Presidential Cup

By Al Myers

*****CANCELLED*****

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
THE 2020  USAWA PRESIDENTIAL CUP

For the ninth year in a row, the now “Annual” USAWA Presidential Cup is being hosted again by our USAWA President Denny Habecker.  This is one of the CHAMPIONSHIP events hosted in the USAWA, and is the Championships of Record Days.  It follows along “the lines” of the IAWA Gold Cup – a lifter picks their best lift and contests it for a USAWA record in this prestigious record day.  After all lifters have performed their record lifts, Denny will pick the effort that impresses him the most and award that lifter the PRESIDENTIAL CUP.  Only one lifter will receive this very important award.   If time allows, lifters will have the opportunity to perform other record day lifts.  So it is a good idea to come with the BIG LIFT in mind, but also be prepared to do other lifts for record if the time allows.

Now a little “rehash” on the Presidential Cup.  These are the guidelines:

The Presidential Cup will follow along some of the same guidelines as the Gold Cup, which is the IAWA meet which recognizes outstanding performances by lifters in the lift/lifts of their choosing.  The Gold Cup started in 1991 under the direction of then-IAWA President Howard Prechtel.  However there will be some differences in the guidelines of the USAWA Presidential Cup:

  • The Presidential Cup is hosted annually by the USAWA President only.
  • Must be a USAWA member to participate.
  • A lifter may choose any official USAWA  lift/lifts (up to a maximum of 5 lifts) to set a USAWA record/records in.
  • The lifter must open at a USAWA Record Poundage on first attempt.
  • The top performance record lift of the entire record day,  which will be chosen by the President, will be awarded the PRESIDENTIAL CUP.

MEET DETAILS:

USAWA Presidential Cup

Saturday, August 1st, 2020

Meet Director:  Denny Habecker

Location: Habecker’s Gym, Lebanon, PA

Lifts:  Bring your best lift for record!

Start time:  10 AM,  with weigh-ins before this

Entry Form:  None, but advance notice is required.

Lebanon Valley RD

By Al Myers

***POSTPONED TILL FURTHER NOTICE***

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT –

LEBANON VALLEY RECORD DAY

Denny has just announced his spring record day at his gym, Habecker’s Gym.  Please contact him in advance if you plan to attend and he can fill you in on the details.  Remember – only 5 lifts for USAWA records can be performed at record days. That’s a rule of the USAWA.

Meet Promoter: Denny Habecker

Meet Date: May 16th, 2020

Location: Habecker’s Gym, Lebanon, PA

Contact Denny if you plan to attend.

Deadlift Dozen Plus One

By Bill Clark

2020 Deadlift Dozen Plus One

OutsideClarksGym

Hard to believe, but this meet was decided on the final lift of the day – the third attempt in the little fingers deadlift.

Abe Smith had led the entire day, but ran into trouble in the finger lifts. Sixty-one year old John Carter had been battling 60-year-old Dave DeForest for what Carter hoped was second place . John had not been in a meet for almost a dozen years and was best known for challenging Steve Schmidt in the chain lifts, He had only a few days in the gym prior to the Deadlift Dozen, devoted mainly to form and remembering how to do the various lifts.

Actually, a bit of male chauvinism may have given John the title.

Amorkor Ollennuking, making her first competition since a battle with cancer in the left arm lymph nodes, had done a little fingers deadlift with 90 pounds – 25 pounds more than any other lifter. John had opened with 55, then jumped to 95 pounds – and missed. He had one more attempt – the last lift in the meet – and he made it with a grimace on his face. Little did he know that he had just won the meet with that final effort.

When the weight correction was made, Carter trailed by 502 points. Abe got no age correction and John received 22 per cent. He won 3,110.63 to Abe’s 3,061.002 – provided Clark’s calculator was correct.

DeForest, who turned 60 earlier in February, was also making a return to the iron world after being out of the game for 15 years. The fifth lifter was Tony Hose, a 50-year-old member of Clark’s Gym for the past decade who decided to get into his first-ever competition. Don’t let the weights here fool you. There’s a lot more in Tony’s tank.

In addition to the regular lifting, both Abe and Dave stayed around to do some record lifts. In fact, Abe had done fourth attempts three times that, had they been within the normal three, would have given him the title.

Mike Lucht of the Kansas City area showed up to join in the record session  and set five marks (listed below).

The next meet in Clark’s Gym will be March 21 – the Steve Schmidt Backbreaker Pentathlon – a good warm-up for the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships in June.  The pentathlon is a five-lift event -the back, neck, hand-and-thigh, hip and harness. If he gets a break in his schedule, Steve Schmidt might possibly make it as an official.

As a side note, Bill Clark happened to be the only judge on hand  for the Deadlift Dozen and, considering the fact that his battered left foot has been very slow to recover from dropping 160 pounds on it at the Grip Meet two weeks ago, he was content to officiate. It also gave him a chance to work with Dave DeForest, who has passed his officiating test and is now sitting in to get his three meets of experience with a level 2 official.

MEET RESULTS:

2020 Deadlift Dozen Plus One
Clark’s Gym
Columbia, MO
February 22nd, 2020

Meet Director: Bill Clark

Scorekeeper: Bill Clark

Official (1-Official System Used): Bill Clark

Lifts: Deadlift Heels Together, Jefferson Lift, Hack Lift, 2 Barbell Deadlift, Deadlift Left Arm, Deadlift Right Arm, Deadlift Left Arm No Thumb, Deadlift Right Arm No Thumb, Reeves Deadlift, Index Fingers Deadlift, Middle Fingers Deadlift, Ring Fingers Deadlift, Little Fingers Deadlift

Amorkor Ollennuking – 57 years old – 163 pounds – 1.0093 coeff. – 18 % age correction.
Abe Smith – 38 years old –  183 pounds – .9404 coeff.  – no age correction.
Tony Hose, Clark’s Gym – 50 years old – 228 pounds – .8332 coeff. – 11% age corr.
Dave DeForest, Fulton, Mo. and Clark’s Gym – 60 years old – 197n pounds – .9o030 coeff. – 21% age corr.
John Carter, Harrisburg, Mo. and Clark’s Gym – 219 pounds – .8499 coeff.  22% age corr.

Two-hand Deadlift – heels together
Amorkor – 245
Smith – 430
Hose – 275
DeForest – 375
Carter – 355

Two-hand straddle lift – Jefferson Lift
Amorkor – 225
Smith – 410
Hose – 225
DeForest – 375
Carter – 315

Two-hand hack lift
Amorkor – 225
Smith – 345
Hose – 275
DeForest – 315
Carter – 315

Two-barbell deadlift
Amorkor – 230
Smith – 410
Hose – 270
DeForest – 390
Carter – 370

LH Deadlift
Amorkor – 135
Smith – 275
Hose – 145
DeForest – 205
Carter – 225

RH Deadlift
Amorkor – 190
Smith – 275
Hose – 145
DeForest – 225
Carter – 250

LH Deadlift (Thumbless)
Amorkor – 125
Smith – 175
Hose – 150
DeForest – 155
Carter – 140

RH Deadlift (Thumbless)
Amorkor – 135
Smith – 200
Hose – 150
DeForest – 145
Carter – 205

Reeves Deadlift
Amorkor – 180
Smith – 255
Hose – 225
DeForest – 200
Carter – 260

Index Fingers Deadlift
Amorkor – 95
Smith – 135
Hose – 135
DeForest – 115
Carter – 135

Middle Fingers Deadlift
Amorkor – 105
Smith – 155
Hose – 165
DeForest – 125
Carter – 200

Ring Fingers Deadlift
Amorkor – 95
Smith – 65
Hose – 95
DeForest – 65
Carter – 135

Little Fingers Deadlift
Amorkor – 90
Smith – 65
Hose – 50
DeForest – 65
Carter – 95

TOTALS Raw pounds
Amorkor – 2060
Smith – 3,255
Carter – 3000
DeForest – 2745
Hose – 2465

Bodyweight corrected Points
Amorkor – 2078.16
Smith – 3061.002
Carter – 2549.70
DeForest – 2473.25
Hose – 2051.37

Final age corrected standings
Amorkor – 2453.4
Carter – 3110.63
Smith – 3061.002
DeForest – 2992.63
Hose – 2277.02

Fourth Attempts:
Abe Smith – Right hand deadlift (thumbless) – 210 ; Right hand deadlift (thumbless) – 200

RECORD DAY

Mike Lucht, Kansas City, Kansas – age 37 – Bwt – 229
Push press from rack – 225
2-dumbbell clean and push press – 2×80 – 160
Seated press – 160
Good morning – 85
Dumbbell to shoulder – 130.

Abe Smith
Push press from rack – 250
Clean and press on  knees – 205
Overhead squat – 165
One-hand 2-inch vertical b ar deadlift – right hand – 200
One-hand 2-inch vertical bar deadlift – left hand – 200.

Dave DeForest 
Two-hand deadlift – 12-inch base – 365
Clean and press on knees – 115
RH dumbbell deadlift – 170
LH dumbbell deadlift – 150

Heavy Lift Championship-The Neck Lift

By Eric Todd

With the Heavy Lift Championship only a few months away (it occurs on May 9 this year), I thought I would try to drum up some interest by writing a series of articles.  Last time I hosted this meet, I ran a series of articles that related to the performance of the lift.  The one for the neck lift can be found here: Neck Lift

From my understanding, the neck lift is only contested in All-round organizations such as IAWA. Otherwise, it seems like different variations of the neck lift have been used by old time strongman-esque performers.  Here is a video from a performance at Coney Island. It includes footage of a fellow named Steve Weiner performing a neck lift and hold with a fire hydrant: Coney Island

I have read a number of accounts, in particular one by Bill Pearl who is seemingly rather an expert in physical culture.  This particular account is of a strongman named John B. Gagnon.  Gagnon, at one point won the title of World’s Strongest man from Warren Lincoln Travis.  The title was unofficial, as the event was unsanctioned; however, he did, according to this account, best the champion in this particular competition.  All the lifts were done using a platform that could be lifted from above or below.  A number of lifts were contested in this challenge, including several of our heavy lifts.  This meet did include a neck lift, where the claim was that this strongman, Gagnon, hoisted a lift of 1317 pounds. (Pearl).

john b gagnon

Pearl, Bill. John B. Gagnon. 1 Oct. 2018.

I found an image of a strongman from the Bronx named Joe Ragusa who moved to Hollywood to perform in the pictures.  This image shows him doing something similar to our neck lifts with a weight of 655 pounds, though it does not appear that using this method would put nearly as much torque on the neck muscles as what Our USAWA/IAWA method does.

joeragusa-strongman

Wood, John. Joe Ragusa. 30 May 2017.

Then, there was a gentleman only known as “Kong” who claimed to have the world’s strongest neck.  HE has a claim of 502 pounds lifted with his neck.  As you can see from the photo, this method would put a great deal of torque on the neck; however, you can see that he has a hand holding the chain, so I am not completely sure what to think of this claim.

kong-neckstrength

Wood, John. Kong. 8 Nov. 2017.

Outside of Old time strongman acts and circus type performers, the neck lift has pretty much only been a movement used in our organization.  It appears that it has pretty much been contested in our organization since it’s inception, with the earliest record still in our record book being a 470 pound effort by  18 year old Randy Breitenfield on January 23 1988 at the Zercher (I can only assume that refers to the Zercher Classic in Columbia, MO). It also was contested in the USAWA National Championship in 1989.There have been a number of superb neck lifters over the years in the USAWA.  The Women have been dominated by a handful, with Kerry Clark being the cream of the crop with a few attempts over 500 pounds.  Here is a list of women lifters who have have met or exceeded 300 pounds in the neck lift:

Kerry Clark 550 1995 Nationals in Columbia, MO
Jacqueline Caron 400 1992 Gold Cup
Cassie Morrison 325 2016 Heavy Lift Championship
Angela McBride 300 1999 Zercher Challenge

Back in 2011, Al posted an article with the top male neck lifters of all time. neck lift list The numbers have jumped some since, and some new names added to the list of men who have gone 600 pounds or more.   The current list is as follows:

Eric Todd 1080 2014 Heavy Lift Championships
Chad Ullum 1020 2015 Heavy Lift Championship
Joe Ciavattone, Sr 805 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Al Myers 780 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Frank Ciavattone 750 2002 Heavy Lift Championship
Joe Ciavattone, Jr 700 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Christopher Lestan 700 2019 Heavy Lift Championship
Jeff Ciavattone 650 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Mike McBride 630 2005 National Championship
Joe Garcia 623 1998 Nationals, Mansfield
Dale Fries 605 1995 Goerner
Nile Larson 603 2004 Heavy Lift Championship
John Monk 600 2000 Heavy Lift Championship

In the USAWA Steve Scmidt was the first to hit both the 400 and 500 pound benchmarks in the neck lift.  Big Frank was the first to 600, with his brother Joe Sr being the first to hit 700 and 800 pounds.  Chad Ullum was the first to 900, and I was the first to 1000. Will we see a first to hit 1100 at this edition of the Heavy Lift Championship?  Time will tell…

Myers, Al. “CHAD’S 900 POUND NECK LIFT.” USAWA, 27 May 2011, usawa.com/chads-900-pound-neck-lift/.

“New Video: Coney Island Olde Time Strongman Spectacular!” Markets of New York City, 5 June 2012, marketsofnewyork.com/2012/06/new-video-coney-island-olde-time-strongman-spectacular/.

Pearl, Bill. “Bill Pearl.” John B. Gagnon, 1 Oct. 2018, www.facebook.com/116733248412758/posts/john-b-gagnon-born-in-1883-in-caribou-maine-was-a-strongman-performer-in-the-192/1881209421965123/.

Wood, John. “Neck Lift Archives.” Www.oldtimestrongman.com, 8 Nov. 2017, www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/tag/neck-lift/.

Training Partners Are Your Best Friend

By Christopher Lestan

Training, working out, or simply picking stuff up can be tough. Sometimes its a drag, and often can wear and tear on our minds. This can lead to over-training or even the worst of the options…. quitting. That is why it’s always important to have a training partner. While this article can be about training partners are important. I’m going to reflect on why they are your best friends and simply the closest thing to family outside of the family.

To put it simply… your training partner sees you at your worst, best, and even both at the same time. They have seen you scream at the barbell when it doesn’t move on an attempt in your 5×5 workout program. They have seen you come into the gym angry, frustrated and upset about something in your personal life. They have seen you make personal bests on lifts, and the hard work and determination it has taken to you to get to that goal.

Your training partner or partners are there always in the lowest of times, and the highest of times. They are there when you win 1st Overall at Worlds, 2nd overall at Worlds, or not even placing in the top 10. Heck, when you bomb out of meet they tend to be the first ones to tell you “it’s alright”. No matter the place of a competition they are always there. They don’t leave and go off to find the next “big thing” in the field of lifting. They stay put and get you ready for the next training cycle.

They help you load your barbell for the first set for the workout and decide whether or not that was “RPE 9”, “RPE 7.5” or “RPE 11/10″. Often they will be pushing you to do another set because they want to go home and go to bed. Sometimes you sit there with your training partner after a set of 10 and stare at each other and say at the same time ” 3 more sets”.

Your training partners are also your best critic. Often the saying “you had one more”, “didn’t hit depth”, or “no lockout” are often sayings that will be heard in the gym. This can lead to some heated arguments, but in a couple of hours, you will be on good terms again.

Your training partners are best friends. They are always there. They won’t leave.

 

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