10%. The weight still favors the smaller guy.

Plus, I think the elite level guys (and ladies) should all just be dang proud of how many pullups they can do with weight on.

But again, I'm just a lowly open division guy.
 
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