Artikel - The Math Behind the 2016 IPF Classic World Powerlifting Championships

Länk.

Nedanför finns mina main takeaways, även om artikeln i sig har jättefina staplar i olika färger som bör ses om man verkligen vill se och fördjupa sig i vad the takeaways är. Synd att jag inte kommer på något vettigt att använda all denna statistik till för att applicera på min egen träning och mitt eget tävlande, men allt kan ju inte handla om personal improvement heller.

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The analysis shows an interesting gap in successful attempts between the 1st place lifters and the average. The 1st Place lifters made 90% of all their attempts, which was 15% higher than the average lifter at 75%. What this means is that on average, the 1st Place lifters made 1.31 more successful attempts than everyone else. This was even more significant in the Men’s classes with the 1st Place lifters making 1.82 more successful attempts than the average lifter. If we look at the next graph below which is a 5-year trend analysis of successful attempts at each IPF Classic World Championships, we can see that in 2016 especially for the Men, the 1st Place lifters made more attempts on average than any other year. The average lifters successful attempt ratio has been static overtime.

94% of lifters were able to rebound from missing their opening attempt and have successful attempts throughout the remainder of the competition. In other major events this statistic has been as high as 93% of lifters went on to miss at least one more attempt after missing their opener. Therefore, starting off on the wrong foot at this particular championship did not pose any major damage to a lifters total. Perhaps lifters are getting better at overcoming such obstacles and able to stay calm and collected and use the pressure to their advantage. One other assumption we can make is that when a lifter misses their opening attempt they may decide that today is an ‘off day’ and take more of a conservative approach when choosing the remainder of their attempts.

Starting with the men’s analysis, we can see that for almost every weight class the 1st place lifters made larger increases in their attempts from their openers than the average lifters. This likely means the opposite of what you are probably thinking - they are not just making larger jumps in their attempts to lift the highest amount of weight, they are simply choosing lighter opening attempts than most people, based on what they expect to finish with as a third attempt. This is to ensure they make their opener successful and make more successful attempts in order to build their total. Another reason that 1st Place lifters are likely opening more conservatively is that they may be using this approach in order to conserve energy for their subsequent attempts, knowing that their first attempt is only a failsafe attempt. We can also assume that for the average lifters, the reason their % increase in their opening attempt is lower than the 1st Place winners is because they either open too heavy or failed on their 2nd or 3rd attempts for either technical reasons or making an unrealistic increase in their attempt.

The +/- change indicated in the graph/table is the change from that 2012 winning total to the 2016 winning total. Almost every weight class has seen an increase with some as high as 15%. Not surprisingly, we have also witnessed 6/8 men’s weight class winners set new world records in the total while claiming their title this year. Similar to the men’s division, the women showed similar trends in the majority of the weight classes, and show no sign of slowing down. The change indicated in the graph/table is the change from that 2012 winning total to the 2016 winning total. Almost every weight class has seen an increase with some as high as 25%.

On the 2016 results, the bench press stays relatively the same in each weight class being around 25% of a lifters total. In the lighter weight classes, the deadlift makes up almost 6% more of a lifters total than of a heavy-weight. The squat on the other hand does the opposite, making up more of a heavy-weight total than a light-weight. The bench press stays relatively the same in each weight class being around 22% of a lifters total – Note that this is about 3% lower than the men’s average composition. In the lighter-weight classes, the deadlift makes up almost 6% more of a lifters total than of a heavy-weight, following the same pattern as the men. 

 What we can conclude is the following:

• The squat for both men and women on average has a positive correlation, meaning that as your body-weight increases you can relatively squat more as a % of your total.

• The bench press is contributing less to the female lifters total composition than the men, while utilizing their deadlift more to build a total.

• The bench press follows a similar positive correlation as the squat for the men, however is it less severe. As a lifter’s bodyweight increases the bench press becomes relatively more as a % of your total. On the other hand, the women’s bench press contribution is static throughout each weight class.

• The deadlift follows a negative correlation pattern, meaning that as your body-weight increases you can relatively deadlift less as a % of your total.

Have you ever seen anything like it? A perfectly linear correlation on what deadlift stances a lifter chooses to use depending on their weight class. Conventional deadlift stance has a positive correlation with bodyweight. This means that as a lifters bodyweight increases, starting from the lowest weight class, more % of lifters will choose to perform conventional deadlifts.

The majority of lifters who placed 1st in the deadlift used a sumo stance. The two heavy weights on the men’s side did in fact use conventional stance which lines up with our original graphs. The 93kg & 105kg class 1st Place lifters in the deadlift did however use a sumo stance, but when we look at the % of the lifters in those classes and what stance they used, although more used a conventional stance in these classes there was still 30-40% using a sumo stance.

The 1st place lifters in the deadlift for the Women’s division almost always used a sumo stance. One reason for this might be due to the female bony structure of the pelvis. Women have a larger and broader pelvis with acetabula that are wider apart and face more medially, perhaps making it more of an efficient position to deadlift.