5 Reasons Not To Enter the Rogue 1000LB Club Challenge

Price

An easy one to attack is the price of the Rogue 1000lb Club Challenge. $30 for you to enter a competition where you are promoting Rogue. You are paying Rogue, to advertise for Rogue, on YouTube and other social media channels. Rogue is the sole sponsor for this event, they should be able to manage it out of pocket for the sake of community development, promotions, and more. But they show their corporate side and attempt to snatch a quick buck. Not a fan of that. Yes, competitions are expensive to run. But they aren’t providing YOU as the athlete with anything but some rules, a timeline, and a very lack luster prize offering. There are other competitions that cost some money, but they either provide a unique opportunity to get judged virtually with feedback on your lifts, or they donate your entry fee to charity.

Prizes

Speaking of prizes, you can take home a shirt. A Rogue 1000lb Club Challenge t-shirt is the ONLY prize available. Pay $30, lift some weights, and as long as you hit a big enough total, you get a shirt. Rogue’s shirts are $30 in their store right now. So you aren’t even getting a discount on the shirt. You are paying full retail price for the opportunity to take home a shirt. I also have a problem with them calling the shirts “custom”. Limited availability, limited release, all good. But custom? Unless it has my name on it, I don’t think so.

Credit to them, ANYONE can “win” a shirt. But again, I don’t really feel like this is as much a “prize” as it is simply you exchanging $30 for a shirt, like you would on any other day.

I mean, we have Fall Meet Shirts as well, but they aren’t required to be purchased for the sake of entering.

Order of Lifts

This one is just confusing. At the GGC we take the order to the extreme and let you basically do whatever you want during the week. In the Rogue 1000lb Club Challenge they chose to require a certain order of lifts, which is Bench, Squat, Deadlift. So they are hosting what is essentially a powerlifting meet, and require the lifts to be done… in the wrong order? This one is just gonna piss off the tried and true powerlifters, and confuse everyone else. Imagine getting disqualified from a powerlifting event because you lifted SBD?

Required Apps

All lifts have to be submitted via YouTube. No other social media channel is allowed. You also have to run Time.is on your phone to have a verifiable time and date stamp. So that means you need a phone AND a device to record. So a camera or a second phone, because you have to show Time.Is TO the camera. But wait, there is more! You also have to have an app called Beyond The White Board. They give you a 30 day free subscription for the event, but it is a paid service there after. You have to add the YouTube links to that app, to upload and be reviewed. Multiple platforms, with multiple steps, with a paid service.

Rules

Here is where the 1000lb Club Challenge goes off the rails. As mentioned, you need to bench, then squat, then deadlift. “All weight plates and the bar must be weighed on camera in order for the workout to be accepted. Additionally, the scale being used MUST be calibrated by using a kettlebell or dumbbell that is clearly marked with its weight.” Read that again please. You must weight all of your plates and bars, on a CALIBRATED scale, ON CAMERA. Then you must mark your weights with a note about how much they weighed in at. You must also mark your barbell at 81cm to mark the max width allowed. Yes, they are requiring that you put tape on your bar, and mark up your plates, for a competitions that MIGHT get you a shirt.

You also can’t wear wraps, straps, or any other supportive gear. No specialty bars allowed, modified lifts, or anything else. You can’t even sumo deadlift! Full rules here for your reading pleasure.

What makes it worse is that they took registration for this event before publishing all of the rules and requirements. So a number of people are going to walk into a disqualification because they never saw those details, or just simply washed $30 down the drain.

Wrap Up on the 1000LB Club Challenge

Obviously I am biased. I think the GGC is about as good as it gets for online competitions. Free entry, no registration, the rules are inviting and welcoming and EASY to follow. We have over $30k in prizes up for grabs, and we have multiple ways to enter, no subscription service necessary. We created a competition that welcomes people into the sport and rewards them for their effort, and is based on the honor system.

If you are reading this and thinking along my lines, make sure you mark your calendars for the next Garage Gym Competition. I know you’ll be as happy as our past athletes.

Update – 999lb Club Shirts Available

Having a little fun while crushing some weights is kind of the general vibe for the Garage Gym Competition. So this shirt which pokes fun at a few different organizations, while rewarding our lifters who have surpassed a milestone in their lifting career is kind of spot on. And keeping with our inclusive nature, we have a data backed milestone for our female lifters… The 499lb Club!

These will change every year, so check the store for updates.

FAQ

• Why 999lb? Cause it’s just the right level of childish while also being legit.
• Why 499lb? Looking at the data we have from the last 5 years, it aligns closely to the 1000lb milestone for male athletes.
• Why don’t the plates add up to 499 and 1000lb? I couldn’t afford a calibrated scale.
• Why make these available without proof of total? The GGC is based on the honor system. If you want to lie on a virtual powerlifting meet to buy a shirt, you have fun living your life.
• Why are the shirts 29.99? Because the OTHER guys are $30
• Why are the female shirts 28.99? Because women deal with enough bullshit, I can give them a little deal on a shirt.

Grab em while they are hot… Along with a Fall Meet Shirt… And wear it with pride!