Tag Archives: Phil Jackson

Sledge Hammer Levering: Part 1

by Thom Van Vleck

Slim "The Hammer man" Farman doing a sledge hammer leverage exercise with added weight.

Slim “The Hammer man” Farman doing a sledge hammer leverage exercise with added weight.  Slim did a total of 56lbs on 31″ handles

Some of the old timers may have heard of Slim “The Hammerman Farman”.  He was famous for being able to lever very heavy sledge hammers.  He had incredible forearm development.

I always wanted big muscles and big arms were at the top of my list.  My Uncle Wayne had 20 inch arms and did a standing press of 370 pounds back when it was still one of the Olympic lifts.  My Uncle Phil was a bodybuilder and a great arm wrestler. He had huge forearms.  I wanted to be like them.

But my arms are long and spindly.  I started out with 12″ arms when I first started lifting.  My forearms were even smaller.  I started my quest then to find exercises to develop the forearms and I came across Sledge Hammer Levering in an article in the old Peary Radar IronMan magazine.

The photo above of Slim illustrates the first exercise.   The arms are held straight.  You can do one arm with one sledge or two arms with two sledges.  The arms are kept straight and the sledges are lowered only bending the wrists until you touch the face.  Then the wrists are straightened lifting the sledges back up. I used this exercise regularly.

hammer man

The second exercise I call the “Crucifix.  It is similar to the basic lever but with the arms out to the side.  Like the first exercise it could be performed with one or two hammers. Slim had several other feats he performed with sledge hammers.  Over the years I did leverage wrist work off and on.  Including Weaver Stick type exercises.

Then about 20 years ago, me and some friends started a “Strongman Evangelism” show along the lines of what Paul Anderson used to do.  Performing feats of strength while delivering a Christian message.  Paul learned early on that the average person wasn’t impressed with just lifting weights.  They had no context.  So he started performing strongman stunts.  We did the same and one of the first “feats of strength” I thought about was the sledge hammer lever.

Another feat of strength done with a sledge hammer.

Another feat of strength done with a sledge hammer.

I had a splitting maul that weighed 16lbs.  A splitting maul is a sledge hammer on one side and an ax handle on the other.  At the time I could lever a 12lb sledge hammer.  But I wanted to be able to do the 16lber with the ax blade pointed down!  How do you train for that!

Part 2:  How I trained for the Sledge Hammer Lever.

Me and Bill Pearl

by Thom Van Vleck

One of my favorite Bill Pearl photos.  He was in his 40's in this photo and as a teenager that was OLD!  It inspired me to be fit but also fit for life.

One of my favorite Bill Pearl photos. He was in his 40’s in this photo and as a teenager that was OLD! It inspired me to be fit but also fit for life.

If you don’t know who Bill Pearl is then you don’t know weightlifting history and you should drop everything and look him up and learn about the greatest bodybuilder of all time.

There have been countless stories written about Pearl by guys that know much more than me.  This is a story about my relationship with Pearl.

When I first got interested in weightlifting when I was around 14 years old my Uncle Phil took me under his wing and taught me about lifting, lifters, and all the history, types of strength, and just about everything you’d want to know about weightlifting.  My Uncle Phil would tell me, “I’ve forgotten more than you’ll every know”.  He was my guru whereas my Uncle Wayne, his brother, was my training partner.  Wayne didn’t talk much about lifting.  He just did it and with great success.  Phil became a student of the sport, opened a gym, and became a great trainer.

The guy my Uncle Phil first told me about was Bill Pearl.  Pearl was the epitome of size and strength according to Phil. Pearl was a 1 time amateur Mr. Universe and 4 time Pro Mr. Universe.  He first won in 1953 and his last win was in 1971.  This would have been 1977 when I first learned about Pearl so not too long after his last win.  The amazing thing is Pearl never lost.  Theoretically he could have won every year in between but chose to come “down from the mountain” every so often to reclaim the title.

My Uncle Phil had a 3 ring binder that included just about ever photo of Bill Pearl out there.  He “loaned” it to me (40 years later I still have it).  There wasn’t much on lifting out there and I would peruse that binder for inspiration while lifting.

My Uncle Phil met Bill Pearl in the 60’s.  Right after he won the 1967 Mr. Universe.  My Uncle was stationed in Alabama in the Air Force and found out about Pearl appearing at a nearby gym.  Phil went and listened to his seminar.  He said Pearl was wearing street clothes but stripped off his shirt and loaded a barbell to 300lbs.  With no warm up he powercleaned the barbell and pressed it overhead then pressed it behind the neck twice.

Pearl also did feats of strength that inspired me.  He would rip decks of cards in half, tear license plates in half, and blow up hot water bottles.  I learned how to do all of these things because of Pearl.

Then about 15 years ago I got to thinking.  Pearl was still very much alive.  My Uncle Phil was struggling with some health issues and needed some inspiration.  Maybe I could call Pearl and arrange for them to talk on the phone.

After a couple of phone calls I reached Bill!  It seemed weird talking to someone you’d grown up reading about.  The amazing part is he claimed he knew me!  I had been writing articles for Milo, a strength journal, and Bill was a fan.  He love Milo and recognized my name and even quoted a couple of articles he remembered.  Well, that made my day.

I arranged for my Uncle Phil to talk with Pearl.  Phil said they talked for 3 hours!  It had been nearly 40 years in the interim.  Pearl was as friendly as they come.

Over the years I’ve kept in touch with Pearl.  I once had plans to go to Oregon where he lives but he was called away last minute.  I really need to go.  He promised me a workout!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

by Thom Van Vleck

Weightlifters are generally liars.  My Uncle Phil once told me that everyone was a liar, it’s just that some do it to a low degree while others to a high degree.  He would often would describe someone as a 5% liar (which was someone that most would feel was really honest) or maybe an 85% liar (which was someone that was full of crap).  Everyone had a number.

Weightlifters lie for lots of reasons but I think the number one reason is ego.  I’ll admit to it myself.  When I was young I would often add 10% to my best lift to inflate my ego.  I would reason that “on a good day” I could make that lift or that I would soon be able to if I kept training so it really wasn’t a lie.

Another reason weightlifters lie is because they are greedy.  They will lie about their workout routines to hide their secrets or to sell workouts.  I bought a leg training manual from a bodybuilder back in the 80s.  He had the best legs out there.  I followed that routine to the “T”.  Only to have him come out years later and admit that it was a fraud.  He was blessed with great genes and his legs didn’t require as much effort to look fantastic.  He said he was afraid nobody would believe him if he told the truth.  He was probably more concerned nobody would buy his training manual!

Weightlifters lie about two things.  Weights and measurements.  How much can you squat?  Oh, 5 plates.  I guess I didn’t ask if those plates were 45’s or 25’s so he could be telling the truth.  I had a high school buddy I would run into every year or so for some time.  Every time he would ask me what I was benching.  By some miracle he would always be benching 5 or 10lbs more.  Finally I asked him to do a bench workout with me (which was really me asking him to prove it or shut up).  He never showed up.  The truth is the numbers I gave him were probably 5 or 10 pounds more than I could actually do.  So we were both liars.  I was just a 5% whereas he was more like 20%.

Measurements are also a topic of exaggeration.  I remember there was a weightlifting historian by the name of David Willoughby.  He would show up with a steel tape and ask to measure strongmen, weightlifters, and body builders.  Most of the time he would get turned down.  When he was allowed the proclaimed measurements usually came up short.  Then the excuses would come.  I don’t recall him once saying he found a measurement that was bigger than stated.

Another measurement is distance.  Like a shot putter or highland gamer.  What’s your best put?  You always round up or you give your personal best from 10 years ago.

My Uncle Phil said that my Uncle Wayne was the only 100% honest weightlifter he knew.  I remember asking my Uncle Wayne about his lifts and never once did he exaggerate.  NOT ONCE.  He would not only give his best lift to the pound he would also tell you when he did it and that he couldn’t do that much now.

It all comes down to ego.  If you have a strong ego you tend to exaggerate less.  Doesn’t matter how strong you are, if you have a weak ego the lying will come!  I notice as I get older I lie less.  Maybe my ego is stronger. Have I mentioned I have 20 inch arms and I can bench 500?!

The Lost Treasure: York Power Rack

By Thom Van Vleck

Not "the" rack, but one like it.  Note how there was maybe 6 inches between the front and back.

Not “the” rack, but one like it. Note how there was maybe 6 inches between the front and back.

When I was a kid, I recall a very specific moment when I “knew” I wanted to be strong.  I was around 13 and had ridden my bike over to my grandparents and at that time the Jackson Weightlifting Club gym was in their barn.  I asked my grandma where my Uncle Wayne was and she said, “He’s out back lifting weights”.  So, I headed out to say hello.  Wayne was a superheavyweight, he was huge and at the time was around 340lbs.  He idolized Paul Anderson and I have to say, was a pretty good replica of Paul.

I liked Wayne, as a small child I would pat his stomach and say, “You sure have a big belly, Uncle Wayne”.  This got laughs from my Dad and my other Uncles, which probable encouraged me to do it pretty often.  My point is that I liked Wayne because he was nice to me, I knew he lifted weights and I knew he was strong and I recalled him winning at weightlifting meets, but I really never looked at him as a strongman.  Wayne was a gentle giant who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

As I walked out to the barn, this image was about to change.  I heard a series of thunderous “thumps”.  As I got closer, I swore I could feel the ground shake with each one…..and as  I got closer, I was SURE the ground was shaking.  Wayne was in a power rack, wearing only his work pants (covered in oil and grease from the garage), leather lifting shoes, and a belt.   He was doing front quarter squats with over 1000lbs.  Wayne loved the Clean & Press, the Olympic lift dropped in 1972, and he felt this exercise helped his foundation when he pressed.  He had an old York 45lb bar loaded with a hodge podge of weights out to the end and two 50lb scale weights wired to the ends and hanging about a foot under the end of the bar.  He was doing sets of ten and with each rep the rack, sitting on a bed of timbers in the dirt floor of the barn, would shake violently and pile drive into the ground, causing the shaking I had felt.  As he did each one, muscles began to appear everywhere on his body.  Kind of like the Hulk, muscles appeared out of nowhere.  Most of all, I noticed the change in his demeanor.  The look of fiery determination, he looked at me, but right past me, with a focus that only champions know. I was impressed.   Wayne had big muscles, he was strong….and he had that determination, that focus, I wanted to be that!

I fooled around with weights, but a couple years later, I began to train with that focus and I used that power rack often.  It was an old York model, with about 4″ to 6″ of space to lift in.  York made at least two racks.  One had more space.  My understanding was this one was an “isometric” rack. It had a chin up bar across the top to stabilize it and had been bolted to old, rough cut, timbers that created a small platform about 3ft wide and 5ft long.  I used that thing a lot since I often trained alone.  I would do old school leg presses, calf raises, squats, bench presses, partial lifts, and isometrics in that rack.  I would use it as squat stands and since it was 8ft tall, for overhead supports.   There seemed to be endless uses for that thing and to be real honest, as stupidly as I trained as a teen, often using weights well beyond my capabilities, it probably saved my life!

I entered the Marine Corps and my Uncle Wayne fell on some hard times.  Upon returning, I also returned to training with him…..and found the power rack gone!  Wayne explained that he needed some cash and since he didn’t use a lot of the equipment, he had sold some stuff.  This included an old York set and some other classic stuff…but hey, he could have no idea how much this stuff would be worth later.  We’ve all been there.  But I was young and being a little older and wiser now…..I feel guilty for how mad I was at him.

I tried to track down that rack, but the guy that had bought it had already sold it to some guy in Centerville, Iowa, about 2 hours away.  He gave me a name, Carson.  I thought maybe someday I’d be up there for some reason and I’d look him up.

Several years went by and I forgot about that rack.  In the meantime, I had one custom built for me that was 8ft tall and had 2ft of width inside, much roomier and a step out that could spot me on squats.  It was a good rack.  Then, the local gym that was owned my Jeff Jacques and where I got to train with John Ware and Glenn Jacobs (AKA Kane of WWE fame) was sold to a guy named “Carson”.  It jogged my memory about that rack and lo and behold, he was from Centerville.

Sometime later, that rack showed up at the gym!  This was great!  I asked him about the rack, but he wasn’t interested in selling it yet and being a college student, I couldn’t make an offer he couldn’t refuse.  Then, a couple years later, the rack was gone!  I asked him about the rack and he said he had loaned it to his brother.  My heart sank and I was wishing I’d come up with that offer.  He said he’d tell his brother of my interest.  Then, several years later, I made an effort to contact his brother to see if he still had that rack.  He still lived in Centerville and he said he had it and since he didn’t really train anymore, he’d sell it!  I made arrangements to go look at it the next time I headed that way.  Some months later, that time came and I went up to check this out.

As we headed to his basement I was excited that I’d see that rack after all these years, it was like finding an old friend. As we went down, we went by a rack that as about 5ft tall and he said, “There it is”.  I looked around and said, “Where”?  He said, “Right here” and patted the short rack.   I was sick to my stomach.  He had cut this rack to pieces and welded all kinds of extra stuff on it, spread it out, opened the top, and basically butchered it to pieces.    He was pretty proud of his work and wanted a premium for his “improvements”.  To be honest, the improvements made it a much more useful rack, but I nicely declined as I wanted it in original condition.  I think he thought I was nuts.  To be honest, I felt a little nuts.  I had went from wanting that rack really badly, to not wanting it at all and wishing I’d never found it again.

It was a long drive home.  It had been a 15 year journey searching for that old rack and just when I thought I had it….it came up short.  Nostalgia, sentimentalism, call it what you will, but I wanted that rack.  It was a part of my history and a part of the Jackson Weightlifting Club history.  But it also made me think.  Victory often comes at the expense of sacrifice and loss, and it becomes sweeter with it.  I recovered other parts of my lost treasure and I’m grateful for that.

The whole experience also made me think about not attaching too much to objects.  The object is NOT the memory, it merely represents the memory.  Whether I have it or not, the memory lives on as long as I choose to remember it.  I remember the lifts done in that rack often and that’s what’s important.

I also have a greater appreciation of the things I have now and the memories I’m making with my own children as they begin their lifting careers.  Maybe they won’t be as sentimental as their old man, but if they are, I hope I can teach them the real treasure is in the memory, not the thing.

Tommy Kono: A True All-Rounder

Kono_VanVleck

 

by Thom Van Vleck

When I was a kid I had my Uncle Wayne who was a “Paul Anderson Fan”.  He was all about strength and nothing about aesthetics.  Function first, looks second.  And Function was Olympic lifting!  My other Uncle, Phil, was much more at aesthetics but he also liked strength and he was a Bill Pearl fan.  The one guy they could both agree on was Tommy Kono!

Anyone that is involved in strength sports should know by now that Tommy recently passed away at the age of 85 after one of the most storied careers in strength history.  I did a story on Tommy a few years back and I’m going to say a few things here but you would need to large book to really do Tommy justice!

Tommy is famous for living in Hawaii but he was actually born in Sacramento, California and was relocated to the Tule Lake Internment Camp as a teenager during WWII due to the fear people had against those of Japaneses decent.  While this was a miserable experience in some ways it was the best thing to happen to Tommy.  During his stay the desert air helped clear up his asthma which had made him sickly.  He also got involved in weight training which obviously changed his whole life.

In 1950 Tommy was drafted into the army.  They realized his Olympic potential and gave him the opportunity to train.  Tommy worked hard and this all began to pay off in 1952 when he won the gold medal in Olympic lifting in Helsinki, Finland.  This was followed by dozens of World and National records and titles.  He was again Olympic champion in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (when Paul Anderson famously won his gold) and the won Silver in the 1960 Olympics in Rome.  He kicked in 6 world championships and 3 Pan Am Golds to boot.  So he had the functional strength my Uncle Wayne appreciated.

Tommy also was a champion bodybuilder.  I don’t mean he looked good and did well against the best of the day.  I mean he was a 4 time Mr. Universe!  This was in the same years he was competing as a lifter as well.  So he had the aesthetics my Uncle Phil appreciated.

Tommy was also just as great a coach as lifter.  He coached three separate nations in three different Olympics.  He was elected to numerous Hall’s of Fame but what I recall that was most striking was being named “Weightlifter of the Century”.  Tommy deserved this and here’s why.

While other lifters may have won more world titles or broke more records there there three factors that made him the best.  First, he was undefeated from 1952 to 1960 on the world stage.  Second, his 26 world records were an amazing accomplishment.  Third, these were set almost equally in the three lifts contested in the day.  He was the best at all of them and not a specialist.  Fourth, and maybe most amazing, was he competed and set records in 4 different weight classes.

Maybe most important of all was Tommy was just a great person.  My Uncles met him in the 60’s while he was still lifting.  They told me he was a happy guy who offered advice and really listened to them when they asked him questions and gave them well thought out answers.  I found this out for myself in 2009 when I met him at the Arnold Fit Expo.  I stopped him in the hallway and introduced myself.  He stopped, talked at length, and made me fell like I was a good friend.  He was famous for helping others and never asking for a dime in return.

So I say Tommy all-rounder because he was the best at all the lifts, the best physique, the best coach, the best photographer of his era, and one of the best authors!  He also was just a great human being who would have been a great friend to have even if he had never picked up a weight in his lift.  So here’s to Tommy Kono.  The best!

 

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