Records Were Smashed

by Roger LaPointe

Dave Polzin set several new USAWA & IAWA records, including in this lift, the Fulton Bar Jefferson Lift.

National and World record sized lifts were made at the Atomic Athletic Tractor Pull Weekend USAWA Weightlifting Meet! There were 10 National and 5 World Record level lifts. Not too shabby…

We also had a lot of fun, which is what it is really about.

The lifts were the Fulton Bar (2” Diameter Thick Bar) Jefferson lift, the One Arm Barbell Deadlift, and the Crucifix Hold. Record attempts succeeded in each of the lifts. Some of the highlights included:

Dave Polzin’s (Age 62, 100 Kg Wt. Class) 402 lbs. Fulton Bar Jefferson Lift
Roger LaPointe’s (Age 41, 80 Kg Wt. Class) 75 lbs. Crucifix Hold
John McKean’s (Age 66, 75 Kg Wt. Class) 276 lbs. Right Arm Dead Lift
Scott Schmidt’s (Age 59, 110 Kg Wt. Class) 90 lbs. Crucifix Hold

Tshirts from the meet are still available for sale!

If you have never tried any of these old school lifts, you probably should. As John Kurtz, one of the officials, pointed out to me, “these are great old lifts that you can find in all the old York, Healthways and Milo Bar Bell courses. Everyone did these before the age of machines!”

OTSM Championships is now a FUNDRAISER!

by Thom Van Vleck

The OTSM Championships will be used to raise funds to buy more equipment for the Osteoblasters Weightlifting Club

The Old Time Strong Man Championships are just around the corner!  October 14, 2012 is the date for the 2nd  OTSM Championships and I have some exciting news.  This year we will be raising money for the Osteroblasters Weightlifting Club.  The OWC was formed just this past spring and has already been made an official University Organization with a membership of over 50 students making it one of the largest organizations on campus.  To give you some perspective, we have around 350 students on campus at any give time (with many students out on clinical rotations as our primary mission is creating physicians).  So, our membership represents a significant portion of the student population.   We have members of our club that are involved in Olympic lifting, Power lifting, Strongman, boxing, martial arts, cross fit, highland games, and many other sports where they use weightlifting to get better.  However, many of our members just realize that lifting weights is an integral part of an all around fitness program.  We promote a healthy, drug free lifestyle and for that reason, a USAWA meet seemed a great fit for a fundraiser.

Mike McIntyre is our club President and a student in our Biomed program (working on his master's degree) and a driving force in getting the OWC organized. Here Mike is doing Deadlifts with over 500lbs on the thick bar.

As the staff adviser for the club I help them with whatever their needs may be.  Right now, we need more equipment!   And you can help!  Come and compete at the OTSM Championships and I will be donating 100% (that’s right, 100%) of the entry fee money to the club!  You still have to buy your USAWA memberships (but really….shouldn’t you already have it!), but you can know that your entry fee will go to a good cause.

I have been amazed at the interest our club has generated and while the director of our campus Rec Center has been very generous in buying us equipment, we had no idea how many students would turn out for the club workouts!   We have over 30 showing up at 4 organized lifting sessions each week!  We need your help!  Sign up to compete today….and if you are feeling generous, anything extra you give will go to buying equipment and I would even consider donations of equipment for a trade for your entry!.  So bring what you have and we’ll let you donate it as your entry fee!   We will also have club shirts on sale for a fundraising (don’t worry, you will get a meet shirt, this is something just for the club).

Jared Nichols

I will repeat a previous story on the OTSM, we have moved it to the old Williard School Gym where I held Nationals last year!  Great location for a meet!   So come out and lift, and if you can’t lift, please come and help.  Don’t worry, you won’t get roped into loading (I have student club members for that!!!!)   I DOl need USAWA certified judges and experienced lifters to help coach my newbies in the warm up area on the rules and lifts…..there will be a lot of NEW lifters at this meet and they need coaching and mentoring!  While I will accept entries on the day of the meet, a heads up is always appreciated.  See you soon!

Tractor Pull Meet

by Roger LaPointe

The 2nd Annual Atomic Athletic Tractor Pull Weekend Meet went very well. Everyone had a blast.   While it is not yet official, it looks like we may have collectively broken 10 US records and 5 World Records. Each of our lifters broke some sort of record.

We had an unexpected surprise, thanks to the efforts of Scott Schmidt. We have two Ohio based officials that are getting back into the All Round Weightlifting game: John Kurtz and Jim Malloy. As John McKean pointed out, both were very active lifters, with John being both a founding member and an official at many of Howard Prechtel’s events, including the Nationals. I had never previously met them, but hope to make them a fixture at Atomic Athletic events. They each seemed to enjoy themselves and fit right in with our group. By the end of the meet, they each seemed to be itching to pick up some weights. Who knows, maybe we can convince them to do a little coaching or even get them on the platform. I know that I have learned a good deal from lifting with Dave Polzin, who has continued his annihilation of almost every record he sets his sights on. Maybe I will get a chance to learn a bit from Jim and John as well.

I would like to thank everyone who lifted, officiated and helped to clean up. I hope to see everyone at the next Atomic Athletic meet. If anyone would like to make some lift suggestions, please send the requests to me.  We also have meet shirts left over. If you would like to buy one,  the photo will be up on the site tomorrow, but it reflects the general design of the site graphic with black ink on a green shirt. I will make sure to note which sizes are left tonight.

MEET RESULTS:

2012 Atomic Athletic Tractor Pull Weekend Meet
August 18th, 2012
Atomic Athletic, Bowling Green, Ohio

Meet Director: Roger LaPoint
Officials: Scott Schmidt, Jim Malloy, John Kurtz, John McKean

Lifts: Deadlift – One Arm, Jefferson Lift – Fulton Bar, Crucifix
USR = New “possible” U. S. Record
WR= New “possible” World Record

LIFTER DL-1 Arm Jefferson FB Crucifix
David Polzin,216# BW,Age 62 311#R USR/WR 402#USR/WR 60#USR/WR
John McKean,165#BW, Age 66 267#R 303#USR/WR 35#USR
Scott Schmidt,242# BW, Age 59 282#R 281#USR/WR 90#USR
Roger LaPointe,167# BW, Age 41 267#R USR 303#USR 75#USR

If anyone is wondering about the odd weight increments for the 1 Arm Deadlift, we were using a 45 pound bar,but lifting with kilo plates. The Crucifix Hold was done with antique York Kettlebell Handles, which are about half a pound lighter than the current kettlebell handles we sell at Atomic Athletic, making the handles, bar and collars a combined weight of 10 pounds. It was a convenient set up for use with pound increment standard size plates.

New Rulebook Available

by Al Myers

USAWA Rulebook 6th Edition

The new, updated Rulebook is now available on the website.  I’m a little behind on my August 1st deadline, but I have lots of excuses.  I have included the bylaws in this years book, so everything is “nice and tidy” concerning the rules and regulations of the USAWA.  All of the passed agenda items from this year’s National Meeting have been included.  As always, it is free to download it but a printed bound Rulebook comes with a pricetag.  It will continue to be available in the online store.

Jefferson Lift Origin & Techniques

by Roger LaPointe

Jefferson Lift

So you want to build some crazy back and leg strength?

Try out the Jefferson Lift, also called the Straddle Deadlift in Great Britain.

I have loved the Jefferson Lift since the day I first started lifting. My Dad taught it to me as, “the best and safest way to squat.” Well, it’s not technically a squat, but a deadlift and it is also not necessarily the safest.  However, it is a great alternative to traditional deadlifting, which can replicate the feel of a front squat, at least in the legs.

The Jefferson Lift gets its name from the old circus strongman Charles Jefferson (1863?-July 12, 1911). Originally from Canaan, New Hampshire, he traveled and performed with Barnum and later with Barnum & Bailey. He was known for chain breaking and lifting “enormous” weights. I have never been able to find out what was considered “enormous”.

Alan Calvert, of Milo Barbell, seemed quite fond of the Jefferson Lift, as he wrote about two different variations, including photos, in his book “Super Strength”. Interestingly, when I worked at York Barbell, Jan Dellinger told me that John Grimek was also extremely fond of the Jefferson Lift, and considered “Super Strength” to be his single reference work for lifting. Of course, Grimek did modeling for the Milo Barbell Company before working for Hoffman. At the time, Jan had told me that Grimek believed in only doing the Jefferson Lift as a partial lift off of blocks. Both of the methods shown in Calvert’s book reflect Grimek’s opinion. Calvert also writes, “In performing this exercise, the legs are bent no further than shown in the picture,”

As for technique, beyond Calvert’s book, I have seen a number of other methods. In some photos, I see the the bar is perpendicular to the shoulders with a high degree of twist to the spine. In other shots, which I call the Hirsh technique, the bar is lifted with an alternate grip, like a standard deadlift, but the legs straddle the bar in a fashion very similar to a split jerk, with the heels being allowed to rise. Al Myers, of the USAWA, did an excellent article about the Jefferson Lift, featuring this photo of Bob Hirsh, who easily had the best modern Jefferson Lift.  Check it out on this website.

If you would like to compete in a variation of the Jefferson Lift, you can do so at our Atomic Athletic Tractor Pull Championship Weekend Meet, this Saturday, August 18th. The variation we will be contesting is with a 2 Inch Thick Bar, called a Fulton Bar in the USAWA.

1 … 289 290 291 292 293 … 476