IC Barbell Society gear up for upcoming BUCS competition
We have some exhilarating times coming up at IC Barbell! Last term we held our two novice competitions, one for each of our specialised branches (Olympic Weightlifting and Powerlifting) which were both huge successes! Our newcomers hit some incredible lifts and dominated the stage.
Before we move onto upcoming events, a quick overview of our club, for those who may have missed our term one review. We cover two branches of strength sports: Olympic Weightlifting, and Powerlifting. Weightlifting involves two lifts, the snatch (the bar is propelled from the floor above the head in one movement) and the clean & jerk (the bar is first pulled up to your shoulders, before pressing overhead). Powerlifting involves three lifts (the squat, bench-press, and deadlift). For both sports, you have three attempts per lift, increasing the weight for each attempt. Your total is the sum of your individual lifts.
The powerlifters, both fresh faces and seasoned veterans, have spent the past few months working hard during training season to prepare for upcoming Nationals qualifiers. Many of us are striving to hit the qualifying totals to move onto compete in the British National Series events, most notably BUCS.
1st picture: Team at a weightlifting novice comp, 2nd and 3rd pictures: Team at a powerlifting novice comp Sukorno Asad
There are two flagship qualifying competitions coming up, with the first being our London University Qualifiers! This weekend (Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd Feb) will see London’s strongest university powerlifting teams going head to head. Collaborating with LSE, UCL, KCL, QMUL and BUL, this weekend is going to be absolutely packed with talent, adrenaline, and mind-blowing feats of strength.
Secondly, we have our Super Training Qualifiers the following weekend (Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th Feb). This is a yearly highlight; over the span of two days, 100 lifters (this year, 16 will be representing IC Barbell!) travel to Super Training Gym in Cheltenham and battle to qualify for nationals. As always, with many lifters staying the night and spectating across both days to hype each other up – the atmosphere will be
electric.
Whether just for fun or to qualify for BUCS, we’re all extremely hyped to compete. For many, these will be their first official IPF-sanctioned competitions! It’s a time of major tension, nerves, and most importantly, excitement, as we
enter competition season.
