STRENGTH SENSEI BOOKSHELF
Powerlifting USA
A closer look at the greatest magazine covering the sport of powerlifting
Powerlifting USA was one of the most successful Iron Game magazines that made it to the newsstand. It was in press for 35 years, from 1977 to 2012, and edited and published by Mike Lambert. Powerlifting USA was not only one of the first magazines devoted to the sport of powerlifting, it was unquestionably the best.
Although its primary audience was powerlifters, Powerlifting USA often featured other athletes who used the basic powerlifts (bench press, squat, and deadlift) were often featured. The magazine featured interviews with Iron Game champions and information about recent and upcoming powerlifting meets from all the federations. Let’s look at the June 2010 issue (Vol. 33, number 8):
The cover of that June issue featured a male and female powerlifter squatting with these teasers:
- Top 20 Rankings for Teen+Women+Masters
- At the Arnold Strongman Classic
- A Powerlifting Life Well Spent: Ernie Frantz
- Rehab & Prehab: Part 2
But there was more, much more. For example, there was an extensive article about the history of the original Westside Barbell Club, the most famous powerlifting club in the world. There were also numerous regular columns such as power research, power nutrition, ask the doctor, and especially small type articles listing upcoming competition reports.
The magazine was 113 pages, including covers, but the small type provided an extensive amount of reading material. If you were a competitive powerlifter or made some contribution to the sport, chances were good that you were mentioned in Powerlifting USA.
The first issue of Powerlifting USA was published in 1977 and continued serving the Iron Game community until 2012. These are the last two issues.
In a statement made to his readers on April 25, 2012, Lambert said he had to cease publication as it was no longer financially possible to continue publishing. Unfortunately, he did not wish to continue the magazine as an online publication.
Always a professional and humble, Lambert made this comment to the powerlifting community when he announced that the May 2012 issue would be his last:
“One of my mentors was the late Peary Rader, who published IRON MAN magazine for 50 years. I am not a fraction of the publisher and man that Peary was, but I used to think if POWERLIFTING USA could at least go for 37.5 years (75%) that would be great. Well, we made it to 70%, and that’s still a fair run.”
[Powerlifting USA is no longer being published, but you can purchase many back issues through Amazon.com.)
