Variation

A common idea in sport is to make practice harder than the game. That works well most of the time, so  it’s often also applied to strength sports like powerlifting, weightlifting, and CrossFit. There are many ways this is usually done, including using a different type of bar, using a different stance, using a variation of the main movement, or by going beltless or wearing different shoes/ bare foot. All of these options can be appropriate in the right circumstance, but for the most part, they are way over-used. We, as lifters, need to become masters of these movements. Any change on the movement makes it a different movement, and it will have slightly less transfer back to the main lift. That’s fine if we use these variations to work on specific parts of the lift. Typically in powerlifting, variations are used to address a weak area of the movement, and in weightlifting, it’s used to address technical issues of the lift. Another great use for lift variations is to give your body some rest by moving less weight than you normally could in the main lift. So, the variations of the movements are very useful, but the main lifts are still the main lifts. The goal is to be a master of the lifts used in competition. Before you go for a three rep max beltless paused sumo stance front squat with reverse bands during high tide with a full moon on a Tuesday, ask yourself if that’s what you’re trying to be good at.