To lift heavy weights, you first need to familiarize yourself with the history of the emergence of powerlifting and what foundations were laid in this power sport. It is natural for humans to take care of their health. After all, when there are no health problems, you can overcome any obstacles and cope with all the problems. The history of the emergence of powerlifting began almost simultaneously with the emergence of human civilization. All peoples of the planet have legends about strong men who performed various feats.
Possessing great strength, a person could count on the respect of his fellow tribesmen, and even become their leader or lead an army. What better demonstration of strength than lifting weights? People quickly realized that in order to develop strength, it was necessary to train with heavy objects, which led to the emergence of powerlifting - a competition for lifting weights.
Powerlifting at the dawn of civilization
For the first time, sports equipment for strength sports appeared in Ancient Greece. They were called haloteros and were cores made of stone or metal. The first major powerlifting competitions were also held in Ancient Greece during the Olympic Games. This fact is confirmed by a stone weight discovered by archaeologists, the weight of which was more than 140 kilograms.
The first champion in powerlifting to go down in history was Milon of Croton, who lived in the sixth century BC. He developed his strength through weight training. Even in his youth, Milon began to carry a calf on his shoulders. Every year the animal grew larger, and Krotonsky continued to wear it.
There is written evidence that at one of the competitions Milo ran around the stadiums with a bull on his shoulders, which the historian of ancient Greece Pausanius reflected in his notes. In total, Crotonsky managed to get six palms in his life, which were the highest sports award at that time.
The second famous Greek strongman is Polydamos. He went down in history due to the fact that he managed to strangle two lions with his hands. Later, the tradition of strength training and powerlifting competitions passed to the ancient Romans. Among the strongmen of Ancient Rome, Atanatus, Fuvius Sylvia and Ruststicelius, who bore the nickname "Hercules", should be noted. The emperors of Rome only welcomed sports, because they needed strong and healthy warriors for wars. This explains the high popularity of weight training among the Romans. The story went down to the story of Vinia Valens, who managed to lift a wagon weighing 1.5 tons, which he held for a certain time.
When the Roman Empire fell, powerlifting was forgotten and remembered only in the Renaissance. For example, in England, soldiers trained by pushing an iron beam. Physical strength was highly prized in Scotland, and it was strength exercises that were used to test the maturity of young people. To pass the test, it was necessary to lift a 100 kilogram stone and install it on the second stone, which was more than one meter high.
In the late 16th century, young English boys were encouraged to focus more on exercise rather than dancing. There are records from those times that tell of a sports equipment resembling a modern barbell.
Powerlifting was also popular in other European countries. For example, Thomas Tofan went down in history after he was able to tear off a platform weighing 800 kilograms from the ground. After that, he lifted a stone of 360 kilograms with the help of one hand. And, say, a Montreal policeman, Louis Cyr, is known for bringing bandits to the police station under his arms. At the same time, Louis himself weighed about 150 kilograms.
Today it is impossible to say for sure where powerlifting became a sport. In the middle of the 19th century, weightlifting began to emerge and the rules of this sport began to form. The first athletics club appeared on the territory of Russia in 1885, and ten years later a similar event took place in Ukraine.
Powerlifting continues to develop and competitions begin at the beginning of the last century. Power pentathlon has been popular since 1914. Athletes competed in the two-handed clean and jerk, the two-handed snatch, the snatch and the one-handed clean and jerk, and the bench press. In total, there were five weight categories, into which all athletes were divided.
Modern powerlifting
In the middle of the last century, exercises that were considered auxiliary for weightlifters began to rapidly gain popularity around the world: bench press, squats and barbell deadlifts. Soon this sport became known as powerlifting. Its name comes from the merger of the two words power and lift.
The date of birth of the new sport is considered to be 1964, when the first official world championship took place on the territory of the United States. At the same time, the International Powerlifting Federation - ADFPA was founded. Today there are about 20 registered federations, most of which are located in the United States.
The most authoritative of these is the IPF, although many others have the status of an international organization. Today the IFA includes more than forty states of the planet.
For the CIS, powerlifting is a young sport. For example, in Ukraine the Powerlifting Federation was founded in 1991 and at the same time the country joined the International Federation. As you may have noticed, powerlifting officially appeared only a few decades ago. During this time, he developed rapidly and continues to do so at the present time. This is a rather difficult sport from a technical point of view. Many people know that if the exercises are performed incorrectly, it is impossible to achieve high results not only in competitions, but also during training sessions.
Novice athletes should focus all their attention on technical issues, and the results will come.
For more details on the history of the emergence of powerlifting and Milone of Croton, see here:
