USAWA

It’s been a long and busy week, but the results are in. This is one of the more challenging meets in the USAWA pantheon of meets. Nonetheless, the meet attracted lifters from across the nation. There were five clubs and 16 lifters who competed and set records. The results were strong with more than 13 tons of iron moved in the competition alone. That’s a rate of one ton per event.

On the women’s side, newcomer Brittany Kreisler led the way, winning her second straight event and by a large margin! She was impressive as she lifted over 2,000 lb in raw weight. She really put on a clinic setting nine new records, including all four finger deadlifts, and tying for another. This included a 300 lb lift in both the Jefferson and Heels together deadlift. Finishing second was Allison Lupo who set six new age / weight records, though for many she’s competing with herself. She was close to 1500 points after age and weight are factored in, a strong total in spite of some “dings and dents”. Her best left was a 125 lb middle finger deadlift. RJ Jackson was equally impressive as she lifted just about the same amount of raw weight as Allison, in fact getting one pound more. Kim Van Wagner finished fourth in spite of not getting all the lifts in, and set records in five of the 11 events in which she competed. Jessica Hopps entered by doing the finger lifts, setting records in three of four events in spite of not being at 100% health. She is also competing with herself in many of these records. Jessica set some impressive bench press records as well and hopefully she’ll be back at 100% soon!

On the men’s side, the results were closer and Jeff Wenzel held off teammate and USAWA Hall of Famer, John Carter. Jeff won by just 57 age and weight adjusted points, as he and John finished above 3,000 points. That’s a margin of 1.8% at that level! But, unfortunately with weights, unlike elections, a recount cannot happen. Seriously, Jeff was the only lifter to pass 3,000 pounds in raw weight and in three events topped 400 lb. In second place, the ageless John Carter threw up more than 2,500 lb setting four age and weight records and tying another. John was strong across the board, though his thumbless one arm deadlifts were very impressive. Third, fourth, and fifth resulted in an interesting battle between Wade Marchand, Nils Larson, and Tony Lupo. Wade finished third putting up some impressive lifts in the Reeves Deadlift as well as the finger deadlifts to finish about 240 points ahead of his teammate. Nils then edged Tony Lupo for fourth and he was equally impressive with the Reeves and finger deadlifts. Nils set five new records as well. Tony Lupo finished 5th and his best left was a 205 lb middle finger deadlift (similar to Allison – maybe not a surprise for a pair of native New Yorkers). Sanjiv Gupta finished his day with more than 2,000 lb lifted. He was impressive with five new records including three finger lift records. Jerome Licini also finished the day with a strong total about equal to last year’s which is really a win! Riley Wenzel and Dan Jones both could not finish their days due to work. Dan finished seven lifts setting records in four of these, including an age weight and ALL record in the Reeves Deadlift. This was the best lift of the meet in the Reeves event. Riley got eight lifts in and he was impressive in the Jefferson and heels together deadlifts, finishing second in the latter event only to his dad!

Check out the record day results as well. There were some unique but impressive lifts done.

2026 Hermann Goerner Deadlift Dozen + 1 Results

IAWA.UK and the All-Round Weightlifting Federation of Australia (AWFA) have both adopted the IAWA Rulebook. USAWA maintains a separate rulebook. I decided to do some investigating and now understand why.

USAWA rulebook has 196 lifts (154 of which are common to the IAWA rulebook).

USAWA unique lifts

1. Clean & Press, 12” Base
2. Two Hand Clean & Press, Heels Together
3. Jackson Press
4. James Lift
5. Press – From Rack
6. Reflex Bench Press
7. Reg Park Bench Press
8. Seated Press – From Rack
9. Deadlift – 12” Base
10. Deadlift – Heels Together
11. Deadlift – No Thumbs, Overhand Grip
12. Deadlift – Reeves
13. Squat – 12” Base
14. Piper Squat
15. Curl – Cheat, Reverse Grip
16. Lano Lift
17. Pullover – Bent Arm
18. Scott Lift
19. Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells, Heels Together
20. Clean and Push Press – 2 Dumbbells
21. Clean and Seated Press – 2 Dumbbells
22. Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat
23. Side Press – Dumbbell
24. Van Dam Lift
25. Bench Press – 2 Dumbbells
26. Bench Press – Fulton Bar
27. Continental to Chest – Fulton Bar
28. Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip
29. Maxey Press
30. Rectangular Fix, Fulton Bar
31. Bearhug
32. Carter Lift
33. Chin Up
34. Deadlift – 3” Bar
35. Deadlift – Two Inch Dumbbells
36. Deana Lift
37. Foot Press
38. Phumchaona Lift
39. Pinch Grip – Strict
40. Pinch Grip – Strict, One Hand
41. Pull-Up
42. Weaver Stick Backwards

IAWA Has Some Unique Lifts that USAWA Does NOT Contest

1. One Hand Bent Press (specification on how to get bar to starting position)
2. Middle Fingers Hacklift
3. Index Fingers Hacklift
4. Little Fingers Hacklift
5. Ring Fingers Hacklift
6. Bent Arm Pullover (Bench)
7. Reverse Rim Lift
8. Domaal Squat
9. One Hand Deadlift – Cambered Bar
10. One Hand Pinch Grip Clean and Press
11. Duck Walk
12. Seated Dumbbells Press
13. Two Hands Anyhow with Dumbbells
14. One Hand Dumbbell Strict Curl
15. Inch Dumbbell Press
16. Patterson Deadlift – Peoples Deadlift with 2 Inch Bar
17. Deadlift
18. Squat
19. Bench Press
20. Snatch
21. Clean & Jerk
22. One Hand Wrist Curl

Among Common Lifts There are some slight rule differences

1. Continental Snatch – in UK, from belt, must be proper snatch
2. Continental Clean and Jerk – UK allows multiple attempts on jerk
3. Snatch From Hang – USAWA requires bar to go below knees
4. Deadlift, No Thumbs, One Arm – UK says thumb cannot touch bar at all
5. Strict Curl – UK still requires piece of paper
6. Vertical Bars – UK allows a maximum 30 inch length
7. Weaver Stick – UK has different specification for stick

USAWA  allows any lift to be done for reps or as a team lift.  IAWA only allows (12) lifts for repetitions and (11) lifts for team lifts.

IAWA Repetition Lifts

1. Cleans with Bodyweight
2. Snatches with Bodyweight
3. Presses with Bodyweight
4. Clean & Jerk with Bodyweight
5. Jerks with Bodyweight
6. Bodyweight Deadlifts
7. Abdominal Raises
8. Leg Press – Unsupported
9. Roman Chair Sit Up
10. Back Lift
11. Hip Lift
12. Harness Lift

IAWA Team Lifts

1. Two Person Clean and Snatch
2. Team Press
3. Team Snatch
4. Team Clean & Jerk
5. Team Hacklift
6. Team Straddle Deadlift
7. Team Deadlift
8. Team One Hand Deadlift
9. Team Curl
10. Team Cheat Curl
11. Team Turkish Get Up

Further IAWA specifies Seated Disabled Class Lifts and Standing Disabled Class Lifts

Beyond the Lifts, there are other rules in IAWA.UK that are not in USAWA:

• Drug Testing and lifetime ban
• Rule 4.6, IAWA  UK also recognizes the MX division for lifters not identifying as Male or Female
• Rule 4.10, Longer process for new lifts
• Rule 5.1, Knee wraps for Back Squat and Front Squat
• Rule 5.10.A, IAWA UK only allows 20 kg (44 lbs) bar
• Rule 5.10.F, IAWA UK knurling required at center for one hand lifts
• Rule 5.12, Plastic or Spring collar can be used, but will not have weight recognition
• Rule 5.13, Minimum hand spacing called out for dumbbell
• Rule 5.14, Allows 4 inch raised platform
• Rule 5.17, Scale Certification
• Rule 6.2, Three Officials for all competition
• Rule 6.2.B, Protest board for rules interpretation
• Rule 6.6.A, One year probationary period for officials
• Rule 6.6B, Fully qualified must demonstrate competency every 2 years
• Rule 6.8, Weigh In begins 2 hours prior and lasts for 1.5 hours
• Rule 9.A, Females can weigh in with undergarments and suit and subtract 1 pound
• Rule 13.L, Demonstration of lockout
• Rule 8.G, The Blindt Formula
• Rule 9, Pool of Lifts for International Competition plus Chain Lift Challenge

Finally IAWA rulebook has to specify rules for International Competition

• World Championship
• Gold Cup
• World ‘Postal’ Championship
• Old Time Strongman’ World Championships – One venue per nation

USAWA rulebook spends a lot of time on the rules for the National Championship and has a different process for approving new lifts.

IAWA.UK, AWFA and USAWA all have unique processes and criteria for certifying officials for competition.

USAWA allows one official for USAWA records.

Please share your thoughts on the Forum. Should USAWA adopt the IAWA Rulebook? Are the (42) unique USAWA lifts aligned with our mission statement? Are the (22) unique IAWA lifts contrary to our mission statement?

While listening to a popular podcast, a statistic on one and done powerlifters versus powerlifters who competed multiple times was shared. Essentially many lifters competed in one or two meets and then abandoned the platform.

This data was reinforced by an article in the International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. Between 2012 and 2025, 126,509 powerlifters competed across 8601 competitions. The median participation was 2 meets and nearly half of all lifters only competed once.

I was very curious to see how United States All-Round compared and used the records list as the data source for my review.

• 756 lifters currently hold USA records
• 311 lifters (41%) only have records in 1 competition
• 562 lifters (74%) have records in 1-5 meets
• 76 lifters (10%) have records in 6-10 meets
• 118 lifters (16%) have records in over 10 meets

I will list the top 10 at the bottom, but this is your chance to guess.

My takeaway is that there is about a 1 in 4 chance that somebody introduced to All-Round will stick with it for a while.  This makes sense as most athletes are introduced by a friend of family member that is hosting meets or is otherwise heavily invested.  Additionally, folks may come to All-Round while also competing in Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting or other strength sports.

The other retention draw is being able to compete with age, weight and gender adjustments.  Athletes who would have otherwise stepped away find themselves even more competitive with each passing year of life.

The big question is why do 3 out of 4 lifters decide it is not for them?  Some of the athletes that have come to visit my gym have mentioned not knowing the rules and commands.  Others have mentioned not being able to train for the lifts in addition to their regular training.  Some have mentioned not having the specific equipment required for some of the lifts.

The records list is not the perfect way to figure this out.  Athletes may have competed in meets but not set any records.  Athletes may have competed in meets, set records and then those records were broken.

Your Top 10 athletes:
(number of meets they have competed in)

1. Denny Habecker – 250
2. Frank Ciavattone – 137
3. Al Myers – 136
4. Art Montini – 133
5. Chad Ullom – 108
6. Tony Lupo – 106
7. Dean Ross – 104
8. Bill Clark – 100
9. Dave DeForest – 97
10. Dennis Mitchell – 93
11. Eric Todd – 92

Please share your thoughts in the Forum. Does All-Round weightlifting have a retention problem or is retention a strength of the organization? Why do some athletes compete for decades? Why do some athletes bail after one competition?

I have been involved with All-Round Weightlifting since 2022 and over the past four years, I have heard plenty of stories about how the sport is changing too fast or the sport is stuck in the past.  How we are alienating athletes with too many “crazy” lifts or we are not approving enough new lifts.  I have heard stories about the glory years when people traveled all over the country and world to keep the long-standing tradition of old-time weightlifters alive.  I have also heard that a certain decision to change something or not change something will be the death of all-round weightlifting.

To steal from and then misquote Mark Twain, the reports of the death of All-Round Weightlifting have been greatly exaggerated.

The 2026 International All-Round Weightlifting Association (IAWA) World Postal featured (46) athletes.  Including (20) from England, (18) from the United States, (7) from Australia, and (1) from Canada.

Twenty athletes are descending on Lebanon, PA for the 2026 IAWA World Championship including the reigning best male and reigning best junior female.  Red Rose Lifting and Powerhouse Gym will both have two lifters.  Frank’s Barbell Club and Habecker’s Gym will have eight and four lifters respectively.  Clark’s, High Country Vigour and Dino Gym will also have athletes in attendance.

International season should finish up with the Gold Cup in Eastbourne and the Old Time Strongman World Postal.

IAWA.UK has (11) events on their calendar plus the IAWA events.  The 2026 British All-Round Championship featured (14) athletes.  England is hosting the Gold Cup this year.

All-Round Weightlifting Federation of Australia has (5) events on their 2026 calendar and will compete in IAWA events as they are able.  Australia will be hosting the World Championship in 2027.

All-Round Weightlifting New Zealand still has an active Facebook Page and Cliff Harvey hosted the All-Round Weightlifting New Zealand Open in 2025.

The 2026 USAWA National Championship featured (19) athletes in Columbia, MO and plans are underway for the 2027 National Championship.  (31) contests were sanctioned by the USAWA for 2026.  The 2026 membership is now 68 athletes.  USAWA has a stable board of directors and special assignment directors.

I have also heard mentions of All-Round in five different podcasts over the past couple of years including The Grip Show, Beyond the Bend, Massenomics, Health Oddities and Iron Culture.

Will we see All-Round Weightlifting in the 2028 Olympics? No. However, Open Powerlifting has ranked over 500,000 athletes and Powerlifting has yet to be invited to the Olympics.

Will All-Round go the way of the International Steel Strandpulling Organization or The Association of Oldtime Barbell & Strongman?  I am not sure.  It will not be in 2026.  Since being established in 1987, many individuals have carried the torch.  Those of us involved today will likely not be involved forty years from now.  For my part, I want to help All-Round Weightlifting grow while staying true to its values.