Welcome to the ABPU!
The Amateur British Powerlifting Union is a drug tested federation and company under the second longest established world federation of the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress. The ABPU and the BPU are separate federations, both commercially and constitutionally and are run together at competitions on the same platform. Under the AWPC ruling, all members will be subject to testing in and out of competition and also will be eligible for the AWPC World Championships which are separate from the WPC World Championships. ABPU members have some special rights though, as we promote cohesiveness in the sport and respect, our members are expected to lift side by side, but not against, BPU members and not only do ABPU members have the right to compete in BPU competitions if they wish (drug testing will still be enforced) they can elect to take BPU records as well if they wish as well as competing in the WPC European and World Championships should they chose to without penalty as long as they understand they will still be drug tested as members of the ABPU. Even though the two are completely separate – the owners still allow crossover into BPU competitions.
The World Powerlifting Congress offer the AWPC facility of the to all member countries – some take it and some do not and we are taking this FIRST in the UK of offering this to our members and new members. The ABPU and BPU, although under different ownership and rulings, follow the exact same ethics of freedom to lift where you wish without penalty, creating a supportive, inclusive environment for all members and treating all levels of lifters the same (although we do make a bit more of a fuss of the novice lifters). It is a professional, long time recognised world body with strict guidelines in place and we heavily enforce the testing policy to ensure that those who cheat will be caught and exposed. There are very few sports where you have 2 platforms to compete from and there is no excuse for drug use in a tested Powerlifting federation when other options are available. Emma James began the ABPU in January 2015 solely and has run it independantly from the BPU as owner until limited company incorporation to safeguard both the lifters and the federation. When she first started the ABPU there was doubt it would work, asking tested and non tested athletes to share a common love of powerlifting, but it did. She is the sole decision maker on policy with the input of only the lifters and the governing body, the AWPC. This is why the ABPU has a targeted testing policy to ensure our members are protected from those who seek to abuse that privileged position.
The ethos is simple – both seperate federations are run by lifters for lifters and acceptance of all.
Take a look through the site for the membership, testing policies and details you need and for everything else regarding the lifting ruling, technical details and schedules refer to the main site.