Author Archives: Al Myers

Welcome Mat Meet

by Jarrod Fobes

First Annual Welcome Mat Meet

Date: Saturday,  November 5th, 2011

Meet Director: Jarrod Fobes

Location:
The Welcome Mat Dojo
8250 W Coal Mine Ave, #9
Littleton, CO 80128

Sanction: USAWA membership required

Check-in: 9am day of the event at the venue.

Entry Fee: $15, includes T-shirt

Lifts: Turkish-get up, Crucifix, Dumbbell Walk

Entries must be received by October 20th to get your T-shirt, otherwise entries accepted up to day of the event.

Mail entries and payment to:

Jarrod Fobes
2968 S Grant Street
Englewood, CO 80113

Contact: jfwaveman@yahoo.com or call 303-339-0508

Click here for an entry form

KEEP OUT THE LUNKS!

by Al Myers

Big John Conner, of the Dino Gym, competed this past weekend at the Olympia Strongman Challenge. John is a professional strongman and would be considered a "lunk" in most all commercial gyms.

Recently on the USAWA Discussion Forum I posted a news story video about a hardcore lifter who got “thrown out” of a Planet Fitness Health Club for being a “lunk”.  It would be easy to think this was all a joke – but the disturbing part is that most of  it is not!  Planet Fitness has been very open and firm in their policies regarding lifters who are hardcore lifters, and that is they are not wanted.  Just go to Planet Fitness’s website to see a list of these policies.  But first, watch the video, which I’m going to call – KEEP OUT THE LUNKS

The parts of this video which I found the most humorous were: 

1.  Planet Fitness is discriminating against “muscled americans”.
2.  A “no grunting policy” that includes even heavy breathing!
3.  The comment “all the animals can be in one cage” when referring to the heavy lifters.
4.  And of course the Planet Fitness LUNK ALARM!

I was also humored when the cute little blond representing Planet Fitness called these heavy lifters lunks, meatheads, lunk heads, and even jerks!  Those are harsh words!  All this got me thinking about the guys in my Dino Gym, and I have come to the conclusion that the Dino Gym ONLY contains lunks, and we are that place referred to as where “all the animals can be in one cage”!  I don’t care to question Planet Fitness business tactics on this, because in all truth, heavy lifters in a gym are intimidating to most other club members (I’m not going to even call them lifters)  who are as weak as a newborn kitty.  Plus, add in the fact that heavy lifters NEVER miss a workout and are the ones hardest on fancy gym equipment, it makes sense to keep out this element.  The BEST CLIENTS of fitness clubs are people who have lots of money to always keep their gym membership paid up, but never show up to actually work out.  That’s who fitness clubs like to cater to, not guys who are gym rats.

Now back to the lunks in the Dino Gym. It does bother me when people classify heavy lifters as lunks or meatheads, in which implying these guys are of lesser intelligence or “dummies”.   Most of my training partners are very successful in life and with their jobs.   Sure, when you first meet Scott “THE ENFORCER” Tully you would think the only job he could get would be a bouncer, but Scott is an educated man and has worked as a financial broker.  That’s right – people PAY Scott to handle their money.  That’s not a job for a lunk!   Now take Chad “THE CHAMP” Ullom.   At first glance you would think the only job he could get would be a stunt double for Stone Cold Steve Austin.  And let me tell you this – you would have to be a real dummy to take THAT JOB because I’m sure Stone Cold wouldn’t leave the easy stuff for ya!  But “in real life” Chad is a Pharmacist and has a very demanding job as a regional manager for Walgreens.  That’s not a job for a lunk!  How about John “THE GIANT” Conner? At 6 foot 9 and close to 400 pounds, John is one of the most intimidating individuals you would ever meet. He has got thrown out of most all the gyms in Wichita for being a lunk.  Now the only place he can train is the Dino Gym.  The problem is that he is so dang strong he bends all the bars and breaks all the equipment in commercials gyms!  (but he hasn’t bent a bar in the Dino Gym yet, because we cater to lunks).  But when you meet John he is one of the nicest guys you would ever meet, and he is the best artist I know. Most don’t know this, but John is the guy who did the art work for our USAWA logo.  That’s not a job for a lunk!  Next take Mark “BIG POPPA” Mitchell.  Mark’s got shoulders wider than a doorframe, and legs as thick as tree trunks.  At first glance you might mistakenly think Mark was in the personal security business, and worked as a body guard.  Possibly even a night security guard somewhere.  But Mark is also an educated man, and serves as a senior probational officer.  That’s not a job for a lunk!  I could go “on and on” with these examples of guys in the gym.   Look outside the Dino Gym and you see this as well.  Take Eric  “THE ICEMAN”  Todd  for example.  He clearly looks like a lunk on the outside, and at competitions when he gets intense he gives you that look that Chuck Liddell gives guys before he busts their heads.  I’m sure the LUNK ALARM would go off the minute ET opens the front door of a Planet Fitness.  But in real life, Eric is a schoolteacher who spends his days “shaping the minds” of our youth.  That’s not a job for a lunk!  What about Thom “BIG T” Van Vleck – is he a lunk?   Thom exhibits every physical trait of a lunk – shaved head, big gray goatee, and he likes to “eye ball” people he first meets.  But believe it or not, Thom is a counselor at a Medical School and is responsible for helping struggling medical students deal with their problems.  That’s not a job for a lunk!

I think I have made my point.  Lunks are good people, and I’m glad to be part of this brotherhood!  Who wants to train at a Planet Fitness anyhow?  Just come to the Dino Gym and you will fit right in!

Inman Mile

by Al Myers

Dino Gym member Adam Kirchman training the Yoke Walk with 650 pounds over a 100 foot course in a recent workout. Adam would be my choice among gym members who would have the best chance of achieving the Inman Mile.

Recently I have had some email correspondance with a lifter interested in the Inman Mile.  Of course the first question EVER asked regarding this event is – “HAS IT EVER BEEN DONE?”  The Inman Mile is definitely unlike all of the other official lifts of the USAWA.  First of all, it can hardly be called a lift. It is the only official lift in the USAWA Rule Book where poundage is not listed in the record list.  Instead, this event is for TIME.  Let’s start with a review of the rules:

USAWA Rules for the Inman Mile

The lifter will take a bar onto the shoulders with a weight equal to 150 per cent of the lifter’s bodyweight. The lifter will then carry this weight a distance of one mile. Gait is optional.  Stopping to rest is allowed, but neither the lifter nor the weight may be supported in any manner.  The bar must not be touched by any assistants once the mile has begun or it will be a disqualification. The bar must stay on the back the entire mile. The lifter may be handed refreshments during the mile. Records will be kept for time. 

Now to the answer whether it has ever been done.  IT HAS NOT (at least not officially in the USAWA).  Since it has not been completed EVER no records are recorded for it in both the USAWA and IAWA Record Lists.  The rules specifically state that “records will be kept for time”.  A good attempt at this doesn’t get you a record for distance.  You must finish the Mile.  I have received several emails in the past asking about this novelty event in the USAWA.   I have always responded that if the person in question could succeed with the Inman Mile  (maybe a little video proof would need to be provided to me), I would do whatever was needed in order to help them get this listed as an “official record” in our organization.  Even if this included me getting on a plane and flying to the coast for the weekend,  or enlisting someone I know in the area who is an active reputable official for the USAWA to go there and witness and officiate it.  I also have said that accomplishing the Inman Mile would have to be considered as one of the BEST STRENGTH FEATS ever done in the USAWA.  I really hope someday someone does accomplish it.  I have enough sense to know that this is something I could NEVER DO, so “that person” will not be me.  I know lifters who have tried, and some who I thought might have a chance, but in all instances they failed miserably.   The limit is always maintaining the bar on the shoulders (by jim).  As you tire, the bar slips down the back, and once this happens the hope for the mile is lost. 

As I already said, I consider this a novelty lift in the USAWA.  We have a few others in our list of official lifts that would fit this category as well.  There has been talk of eliminating some of these obscure lifts that no one can do from the USAWA list of official lifts in the past, but truthfully, I don’t think that is a good idea.  I say this because eventually someone WILL do them, and when they do, it will become something to talk about!  I receive as many inquistive emails regarding these lifts as the others.   I guess you could call it curiosity appeal – and it turn gives exposure to the USAWA.

If you do an internet search on the Inman Mile you will see it “pop up” several times.   Often it appears in forums, where this “challenge” is mentioned by someone.  I even found talk of it in some backpacking forums. I KNOW the USAWA is the root behind all this, as we are the ones who in a sense, created the Inman Mile.  However, no one knows “the story” behind the Inman Mile besides maybe only a few of us.  I wouldn’t know it if it wasn’t for person responsible for naming it telling me!  And that person is NONE OTHER than the FATHER of the USAWA Bill Clark.  So I plan to tell it here for the first time on the internet.  Bill named this lift after Jerry Inman, a powerlifter who was originally from Billings, Missouri  (and a leader in a well known powerlifting club at the time – the Billings Barbell Club).  The time frame of this was the  late 1970s and early 1980s.  Jerry was a marine (and it would take a hard-headed marine to come up with something this grueling).  For a while, he lived in Olathe, Kansas.  When he found Bill Clark’s gym in Columbia, Missouri he was introduced to all-round weightlifting by Bill.   When Jerry Inman told Bill he thought he could walk a mile with a bar loaded to 150%  of his bodyweight on his back, it inspired Bill to name this event after him.  Jerry was never successful with this quest, but his mindset of THINKING he could do it and the effort of taking on the impossible, lead to this mysterious event to be forever named after him!   His best effort of 246 yards in 1979 is recorded in an old Missouri Valley Newsletter .  Jerry was a fit 148# powerlifting  marine, in the prime of his life when he tried also.  It would take someone like that to even have a remote chance of being successful with the Inman Mile. But when it does happen – I want to be there firsthand to watch it!

Frank in the News

by Al Myers

Frank Ciavattone on the front page of Dale Harder's Strength and Speed Newsletter.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received my last issue of Dale Harder’s Strength and Speed Newsletter and the “front page feature” was none other than Frank Ciavattone.  Frank is one of the founders of the USAWA, and arguably the strongest lifter that has ever competed in the USAWA.  I was so glad to see Frank get this recognition in Dale’s newsletter – because he deserves it!   Frank has won numerous USAWA and IAWA titles.  I once saw the list of Frank’s Championships and it was so long it took two pages!  Frank is a true all-rounder, and there were not very many lifts he didn’t excel in.  He was a great bar lifter,  grip lifter, heavy lifter, and he even excelled at the one arm lifts.  His one arm deadlift of 562 pounds is an ALL-TIME record in the USAWA and the IAWA.  I consider this record of his the ALL-TIME record of ALL-TIME.  It is the highest of any one arm deadlifts that actually HAD officials judge it.  Sure, Herman Goerner may have the credit for the best ALL-TIME one arm deadlift, but outside of some witnesses, it was not actually judged. 

I have known Frank for several years, but in Dale’s story on him I even learned a few new things about Frank (including some pictures I had not seen before).  Dale has always been very supportive of  all-round weightlifting and the USAWA.  His newsletter  is a must read, and one of the few printed newsletters covering weightlifting nowadays.   I would like to tell more of this story on Frank, but I don’t want to give away all of Dale’s story.  You need a subscription to Strength and Speed for that! 

For subscribing to the Strength and Speed Newsletter and ordering any of Dale’s great books covering weightlifting,  check out his website –http://www.strengthospeedia.org/.   Dale’s email address is daleharderEP@gmail.com.

Dear Dino Man

by the Dino Man

Marriage Advice for the Weightlifter

No wife cares what your max deadlift is. If you want to impress her with your strength, do what the Dino Man did, and show her that you can still pick her up and carry her around the beaches of Jamaica after 25 years of marriage!

Dear Dino Man,

It bothers me that my wife doesn’t seem impressed with my strength gains.  When I try to talk to her about it, she acts like she isn’t listening to me.  How should I handle this?

First – face the facts – she’s NOT interested in your strength gains.  She only cares that you have enough strength to take out the garbage or move a piece of furniture for her.  Other than that she doesn’t care at all.  Accept it.   And whatever you do – don’t try to talk to her about the latest lifting program you’re on.  She cares about hearing all about that even less.  If you want to impress her with your strength, just throw her over your shoulder every now and then.  Women love that.

Dear Dino Man,

My wife wants to go to the gym with me when I train.  I really don’t want her to go along, but how do I tell her this without making her mad?

Just make her mad and tell her that you don’t want her there!   I doubt if she is really lifting anyhow.  She just wants to be there to keep an eye on you.  She “pretends” to be on the exercise bike with her head phones on (but they’re not) and in fact she is listening to every word you say to the guys – am I right?   My experience with hanging around gyms all my life is that relationships rarely last when one spouse only goes to the gym to “be with” the serious lifting spouse. (this goes for husbands as well!).    Truthfully, I go to the gym to get away from my wife for a while – that doesn’t mean I don’t love her dearly, it’s just that I need my space every now and then, and the gym is the place I go to for that!  Plus, every time your wife tags along with you to the gym your workout buddies are talking about you behind your back, wondering when you are ever going to grow a set and tell her to stay home!!

Dear Dino Man,

I want to display my lifting trophies on the mantle in our living room, but my wife doesn’t want them there – something about they don’t match the décor she has for the room.  What should I do??

No wife wants your tacky weightlifting trophies mucking up her domain. The living room is her domain just as the gym is yours.  Would you want her to put scented candles and a flower vase next to the squat cage?  Get the trophies out of there before she throws them out!  This is a fight not worth fighting.   Put them in the basement, the garage, the attic, or under the bed, and go there to look at them if you have to.

Dear Dino Man,

I want to buy a new pair of squat shoes but my wife won’t let me.   But she buys new shoes all the time!  What do I do!

This is what I do when I want to buy something for the gym that my wife doesn’t want me to buy.  Every time she buys something frivolous that she thinks I might not approve of, I steal the remaining cash out of her purse.  She never mentions it to me because she’s feeling guilty over that new pair of shoes she just bought, and doesn’t want me to bring it up.  When I accumulate enough of this cash, I buy what I want for the gym.  When she asks about the new gym item, I tell her Scott bought it!  Foolproof plan if you ask me. 

Dear Dino Man,

My wife just started competing in powerlifting.  I have noticed since she has been squatting heavy her gluteus has become much more muscular and enlarged.  How big will it get??

Much bigger – and what is your problem with that?  That sounds like a good thing to me.

Marriage tip for weightlifters (more expert advice from the Dino Man)

I have good news for all you heavy lifters, who through the years have developed a Squat Belly (much like a beer belly, ok, it looks like a beer belly, but IT’S NOT!).  No longer do you have to worry about this being a problem in your marriage.  I just read in Women’s Health that marriages are MUCH HAPPIER if the husband has a bigger gut than his wife.  Something about it makes the wife feel less insecure in the relationship, or whatever.  This is a fact – and backed with a scientific study and all.   So there you have it – weightlifting leads to a happier marriage!!  (as long as you don’t let her follow you to the gym that is…)

Coming next to the Dear Dino Man Advice Column:  “other uses for muscle rubbing liniments”

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