USAWA

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
2013 IAWA World Championships

Mark and I enjoying some "beach time" on Scarborough Beach near Perth, Western Australia, while there for the 2011 IAWA World Championships.

The entry form and meet details have been released for the 2013 IAWA World Championships.  Mark Haydock, of Preston, England, will be this year’s meet director and host.  Mark runs an all round club, the Houghton Barbell Club. Mark has been very involved in IAWA and has attended many World Championships.   He was the Overall Best Lifter in the 2009 Championship in Lebanon, PA.

All it takes for a USAWA member to enter the IAWA World Championships is to be a USAWA current member.  There are NO pre-meet qualifications to enter. Just fill out the entry form completely and send it to Mark, then book your flight to England.  That’s it! The entry deadline is August 31st.

The meet is a two day meet (Saturday October 5th & Sunday October 6th).   In the Info Sheet Mark has given several suggestions for places to stay.  The lifts for the World Championships are:

DAY ONE

Clean and Press

Continental Snatch

Pullover – Straight Arm

Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 Arm, 2″, One Hand

DAY TWO

Squat

Clean and Jerk – Dumbbell, One Arm

Deadlift – Trap Bar

ENTRY FORM (PDF) – 2013 IAWA World Championships Entry

INFO SHEET (PDF) -  2013 IAWA World Championships Info

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
2013 USAWA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dave and Gunner Glasgow

The Club Championships has been rescheduled!   After the cancellation last March in Ambridge due to bad weather,  the Club Championships was looking “not to happen” this year.  However, I consider this meet as one of our “signature events” in the USAWA since it is a Championship Event, and these are the meets that really need to be contested every year.  The Club Championships began in 2010 with the Ambridge Barbell Club hosting it since then.  Dave Glasgow, the leader of the Ledaig Heavy Athletics, has agreed to promote it this summer so that this important competition will continue on an annual basis.

The Club Championships is much different than other competitions.  It is NOT an individual competition, but rather, a club competition.  The scores of three members of a club are “added together” to form a club score.  This way clubs are pitted against each other, with each member making their own contribution to their club.  Awards will be given out on a “club basis” – there will be no individual recognition at this event.

The rules for the Club Championships  are pretty straightforward:

1.  Each Club brings up to three lifters to compete. Clubs may enter with less than three members, but will be at a disadvantage when scores are added together.

2.  Club members MUST be registered with their club of participation (as documented on the membership roster).

3.  Adjusted Point scores are added together to form a club score.

4.  Club with the highest Club Score is awarded the Club Champion.

The Ledaig HA’s has been a big club player in the USAWA over the past few years.  Now since Dave has his new training facility built I expect even more involvement with promotions.  I consider Ledaig as one of the TOP CLUBS in the USAWA.  At the 2012 IAWA World Championships last fall in Salina, their club won the team title at the Championships (combined pt scores of all members participating).  That’s a big club win – winning Worlds!!!!  In 2011 Ledaig won the team title at the USAWA Nationals in Kirksville.   Also, last year at Nationals in Las Vegas they were awarded the Runner Up Club of the Year in the USAWA!  

I’m really excited about this year’s Club Championships.   I truly believe the success of the USAWA lies with club involvement.  Meets like this one foster that involvement.   Year’s ago it was important to lifters to be “part of a club” when going to competitions.  Club spirit was high – and lifters often competed in their club shirts showing their support to their club.  I want to bring that feeling back, and this meet is a great way to do that.  It should be an honor for a club member to get selected to represent their club at the Club Championships.  Let’s make this a great meet!

MEET DETAILS:

2013 USAWA Club Championships
Sunday, July 14th, 2013
Ledaig Heavy Athletics Training Facility
Rainbow Bend, KS

Sanction – USAWA

Entry Fee – None

Weighins:  9:00 AM

Start time:  10:00 AM

LIFTS: 

Bench Press – Fulton Bar

Zercher Lift

Peoples Deadlift

There will be a record breaker session after the competition if anyone is interested.  Award certificates will be awarded to the winning clubs. There is no entry form, but please contact Dave prior to the event if you are entering a team at dglasgow@cox.net . The directions to the meet are:

GPS Coordinates are: Decimal coordinates (latitude, longitude):
37.16499343231285,-97.13128566741943

by James Fuller

Driving home from the 2013 Heavy Lift Championships, I realized I had a puzzle to solve.  How to continue improving my Hub lifting ability without the aid of Frank Ciavattone’s large hub Yorks? Remember, Frank’s hubs are the SAME 4  3/4″ across as on my 100 lbers!! Lifting by the hub is NOT at all like lifting a thick bar, pinch gripping a bunch of 10 lb plates or crushing a gripper to death. Hub lifting is uniquely it’s own. The performance is not straightforward as Al Myers can tell you.

4 Spoke Grip Nemesis

To Frank’s meet, I brought 2 45lb BEN Deep Dish plates. These were my Hub Lifting practice plates. The hubs are the same 3  1/2″ across as my York Deep Dish 45’s but have only 3 ’spokes’.  The spokes are the risers on plates most people don’t notice. Near the lip or flange of the plate, they start low and and gradually get taller like a ramp until they merge into the hub.

I showed Al how to grab the hub with index and middle finger together while the ring finger is on the other side of the spoke. The thumb doesn’t seem to contribute much. The pinky ‘backs up’ the ring finger at best. From here twist hand INWARDS against the spokes, as if to unscrew the top off a pickle jar. Now pick up the weight. When I’m done training with these plates it is the ring finger(s) that feel the most stress/work. The twisting helps get my hands closer to the hub and effectively ’shortens’ my fingers. As Al pointed out a smaller hand person has the advantage when it comes to Hub Lifting. The larger the hand, the more work that has to be done  by the finger tips alone.

My 4 spoke York 45’s give me nothing to twist against. The spokes are laid out differently and require me to pick them up ’straight on’ by the finger tips. I can not lift them this way…yet. I need something lighter but with similar dimensions. I believe I’ve found a possible solution. I bought a couple of Fire Hydrant Nozzle Caps(FHNC) at a local Antique shop.

Comparison of Nozzle Cover: Gripping Lip (left) and Gripping Base (right)

These caps provide 3 different gripping ‘handles’ to train. The top is a pentagon. One fits a thumb and 3 fingers while the other fits a thumb and 2 fingers. Oddly, the smaller pentagon is on the heavier cap. The second ‘handle’ is a lip just below the base of the pentagon. The lip can only be picked up by the finger tips. The 3rd handle is the base below the lip. This is the widest part of the cap. One measures 4  3/4″  and the other is 4  1/4″.  One flares out much like a hub. The other  is straight and has finger holds. With hand over the pentagon, there’s more distance between the palm and the fingers, requiring more fingertip strength to pick up the cap. The insides are threaded so that I can attach a pipe and add weight.  The whopping cost for these caps were 10.00$. Some rattle can rust converter to keep the tetanus down to a minimum and I’m off to the races. I’m curious to see how training with these turns out. You certainly can’t beat the price. Remember, there’s nothing like fire hydrant parts to add fire to your training.

by Al Myers

A couple of weeks ago I had a very nice “sit down” visit with Joe Ciavattone Jr. and Joe Ciavattone Sr. following the Heavy Lift Championships in Walpole, Massachusetts.  That’s one thing I really like about the USAWA, most all of us know each other and the after-meet conversations are very enjoyable where we can just relax  …… More

by Al Myers

Dan Wagman becomes the FIRST “two time” winner of the Lifter of the Month with him being declared the Lifter of the Month for the month of April!  Dan’s previous Lifter of the Month recognition was after he won the Overall Men’s  Best Lifter Award at the IAWA Worlds last October, with him earning the Lifter of the Month  …… More

by Al Myers

It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards!  The USAWA award program was started in 2009 to honor those individuals that displays outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories.  I have been the USAWA Award Director that entire time and was the one who started the USAWA Awards Program.   …… More

by Al Myers

The lifter of the month for the month of March goes to James Fuller!

The only USAWA competition that was held in March was Frank’s Barbell Club Record Breaker, held on March 16th.  James resides in Hallowell, Maine.  To my knowledge, he is the only USAWA registered member from the state of Maine.  James has been actively  …… More

by Al Myers

2013 USAWA HEAVY LIFT CHAMPIONSHIPS

What an exciting Heavy Lift Championships last weekend!  I knew I could expect a great meet atmosphere with the meet being held at Franks Barbell Club, hosted by meet promoter extraordinaire Frank Ciavattone, but this time Frank even exceeded my expectations!   Frank is a very seasoned USAWA meet  …… More

[ November 2, 2013; 3:00 pm; ]

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
2013 IAWA GOLD CUP

The USAWA President Denny Habecker will be hosting this year’s IAWA Gold Cup in Lebanon, PA.  The Gold Cup is one of “the three” major IAWA events, and is rotated annually between the membership Nations in IAWA.  Last year the Gold Cup was in Glasgow, Scotland and the  …… More

[ August 10, 2013; 11:00 am; ]

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
THE 2013  USAWA PRESIDENTIAL CUP

For the second year in a row, the now “Annual” USAWA Presidential Cup is being hosted again by our USAWA President Denny Habecker.  This is one of the CHAMPIONSHIP events hosted in the USAWA, and is the Championships of Record Days.  It follows along “the lines” of the IAWA  …… More

by Al Myers

MEET RESULTS
EASTERN OPEN POSTAL MEET

MEET RESULTS:

Eastern Open Postal Meet
March 1-31st, 2013

Meet Director:  John Wilmot

Lifts:  Snatch – One Arm, Clean and Press, Jefferson Lift

Lifters using a USAWA Certified Official:

Gabby Jobe – Official Jesse Jobe, Alison Jobe
Barry Bryan – Official Denny Habecker
Denny Habecker  …… More

by Thom Van Vleck

The Joe the Turk meet set for the Macomb Salvation Army Gym for this weekend has been postponed due to a terrible flood in the gym.  They are still cleaning up and the decision was made to postpone the meet.   Updates will be given regarding a “make up date” at a later time.

Here is  …… More

by Al Myers

Anyone involved with the All-Rounds in the midwest knows “the name” of Wilbur Miller.   I am very fortunate to know Wilbur personally, and he has been to my gym several times now.  He is an ICON amongst past strength athletes in the state of Kansas, and if I was voting,  I would vote him as the GREATEST ALL ROUND  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

Boy oh, boy.  I am so glad the new web site is up and running.  Now I can start addressing some of the most popular questions. If you have not been to look at the Atomic Athletic web site recently, here is a link:  http://www.atomicathletic.com/

#1 QUESTION: What size Indian Clubs should  …… More

by Al Myers

Last month at Frank’s Barbell Record Breakers  James Fuller did something that really impressed me.  Most of us know James by his secret forum identity only (61pwcc , ok – it’s not a secret anymore!!).  I first met him at the Heavy Lift Championships in York, PA in 2011.  James epitomizes an all rounder – he is constantly thinking  …… More

by Tim Piper

The date is quick approaching for the “Joe the Turk” OTSM meet in Macomb IL.  Because I know you are all going to need to refuel at the meet the Salvation Army will be selling lunch at the meet.  They haven’t decided what they will sell yet but last meet we hosted they had pulled pork and  …… More

by Al Myers

The other day on Facebook I saw this YouTube Video for the first time.  Actually I was surprised I hadn’t seen it before as I like to watch YouTube Videos of any type of lifting. It featured an unlikely duo competing in a deadlifting competition   - Ronnie Coleman and Roy Mason.  EVERYONE knows 8-TIME Mr. Olympia (1998-2005) Ronnie  …… More

by Al Myers

I always like to see lifters get recognition by their local community for their personal accomplishments.  Recently, Paula DeLaMata was awarded the Sports Scholarship Award for her All-Round Weightlifting accomplishments for the year 2012.  This award was given to her on March 21st in East Staffordshire, England.  Anyone who has been involved at all in IAWA knows  …… More

by Al Myers

I just want to remind everyone that the entry deadlines for the Heavy Lift Championships and the USAWA National Championships are coming up.   Frank Ciavattone is hosting the 2013 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships on May 4th in Boston, MA  and Denny Habecker is hosting the 2013 USAWA Nationals Championships on June 29 & 30th   in Lebanon, PA.  …… More

WOMEN ‘S DIFFERENCES

10 Reasons why women shouldn’t train like men

By Dan Wagman, PhD, CSCS

Publisher and Editor in Chief, Journal of Pure Power (JOPP)

Consultant, Body Intellect Sports Performance Enhancement Consortium

I can’t imagine living at a time when people thought that women can’t be medical doctors, lawyers, leaders in  …… More

BY DAVE GLASGOW

“MY IRONING BOARD!!”, YELLED MY MOM.  “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY IRONING BOARD??!!  DAVID!!  YOU GET DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!”  EVEN THOUGH I WAS IN MY UPSTAIRS BEDROOM, DOOR SHUT TIGHTLY, I COULD HEAR HER AS THOUGH I HAD ON HEAD PHONES.  SIGHING HEAVILY, I STARTED DOWN THE STAIRS TO MEET MY FATE.  AFTER FIFTY YEARS, A LOT  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

Lost variations of exercises can be your key to success. Because you know the secret, I am going to let you in on this one.  When I stumbled across this variation on wrist roller work, it was one of those DUH moments for me.  You know what I am talking about, when you see something for the  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

I got the coolest photo the other day.  It is Maurice “The French Angel” Tillet. Just having a space to lift in is not enough.  There a lots of gyms that have no soul.  There are lots of gyms that are sterile and faceless or just fake and seem to be pandering to a certain client.  What  …… More

by Al Myers

I’m constantly thinking up new ways to impose self-induced torture on my training partners.  It’s the DINO GYM mentality!  We have a 150 foot cement “runway” in front of the gym that is perfectly level – that we use for pulling sleds, walking with yokes and farmers implements, carrying kegs,  and the like.  It’s a great way to  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

The old York Barbell gym had one of the first in-house “smoothie” operations.  They just called them protein shakes.  These were a big source of inspiration for friendly betting on lifts, particularly on Saturdays.

You see, Hoffman would come in on Saturdays.  It wasn’t so much that he would coach, but he handed out money.  Certain York  …… More

by Al Myers

I’m glad to announce Troy Goetsch as the LIFTER OF THE MONTH for February.  Troy “sealed the deal” with his big win at the USAWA Grip Championships, by beating out a field of 15 other lifters.  Troy lifts for the Jobes Steel Jungle Club, the new up and coming club in the USAWA.  Troy also competes in  …… More

by Al Myers

The USAWA will greatly miss Dale Friesz.   Dale’s passion for All Round Weightlifting and his love for the USAWA was “way beyond” that of  most lifters.  He was in a ”class of his own” in terms of dedication.  Several lifters “come and go” in the USAWA through the years, but Dale kept steady with his never-ending involvement.  I  …… More

by Al Myers

A few weeks ago I made the trip to the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio.  The plans were made for this trip to be in conjunction with the USAWA  Club Championships in Pittsburgh, but when the Club Champs were called off because of bad weather that didn’t really end up happening , we decided to just make  …… More

by Frank Ciavattone Jr.

Due to our area receiving 100 plus inches of snow in the past couple of months, most of our competitors were unable to attend due to plowing snow. This was the first Saturday that we had any number of attendees making it possible to hold this competition.

Our furthest entrant came from upstate Maine and the  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

You can take control of your forearm growth. This is what is great about progressive resistance training. You are in control.The key is consistency. I don’t know how many times I have heard people talk about muscle confusion, chaos, or randomness being the key to training. Now, if you are simply an out of shape slob, anything  …… More

By Dan Wagman, PhD, CSCS

I’m glad that Al’s article on the Romainian Deadlift (RDL) and Stiff-Legged Deadlift (SLDL) mentioned the dangers of the SLDL. Everything about the SLDL is contrary to proper lifting technique, biomechanics, and physiology-and as such increases injury risk immensely. And since we’re talking about the back, an injury there can be life changing and lifting  …… More

by Al Myers

Today I would like to share several of the tributes to him from friends and lifters.  These comments have been taken from several sources – emails, facebook comments, forum comments, etc.  It is obvious that Dale had many friends in the All Round community, and that he was very well respected.  First, I would like to say a  …… More

by Al Myers

This information was sent to me today  by Dale’s daughter Pam.  It includes the details of Dale’s visitation and Funeral.

Dear family and friends,
Thank you for your many kind words and thoughts for all of us. Here are the details for Dad’s visitation and funeral. The obituary will appear in the Washington Post and also  …… More

by Al Myers

Today I have some sad news to report.  Yesterday I received word that long time USAWA member Dale Friesz has died.  This is tragic news for the USAWA, as Dale has been a “foundation member” of the USAWA and has been such a tremendous supporter of the USAWA thru the years.  I am saddened  …… More

by Al Myers

This is the question that often gets asked in the gym – which is better – stifflegged deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts?  That’s a question that is quite debateable as some don’t like either,  while some prefer one over the other, and gives passionate reasons.  Much like asking a guy if he prefers blonds or brunettes.  You’ll end up with someone saying  …… More

by Al Myers and Lance Foster

Most everyone in the USAWA knows or has heard of Al Springs from Dearborn, Missouri.  Al is an eccentric ole’ all rounder, who has been involved with the USAWA for many, many years and has a great passion for weightlifting and anything “all round” in nature.  He is reminiscent of the OLD TIME STRONGMEN of the  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

I’ve got this really cool customer who used to be a Marine Sniper Instructor Trainer. Talk about a specialist. He had me make him a custom barbell a couple of years ago. He was very specific about what he wanted. Now, he had been buying from me for a while and I have a  …… More

by Al Myers

One thing that has happened over the past three years has been the development of an USAWA Officials Program.  The program started in mid-2009 with the initial guidelines. Since then the program has been improved with rule amendments requiring additional criteria.   I finally feel that we now have a TOP NOTCH officials program, and that is something  …… More

by Roger LaPointe

EVERYTHING becomes a game at Atomic Athletic… A lifting game.

PHOTO 1: Michael Codding is contemplating how badly he really needs to go to the john. One too many bathroom keys have disappeared here at Atomic Athletic, so we went one step further than the gas station attendant route. Yes, that is one of the base pipes  …… More

by the DINO MAN,  AUTHORITY ON BALD WEIGHTLIFTERS

Just when you think the USAWA website has stooped to a new “all time low”, I try to take things a little deeper.  Thus today’s story. You know – our organization is loaded with bald lifters.  Several of these All-Round muscle-men got chrome-domes that radiate sexy.  It is a proven fact that  …… More