NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

GEK1521-PHYSICS IN THE LIFE

SCIENCES TERM PAPER
Physics in Powerlifting
Ang Yi Xiu
A0111184U

Introduction
Powerlifting is a strength sport which requires the lifter to utilize different muscle groups and lift an
insane amount of weight. In a powerlifting competition, a lifter is required to perform three types of lifts:
squat, bench press and deadlift.

Figure 1 Powerlifting competition

That being said, just having superior raw strength is not enough to achieve maximum performance.
Lifters must also be equipped with proper lifting techniques which will enable them to channel their
strength effectively. These techniques are in fact precisely engineered based on the laws of physics. In
physics, when it comes to the analyzing of movements, the most fundamental rules are Newtons laws of
motion.
Newtons First Law of Motion
Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, unless it is
compelled to change its state by force impressed.
Newtons Second Law of Motion

F ma

(1)

The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction
of the right line in which that force is impressed.
Newtons Third Law of Motion
All forces occur in pairs, and these two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Aim of Paper
The aim of this paper is to discover optimal form for three types of lifts seen in the sport of powerlifting.
Optimal form refers to the most efficient technique which should be executed by lifters in order to
achieve maximum weight on each lift. This can be done by analysing the stresses acting on the human
body when the lifter is performing a lift. It must be noted that just by understanding the location and
amount of force is not enough, concepts such as moment arms and torque play a critical role in
determining the perfect technique for each type of lift.
Moment

Figure 2: Moment diagram

Moment is the product of force and the perpendicular distance from the pivot.
Torque

Figure 3: Torque diagram

Torque is defined as the product of a force and the perpendicular distance from its line of action to the
axis of motion1. The equation of torque is as follows:
= rFsin
(2)

Squat

Figure 4: Squat
The first type of lift being performed in a powerlifting competition is called the squat. In order to perform
a proper squat, the bar is first placed on the lifters back. Lifter will squat down until the hip joint is below
the top of the knees, then return to a standing position.
There are a few established rules to be followed by lifters so as to achieve optimal form for a squat.
Firstly, the placement of the bar on the lifters back is crucial. Lifter must decide whether to place the bar
higher up the back where it is closer to the neck, or further away. The distance between the bar and the
back of the neck will result in the formation of different moments when the lifter is at the most bottom
position of a squat.

Figure 5: Example of different placements of bar

As seen from figure 5, a high bar back squat will result in a relatively similar knee and hip moment arms.
The high bar back squat is more commonly used by bigger sized powerlifters because they have inflexible
shoulders. On the other hand, low bar back squat decreases the moment arm towards the knee and places
more emphasis on the hips. One point to note is that the larger group of muscle is located near the hip, in
particular the gluteus maximus2. Lifters should fully utilize the power provided by this muscle group by
choosing a bar placement which will result in a longer hip moment arm. As such, the optimal form of
squat involves a lower bar placement.

Bench Press

Figure 6: Bench Press

Moving on to the bench press, lifters first start by lying flat on a bench, remove the bar from the rack,
lower it to touch their chest, and then push it back up until their elbows are straightened. Similar to the
squat, lifters needs to take into consideration the formation of moment arms during the entire motion.

Figure 7: Bench press bar path

In the bench press, the shoulder joint is the balance point of the system. Figure 7 shows the bar right
above the lifters shoulder joint. Holding the bar on either side of the shoulder joint will result in an
unecessary moment arm. Therefore, it makes sense for the lifter to lower the bar vertically and then press
it upwards. However, the lifter will experience substantial amount of pain in the shoulder joints when the
bar is going to reach its most bottom position. This is because our shoulders are somewhat inflexible and
it cannot rotate freely enough to ensure a vertical bar path. Hence, a solution would be to move the bar in
a J motion3. The bold orange line in figure 7 depicts the suggested bar path. Moving the bar away from
the shoulder will lessen the burden on the joints when the bar is reaching the bottom position.

Regardless of the type of lift, lifters will always aim to minimize the distance travelled by the bar. When
the range of motion is decreased, the power required by lifters to lift the weight is also reduced. In the
case of bench press, lifters usually incorporate an arch in their back so as to decrease the movement of the
bar. Figure 8 shows that the moment arm decreases significantly when the lifter is benching an arch on his
back.

Figure 8: Bench press grip width and arch

Another crucial component to perfecting the bench press technique is the grip width. By taking a wider
grip, the required distance which the shoulder has to travel decreases. This is because the initial position
of the bar will be lower as compared to that of a narrow grip. However, if the grip is too wide, there will
be a lot of force acting on the shoulder joints. Therefore, the usual practice for lifters is to use the widest
grip without experiencing pain.
Summing up the optimum form for bench press, it is of utmost importance for the lifter to follow the J
bar path and also to bench with a wide grip and back arch.

Deadlift

Figure 9: Conventional Deadlift

The deadlift is the easiest to execute out of the three lifts. Simply speaking, the lifter just picks the bar up
off the floor and stands fully upright. The hips and knees must both be straightened for it to be counted as
a proper lift. In all deadlift techniques, a moment arm will exist between the bar and the hip. Figure 9
shows a conventional method of deadlift. It can be observed that there is a rather long moment arm
between the hip and the line of motion of the bar. Similar to other types of lifts, the lifters always seek to
minimize moment arms.

Figure 10: The sumo deadlift

As such, there is a technique called the sumo deadlift which reduces the moment arm. Based on figure 10,
the sumo deadlift requires lifters to place their feet wider apart. The purpose of this stance is to shorten
the horizontal distance of hip from the bar.

Figure 11: Force on lumbar vertebrae during deadlift

In the deadlift, the weight being lifted and the center of mass of upper body and arms are relatively
further away from the vertebrae. This in turn creates a huge torque about the lumbar vertebrae 4. It then
becomes very dangerous when lifters perform deadlift with a rounded back. The rules of deadlift require
lifters to stand in an upright position. When lifter is pulling with a rounded back, the spine must
eventually be straightened out. It is actually possible for the legs and hip to be fully extended while back
is still rounded. In this scenario, the lower back muscles are isolated and they must be activated to pull the
weights up without help from the legs or hip. This is going to increase the torque significantly at the top
of a pull. Therefore, to avoid this kind of situations from happening, lifters tend to deadlift with a neutral
spine. This will help to reduce the torque on the spine and further ensures safety of the lifter.
Conclusion
Although powerlifting relies heavily on strength of the lifters, having brute strength alone would not
obtain maximum performance. It must be combined with the scientific study for each type of lift in order
to determine the optimum form. In addition, the analysis of forces also helps to prevent injuries from
occurring. Hence, understanding the concepts of moment and torque is essential in helping lifters to
improve their results.

References
[1] Megan Rovig/Breaking Muscle (November 14, 2015); http://breakingmuscle.com/strengthconditioning/why-athletes-need-to-understand-the-concept-of-torque
[2] Ryan Johnson/The Physics of Powerlifting (November, 2013); http://ffden2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2013.web.dir/Johnson_Ryan/physics-of-the-squat.html
[3] Powerlifting to Win (November 14, 2015); http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-techniquebench-press-form/
[4] T. Leyland, Spinal Mechanics for Lifters.(2007).