Category Archives: USAWA Events

National Grip Championships

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

THE USAWA NATIONAL GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

Andy Durniat won the 2010 Dino Gym Grip Challenge. Will he return to defend his title and win the FIRST EVER USAWA National Grip Championships? In this picture Andy is setting the USAWA All-TIme best lift of 140 kilograms in the One Arm No Thumb Deadlift.

The Dino Gym Grip Meet was such a HUGE SUCCESS last year –  we decided to do it again this year.   The tradition of grip challenges have been around quite a while in the USAWA – thanks to Kevin Fulton’s grip meets.   However, this year the USAWA has taken  grip competitions to “a new level” as the USAWA Executive Board approved this meet as the USAWA National Grip Championships.  This is the FIRST TIME the USAWA will have a Grip Nationals – the start of a NEW tradition that I hope will continue for many years.

Considering this is a National Championships, a few things had to be done with this meet in order to fulfill our established USAWA rules of conducting a championship.  First of all, only Official USAWA Lifts can be in a Nationals – thus NO exhibition lifts.  However, we have a host of great grip lifts in our Rule Book so this was not a problem.  Second, traditional scoring will be done with age and body-weight corrections on the “total weight” lifted.  And thirdly, all individual body-weight classes and age divisions will be contested for National Championship Awards.

The lifts are:

Pinch Grip

Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 bar, 2″, One Hand

Deadlift – Middle Fingers

Deadift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip

Deadlift – 3″ Bar

The 2011 National Grip Championships will be on Saturday, February 12th, 2011. Luckily this year the second weekend of February avoided Valentine’s Day!  For an ENTRY FORM (pdf) – NationalGripEntry

Dino Gym Record Day

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

DINO GYM RECORD DAY

Meet Director: Al Myers and the Dino Gym

Meet Date:  Sunday, February 13th, 2011  10:00 AM-4:00PM

Location:  Dino Gym, Abilene, Kansas

Sanction:  USAWA

Entry Form:  None – just show up

Entry Fee: None

Lifts:  Record Day – Pick any lifts you can set a USAWA record in!

Contact me at amyers@usawa.com if you have any questions.

Eastern Open Postal

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT –


Eastern Open Postal Meet

Dates:  Between March 1st and March 31st, 2011

Entry form must be postmarked by April 5th, 2011

Must be a current USAWA member to be eligible for competition

Entry Fee:  None

Official USAWA rules apply as outlined in the Rule Book

Lifts:

Bench Press – Alternate Grip

Squat – 12” Base

Deadlift – Dumbbell, One Arm

PDF Entry Form – EasternOpen

Dino Gym Challenge

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT – THE DINO GYM PRESENTS

“AN OLD TIME STRONGMAN COMPETITION”

by Al Myers

I am excited to announce this year’s Dino Gym Challenge.  Every year I change “the theme” of the Dino Challenge to keep it refreshing and interesting.  This year is no exception.  For the FIRST TIME, the USAWA will sanction a Strongman Competition.  All lifts done will be exhibition lifts – meaning they are NOT USAWA official lifts, and they will not be “record eligible”.   That is one neat thing about the USAWA, our rules allow competitions to be sanctioned with exhibition lifts.  There is not a better way to “try out” a new lift than having it in a competition for everyone to contest.  To me, this seems like the BEST WAY to form an opinion of a new lift (before it is presented for lift approval).  But I’m getting off track, this ANNOUNCEMENT is for a different type of Strongman Competition than what most people are used to.  This competition will be based on OLD-TIME STRONGMEN and the feats they did in their performances or shows.  There won’t be any aluminum kegs, steel logs, concrete stones, or adjustable steel yokes in this one.  I consider those implements as MODERN strongman stuff!!  Guys like Arthur Saxon and Hermann Goerner didn’t have access to those kind of things!

I picked 5 events for this competition based on 5 famous strength feats of 5 well-known Old Time Strongmen. The events will be:

1. Goerner Stroll – Carry two barbells one rod (16.5 feet)

2. Louie Cyr Press – One dumbbell overhead with one hand, anyway. May use both hands to get it to chest.

3. Apollon’s Lift – Overhead lift with 2″ bar, anyway. We will use my replica.

4. Dinnie Lift – Two loaded VBs with ring handles. One must be loaded 75% or less than the other.

5. Saxon Snatch – Snatch with a loaded plank, 3″ thick

I also want to point out that this competition will be DRUG  TESTED, so all competitors will be drug-free just like these Old-Time Strongmen were!  The rules of the USAWA will apply, which will make this Strongman Competition slightly different than the format of other Strongman Comps.  The lifter will get three attempts on each event, and the lifter will PICK the weight they want to try.   This way ANYONE can compete and perform within their capabilities and not be limited by “set equipment weight”.  Each lifter’s maximum weight per lift will be added, forming a TOTAL POUNDAGE, which will be adjusted to points using the USAWA’s adjustment guidelines for age and bodyweight.

Put this EVENT on your schedule and be part of something new!!  All lifts will be further highlighted in future USAWA Daily News stories on the website.

ENTRY FORM – DinoEntry2011

JWC Record Breaker

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

JWC RECORD BREAKER : LIFTING FAITH

by Thom Van Vleck

Oct. 29 we will be attempting a feat never before seen in the USAWA.  Quite frankly, I wonder what I was thinking when I dreamed this up!  We will attempt to break 100 USAWA records in about 2 hours for charity.

Last year I had my first ever JWC Record day and we had a blast.  This year I decided to combine it with our annual school fundraiser to try and get pledges for each record we break.  This money will go towards funding the Faith Lutheran School.  This school has over 150 students from preschool to 3rd grade.  Most of these students don’t attend our Church, and many do not have a Church home at all.  So the money is more than just about giving to a Church but to a school that reaches out to many different families and children.

I have decided to call it “Lifting Faith” because we are lifting weights to benefit Faith Lutheran School.  I already have several athletes who have committed to this feat and I am looking for more!  There is no entry fee and no awards, just the satisfaction of not only breaking individual records, but being part of a 100 record breaking day,  AND raising money for a good cause.

I will be going out and getting pledges for each record we break.  If we break 50 records and I have pledge totaling $10 per record, we raise $500 and if we break 100 records it will be $1000!  So, it’s important that we break as many as possible with the maximum being 100!  I will have loaders and spotters there and I will have a lifting platform and a warm up platform.  We will likely have over 500 people, most of them kids,  in attendance and towards the end, we will be the CENTER of the event!  I will have someone running a tote board to update progress and multiplying that by pledges to show an every rising dollar amount.  I will have an emcee and a PA system.  At the end, the JWC will do our strongman show as part of a finale the evenings festivities.

All YOU need to do is BE THERE and be READY to break some records!!!!!

Contact me as soon as possible to verify your attendance.  I need all entries by Oct. 25th, NO LATE entries due to the need to develop a flow chart of records.  Also, due to the time limits, when it’s your time to lift, you need to be ready!  We will be moving quickly!!  No chain lifts, only platform lifts!

Be a part of the record day to beat all record days!

Here is my contact info:

Thom Van Vleck

tvanvleck@yahoo.com

660 341 1755

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