Author Archives: Al Myers

Dino Gym Challenge

By Al Myers

It was a great day for the Dino Gym Challenge – a day we honored the longtime USAWA and Dino Gym member Dean Ross who passed away a year ago.

Larry Traub made his return to the USAWA lifting platform and put on an outstanding performance. Larry’s last trap bar deadlift of 500 pounds is one I will remember. He won the outstanding lifter award for his great lifting.

Chad Ullom provided a stellar performance as well – highlighted by his 105 pound swing with his new shoulder!

Amber Elder was the only women’s lifter and lifted great. She finished her day with a big 215 pound trap bar deadlift.

Denny once again made the long trek from Lebanon, PA to attend a meet at the Dino Gym. He had a good battle with my dad LaVerne all day long and just edged him out in total points. I was very impressed with my dad when he lifted 303 pounds in the Trap Bar Deadlift for a new record.

I want to truly thank everyone for attending the Dino Gym Challenge. I also want to thank the lifters who participated unofficially who could not attend as I know there were several.

Meet Results:

Dino Gym Challenge

March 9th, 2024

Dino Gym, Abilene, KS

Meet Director: Al Myers

Meet Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Officials (1 official system): Al Myers, Dave Glasgow, Chad Ullom, Denny Habecker, LaVerne Myers

Lifts: Bench Press – Hands Together, Swing 1 Dumbbell, Cheat Curl, Trap Bar Deadlift

WOMENS DIVISION

LIFTERAGEBWTBPSw1CrlDLTOTPTS
Amber Elder4515510055R100207462509.4
EXTRA FOR RECORDS:

Amber Elder Trap Bar DL 215

MENS DIVISION

LIFTERAGEBWTBPSw1CrlDLTOTPTS
Larry Traub7019622580R1455009501165.5
Chad Ullom52234220105R190460975904.2
Dave Glasgow7025918065L127330702744.2
Denny Habecker8117211050R80235475732.6
LaVerne Myers7921510540L105280530700.9
Jason Payne582789580L145315635568.9
EXTRA FOR RECORDS:

LaVerne Myers Trap Bar Deadlift 303

Denny Habecker Trap Bar Deadlift 250

RECORD DAY LIFTS:

LaVerne Myers 75-79 Age Group, 100KG Class

Finger Lift – Left Little 46#

Finger Lift – Left Ring 56#

Finger Lift – Left Index 76#

Finger Lift – Left Middle 86#

Finger Lift – Right Middle 86#

Denny Habecker 80-84 Age Group, 80 KG Class

Finger Lift – Right Little 46#

Finger Lift – Right Ring 51#

Finger Lift – Right Index 66#

Finger Lift – Right Middle 76#

Finger Lift – Left Middle 76#

Grip Championships

By Sanjiv Gupta

2024 USAWA Grip Championships

Group picture from the 2024 USAWA Grip Championships

Ten USAWA masters athletes took the platform to contest the 2024 USAWA Grip Championships held at Dino Gym in Abilene KS. Weigh-ins and rules briefings were conducted, and the meet was contested using three officials, Chad Ullom, Randy Smith and in training was Sanjiv Gupta. We started with the Pinch Grip, Strict and conservative openers were taking as lifting got underway. Being a grip event, the texture of the plates makes a big difference. The best competition lifts were between 80 and 120 pounds with Jason taking the top spot. We started with 25 pound plates, then 35 pound plates and finally 45 pound plates as the center plates and evenly loaded change plates on either side.

Next was the Vertical Bar, 1 Bar, 1” and hand declarations were made as this can be contested with the left or right hand. The range on this was more extreme with best competition lifts between 115 and 225 pounds. Ben had the top spot and did not even open until everyone else was done. Then came the Deadlift, Fingers, Index. This lift is as much about finger strength as it is about pain tolerance. The range on this was pretty extreme (95-225 pounds) with some lifters just taking a single attempt. Chad had the top spot. Chad opened along with Ben at 205 pounds after the rest of us were done.

Then came the Deadlift, Fulton, Ciavattone Grip. This lift is tough as hand size is as much a factor as raw grip strength. The range of lifts were from 173 to 318 pounds. Chad had the best lift at 318 pounds and took a successful extra attempt for a record at 323 pounds. Finally, we contested the Rim Lift. This is a relatively new lift that we contested on a bar with 20-inch collar to collar spacing. While straddle, hack or conventional deadlift is acceptable, we had one straddle lifter and everybody else pulled conventional. We used plates with a shallow rim depth for my liking. The range of lifts was tight with lifts between 180 and 290 pounds. Chad again had the top spot at 290 pounds.

A fun time was had by all.

MEET RESULTS:

2024 USAWA Grip Championships

February 17th, 2024

Dino Gym

Holland, KS

Meet Director: LaVerne Myers

Meet Scorekeeper: Sanjiv Gupta

Officials (3 official system used): LaVerne Myers, Chad Ullom, Dave Glasgow, Sanjiv Gupta, Lance Foster

Lifts: Pinch Grip – Strict, Vertical Bar Lift 1 Bar 1″ One Hand, Deadlift Index Fingers, Deadlift Fulton Bar Ciavattone Grip, Rim Lift

WOMENS DIVISION

LIFTERAGEBWTPINVB1DLIFDLFBRIMTOTPTS
Stacy Todd4119580180L150173180763705.1

MEN DIVISION

LIFTERAGEBWTPINVB1DLIFDLFBRIMTOTPTS
LaVerne Myers79216100160R1602632709531142.6
Randy Smith69196110180R1202632359081065.5
Chad Ullom52230105185R22531829011231051.3
Ben Edwards48230100225L2052832501063959.9
Sanjiv Gupta52200100160L125243250878886.6
Dave Glasgow7026090115R120233235793807.3
Jason Payne58286120160R95253260888784.8
Lance Foster5823690170R160173210803781.1
Chris Todd44278110170R160223250913721.7

NOTES: BWT recorded in pounds. All weights listed in pounds. R and L designate right and left. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for bodyweight and age.

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORDS:

Chris Todd Pinch Grip Strict 125

Stacy Todd VB1bar1″ 200

Chris Todd VB1bar1″ 180

Sanjiv Gupta VB1bar1″ 170

Chad Ullom VB1bar1″ 200

Lance Foster DL Index Fingers 170

Sanjiv Gupta DL FB CG 253

Chad Ullom DL FB CG 323

Randy Smith DL FB CG 273

Dave Glasgow DL FB CG 243

Dino Gym Challenge

Dean Ross competing in the 2019 IAWA World Championships in Abilene, Kansas.
Dean Ross competing in the 2019 IAWA World Championships in Abilene, Kansas.

This year the Dino Gym Challenge will be dedicated to a long time Dino Gym club member, Dean Ross. Dean passed away last year on March 9th, at the age of 80 so this competition will mark one year since his death.

Dean was liked by everyone. He attended almost every event at the Dino Gym and always had plenty of interesting stories to tell. He traveled to USAWA events all over the country, and always drove. He often would finish a comp and then get in his truck to drive overnight home to Tulsa.

Dean loved all the lifts, and broke many records in a wide array of different lifts. For this memorial meet I picked these lifts for a reason as they were some of his favorites as he performed them in Gold Cups or Presidential Cups.

MEET DETAILS:

Meet Director:            Al Myers – Email: amyers@usawa.com

Meet Date:                 Saturday, March 9th,   1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location:                    Dino Gym, 1126 Eden Road, Abilene, KS 67410

Sanction:                    U.S.A.W.A Memberships cards can be purchased on meet day

Weigh-ins:                  12:00 – 1:00 PM the day of the meet

Divisions:                   Depends who shows up

Awards:                     Don’t expect one

Entry Fee:                  None – but please notify me in advance if you plan to attend

Lifts:

Bench Press – Hands Together

Swing – 1 Dumbbell

Curl – Cheat

Trap Bar Deadlift

The lifts will be done is this order.

2024 Grip Championships

By Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT – 2024 USAWA GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

The new year is now upon us and with that comes the announcement for the annual Grip Championships! The Grip Championships have always been the first Championship event in the USAWA every year.

This competition has been a popular one in the USAWA throughout the years.  At times it has been one of the largest events attended for the year in the USAWA.  I always try to “mix things up” with the chosen lifts, but have always kept them to official lifts of the USAWA.

MEET DETAILS:

Meet Director:            Al Myers  email: amyers@usawa.com

Meet Date:                 Saturday, February 17th, 2024  1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location:                    Dino Gym, 1126 Eden Road, Abilene, KS 67410

Sanction:                    USAWA  – Membership required

Weigh-ins:                  12:00-1:00 PM the day of the meet

Divisions:                   Juniors, Women, Masters, and Open

Awards:                     None

Entry:                        None – But please give advance notification if attending

Lifts:

Pinch Grip – Strict

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

Deadlift – Fingers, Index 

Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip

Rim Lift

World Postal

By Al Myers, IAWA President

MEET RESULTS – 

2023 IAWA WORLD POSTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Another great year for the IAWA World Postal Championships!!

This year we had 51 lifters compete from the United States, Australia, England, and Canada. This World Postal Championships is one of three (with the World Championships and the Gold Cup being the other two) promoted by IAWA.   I want to REALLY thank all those that participated. Your participation is what makes this a great event!  As per the tradition the past few years, the lifts of the first day Worlds were contested.  I’ve included all class winners and best lifters, individual overall rankings for men and women, 3 person team rankings, and club rankings.

I want to give special mention to the overall winners in each category.  The Overall Best Men’s Lifter was ABE SMITH, and the Overall Best Women’s Lifter was MAX ELL.  The Overall Best 3-person Team went to CLARK’S GYM (Abe Smith, Travis Luther, Tony Hose).  The Overall Best Club went to CLARK’S GYM, which had 11 members participate.   The Overall Best Association went to the USAWA, with the IAWAUK in second, and the ARWF in third.

The youngest lifter that entered was KYRAN VOCE at 5years of age. The oldest lifter in the completion was BILL CLARK at 91 years of age! I want to mention 2 lifters who competed as Exhibition Lifters (because of lack of an official to judge their lifts) just to show support to IAWA and the memory of Andy Goddard.  These lifters were Chad Ullom and Sylvia Stockall of Canada.

If anyone notices any errors in these results please let me know as soon as possible so I can get things corrected.  Sometimes I have difficulties reading the handwriting on the official scoresheets.

Again, I want to thank everyone for entering this meet and making it an outstanding annual event in IAWA.

MEET RESULTS (PDF) – 2023 World Postal Results

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