Category Archives: USAWA Daily News

Making Your Weight Training “All-Around”

by Jarrod Fobes

Dean Ross performing an Index Fingers Deadlift at the 2012 USAWA Grip Championships. This is one of the many variations of deadlifts within the USAWA that could be done as a "warm up" prior to a heavy deadlift training session.

Let me start off by saying that I am very new to the sport of weightlifting, and in that regard my opinions on how weight training should be done don’t count for squat. But I am a long time athlete and coach, and I do know a thing or two about creating an effective training program. So I thought I would share how I have been incorporating all-around lifting into my overall strength training, and see what the athletes of USAWA think.

Initially I tried training two days a week; one day of Olympic lifting and one day training whatever all-around lifts I was most interested in at the time. This didn’t work because if I had to miss a day of lifting, I either had to sacrifice my beloved all-around lifts, or miss out on some desperately needed Olympic practice. Also, my all-around sessions tended to focus on the lifts I was good at, rather than the lifts I needed to do. I needed to find a way to make sure I got a good full body workout on either day.

The general program I settled on is nothing revolutionary or even particularly intense: one or two full-body workouts a week, three or four lifts, each one for three or four sets of heavy singles, doubles, or triples. I pyramid up each set. I realize this is a pretty inexact scheme, but between teaching four martial arts classes a week and holding a physical job, I have to be able to vary the intensity based on how rested and ready I am. What is not inexact is my record-keeping. I think it’s important to diligently record the weight lifted each workout, regardless of whether it was a PR day or not.

With such a necessarily limited workout, it’s pretty hard to train the nearly 200 lifts included in the USAWA. So I’ve started “stealing” sets from the core lifts. For instance instead of doing four sets of Clean & Jerks, I might warm up with a set of Miller C&J. While this is a tough finger lift, it’s just a warm up for the back, leg, and shoulder muscles. Afterwards, I’ll struggle through a couple sets of Clean & Jerks, going up in weight if I feel my technique has improved enough. Then I’ll do one or two sets of an all-around lift that trains muscles or movement similar to the clean & jerk. If I’m sore and tired that day, I’ll pick something I’m not very good at (like One-Arm C&J, Judd C&J, etc) and focus on technique. If I’m feeling strong, I’ll pick one of my better lifts like the Turkish-Get Up and really try to push weight. Not only do the all-around lifts function as assistance exercises to the core lift, but the strength and technique gained from the core lift helps the all-around training too!

I bet there are a ton of creative ways to get some all-around practice in during your training, and I’d love to see some follow-up stories from veterans as well as other beginners.

LESSONS

BY DAVE GLASGOW

WILBUR MILLER TRAINED ALL-ROUND LIFTS ALONG WITH OLYMPIC LIFTS AND POWER LIFTS.

I DON’T SUPPOSE THERE IS ONE OF US THAT, AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, DON’T THINK, “GEE, IF I HAD ONLY KNOWN THAT BACK WHEN….” OR “I SURE WISH I WAS YOUNGER.”  FOLLOWING MY WORKOUT LAST EVENING, I HAD SUCH A MOMENT.  YOU SEE, WHEN I FIRST STARTED LIFTING, IN THE LATE ‘60s, EARLY ‘70s, POWER LIFTING WAS MAKING A BIG ENTRANCE.  BY THE TIME I LEFT COLLEGE IN THE MID ‘70s, IT WAS KING.  FOR STRENGTH ATHLETES, IT WAS POWERLIFTING AND THE REST BE DAMNED.  OR SO I THOUGHT…  THIS IS WHERE THE LESSON SHOULD HAVE STARTED, BUT WAS LOST IN THE TRANSLATION.  THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE TO ME, A KID IN HIS EARLY 20s., AND NOT A BIT ‘HEAD STRONG’ , I MIGHT ADD.

IN AN ATTEMPT TO ‘EDUCATE’ MYSELF, I SUBSCRIBED TO ‘IRONMAN’ MAGAZINE.   THOSE OF YOU IN MY AGE GROUP WILL REMEMBER PERRY AND MABLE RADER AND THE VERY, EXCELLENT PUBLICATION THEY PUT OUT.  (TO MY MIND, THIS MONTHLY CHRONCILE HAS YET TO BE MATCHED.  YES, I UNDERSTAND THIS IS GOING TO START A RIFF; HOWEVER, THAT IS MY OPINION.  THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE DIVERSIFIED AND UNBIASED MAGAZINE, BEFORE OR SINCE.)  I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER PASSING OVER THE OLD TIME STRONGMAN ARTICLES, SKIMMING THE OLY LIFT STORIES AND INSTRUCTIONAL ADVICE TO GET TO THE POWERLIFTING SECTION. WHAT WERE THESE OLD GUYS FROM THE TURN OF THE CENTURY GOING TO TEACH ME?  HOW COULD OLY LIFTING POSSIBLY HELP ME?  I CAN ONLY SHAKE MY HEAD, NOW. WHAT A MISTAKE!!  I HAD ALL THE INFORMATION I NEEDED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME BUT I CHOSE TO TOTALLY DISREGARD IT.  ALL THAT WAS IMPORTANT WAS A BIG BENCH PRESS.  ‘WHAT CAN YA  BENCH??’, WAS THE COMMON PHRASE BACK THEN.  AS I KNOW NOW, THE CATCH PHRASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN, ‘WHAT CAN YA SQUAT OR DEADLIFT??’

THE MORE I GET INVOLVED IN THE USAWA, THE MORE I REALIZE THAT I, TOTALLY, MISSED THE BOAT.  THERE ARE SO MANY LIFTS THAT INVOLVE STRENGTH, ATHLETICISM AND POWER THAT IF ONE BECOMES ‘STALE’, IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE THE FAULT OF THE TRAINEE FOR NOT IMPLEMENTING THESE MIRIADE OF LIFTS.  IT JUST STANDS TO REASON THAT AN INCREASE IN OVERALL BODY STRENGTH WILL ONLY INCREASE THE ABILITY TO PERFORM ANY OTHER LIFT TO A HIGHER DEGREE.  HOW CAN ONE GO WRONG DOING SNATCHES, CLEANS, OVERHEAD PRESSES (WHICH I TOTALLY AVOIDED IN MY IGNORANCE), ONE HANDED LIFTS, DUMBBELL WORK…….MY GOD, THE LIST IS ENDLESS.  FROM TIME TO TIME, I HAVE BEEN ASKED BY SOMEONE TO SET UP A ‘PROGRAM’ FOR THEM.  WHILE I AM ALWAYS QUICK TO HELP, I HAVE GOTTEN INTO THE HABIT OF TELLING THE INDIVIDUAL TO DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH AND GET BACK WITH ME.  IT IS AT THIS TIME THAT I WILL TELL MY OWN STORY AND STRONGLY ENCOURAGE THAT PERSON TO MAKE HIS WORKOUTS WELL ‘ROUNDED’ AND DYNAMIC.  I NEVER FAIL TO CAUTION THEM TO BE CAREFUL THEY DON’T FALL IN THE SAME RUT I DID.

MAYBE THOSE ‘OLD TIMERS’ HAD SOME LESSONS TO TEACH, AFTER ALL!!

USAWA: The First Year

by Al Myers

Steve Schmidt, of Clark's Gym, was the first member of the USAWA.

This is a big year for the USAWA. It is our 25th ANNIVERSARY of being an organization. I got wondering the other day, “just when was the official beginning day of the USAWA?”. I had a general idea of when this was, but not for sure on an actual date (if there even was one). So I did some research and now I’m going to share what I found out with everyone. The “FIRSTS” are always noteworthy. Here it goes, and I’m going to try to stay on a timeline.

November 29th, 1986

Bill Clark met with several lifters from England in Grimsby, England to “draw up the final plans” of the IAWA. There had been previous meetings, but this was the date the final, BIG DECISIONS were made. The USAWA origins correlates directly with the creation of the IAWA (which will be the topic someday of ANOTHER STORY. I will try to keep on track here.). The constitution and bylaws of the IAWA were approved, which were the basis of the original USAWA bylaws. On this day it was decided that each individual country involved with the IAWA would form their own governing body. Also, the Rules of the original 110 lifts were decided upon.

January 1st, 1987

The first USAWA officers took office. These officers were appointed (by Bill I assume) at the November 29th meeting. This included Jon Carr of Missouri as President and Joe McCoy of Texas as Registrar and Record Keeper.

July 1st, 1987

The USAWA began collecting memberships. Dues were $12, of which $6 went to the USAWA bank account and the remaining $6 went into an IAWA bank account. Club dues were set at $10 and sanction fees set at $10 (which are the SAME FEES we charge today!!!). Steve Schmidt was the first person to buy a membership card in the USAWA.

September 20th, 1987

The first sanctioned USAWA event was held in Clarks Gym. Steve Schmidt put on a solo exhibition of lifts. He did a 2450# Hip Lift, 405# Neck Lift, 3205# Harness Lift, 1125# Hand and Thigh, and a 270# Wrestlers Bridge Pullover and Press. Steve’s Bridged Pullover and Press is still in the Record List, and is the oldest record in the current Record List. This sanctioned event would also make Steve the first USAWA member to officially do a lift in the USAWA.

July 9-10th, 1988

The FIRST EVER USAWA National Championships were held in Plymouth Meeting, PA. John Vernacchio was the meet director. The meet’s best lifter was Steve Schmidt, followed by Phil Anderson, Joe Garcia, John Vernacchio, and John McKean. The Team Champion was John’s club, the Valley Forge Club.

Bill Clark began publishing THE STRENGTH JOURNAL in the fall of 1989, which covered all the news of the USAWA. Bill continued this until 2009, and throughout the years “turned out” over 150 issues. This publication was the “backbone” of the organization for years. All of this research came from old Strength Journals. As I said earlier, this year will MARK the 25th USAWA National Championships held. That is why we are going “big time” and having our National Meet in Las Vegas this year. I plan to have several awards to present to recognize those that have been involved with the USAWA since the beginning.

But back to my original question – Just when did the USAWA officially start? I’m going to say July 1st, 1987 as that was the day the USAWA was officially “open for business” and collecting memberships. Also I like that day because it is the same time most of us will be in Vegas, so that we can celebrate this special day the way it should be celebrated.

The First Mr. America

by Dennis Mitchell

Roland Essmaker

Over the years there have been many physique contests, some of which even had the title of Mr. America. The first official Mr. America contest was sanctioned by the AAU, and was held in conjunction with the 1939 Senior National Weightlifting Championships, July 4, 1939, in Chicago Ill.

Roland Essmaker was born March 24, 1916 in Richmond, Indiana. These were difficult times in America. His mother died during the flu epidemic in 1919. Roland and his brother Alvin were living in St. Vincent’s orphanage while his father was in Davenport, Iowa studying to become a Chiropractor. About three years later he opened an office in Richmond Indiana and brought Roland and his brother back to live with him. Times were still hard, and Chiropractic was new and not generally accepted. Roland and his brother helped by selling newspapers. In 1933 Roland went to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government work force, where he received food and clothing and lived in army type barracks. He received $5.00 a month, and $25.00 a month was sent to his father.

It was about this time that Roland became interested in body building from reading Bernarr Macfadden’s magazine, Physical Culture, and Bob Hoffman’s Strength and Health magazine. The cheapest set of barbells advertised, was a 205 pound Milo set that cost $10.00. This was more than he could afford. With the information he got from reading the magazines he put together his own body building course. Using window sash weights and other scrap from a local junk yard he worked out. Later he obtained mail order courses from Earl Liederman and Lionel Strongfort. His gains were slow as he trained with his home made equipment and saved his money to buy a real barbell set. He now had a job as a sign painter and was making $6.00 a week, working six days a week. From there he went to work at a bus body manufacturer. He was now making abut $40.00 a week and was supplementing his workouts by lifting sections of the bus part before they were assembled. Roland later met a body builder named Paul Hamilton. They pooled together their equipment and worked out together for several years. Their workouts were mostly body building with a little olympic lifting added one day a week.

In June of 1939 Roland entered the Indiana State weightlifting championships which were held at Fred Hofmeistor’s gym. Roland said, “To put it mildly, my lifts were not outstanding”. It was Fred who convinced him to enter the Mr. America contest. All the contestants in the Mr. America contest also had to compete in the weightlifting. Third place in physique went to Herbert Marquardt, second place to Tony Terlazzzo. Roland, who was an unknown, was completely surprised when he took first place, and became the first official Mr. America. Winning the contest opened up other opportunities for him. He worked as a model for both artists and sculptures, and worked at Walt Disney’s studios. He auditioned for an adagio act and was selected, and went on tour. In 1941 Roland went into the Army Medical Corp and became a surgical technician. While home on leave he met Virginia Stanley. They were married Oct. 31, 1942. They had two daughters and in 1946 moved to California where he opened a gym. He later sold it to George Redpath. Roland did enter a few more physique contests but there was no information on how he did. In 1950 he went to radio and broadcasting school and became a radio newscaster and disc jockey. Next he became a journeyman multi color printing pressman. After retiring he and his wife moved into a house in San Marcos, California, that he and his wife had literally built with their own hands. I could not find anything about his measurements or how much he could lift, only that he could chin himself three times with either hand. Roland died October 3, 2002

Dino Record Day

by Al Myers

Dino Gym Record Day

The USAWA welcome Jobes Steel Jungle to their first USAWA event! (front): Gabby Jobe (back row left to right): Troy Goetsch, Corey Kenkel, Jesse Jobe, Bryan Benzel

MEET REPORT

On Sunday the Dino Gym had the most participants in a record day than EVER BEFORE.  There was a total of 15 competitors setting new USAWA records!  I haven’t done an absolute record count yet, but I won’t be surprised to see it number over 150.  There were so many outstanding lifts that it will be impossible to cover everything in this meet report, so I’m going to save some of  “the best stories” for individual news stories at a latter date.  Plus I am under a time crunch to get this announced today, so the meet report will be short (that’s a FIRST FOR ME!). 

First of all I want to thank all the new lifters from the USAWA’s newest club, Jobe’s Steel Jungle, for attending.  I really enjoyed watching  them set new USAWA records.  They were all like “kids in a candy shop” as they got introduced to the many, many lifts of the USAWA.  One of them would do a lift and then the rest of them wanted to join in!  I also was quite impressed with Jesse’s daughter Gabby.  She is only 9 years old but I could tell she was “trained up” to do the lifts she set records in.   Jesse’s gym is in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  I made the mistake as referring to them as “the Nebraska boys”  (which NOT all live in Nebraska)  – I won’t do that again!!!  I KNOW we will be seeing more of Jobes Steel Jungle in the future. 

Wilbur Miller deadlifting 457 pounds at the age of 79!

The BIG NEWS of the day was that Wilbur Miller made an appearance – and this time he came ready to lift and set records!  Alot of the new lifters didn’t know Wilbur – but after the spectacular lifting he did they know him now!  Wilbur lifts like a man half his age.  He started off with the squat for record.  I told him the USAWA requires a 12″ base (the regular squat is not an USAWA lift), but that didn’t make any difference as Wilburs stance is close to 12″ normally.  He finished with an unbelievable 320 pounds!!!  (YES – I said that right!).  He then went to his favorite lift, the deadlifts, and set some big records in several different variations. I will be covering Wilburs performance at this record day in more detail in future stories.

Dean Ross set the most records.  Dean had A PLAN and he executed it perfectly.  He had the lifts he wanted to do and he went about setting records in a systematic fashion.  I had to take a break when I was imputing his lifts into this meet report because that alone was tiring me out!  At this rapid pace Dean is on with record breaking, it won’t be long and he’ll be in the CENTURY CLUB (and may I say faster than anyone else has ever done it!)

Chad Ullom performing a 480# Continental to Belt, the most ever done in the USAWA.

My dad LaVerne didn’t get enough “grip lifting” the day before at the Grip Champs and came to break some finger lifts.  Well, he did records on every finger including his thumb!   He was the first one in the gym to do his lifts and I think he did all of them in under 20 minutes!  Every record lift he did he had much more in him to do more. 

Dino Gym member Chuck Cookson didn’t set alot of records, but the ones he did were HUGE!  He broke the ALL TIME records in the French Press with a lift of 207 pounds and in the  Bent Arm Pullover with a lift of 195 pounds. I have seen very few people do a French Press in the proper manner as defined in our USAWA Rule Book, but Chuck’s has perfect body mechanics for this lift and performed this big lift of his very strict. His elbows stayed high and the bar touched the back of his neck easily. 

I could say so much more, but that’s it for today.  I want to thank everyone who showed up to lift in this record day.  Participation is what makes a record day a special event.  I especially want to thank Mike Murdock and Denny Habecker for taking their time officiating all day, at the expense of doing all the record lifts they wanted to do.

MEET RESULTS

Dino Gym Record Day
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas
February 12th, 2012

Meet Director: Al Myers

Officials: Al Myers, Denny Habecker, Mike Murdock

Gabby Jobe – Female, 9 years old, 89# BWT

Maxey Press: 38#
Push Press – From Rack: 45#
Hack Lift: 115#
Jefferson Lift: 115#
Deadlift – 12″ Base: 115#

Bryan Benzel – 24 years old, 284# BWT

Holdout – Raised: 71#
Holdout – Lowered: 71#
James Lift: 159#
Clean and Press – Reverse Grip: 259#
Miller Clean and Jerk: 110#
Clean and Jerk – Fulton Bar: 253#
Continental to Chest and Jerk: 298#
Hack Lift: 507#
Saxon Snatch: 95#

Troy Goetsch – 25 years old, 194# BWT

Maxey Press: 183#
Press – From Rack: 185#
Press – From Rack, Behind Neck: 155#
Clean and Press: 192#
Continental to Chest and Jerk: 220#
Deadlift – Heels Together: 429#
Deadlift – 12″ Base: 429#
Deadlift – Civattone Grip: 429#
Deadlift – Reeves: 300#
Bench Press – Hands Together: 250#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar: 506#
Snatch – Fulton Bar: 143#
Continental to Chest – Fulton Bar: 220#

Corey Kenkel – 29 years old, 206# BWT

Maxey Press: 203#
Push Press – From Rack: 185#
Press – From Rack: 185#
Clean and Jerk – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 75#

Jesse Jobe – 35 years old, 225# BWT

Maxey Press – 193#
Push Press – From Rack: 205#
Cyr Press: 125#
Curl – Reverse Grip: 154#
Bent Over Row: 286#
Continental To Belt: 407#
Pinch Grip – Right Hand: 63#
Pinch Grip – Left Hand: 70#
Bench Press – Left Arm: 100#
Bench Press – Right Arm: 110#
Jefferson Lift – Fulton Bar: 385#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar: 451#
Rectangular Fix: 80#
Saxon Snatch: 85#

Scott Tully – 36 years old, 344# BWT

Clean and Jerk – Fulton Bar: 203#
Jefferson Lift – Fulton Bar: 403#
Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat: 170#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 90#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 90#
Lateral Raise – Lying: 80#
Turkish Get Up: 40#

Chad Ullom – 40 years old, 248# BWT

Gardner – Half: 110#
Clean and Press – Alternate Grip: 159#
Miller Clean and Jerk: 110#
Squat – Piper: 230#
Continental to Belt: 480#

Chuck Cookson – 42 years old, 286# BWT

French Press: 207#
Pullover – Bent Arm: 195#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 110#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 110#

Al Myers – 45 years old, 251# BWT

Pullover – Bent Arm: 145#
Bench Press – Reverse Grip: 310#
Bench Press – Alternate Grip: 310#
Bench Press – Hands Together: 280#
Lateral Raise – Lying: 70#

Mark Mitchell – 51 years old, 360# BWT

Clean and Press – Fulton Bar: 223#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar: 403#
Maxey Press: 272#
Pinch Grip: 252#
Saxon Snatch: 107#

LaVerne Myers – 67 years old, 250# BWT

Finger Lift – Little, Left Hand: 48#
Finger Lift – Little, Right Hand: 48#
Finger Lift – Index, Left Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Index, Right Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Ring, Left Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Ring, Right Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Middle, Left Hand: 78#
Finger Lift – Middle, Right Hand: 78#
Finger Lift – Thumb, Left Hand: 48#
Finger Lift – Thumb, Right Hand: 38#
Curl – Cheat: 141#

Denny Habecker – 69 years old, 186# BWT

Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells: 120#
Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells, Heels Together: 110#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 50#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 60#
Swing – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 60#

Dean Ross – 69 years old, 272# BWT

Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat: 80#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left: 50#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right: 50#
Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells: 80#
Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells, Heels Together: 80#
Press – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 55#
Press – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 50#
Snatch – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 60#
Snatch – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 60#
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 Bar, 2″, Left Hand: 127#
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 Bar, 2″, Right Hand: 127#
Bent Over Row: 179#
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip: 223#
Pullover and Push: 135#
Curl – Reverse Grip: 104#
Clean and Press – Reverse Grip: 104#
Clean and Press – Alternate Grip: 104#
Clean and Press – 12″ Base: 104#
Clean and Press: 104#
Clean and Push Press: 104#
Two Hands Anyhow: 80#
Deadlift – Trap Bar: 317#

Mike Murdock – 71 years old, 236# BWT

Bench Press – Hands Together: 145#
Bench Press – Left Arm: 55#
Bench Press – Right Arm: 55#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 55#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 60#

Wilbur Miller – 79 years old, 218# BWT

Squat – 12″ Base: 320#
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip: 397#
Deadlift – Heels Together: 419#
Deadlift – 12″ Base: 457#

Jesse Jobe and Corey Kenkel

Team Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip: 556#

Bryan Benzel and Troy Goetsch

Team Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip: 628#

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