What is powerlifting’s (nearly) unbreakable record? w/Michael Fahey Director of Westside vs the World

Show Notes

A couple weeks ago, Eliud Kipchoge ran a sub-two-hour marathon. The first time a human has ever done that. That got us thinking…what is powerlifting’s nearly unbreakable record? Kipchoge had a number of advantages: running with others who were pacing him rather than running against him; vehicles with lasers discovering the best path to run in; and some special shoes not yet available to the public. Because of these factors, his record is unofficial. Are some powerlifting meets similarly skewed and should we want that for just the spectacle and the accomplishment?

We asked Michael Fahey -- director of Westside vs the World and the guy responsible for getting powerlifting on ESPN -- to join us for our full discussion of the broader question.

Here are some of our thoughts:

Are all the broken records in the past few years the result of a bigger pool of talent?
Can training methods make that much difference if there haven’t really been any new innovations in a long time?
Are co-efficients really fair comparisons?
Who thought 1,000+ pound raw squats would become fairly regular thing?
Do tested records mean more or less than non-tested ones?
Women have turned in some amazing performances in all the competition formats. Are we even capable of defining the limits at this point?

It was difficult to come to any definitive conclusion, but we covered a lot of ground. You can count this one as 100% opinion.

You can find Michael on Instagram @westsidefilm. The World Powerlifting Organizations Super Finals (equipped powerlifting) are on ESPN 3, October 28, 2019 at 1pm ET. You can watch at the link below.

Link to the WPO on ESPN.(ESPN subscription required)

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Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd).

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