Why Weightlifting is Not the Best Sport to Participate in

1.    No one has ever heard of it

Quick Quiz... Who is the greatest basketball player of all time?  Baseball?  Running Back?  Quarterback?  Weightlifter?  A sports junkie will be able to answer all of these  but one probably.  By the way, here are your answers:  Jordan, Mantle, Barry Sanders, Joe Montana, Naim "Pocket Hercules" Suleymanoglu.

Simple stats: 7000 USA Weightlifting (USAW) members, USA Triathlon (USAT) members… 510,000.  You have over a half million more people that would prefer to swim while being kicked repeatedly in the face, bike, then run for hours, than to lift a barbell six times.  I think if these people knew that weightlifting required no running, they might give it a try.  

2.    Two words… metric system

The metric system is too European.  The Pilgrims left Europe so they could weigh and measure in our convoluted way… U.S.A!!!

3.    Boring for non weightlifters

I have competed in and watched a few CrossFit competitions.  They have loud music playing, people cheering, and lots of board shorts and tattoos.  They are very fun to watch.  Football and basketball are similar in their entertainment value.  Weightlifting is like golf with a barbell.  When the lifter steps on the platform, the place is silent.  Once the bar hits the platform, 14 golf claps trickle from the small crowd.  Boring!  Bring on the AC/DC and Metallica music and scream at the lifters!  This is how it should be done.

4.    No abs

When you squat 3 to 6 times per week, you better eat a bunch.  Plus, the goal is to lift heavy weight from the ground to overhead, not sign a modeling gig with Fruit of the Loom.

5.    Professional weightlifter pay scale in the U.S

Team Muscle Driver is one of the very few professional weightlifting teams in the US.  Although better than nothing, the salaries of its top lifters would not even achieve half of the poverty level.