“One who lacks the courage to sign his true name to his views must be aware that what he is saying is meaningless and that he therefore cannot expect others to take notice of it.” —Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, 1877
Powerlifting isn’t a sport that lacks for melodramatic opinions. It seems there’s always something apocalyptic happening that threatens to destroy or ruin powerlifting. “Say goodbye to powerlifting” and “the death of powerlifting” were two recent comments along these lines about a squat at the August SPF Pro/Am.
Others see powerlifting’s ruination in the existence of non-tested competitions. As Jan Todd wrote in a 2007 article about Ernie Frantz’s historic lawsuit against the USPF and IPF, “…powerlifting, a once budding field of athletic endeavor, was destroyed in part by drug use…” (http://www.starkcenter.org/research/igh/articles/igh9.3.7.pdf). For a sport that has been destroyed, powerlifting looks strangely vibrant given the amount of meets held around the world each year.
At least Dr. Todd has the integrity to put her name behind her claim. In today’s powerlifting scene, that’s saying a lot. Vicious, anonymous cowardice characterizes all too much of powerlifting discussions today (using the word “discussions” very loosely). For example, a powerlifting site recently featured a training video by a top female lifter. One of the responses was an anonymous insinuation that she uses steroids (which is also an insinuation of criminal conduct).
Other spineless trash isn’t difficult to find, ranging from pseudonyms to anonymous handles. Writers persecuted by dictatorships like Andrei Sinyavsky and Zhao Zhenkai had a legitimate reason to use pseudonyms. American powerlifters don’t fall into this category. There’s something especially pathetic about strength athletes hiding behind fake identities.
Jim Wendler writes in the beginning of 5/3/1 for Powerlifting on the state of the sport, “…there is a tremendous amount of negativity and hatred being spewed back and forth. If I were new to the sport, I wouldn’t want any part of it.” Anonymity enables that toxic environment. Mike Wolfe, one of less than sixty lifters to ever bench press 600 pounds raw, comments on anonymous posting and its effect on the sport:
“My view on anonymous posting is that it is ridiculous. Grow a set and voice your opinion like a man. It is just way too easy to sit back and run off at the mouth without any real life retribution. The effect it is having on the sport is a lot of your top pro lifters won’t post anymore cause they know someone is going to post something anonymously to try and break them down or get a rise out of them. Trolling on the net in general is out of hand, but in our beloved sport, it is straight up out of control and is killing any valuable knowledge the top guys may be willing to pass on freely.”
While Internet anonymity is a contemporary phenomenon, the roots of this issue are ancient. In Plato’s Republic, there is a discussion of the Ring of Gyges, which makes its wearer invisible and presents major ethical implications. Internet anonymity is also a form of invisibility with similar implications.
Sociologist C.J. Pascoe recently discussed internet anonymity on National Public Radio after a caller described being filmed during a manic episode. The video was posted on YouTube followed by several defamatory and aggressive comments. “Anonymity breeds or allows people to be evil,” Pascoe remarked. “When people are anonymous, as many of those posters were when they were commenting on her, quote unquote, crazy video, we know that allows people to be a lot more evil.”
When people are accountable for their words, certain behaviors tend to decrease. Some people will be obnoxious regardless, but in general, greater civility prevails. If the powerlifting world wants to improve its public image and internal quality, greater accountability is in order through proprietary and community action.
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Myles Kantor has worked with powerlifters ranging from beginners to national and world champions. His website is 
U mad?
At the same time though, if you are a nobody (like myself) and have an opinion to voice it still has zero repercussions over the internet so who cares? Its one thing to attack someone personally and hide behind an anonymous username. It shouldn’t make a difference one way or another if someone uses thier real name or not when voicing an honest opinion about something they obviously care about.
Yeeaahhh, you mad…
Most(if not ALL)of the negativity I have come across of the forums/youtube etc. is the rants of 1-ignorance ,2-haters(jealousy),or 3- both 1&2 at the same time.
My advice is to take it from where its coming from.If they have to ask or can’t understand,then needless to say they arenot part of ‘our thing’.
I saw that steroid comment the other day and all I thought was”Go hard, Retard!!”
@pat – but is it really an honest opinion if they don’t give their name.
I like this article as it’s something that has become more and more an issue as time passes. The internet was supposed to bring us all closer to together. And in ways it has. But it also allows for so many people to behave in a way that is beyond ridiculous.
Sports, entertainment, fitness, doesn’t matter. Go on any forum on any topic and you will find people who can only respond in a bitter and ugly manner.
Then again, I know some ‘fitness writers’ who do the exact same thing and use their own names. So where does it end.. who knows. But it’s good to see I’m not the only one concerned by such action.
You be cray-zeeeee!
a coward dies a thousand deaths, a man but one….. each time some dickhead posts his opinion without standing behind his opinion we should smile and pitty his weakness. to give credence or even a response to said dickhead only spurs his long and winding road to his demise… i think my mom once said, “if you can’t say something nice about someone, shut your pie hole son”…. i think mom nailed it
Oh yeah ******?
Say that to my face and not on the net and see what happens.
You’re just a ******* **** ****** ****!
Interesting…We just started writing about anonymity on the internet in my English class.
I may use some of this as inspiration if you don’t mind.
It’s sad that people can only feel better by hiding …… The reason they do so is simply they are cowards and know nothing about the sport or the struggles one must fight to then turn dreams into reality. They ae weak and pathetic mentally and physically most likey sexually abused by their father and not loved by their mother and live in their basement. I also feel sorry for them as well for they will never understand what it feels like to truly stand alone on that platform and be surrounded with love and friendship. I pray for the basement people ……… U should to they need somebody to help them
To be anonymous, and to share an opinion anonymously is a great chance.
There always will be idiots that post some kind of bullsh**
But the problem is not anonymity, the people are the problem.
most of them would, if they have no other chance, still post their bullshit when they would have to use their real name.
you cant find somebody anyway, there are too many people with the same names.
i do not think that we should throw away this opportunity for anonymity just because of some idiots who have done nothing great, so they tear others down.
i will continue to post anything as anonymous.
everybody should learn to overread the bullshit people post.
never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.
I do not understand why people must de grade someone else for something they can not do. We all love this sport and we all must work together to make it thrive. Just shut up and learn from each other. If you can not do something work hard to you do it better than the perso you want to shit on. If they can do a weight you can’t they are just stinger than you just accept that don’t tear them down
Myles, Awesome article! It amazes me though, that many of these top level competitors give that much thought, or are that bothered by anonymous critics or critics who do not compete themselves. By merely responding to the criticisms, they feed into the arguments of those who in reality add nothing positive to the sport. Think of the energy one wastes on thinking about and responding to such nonsense. Subsequently, I have the great Teddy Roosevelt quote ” It’s not the critic that counts…” framed in my basement where I lift. Again, great article!
(English not first language)
Internet essentially is a place where people can anonymously express themselves. As the other Anon stated above that is an great opportunity and should not be wasted.
The only way I can see people using more their real names in internet discussion is through closed communities (forums etc.) with their own rules. This would lead to esotericsm and i think many aspiring people (int this case powerlifters) would turn away.
I think trolling and other negativity is just a necessary cost for having this kind of medium of communication and everybody should just learn to live with it.
And by the way, how is the fact that people bad mouth the trolls with their real names helping anything. That is as idiotic as trolling is.
Thank you, have a nice day
Great article. This reminds me of a song called “Covered in Cowardice” by Tilly Talent. In the song he says “beware the voice without a face”. Interesting thoughts.
Has Myles bench 225 yet?
Do you really want everything you do online to be tried to your real life identity? Do you want potential employers or anyone else for that matter to be able to scrutinize everything you say? Do you want some crazy person coming around your house because you made fun of them on a messageboard? To me, its simply a matter of common sense.
As an aside, the people I have seen bitch and moan the most about anonymous internet posts are usually elite lifters with bloated egos that have hissy fits online when somebody makes fun of them or calls them out on their bullshit.
@Mark Freeman
I’m pretty sure his YouTube page is here, http://www.youtube.com/user/MylesPL79#p/search/0/tit1iksqWZk. I did see 210lbs.
@Dan
That pretty well sums it up.
As a side note, there’s really little reason to believe that future employment decisions won’t be more heavily tied to the online presence that we’re building over time. Google already has the capability to identify almost anyone by face. Creation of an algorithm that enables accurate retrieval of internet activity (forum posts, etc.) to create potential employment profiles can’t be too far behind. Personally, I’d rather the world not define me by the fact that I’m a powerlifter–no matter how passionate I am about the sport.
For those of you who disagree, you’re really selling yourselves short by only including your name. For posts to really count, you’ve gotta include a mailing address and a preferred method of telephone contact.
I would anonymously like to ask Mark Freeman to post an article on the miracle of Box Squatting for raw lifters.
Mark Freeman aka SPFjudge, whose contributions to powerlifting discourse include starting threads titled “Calling out all the westside for raw phaggots” (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=139235763). You bring so much class to USAPL.
@Boris,
That Youtube link of Matt benching 215 is impressive. Nice set-up and growl during the ascent. Thanks for sharing.
At what level of Bench Press is one entitled to an intellectual,insightful opinion?
John Doe,
Bout three fitty…
Anonymity allows the conversation to be focused on the issue at hand. Stating names will either lead to stat call-outs (Oh you total less than me so you must be stupid) or blatant personal attacks.
Anonymous posting is the only way to have a real discussion with no bias.
But, I only bench 405 raw so anyone 410 or stronger can just sit back and say my post is stupid.
Myles didn’t you write a number of articles/posts criticising the IPF e.g. http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/powerlifting-articles/extreme-depth-unsafe-and-unfair/
Practice what you preach.
Aaron, I signed my name to those articles. Clarify your statement.
Newspapers don’t allow anonymous comments to editorial pages, so I’d have to disagree with anonymous names being used to state opinions.
i think people who take drugs in tested feds do more harm than good to the sports reputation
and if you type in power lifting in to google you always get 300lbs guys who squat high as hell and it gets called a world record
thats is also not helping the sport
just my two cents