[Sanjiv Gupta]

https://youtu.be/zA4oTt53Hbk?si=AG3G6sR-FXLvYEGV New video from The Grip Show featuring Jenn Tibbenham of IAWA with an intro at 2:37 “we have international all-round weightlifting…making weightlifting awkward since the 1900’s”

[Sanjiv Gupta]

What an amazing field for Nationals. Congratulations to the team champions-
Ledaig Heavy Athletics – 1st
Clark’s Championship Gym – 2nd
High Country Vigour – 3rd
KCSTRONGMAN, Frank’s Barbell Club and Dino Gym were also represented at Nationals with one member from each club

[Sanjiv Gupta]

We got through a very big agenda in an hour and twenty minutes. Thank you everybody.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

Thanks to everybody who participated in the 2026 annual meeting (live and by sending comments with attendees). We got through a very big agenda in an hour and twenty minutes. Huge shoutout to Jessica for taking notes which will be published on the website. A few by law changes to stabilize board of director transitions and a new Drug Enforcement Special Assignment Director.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

Registration closes next Tuesday, June 16th. Get your entries in!

[Sanjiv Gupta]

It looks like there will be a really full agenda this year. If you cannot attend, please share your thoughts here or some other public forum so we can have good consensus when voting.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zISfYEIrUdM New video from Massenomics touring the Snap City Gym. At about 36:40, they talk about the heavy lift bar and Jefferson lift. The video states that USAWA was rebranded as Old Time Strongman. It is the clearest indicator that I have seen that the days of USAWA are numbered.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

Please consider voting on the 2026 Annual Awards. Recipients are selected by the membership and an important part of recognizing individuals for their performance, leadership, integrity and courage on and off the platform.

Your voice matters, whether you are a veteran or new; local or traveling; young or old; male or female; casual lifter or serious lifter.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

With the new Annual Awards Format, I wanted to highlight some of the women of the USAWA over the past year with club affiliation, age group, “newcomer” status, signature events attended and other fun facts. In alphabetical order by last name

**Lisa Gore – Clark’s – Masters, (313) individual records

**Nisha Gupta – High Country Vigour – Junior, newcomer, 2025 Nationals, Team Lift Champs, Ran for EB twice, Level 1 Official, (86) individual records

**Jessica Hopps – Frank’s Barbell Club – Masters, 2025 Nationals, Sanctions meets for Frank’s, Served as EB Secretary, Level 1 Official, (141) individual records

**Helen Kahn – No Club Affiliation – Masters, (17) individual records

Thank you all for competing and supporting All-Round Weightlifting.

**Allison Lupo – Clark’s – Masters, 2025 Nationals, Club Champs, Team Lift Champs, Level 1 Official, (247) individual records

**Beth Skwarecki – Habecker’s – Masters, 2025 Nationals, President’s Cup, Club Champs, Level 2 Official, (214) individual records

**Janet Thompson – Clark’s – Masters, Club Champs, (211) individual records

**Esmie Tseng – Per Aspera Strength – Senior, newcomer, Club Champs (1) individual record

**Kim Van Wagner – High Country Vigour – Masters, Club Champs, Team Lift Champs, Official in Training, (139) individual records

**Dylan Wenzel – Clark’s – Junior, newcomer, Club Champs, (28) individual records

[Sanjiv Gupta]

It was a good line up of events. I was pleasantly surprised to see results from 24 athletes.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

Any All-Rounders in Texas? I had an inquiry from Austin, TX

[Sanjiv Gupta]

I really enjoyed giving these a listen and it reminded me of a pet project I was trying to get off the ground. If anybody would be willing to do a recorded Google video call, I would love to set up an interview covering athletic background, getting involved in All-Round, accomplishments, current goals, future predictions and any other topics in a roughly 30-45 minute interview.

No experience requirements to volunteer. The first couple will likely be a learning exercise and hopefully they get better and serve as a video library to preserve the history of all-round weightlifting as told by the members of USAWA.

Please reach out to me directly.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

I have never met Al but felt comfortable researching the article for the website. I was most impressed by how Al was everywhere from Las Vegas to Lebanon, PA to Glasgow to Perth supporting and promoting All-Round Weightlifting. I did not come across a single article of his that was a rant or a criticism. Whether 2 people or 20 people showed up for a meet, the article would always include some uplifting stories.

[Sanjiv Gupta]

youtu.be/lGy-g8PqIAI?si=f2RQIwrgtiigd96M

When you start looking for mentions of All-Round weightlifting, it is everywhere. At about 1:12:30 in the linked interview between Zach Mullins and Adam Glass on The Grip Show, Adam starts talking about how All-Round should have been the next big thing (that CrossFit ended up being).

Ironically, I found All-Round weightlifting through a CrossFit Journal article:

journal.crossfit.com/article/the-odd-lifts

[Sanjiv Gupta]

I gave this a listen and it was pretty well done. It is hard to explain what All-Round lifting is about, but the podcast does a good job of explaining some of the history of weightlifting before powerlifting became the squat, bench and deadlift and before weightlifting became the snatch and the clean & jerk. It was also nice to hear about how Cliff Harvey was introduced to the sport over 20 years ago. I feel very fortunate that I happen to live someplace where there were already some athletes competing and there were dozens more within a 1 day drive.

[Author]

Replies