You are a retard. What you mean to say is that I haven't watched power lifting in over 20 years. One of my childhood friends and great friends to this day is a world champion, yes i said world champ, not a contender, power lifter who if you are a power lifter you would know. I've attended plenty of meets back in the good ol days. If this is what the sport has evolved to in this day then that's that. I say its stupid.
You have no idea man, I'm sorry, but you really don't.
Heavy arching only occurs in lower bodyweight classes. Heavier and bigger guys cannot bend so much because they have huge back.
Powerlifting suits and shirts are lame but in 2012 we had first IPF raw powerlifting championships. Current trend in european powerlifting is raw lifting because:
- It's safer. I know people who say suits protect them - WTF, they're ridiculous.
- It's less painful. Have you ever benched in a shirt or squatted in powerlifting suit? I have. IT FUCKING HURTS. If you consider being cut every workout until eventually you develop skin thick like a stone "HARDCORE" and "FUN" then maybe you should consider BDSM or something :X
- It's cheaper.
- It's available for everyone. In the past, when you didn't have powerlifting gym you couldn't compete. It's virtually impossible to train in powerlifting suit without someone who knows what he's doing around you. you would kill yourself and the fool who tried to "assist" you.