Sanjiv Gupta
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USAWA has done single issue straw polls in the past, but to my knowledge, this is the first full membership survey. An advisory committee was convened; they created and distributed a survey and collected the results. Huge thanks to the committee and the (53) respondents.
Despite a 450+ Facebook group and large distribution, only (47) members and (6) non-members filled out the survey. (41) respondents saw the survey on the website or by being sent a link. Only (8) respondents engaged through social media.
I got the impression that most respondents had been training for a while; mostly for health and fun but enjoy competing occasionally. Having live competition closer to respondents would help improve participation.
The only true guiding principles were Historic Odd Lifting and Drug Free Sport. Strongman/Support Gear/Records were closer to 50/50. Nearly 1 in 6 did not feel like USAWA was going in the right direction and only (14) responded that they have some voice in how the organization is run.
I did not find anything surprising on the records, live competition, website content or social media content.
Challenges were mixed with some athletes wanting growth and more competition near them. Some responses were questioning the organizational structure and would like USAWA to be more nimble and have fresh leadership.
Some of the opportunities listed were around social media, taking advantage of technology for officials training and competition and co-sanctioning competitions.
The final thoughts were age-old themes for any organization that has a decades long history. Veteran lifters don’t want to change anything, and new lifters want to change everything. Some want everyone to travel and compete together and some don’t want to travel so make it easier to compete.
My personal thoughts after reviewing the survey.
Most athletes do not know the history of All-Round Weightlifting and that is USAWA and IAWA’s own fault. The first 25 years of the organization’s history is lost to the pre-internet days and will likely never be published.
Most athletes do not know how USAWA and IAWA are organized. The organization was originally intended for worldwide participation in the thousands and may not be appropriate for 150 lifters in the UK, 100 in the USA, 30 in Canada, 20 in Australia and 10 in New Zealand plus a few more in the rest of the world.
Most athletes participate in other mainstream strength sports that they enjoy and are good at. They rightfully want the competition to feel very similar. However, having a voice in Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, Highland Games, CrossFit, Grip and others is nearly non-existent unless you are a state or national chair; executive or major sponsor.
My daughters have participated in USAWA, but I have tried not to push it too much. Junior lifters do not understand a 1 rep max. When “handling” my kids, I always have them stop at a Relative Perceived Effort (RPE) of 7-8. There is no consensus on the lifts they enjoy or dislike but teaching them how to move with atypical loads is important. If they choose to compete in the future, I will push powerlifting as most schools have clubs or competitive teams. Powerlifting is easier to train and compete in your whole life.
I enjoy lifting in USAWA because it is a small organization where I can have a voice if I choose to speak up at the annual meeting or contribute website articles. There are rules and by-laws that ensure the organization can survive for decades. I can do postal lifts in the comfort of my own home or fly to national and international competitions. I don’t need an expensive belt, shoes, knee sleeves, wrist wraps or singlet to feel like I am on a level playing field. There is no financial success possible so there should be no incentive to use performance enhancing drugs, but people still do so there is a drug test protocol that ethical meet directors are required to use.
Not sure what happened to my original post, but this was in reference to Larry Traub’s amazing 340 pound Reeves Deadlift at the Ledaig Heavy Athletics Record Day. At 71 years old and 197.5 body weight he beat the 90 kg all age class record that has stood since 2012. The next closest Reeves Deadlift by a 70+ year old athlete is 255 pounds.
I am glad to see his name on the National Championship start list. After reading some of his USAWA articles, I am looking forward to meeting him.
Looks like the dual venue option worked really well. 13 lifters is a great turnout and should keep the tradition of chain lifting alive for the future. There were plenty of records broken with Jessica and Chad competing in lighter weight classes. Impressive performances by all.
Congratulations to Ben Edwards for winning the USAWA Grip Championship! Full results will be posted on the website.
Good luck to all of the athletes in the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships! I am excited to read the meet report with the dual venue.
If you do make it down, you should definitely compete in the grip competition in addition to the push/pull. I was surprised at how many of the other events had some pretty decent prize pools (between $1000 and $5000).
I would love to get out to Louisville for this event sooner rather than later. I am not particularly concerned with the big brands (Rep, Rogue, Titan), but love the smaller players like Belt Fed Strength, Arm Assassin Strength Shop, Darko Lifting, Bearfoot Shoes, Mutant Metals, etc.
However, like you I should probably be getting rid of things.
I thought I could do a Turkish Get Up until the load got heavy. After Dino Gym (10/10) and Ledaig (7/10), Habecker’s (5/10) had competed in the most club championships. Hopefully your club can be on the platform next year!
Congratulations to Clark’s Championship Gym for winning the 2025 Club Championship!
I could set up the Bavarian Deadlift for you. My set up is a little sketchy as I set up 12 inch plyo boxes on stall mats. The loading pin and 1″ handle is safe enough, but as you go heavy in a sumo stance elevated on blocks that are not bolted to the floor you can see the potential for hamstring/groin injuries if anything shifts.
The Nemesis grips “fat dumbbells” have a full 2.5″ diameter and take standard axle bar collars. I do not see this size on their website anymore. The handles take chalk very well and I expect records to be broken.
The FBBC Final Form V-Bar does not take chalk as well as it is unfinished steel. In a few more years with some seasoning I think that will improve. Expect your lifts to be lower than they would be with 1.9″ pipe or other painted implements.
For those who may be wondering about implements:
Pinch Grip, Strict – Will use 1980’s York Plates
Deadlift, Inch DB – Will used Nemesis Grips loadable Inch dumbbell handle
Vertical Bar, 1 Bar, 2″ – Will use custom height Fat Bastard Barbell Company Final Form V-bar
Hack Lift Fulton Bar – Will use IronMind Apollon’s AxleHope everybody’s training is going well.
Wow, this is get is getting exciting. I was afraid that it would just be Kim, Jarrod, Nisha and myself. Then Ben reached out and I took a sigh of relief. With Denny throwing down, this is going to become a fun championship. If we get a few more people, I will be thrilled to find a larger venue.
Congratulations to the Ed Zercher Memorial Strength Classic Lifters. All of the lifters put up some really good numbers whether they completed 1 lift or all 13 lifts. While Jeff Wenzel did have the highest absolute total (6972 pounds), I calculated Nick Frieders having the better total by age adjusted Lynch (6175 vs 5653 pounds) and the fewest point by reverse strongman scoring (20 vs 26 points).
The reverse strongman storing gets interesting since not all lifters completed all of the lifts. I choose to have everybody who did not perform the lift tie. In the case of the harness lift, 3 of the 8 men did not complete the lift and therefore 6th, 7th and 8th would tie and all get 7 points. 1st through 3rd were the same as the top 3 men by age adjusted Lynch also that the fewest point by reverse strongman. Nick Frieders had 8 1st place lifts and Nick’s “worst” lift was the Neck Lift which Dave DeForest dominated with a 350 pound lift.
I love to see meet directors continue to test different scoring systems, especially when the Harness Lift (1st=1502, 3rd=1150 pounds; difference 352 pounds) are tested on the same platform as the Clean & Press, Heels Together (1st=180 pounds, 3rd=125 pounds). Another idea would be % of max. If first place had a 1000 age adjusted lynch they would get 100 points for that lift, if second place had a 900 age adjusted lynch they would get 90 points.
However Bill did state that there was more “pressure put on the scorer” which is already a tough job.
Love all of the comments regarding Championship Events. Also great to see that Nationals, Postal, Grip, OTSM and Presidential Cup have already been scheduled. Hopefully, we can have a Heavy Lift, Club and Team Championship in some form or maybe even a different championship event proposed.
Lift choice is an interesting rabbit hole. As I was researching the National Championships, it has been a 1-2 day event with 5-10 lifts including cleans, presses, snatches, deadlifts, squats, misc lifts, dumbbell lifts, Fulton bar lifts, Heavy Lifts and Special Equipment Lifts. Surprisingly OTSM lifts have never been in the National Championship. Part of the reason is that they were only introduced in 2011 and meet directors often choose to do repeat lifts.
Meet Directors propose lifts and those are approved by the Executive Board. I think that is a nice check and balance so our National Champions are not decided by the Back Lift, French Press and Lano Lift. There is also a fairness to the National Championship moving around the country and being promoted by different Meet Directors. Future events could be all squats, all misc lifts or anything else, but they will have be approved by the Executive Board which has traditional been pretty open to whatever meet directors propose. To date 61 different lifts have been part of the National Championship.
To help your negotiations, any registered athletes with the last name Edwards, can stay for dinner
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