The Power Row
by Al Myers
John McKean, of the Ambridge BBC, performing the lift he introduced to the USAWA, the Bent Over Row.
At the 2011 IAWA World Meeting in Australia, the Power Row got approved as a new IAWA Official Lift. This was the only lift presented by the IAWA Technical Committee to the membership for approval, and it was accepted. This lift was accepted as an Official USAWA lift in 2010, but under a different name! John McKean, of Ambridge BBC, was the one to present it to the USAWA for lift acceptance under the name BENT OVER ROW. So now like the many, many other lifts that have different names in IAWA than the USAWA, this lift will join that long list as well. The interesting thing with this lift was that it was presented first to the IAWA membership at the 2010 meeting in Glasgow, but was rejected by the vote. I felt at the time (at the Glasgow meeting) that the lift wasn’t fully understood by the members in attendance. This time copies of the presented rules were distributed to those present at the meeting which I think helped describe what this new lift is about, and helped “gather support” in getting it passed and accepted as a new IAWA lift. The Bent Over Row has been done in several USAWA events to date (including last year’s Club Challenge) and it has been well received. Let’s review BOTH the USAWA Rules and the IAWA Rules:
USAWA RULE: D6. BENT OVER ROW
The lift will start at the lifter’s discretion with the bar placed on the platform in front of the lifter. The lifter will grip the bar with an overhand grip with the palms of the hands facing the lifter. The width of grip spacing and feet placement is of the lifter’s choosing, but the feet must be in line with the bar. The body must be in a bent over position at the waist. The upper body must not straighten past 45 degrees parallel to the platform at any time during the lift or it is a disqualification. The legs may be bent during the lift and upon the completion of the lift. The bar is lifted to touch the abdomen or torso by bending the arms. The bar must touch the abdomen higher than the belt, or the navel if a belt is not worn. It is a disqualification if the belt supports the bar at the abdomen upon the finish of the lift. The lift ends by an official’s command when the bar is held motionless at the abdomen or chest.
IAWA RULE: E37. POWER ROW
The bar is placed on the platform in front of the lifter, who will grip the bar overhand with the palms facing the lifter, the width of the grip and feet placing is of the lifters choosing, but the feet must be in line with the bar. The lifters body should be bent forward at the waist, and the upper body must not straighten past 45 degrees parallel to the platform at any time during the lift. The legs may be bent during and upon completion of the lift. The bar will be lifted up to touch the abdomen or torso by bending the arms, the bar must touch the abdomen higher than the belt, or the navel, if a belt is not worn. The belt must never support the bar. When the bar is held motionless and in contact with the abdomen or chest, the official will give the command to replace the bar.
Causes for Failure:
1 . The lifters upper body straightening past 45 degrees parallel to the platform.
2. The Bar touching the belt, or anywhere on the body lower than the navel
3. Failing to hold the bar motionless, and in the finished position, to await the official’s command
One thing you will notice about the USAWA and IAWA rules are that even though they are written slightly different, they are THE SAME (which is a GOOD THING!) in technical content. The only difference is the name of the lift. Let me explain why this occurred. The lift was presented with the name Bent Over Row, but after the group discussion, it was felt that the name POWER ROW better described the lift. Peter Phillips made a good point that an old style Bentover Row is a STRICT style lift, in which the legs stay straight and the bar is brought to the upper chest instead of the abdomen. The membership agreed with this point, thus the name was changed before it was presented and accepted. Also, the point was made that by doing this it would “save the name” Bent Over Row for the strict version of this lift, if it was ever presented as an IAWA lift in the future. I definitely agree with this decision. The importance of this is that NOW the Power Row (or Bent Over Row) can be done in USAWA competitions for IAWA World Records.