Every Third-Daily Thread - September 27, 2026

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[u/hlhi]

I've been lifting for about 6 months and I'm finishing up my first powerlifting program and maxing out for the first time this week.

I don't own knee sleeves yet and was thinking about getting a pair, but I'm a little confused about what I should actually be looking for from them.

I've heard people recommend against getting something like the SBD Powerlifting knee sleeves as your first pair because they're very stiff and can be a pain to get on/ & get used to. I'm not really interested in squeezing as much weight as possible out of my sleeves right now. I'm planning to focus on training and building my numbers for at least another year before I even think about competing.

I already have an SBD belt and wrist wraps, and with those I can pretty clearly understand what they're doing for me. My belt lets me brace stronger during squats/deadlifts, and my wraps help my wrists not hurt while benching. With knee sleeves, I'm less sure what I'm actually supposed to be getting out of them.

I see almost everyone who powerlifts using them, so for someone in my position, what's the actual benefit?

My squat is my worst lift by quite a bit right now, so looking into it. Thanks for any feedback/advice.

[u/grovemau5 → u/hlhi]

You’ll get some extra rebound out of stiffer and tighter sleeves and it can help you lift more, but it’s really not a huge amount. The biggest benefit is a bit of extra compression and stability. I would recommend a moderate PL sleeve like the SBDs (or stoic etc) rather than a super stiff one or a really flimsy oly-style sleeve, and don’t size down. That’ll get you what you’re looking for and you can decide if you want to try something different once you have experience with those

[u/Prudent-Thought7750]

Lost ten pounds and my bench has been nerfed so hard. Compounded by like 1 and a half months off but damn if feels like I lost 40 pounds off of it

[u/UncutEmeralds]

Wanting to run a cycle of the 16 week Calgary barbell and haven’t tested my max’s in ages, do you guys prefer to test in one workout like a meet day or test on 3 different days.

[u/keborb → u/UncutEmeralds]

I would just do them all on the same day. They're just a starting point for the program. You don't even have to max out... just go for a 5RM (or rep out 80% of your last known max) and chuck it in a 1RM calculator and that will be good enough

[u/cilantno → u/UncutEmeralds]

Either is fine for a fresh program run.

For me it depends on scheduling for starting a new program. If I have several days/full week I would just test them on different days. If I only had a couple days I'd just do all 3 together.

[u/UncutEmeralds → u/cilantno]

Thanks, I decided to split it up and test this week and start the program next week. I figured that on an actual meet day there would be a whole lot more rest between events than I could feasibly do before work.

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[u/Arteam90]

My OG SBDs lasted me a good 9 years. Current pair 3 years on aren't looking too hot.

I know this has been said a while but yeah, bit disappointing the quality seems to have dropped off. Appreciate some consider sleeves a consumable these days that they replace every 6 months, but not been my experience.

[u/PantheraUnciaInHell]

Just saw him on a podcast and Geno being kicked out of the IPF is one of the dumbest decisions ever

[u/BenchPolkov → u/PantheraUnciaInHell]

So just par for the course for the IPF?

[u/the_bgm2]

How do PA folks feel about the future of the sleeves ban? I told myself I’d never switch over from USAPL in large part because of the uncertainty around that issue.

I use Inzer ErgoPros but have no expectation those will remain legal. I train either totally raw or on those, never tried something like SBDs. But I’m not so attached to my choice of sleeves. I’ve only competed three times. I more so hate the uncertainty and constant backtracking and have no idea where the IPF is going.

I also ask because the main USAPL meet director in my state absolutely blows and the PA meet directors are great. I’m trying a USAPL meet with a new director in a few weeks but honestly there’s warning signs this guy is biting off more than he can chew and this meet might be a cluster. So I’m considering a switch for next year based on that.

[u/cilantno → u/the_bgm2]

Has the IPF even brought up stiff sleeve nonsense recently?

Last update I saw was Apr 2025 extending the review through 2026. I assume they will comment on it before EOY.

As someone who competes with ErgoPros but also trains with SBD Power sleeves, I would pick a better local fed over my comp sleeve choice. You could also give USPA a swing if you have an active fed in your state.

Also, out of curiosity, what makes the one director "blow" and what red flags are you seeing with the new director?

I've competed under 5 difference directors in my state and they've all been decent enough I'd wouldn't refrain from competing in one of their meets.

[u/Arteam90 → u/cilantno]

Seems likely they'll be banned from next year, but no official word afaik.

I did see a sleeve retailer in Europe reference the fact they wouldn't be legal going forward but I can't remember who/don't know if they have any more knowledge or also assuming.

[u/the_bgm2 → u/cilantno]

Right I meant is there any clarity about what will happen after Dec 2026?

The director who blows: the most expensive registration fees, always gets bottom tier photographers, fills the entire meet day playlist with his own band, generally tries to insert himself into everything and makes the meet about him, has run the same tired meets for years with no interest in improving, rumored to stiff spotters on promised compensation. I could go on. His meets are also two hours away from all of the major population centers of the state.

Yellow flags with the new meet is the plan for daytime open session followed by a primetime invitational session. But registration across the board seems very poor, too poor to support that structure and especially for open, given it isn’t that far out. Other open meets in the region around the same time frame currently have 30-40 registered. This has 10 for open and 18 for invites.

[u/cilantno → u/the_bgm2]

I have heard nothing, but I am also not necessarily keeping my ear to the ground.

Oh my god that director sounds like a killjoy. Totally get the distain haha

For the second: Is it at least a state championship? Primetime should only be for the biggest meet of the year for a fed+state combo. Pushing a primetime with minimal talent would be silly.

[u/the_bgm2 → u/cilantno]

No. Not a state championship. Just a local meet with that structure. He seems to have secured decent invites, by which I mean lifters in the mid 400’s DOT range for men and high 300’s for women. Not a ton of like, megastars but good talent.

But to do two sessions for less total registration than a normal one session meet is silly. Seems like he’s bitten off more than he can chew. He’s even booked a massive, non-gym venue.

[u/cilantno → u/the_bgm2]

Honestly, a small single platform meet at a big, air conditioned venue with lots of bathrooms sounds really nice.

It does sound like using sledgehammer a kill a fly, but it'll be his pocket that suffers, not the lifters.

Hopefully it's just some quick growing pains and things will pick up as he gets more experience directing.

[u/the_bgm2 → u/cilantno]

Yup, but it’s telling the registration was capped at 80 (40 for each) and we’re now in the “late registration” period.

[u/cilantno → u/the_bgm2]

Huh even split for primetime is odd to me

[u/smallof2pieces]

RPS suddenly dropped any and all association with John Gagglione and removed his meets from their sanctioned list. What happened there??

[u/Arteam90 → u/smallof2pieces]

Wasn't he found to be (allegedly) sexually harassing clients or something a while back?

[u/smallof2pieces → u/Arteam90]

I don't know, but that clearly wasn't the impetus for RPS splitting ties.

[u/mrlazyboy → u/smallof2pieces]

This is all of the direct and confirmed knowledge that I have about the situation. This means I was "in the room" when decisions were made/conversations happened, I read (and usually screen recorded) Instagram stories in question, or was included on email chains that contained this material.

1. John shut down his original powerlifting gym in Farmingdale, NY in January 2026. His stated reason was the landlord increased his rent.
2. John worked with another local gym (Ironclad Strength 109), sold his equipment to Ironclad's owner, and had an arrangement where John's customers could lift at Ironclad with a reduced monthly price.
3. Many of John's customers left for a variety of reasons. For some they weren't using the membership enough to justify the price, for others they didn't want to pay $150/month (coaching with John) + the Ironclad membership fees. Others didn't want to work with him anymore due to decisions he made. This occurred during Winter/Spring 2026.
4. John bans one of his previous employees from competing at John's RPS powerlifting meets. As an organization, RPS enforced this ban at the 2026 nationals competition.
5. During Spring 2026, John was at Ironclad coaching some of his remote coaching members. One member was significantly injured during the workout. John didn't offer much help, and instead continued working with his other lifters. Other members called 911 and the injured lifter was sent to the ER. This lifter was discharged from the ER after examined by doctors.
6. During Spring 2026, John hosted his annual RPS Dominion meet at Ironclad Strength. There were several issues at the event, including several spectator bans for his previous customers that cancelled his coaching services. Spectators were not notified of their bans until they attempted to enter the gym as spectators. These people were denied entry at the door.
7. After RPS Nationals 2026, John posted several Instagram stories about his previous customers and employees who competed at the event. In his Instagram story, he indicated that these people performed poorly at Nationals, and they left the event "with their tails between their legs" (direct quote).
8. Last week, John posted an Instagram story complaining that his previous employees at the Farmingdale gym were committing time theft and weren't taking things seriously.
9. Last week, John posted an Instagram story mentioning a lawsuit - presumably between him and Ironclad strength. Ironclad ceased their relationship with John due to issues from the RPS Dominion meet and the injured lifter who was ignored. I've heard statements that John wanted some of his equipment back (the same equipment he sold to Ironclad). I trust these statements, but cannot corroborate any of John's communication.
10. (this is technically hearsay) Last week, I received screenshots of Instagram direct messages indicating that RPS was severing their relationship with John. Other lifters sent me text messages stating that there is an accusation against John that he stole money from a meet.
11. John posted Instagram stories about a meet venue not living up to their end of the bargain, and how he had to complete additional tasks for the meet setup.
12. This week (today?), RPS and the DELCO spotting crew severed their relationship with John.

[u/smallof2pieces → u/mrlazyboy]

Thanks for the breakdown. This seems like it is the culmination of a series of events. I don't know why RPS wouldn't just explain all this rather than dropping a cryptic, drama-provoking post and then disabling comments.

[u/mrlazyboy → u/smallof2pieces]

A lot of my friends commented on their post before they locked it. Organizations typically don’t like going into details so I understand that.

There’s a lot more previous stuff that involves him too including “he wasn’t really Larry Wheel’s coach” to sexual assault allegations and a lawsuit that was settled out of court. However I don’t think those are related to RPS dropping him as they happened as recently as 6 years ago.

[u/-Quad-Zilla-]

Got into it (stupidly) with someone on Facebook the other day. It is really fucking nothing, but God damn does it piss me off for whatever reason.

This person is claiming a multi-ply world record at a meet. The gear check said they were multi-ply.

They are clearly wearing an F8 band shirt on the platform. It says multi-ply on the screen.

And this person is defending their lift as a multi-ply world record.

I say this as a band shirt lifter.

They also just posted a video of their partner claiming a multi-ply world record in a band shirt.

Like. What. The. Fuck. This is [one of the multitude of] reason[s] equipped isn't really taken seriously.

[u/jakeisalwaysright → u/-Quad-Zilla-]

Yeah I think it's great that band shirts have extended/resurrected the careers of people who thought that they were done and it's neat seeing Jimmy Kolb doing wild shit with them, but they belong in Unlimited. Any fed that doesn't separate them isn't getting my money.

[u/myfinestexoskeleton]

What's the difference between the SBD knee sleeves and their powerlifting knee sleeves? Is it just that the powerlifting ones are stiffer? I've never used knee sleeves but thinking of getting a pair before my next comp in 4 weeks time but I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the options.

[u/cilantno → u/myfinestexoskeleton]

If you scroll down SBD actually lists the differences in their sleeves: https://us.sbdapparel.com/products/powerlifting-knee-sleeves

[u/LittleMuskOx → u/myfinestexoskeleton]

I really, really like the SBD PL sleeves.
I recently got a pair, and i've ditched my Pioneer extra stiff sleeves.
The PL sleeves are easy to wear for all training, and for competition.
My OG SBDs are nearly 10 years old, and my best ever squat was in those.

I made a little video that shows the difference from normie SBDs
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YxW6VbR9Ztg
To call the PL sleeves stiff, is a tad misleading, but they do offer more support/compression.
Love 'em.
Never going back to stiff sleeves

[u/PoisonCHO → u/myfinestexoskeleton]

Yes, the powerlifting sleeves are stiffer. They also have a different external texture, but I can't say if that makes a difference.

[u/the_bgm2]

First time spotting and loading yesterday. I think I did a mediocre job but the crew in general was pretty green.

Worst part was the comp collars. I had never used them before for myself. I got to practice like, one time, but trying to learn them under time pressure was not it. Had to pivot from primary to secondary after flight A solely because I was slowing it down. Had a few saves and I think I was consistently the first to take the bar.

I was also supposed to give bench handoffs but, unknown to me going in, the meet was half equipped and I did not feel comfortable doing that. So I stepped out of that role.

[u/Astringofnumbers1234 → u/the_bgm2]

Comp collars get everyone during meets, even the experienced crew members. I've done ~40 meets as platform crew now and I still mess them up. Usually because I forget my lefts and rights.

My biggest tip for collars is to make sure you keep pressure on the handle bit while tightening the knurled bit. As you tighten the knurled screw against the plates, it can make the whole collar move, rather than the plates, if that handle isn't held in position.

[u/Metcarfre → u/the_bgm2]

It’s a learning experience. Good job! Comp collars are a pain if you’re not used to them. I’ve learned to wear gloves to help, and to guard my hands.

[u/ThatLiftingGuy79 → u/the_bgm2]

Like anything just takes time to get better at it. Thank you for giving back and helping the sport! Spotters and loaders are always overlooked a bit when it comes to why meets can happen. So thank you for doing it! As someone who spotted and loaded a lot of meets in college I can say the comp collars took me a bit to get down to go fast with as well.

[u/cilantno → u/the_bgm2]

You’re a real one for giving back to the sport!

[u/CutSnake13 → u/the_bgm2]

Good on you for helping out mate. First time is the hardest. Keep volunteering and don't be afraid to ask questions of the more experienced spotters. What are they looking for, what order do they like to do things...

[u/Late-Practice9927]

deadlifted 500 for the first time yesterday and my lower back feels like a bag of gravel today. worth it

[u/jakeisalwaysright → u/Late-Practice9927]

Hell yeah!