USAWA Daily News
February 8th, 2010
The Deadlift - No Thumb, One Arm
by Al Myers
Ben Edwards, the Dino Grip Challenge Meet Director, set the All-Time
Record in the Deadlift - No Thumb, One Arm with a lift of 275 pounds
at Clark's Gym Record Day last November.
Rules for the Deadlift - No Thumb, One Arm
"The
rules of the Deadlift – One Arm apply except that the thumb of the lifting hand
must not be covering the bar. The thumb may lie alongside and touch the index
finger and bar under the bar or be held in the air not touching the bar. The thumb must not be touching the top of the
bar."
The
bar must be raised to a point where both ends of the bar are above knee
level, and then held motionless until the lifter receives the down
command. This lift tests the strength of the fingers' flexor tendons
and the ability to hold the fingers in a "locked" position on the bar.
My advice on this lift is to pick your attempts wisely, because this
lift goes from being easy to missing the lift by sometimes as little as
a 5 pound jump.
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February 7th, 2010
Video Page
by Al Myers
I
have FINALLY accumulated enough videos of All-Round lifts to make it
available for general viewing. I will continually be adding to this
collection, so please let me know if you have videos to contribute.
Videos of lifts do not need to be from competitions - but must be
performed according to USAWA rules. If there are obvious rules
infractions in the video I will not put it on this video page. To go
directly to the Video Page - Click Here
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February 6th, 2010
History of Past USAWA Officers
by Al Myers
Dale Friesz at the 2009 Heavy Event NationalsThanks to the work of the unofficial USAWA Historian Dale Friesz,
the website now contains the history of the past officers of the
USAWA. Dale has been a very active lifter since the beginning of the
USAWA, and has been an integral part of past USAWA National Meetings.
Dale deserves a pat on the back from the USAWA for taking time during
his vacation to get this project finished. Thanks Dale! Below is the
listing of the Past USAWA Officers since the origin of the USAWA in
1987, courtesy of Dale Friesz.
Effective January 1st, 2010 (elected 6/20/2009)
PRESIDENT: Denny Habacker, PA
VICE PRESIDENT: Chad Ullom, KS
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Al Myers, KS
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Effective July 7th, 2007 (elected 7/7/2007)
PRESIDENT: Denny Habecker, PA
VICE PRESIDENT: Al Myers, KS
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Bill Clark, MO
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Effective January 1st, 1993 (elected 11/27/1992)
PRESIDENT: Howard Prechtel, OH
VICE PRESIDENTS: Steve Schmidt, MO
Frank Ciavattone, MA
Art Montini, PA
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Bill Clark, MO
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Effective January 1st, 1989 (elected 1/22/1989)
PRESIDENT: John Vernacchio, PA
VICE PRESIDENT: Art Montini, PA
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Bill Clark, MO
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Effective January 1st, 1987 (appointed 11/29/1986)
PRESIDENT: John Carr, MO
REGISTAR: Joe McCoy, TX------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 5th, 2010
Ben Edwards - Meet Director of the Dino Grip Challenge
by Al Myers
Ben Edwards, of the Dino Gym, FINALLY closes the Dino Gym's OLD
#3 COC Gripper. This was one of the very early COC grippers
and noticeably much harder than other #3 Grippers. Ben was
certified as closing the #3 COC gripper in May of 2005, and has been
working on closing this #3 gripper since. He held the handles together
for several seconds. He is only the third person to ever close
this gripper - and many have tried. Congratulations Ben!!
When Ben Edwards
asked me several months ago if he could sanction a USAWA Grip Meet at
the gym, I didn't hesitate in answering YES. It has been a few years
since the USAWA has had a grip competition on the schedule - with the
last one being the Supergrip Challenge hosted by Kevin Fulton
5 years ago. The USAWA is loaded with grip events, several of which
never get contested in competition. I really feel the beauty of the
USAWA is with the great diversity of lifts - and ANY lifter should be
able to find a niche. Meets like this exposes new lifters to the USAWA
who might not have otherwise.
Ben has picked a good lineup of
lifts - from the Weaver Stick to the Inch Dumbbell Deadlift. From what
I have heard, this meet may have a GREAT turnout. Ben is still taking
entries so get your entry sent in to him! Over the next week I will
be running stories on the lifts that will be contested at the Grip
Challenge. For entry forms:
Dino Grip Cover Letter.pdf Dino Grip Entry Form.pdf
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February 4th, 2010
Guinness Record set by Steve Schmidt
by Al Myers
Last weekend at the Zercher Meet in Columbia, Missouri, Teeth Lifting Superstar Steve Schmidt
found ANOTHER Teeth Lifting record to break. This one was a Guinness
World Record for repetition Teeth Lifting. Steve did 50 reps with 100
kilograms (220 pounds) in one minute. His record performance was judged
by Bill Clark. The previous record was 24 reps, set on August 22nd, 2005 by Georges Christen
of Benodet, France. Every repetition was lifted a minimum of six
inches, which was confirmed by the weight touching a rope positioned at
this height.
Steve holds all the best Teeth Lifting records
in the USAWA - both with his hands supported on his legs and with his
hands behind his back. He uses a leather bit attached to a chain that
attaches to the weights. Steve also has pulled heavy trucks and trains
with his teeth. Bill Clark wrote a column about Steve's amazing record
yesterday in the Columbia Tribune. Bill summarized this event way
better than I can - so Click Here to read it.
Below
are links to a couple of other newspaper articles covering this
momentous occasion. And by the way Steve, the USAWA is very proud of
you!
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February 3rd, 2010
Bill and Dolores Clark awarded the Columbia Values Diversity Award
by Al Myers
Bill Clark
If there was a Values
Diversity Award for weightlifting, Bill would be the first one to
receive it. Bill broke the gender barrier when he first introduced
women's weightlifting. This was at a time when weightlifting was a
MAN'S sport and the public opinion was that women shouldn't be lifting
weights. Bill was also very integral in bringing Masters weightlifting
to the forefront. He promoted some of the first Master's Weightlifting
Meets at a time when most lifters thought the old guys should just give
it up, as weightlifting should only be for the young, strong lifters.
Bill Clark went against the grain, and in return, has given thousands
of athletes lifting opportunities they might not have had. Bill Clark
has always been ahead of the pack as a humanitarian, and is greatly
deserving of this award.
Bill's Columbia Daily Tribune Column in recognition of this award
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February 2nd, 2010
Date for Nationals
by Al Myers
2010 National Meet Director Denny Habecker
Our USAWA President and this year's National Meet Director Denny Habecker
has announced plans for this year's Championships. Denny has planned a
two day National Championship, like it used to be several years ago, on
June 26th and June 27th, 2010. It will be held in Lebanon, PA
at the same venue site as this past year's World Championship. This is
an outstanding venue site that has plenty of room for lifting and
warming up. Denny continues to be the driving force in the USAWA, as
this is his THIRD National Championships he has promoted since 2000.
He has picked a GREAT selection of lifts for this meet, with a little
something for everyone.
2010 USAWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.pdf
2010 USAWA Nationals - info page.pdf
There has been a date change for the 2010 Gold Cup, which will be hosted by Frank Ciavattone. The Gold Cup will be on November 6th, 2010. The event calendar has been updated with this new date and revised entry forms.
2010 GOLD CUP CLASSIC INVITATIONS1.pdf
2010 GOLD CUP ENTRY FORM1.pdf
These
two events should be put on EVERYONE"S calendars. They are the two
most important meets held in the USAWA this year. Both of these meets
are being directed by two seasoned Meet Directors who have many years
experience in meet promotion. Denny and Frank know how to treat
lifters to a great competition - so lets get to these two meets and not
let them down!!
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February 1st, 2010
Remembering Chuck Ahrens
by Al Myers
The most famous picture of Chuck Ahrens, from "The Super Athletes"
by David Willoughby. In this picture Chuck Ahrens is muscling out a
75 pound girl on one arm at Muscle Beach, California, on August 1957.
Word has come to me that the great Muscle Beach legend Chuck Ahrens has passed away earlier this month. This was reported on the IronMind Website by David Shaw.
I have not been able to find an obituary, and don't even know what day
he died on. But I want today's story to be about REMEMBERING Chuck
Ahrens and what he has done to promote weightlifting. During the late
1950's Chuck was a mainstay on Muscle Beach, and created a mysterious
legend of super strength without ever competing in a competition. He
was a huge man - with very wide shoulders measuring 26 5/8" across.
Some people said he had a bigger upper body than Paul Anderson.
He often wore long sleeve shirts and long pants when working out and
very RARELY ever displayed his huge 20 inch plus arms. He didn't like
his picture to be taken. Chuck didn't train much on legs, and spent
most of his time training his arms, shoulders and chest. In
researching this piece on his lifting accomplishments - I found so many
differing reports about what he lifted that it is hard for me to report
anything with accuracy. So instead, I am going to list some of these
"reports" that you may take any way you want:
- Triceps Press with 345 pounds
- Crucifix with pair of 150# Dumbbells
- One arm dumbbell press with 320#
- Bench Press 400# for 28 reps
- Clean and Press pair of 205# Dumbbells
Chuck
Ahrens left the muscle scene by the early 1960's. It has been reported
that he hurt his shoulder and discontinued weight training after that
injury. Not much has been reported on him since. But he did something
very few others did - he created a legacy with his strength feats that
other lifters would talk about and debate in their gyms for years to
come. Thom Van Vleck told me that he remembers his Uncles
discussing Chuck's lifts in the early JWC Club - both skeptical and in
awe of him. Chuck Ahrens inspired many lifters to "take on the
impossible" and get stronger. As Thom said, "Ahrens was probably the
most famous lifter that never actually lifted in a meet." From what I
have read about Chuck Ahrens, it is obvious to me that he was a very
humble and private man and most of his "lifting stories" were
propagated by others, who had the privilege first hand of getting to
see him lift amazing poundages. Chuck Ahrens will go down in history as
a HERO in the weightlifting world and stories of him, hopefully, will
continue to be told.
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