Predictors of competitive success of national-level powerlifters: a multilevel analysis

ABSTRACT

Powerlifting is a sport consisting of the squat, bench press, and deadlift. The overall winner is determined using the Wilks formula to make comparisons across weight classes. To date, literature evaluating competitive performance in powerlifting is scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of body mass and the number of successful attempts for each lift in determining competitive success. Individual and group level data were taken from the online USA Powerlifting Nationals database for the years 2015–2017. The analysis consisted of 2,532 individual cases taken from 2,021 individual male and female athletes nested within 17 weight classes. The number of successful attempts for squat (SQ), bench press (BP) and deadlift (DL), as well as body mass, were entered as individual level predictors. Multi-level analysis revealed that increased body mass within a weight class resulted in significantly increased Wilks points. Additionally, the number of successful squats and bench presses were significant, positive predictors of Wilks points. However, the number of successful deadlifts was not associated with greater competitive success. The results of this study suggest that competitive success in powerlifting may be aided by better competitive strategies regarding body mass manipulation and attempt selection.

KEYWORDS:

• Powerlifting
• squat
• bench press
• deadlift

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank USA Powerlifting for providing permission for the usage of these data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.