by Al Myers
The Lifter of the Month for March goes to Ruth Jackson! Ruth just recently won best overall women’s lifter in the first quarter USAWA Postal Meet. Ruth has been an active participant in the postal series over the past few years. In fact I’m gonna brag on her for a moment – this is her 13th CONSECUTIVE overall women’s best lifter win in our Postal Series meets!
Congrats Ruth on being selected as the USAWA Lifter of the Month!
by Al Myers
MEET RESULTS
1ST QUARTER POSTAL MEET
Meet Results:
1st Quarter USAWA Postal Meet
Jan 1st – March 31st, 2016
Meet Director: Denny Habecker
Lifts: Holdout-Raised, Swing – Dumbbell One Arm, Hack Lift – One Arm
Officials:
Dan Wagman – Certified Official RJ Jackson
Al Myers – Certified Official LaVerne Myers
LaVerne Myers – Certified Official Al Myers
Eric Todd – Certified Official Lance Foster
Dean Ross – Certified Official Al Myers
Lance Foster – Certified Official Eric Todd
Tressa Brooner – Certified Official Mary McConnaughey
Crystal Diggs – Certified Official RJ Jackson
WOMENS DIVISION
| LIFTER | AGE | BWT | HOLD | DB SW | HACK | TOT | PTS |
| RJ Jackson | 54 | 105 | 30 | 50 R | 145 R | 225 | 362.3 |
| Tressa Brooner | 54 | 130 | 40 | 45 R | 95R | 180 | 243.3 |
| Mary McConnaughey | 56 | 314 | 35 | 55 R | 95 R | 185 | 153.8 |
| Crystal Diggs | 29 | 156 | 30 | 25 L | 80 L | 135 | 140.2 |
MENS DIVISION
| LIFTER | AGE | BWT | HOLD | DB SW | HACK | TOT | PTS |
| Dan Wagman | 39 | 180 | 65 | 131 R | 300 L | 496 | 471.2 |
| Al Myers | 49 | 235 | 65 | 110 R | 310 R | 485 | 437.2 |
| Denny Habecker | 73 | 193 | 45 | 65 R | 165 R | 275 | 336.1 |
| LaVerne Myers | 71 | 239 | 30 | 65 L | 185 R | 270 | 289.4 |
| Eric Todd | 41 | 256 | 85 | 80 R | 175 R | 340 | 271.9 |
| Dean Ross | 73 | 260 | 35 | 55 R | 135 R | 225 | 234.6 |
| Lance Foster | 50 | 340 | 45 | 50 R | 185 R | 280 | 212.9 |
Notes: All lifts recorded in pounds. R and L designates the arm used. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall points adjusted for age and bodyweight corrections.
by Thom Van Vleck
When I was a kid I watched the Beverly Hillbillies. Yes, I’m pretty old. The show was a top comedy show in the 60’s and early 70’s. It was about a family of hillbillies that come into millions and end up in Beverly Hills. In one particular episode the beautiful “farmer’s daughter” Elly Mae gets set up with “Mister Universe” Dave Draper. Dave Draper was indeed a Mr. Universe and a top Bodybuilder. In the episode the family, being backwards, sees his huge muscles and mistake it for an illness. They ask him what they are. He said “Muscles”. They ask how he got them and he says, “Barbells”. Granny turns to Uncle Jed and whispers, “Worst case of barbells I’ve ever seen”. I remember watching that episode several times.
In 1977 I began to develop as bad case of barbells myself. I evidently didn’t get them as bad as Dave as I have never been mistaken for a Mister Universe but I think I have the illness as bad as anyone since I’m going on nearly 40 years of barbell training. Over the years I’ve joked about it being an illness and my case being incurable. Which brings me to my point.
I do have a bad case of the barbells. I enjoy training and when I’m not my world isn’t right. It helps me not only physically but mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as well. I don’t just train to achieve a goal I train because it’s a part of my life like eating, drinking, sleeping, and praying. It’s not really an illness. It’s a blessing. And over the years I’ve tried to be Typhoid Thom…and infect as many people as possible with the “illness”.
So, do you have a bad case of the Barbells?
by Thom Van Vleck
I started a weightlifting club at the University I work at a few years back. It has been very successful even if it has evolved into more of a “crossfit” type group. But there are some serious weightlifters in there, too.
One of the things that happened as we had more women than men sign up. I began to investigate and here’s what I found.
The guys got pretty hung up on being the strongest. If they couldn’t be the strongest in the group they pretty quickly quit. Of course, there can only be one guy that’s the strongest so you pretty quickly end up with a pretty small group. It ended up often being a competition instead of a workout.
The women weren’t worried about being the strongest. They just wanted to be stronger. They focused on pulling each other along. They didn’t care who was the strongest. They all wanted each other to be stronger. They were competitive, but not in a negative way like the guys.
When I was in the military we had a lot of competition. Most of it was healthy, some of it was not. When it was healthy it went like this: As a fighting force you are as strong as your weakest member. So you encouraged the guy next to you to be successful because at some point your life might depend on it. You elevated yourself by making them better and in turn natural competitiveness would lead you to raise your game. When it was unhealthy it was more like this: You elevated yourself by bringing down those around you. You didn’t get better, they got worse.
So ask yourself. Do I want to be the strongest? Or do I want to be stronger! I personally think that when you choose to be stronger it’s more likely you’ll end up the strongest.
by Thom Van Vleck
Have you ever weighed your weights? You might be surprised. Unless you are buying high end competition grade weights you need to understand that your weights could be off by not just ounces but several pounds!
Back in the day when you bought weights you had the choice of “Milled” and “Unmilled” weights. Unmilled weights were cast iron right from the mold. Milled weights had been milled, or had some metal removed, until the weight was exact. The Milled plates were generally much more expensive so for training the unmilled plates were often bought and used. It was common to check those plates as you knew they were off when you bought them.
The Jackson Weightlifting Club had both. York sets that were competition grade and a Jackson set as well. On each you can see the rings and swirls in the metal where the milling had taken place. We also had some old Iron Man weights that were listed at 50lbs but one set was 57.5lbs while another was 47.5lbs. Since they were the same style and all 4 plates looked the same we painted them different colors because if you loaded the lighter plates on one side of the bar you could find yourself 20lbs heavier on one end and 10lbs off overall.
So these days you don’t see “milled” and “unmilled” plates but don’t assume what you have is exact. I blame cheap overseas manufactures but many cheap barbell plates are off the mark. While they aren’t as bad as the Iron Man plates I mentioned above I have found 45lb plates off 3lbs in either direction. Smaller plates are off as well but not as much.
So you might want to take the time to check the weight of your weights. Who knows, maybe you have a new personal best and you didn’t even know it!