Category Archives: USAWA Daily News

Old Time Strongman Championships

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT: OLD TIME STRONGMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE BACK!!!

By Eric Todd

Lynda Burns pulls a big People's Deadlift at the OTSM Championship

Lynda Burns pulls a big People’s Deadlift at the OTSM Championship

The Old Time Strongman Championship is BACK in 2021!  After a trash year in the USAWA dealing with a trash pandemic, and relying heavily on postal competitions (which we were very lucky to have), I am excited to announce the 2021 Old Time Strongman Championship.  This is often one of our better attended competitions, and I am counting on it being so again this year.  The meet will once again be held in my big tin can.

I always like the offer this disclaimer for anyone who has not lifted in my facility.  It is not a place of luxury.  It gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter.  So, come prepared, depending on what the weather brings that particular day.  No easy chairs, no davenports, no recliners. No running water, so the restroom facilities come in the shape of an outhouse out back.  Toilet Paper is in the ammo box.  That being said, there is plenty of weight to make big lifts on!

Lifts for the meet:

Cyr Press

Habecker Lift

Hackenschmidt Floor Press

Kennedy Lift

 

Date: September 11, 2021

Weigh ins: 9:30

Rules: 10:00

Meet Time: 10:30

Cost $25 (Make Checks out to Eric Todd)

Entries due (in hand) August 28

Awards: There will be awards

 

I will post directions a little closer to meet time.  Follow those and you will be golden.  Follow GPS and you might be blowed up.  Hope to see you all out here on September 11 for good times and great lifting. Entry form below:

 

OTSM-Entry

Postal Pics

By Eric Todd

Because of membership request, it is my plan to post pictures with the postal results as much as possible.  That being said, this will require some of you guys to send me pictures after you have completed your postal lifts.  Otherwise, you will probably get tired of seeing KCSTRONGMAN pics.  Any help in this is appreciated.  You can email them to me at SalGuimino@yahoo.com.  If i get multiple, I may have to pick and choose, but I will try to have as good of representation as I can given the pictures I receive.

New Lift – The Rim Lift

By Al Myers

I performed the Rim Lift at the 2018 IAWA Gold Cup in Eastbourne England. I feel it will be a great new lift for the USAWA!

I performed the Rim Lift at the 2018 IAWA Gold Cup in Eastbourne England. I feel it will be a great new lift for the USAWA!

At the National Meeting the USAWA membership voted to accept a new lift put forth by the executive board for approval. The Rim Lift was presented to the EB for new lift status back in 2020 before the COVID pandemic by LaVerne Myers.  LaVerne had “tested out” the Rim Lift at the 2020 Grip Championships he promoted as an exhibition lift.  Several lifters took part after the meet in trying out the Rim Lift, in which all seemed to really enjoy it.  A few lifters went over 300 pounds in this trial – Jason Payne did 340, and Dave Glasgow, Eric Todd, and Chad Ullom did 300 pounds.  LaVerne, at 75 years of age, did 280.

The Rim Lift is an official lift in the IAWA-UK, and has been for a long time.  The USAWA rule for it is the same as the IAWA-UK rule, which is as follows:

Rim Lift

The lift may be performed under the official rules of the Deadlift, Hacklift, or Jefferson Lift while only holding onto the rims of the gripping plates with the thumbs on the inside and the fingers over the rims of the plates.  The maximum plate diameter is 18 inches. If smaller plates are used for the gripping plates larger (18″ max diameter) plates may be added to the outside. The gripping plates must be flat and smooth on the inside surface, and the rim cannot be deeper than 1 inch.  It is an infraction to grab any handles, holes, or specially prepared areas on the plates to aid in gripping.  Any length of bar may be used as the distance between collars is optional. The lifter must finish the lift in an upright position and under control.  Once motionless, the head official will give a command to lower the bar.

At the meeting I made an amendment to the lift proposal to accept the prior lifts done at the Grip Champs to count retroactively and be the first Rim Lift records in the record book.  The Rim Lift will be added to the updated USAWA Rule Book.

USAWA 2nd Quarter Postal Meet

By Denny Habecker

Lance Foster of the KCSTRONGMAN Club performs a reverse curl at the 2nd quarter postal

Lance Foster of the KCSTRONGMAN Club performs a reverse curl at the 2nd quarter postal

We had great participation again in this quarter’s postal, with 17 men  and 8 woman competing.  Eric Todd led the men’s division and R.J. Jackson topped the women’s division. USAWA records are marked with an*.

 

MEET RESULTS:

April 1 Through June 30, 2021

Lifts: Pullover and Press, Curl-Reverse Grip, Strict,  Deadlift- One Arm

MEN:
Eric Todd – 46  -260  -318*  – 150* – 379–R* – 847  – 705.27
Abe Smith – 39  -181  -275*  –  75    – 315-R   – 665  – 629.42
Randy Smith – 66  -196  -175    – 80*   – 265-R   – 520  – 601.57
Nick Frieckers  – 20  -157  -175    – 75*   – 300-R   – 550  – 568.48
Denny Habecker- 78  -188  -143    – 61*   – 198-R   – 402  – 564.78
John Carter- 62  -219  -165*  – 65     – 305-R   – 535  – 559.53
Dave DeForest – 61 -195  -180    – 70*    -250-R    -500   – 553.08
Barry Pensyl – 73 -143  -126*  – 49*    -176-R    -351   – 548.56
Tony Hose  -52 -229  -230* – 95 *        – 250-L*      – 575    -539.68
Dave Hahn – 84 -144  – 94    – 55      -139-R    -288   – 518.79
Frank Ciavattone – 66 -280 – 150   -100     – 280-R   -530    – 509
Chris Todd – 41 -263 – 243   – 90      – 243-R   -576   – 454.68
Wade Marchand – 52 -160 – 132   -70*     – 160-R  – 362   – 417.53
James Morrison-20 -175  -175  – 70      – 200-R   – 405   – 391
Lance Foster-55 -341  -121   -80       -170-L*  – 371   -294.50
Bill Clark -88 -208  – 0    –  22*    – 140-R*  -162   – 243.69
LeRoy Todd -10  -78   -20   – 20*      – 50-R    –  90    -228.40

Women:
R.J. Jackson – 59 -104 -111  – 56     – 191-R     – 358   – 506
Elizabeth Skwarecki  – 40 -152 -145  – 45     – 187-R     – 377   – 401.71
Sylvia Stockall  – 63 -150   -99  – 65      -111-R     – 275   – 363.23
Stacy Todd – 38 -192  -111* -65*   -156-R*    -332    -303.78
Chris DeRoller- 60 -153  – 55*  -42*   -120-R*    -217    – 275.96
Phoebe Todd – 10 -117 – 45*  – 30*   – 80-R      – 155   – 263.54
Lynda Burns – 46 -167  -85    – 43    – 105-L     –  233   -247.86
Janet Thompson- 63 -180  – 0     -33*   – 100-L     – 133    -156.66

Lifters with Certified Officials:
Stacy Todd    – Chris Todd, Eric Todd, Lance Foster
Phoebe Todd – Chris Todd, Eric Todd, Lance Foster
Leroy Todd   – Chris Todd, Eric Todd, Lance Foster
Eric Todd     – Lance Foster, Chris Todd
Nick Frieckers – Bill Clark, Dave DeForest
Chris Todd      – Eric Todd, Lance Foster
Lance Foster   – Eric Todd, Chris Todd
Abe Smith           – Bill Clark
Denny Habecker  – Barry Pensyl
John Carter         – Bill Clark
Dave DeForest    – Bill Clark
Barry Pensyl       – Denny Habecker
Wade Marchand  – Frank Ciavattone
James Morrison   – Frank Ciavattone
Chris DeRoller     – Bill Clark
Bill Clark            – Dave DeForest
Tony Hose          – Bill Clark
Janet Thompson – Bill Clark

Lifters without Certified Officials:
Randy Smith
Dave Hahn
Frank Ciavattone
R.J. Jackson
Elizabeth Skwarecki
Sylvia Stockall
Lynda Burns

Note:  All results are recorded in pounds.  L and R designate left and right arms.  TOT is overall total.  PTS are overall corrected points adjusted for age and bodyweight.

Plates in or out-Does it matter?

Leroy Todd performing a one hand deadlift with the weights having been properly loaded facing the inside

Leroy Todd performing a one hand deadlift with the weights having been properly loaded facing the inside

By Eric Todd

When I was a lad and began experimenting with weight training, what I had at my disposal was the old plastic clad concrete weights.  Nothing fancy, but they did the job for the time being.  On those clad weights, one side of the “plate” as identical to the other, so it did not matter which way you slid the plate on, they would match.

When I entered the 8th grade, which at that time was housed at Cameron High School, we had just hired on a new head football coach/PE teacher.  He had been a competitive powerlifter, and was quite invested in the weight room, so we got to experience some of his expertise in the weight room.  We had some decent equipment at the High School including some cast iron Olympic weight sets.  The protocol this instructor taught us was that we were to always load the weights face side in, smooth side out.  That was to be done without exception.  If it was ever noticed that the plate was loaded the wrong way, the guilty lad would be corrected, and there would be an expectation to fix the mistake.

So, for the rest of my life under the barbell, I have loaded the bar face in, smooth side out.  I have noticed at some meets, that is the expectation.  For the Heavy Lifts, I would insist upon it, as well as matching plates, since balance of the bar is crucial.  I have also witnessed individuals who habitually load plates the other way, and meets where it did not seem to matter to anyone.  With my kids now joining me to lift, though, I have taught them to always load the bar face in, smooth side out.

My question to you is, does it matter?  Or is it something that certain lifters/promoters are just obsessive about.  For instance, I was once training in a gym in which they would search the gym up and down to be sure they had matching tens on each side of the bar.  I found it silly, but perhaps there was a method to that madness.  I got joshed once by a confederate of mine for searching for two and a half pound plates to go for a PR.  He told me if I could be going for 5 more, 10 more (or adding fives instead of 2 1/2s ) would not really make that much difference.  And perhaps he is right, since we were not using calibrated weights anyhow.  At any rate, I want to hear from you all.  Does it matter which way the weights face?  Not that you will change my mind, but I am interested.  Discussion in the forum.

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