The Heavy Lift Championships have the longest history aside from the National Championships. The first event was promoted October 30, 1994, by Bill Clark and won by John Carter and Kerry Clark. Eight records still stand from that event including Bill Clark’s 1200-pound Back Lift and Kerry Clark’s 1460-pound Back Lift. The meet included at least the Harness Lift, Hip Lift and Neck Lift as well.
An article by Dale Friesz in 2010 lists all the Heavy Lift Competitions which have included Heavy Lift Championships, Schmidt’s Backbreaker Pentathlon (since 1987), and the Strongman Pentathlon (1986 & 1988). In recent years, The New England Heavy Lift Classic (2024 & 2025) could be added to that list.
Historically, five lifts were contested as part of the Heavy Lift Championship. The website has a great write up on the 2011 event which was cut down to three lifts due to venue time constraints at York Barbell. I assume, the Back Lift was removed due to needing a dedicated apparatus for a Back Lift which is not always easy to fabricate or move around. Similarly, the Harness Lift requires hand supports to achieve a true max effort.
HIP LIFT – Men’s records in the range of 2000-2500 pounds; women’s records in the range of 800-1200 pounds
Men’s Hip Lift Records
Women’s Hip Lift Records
NECK LIFT – Men’s records in the range of 500 to 800 pounds with some extreme outliers. Women’s records are lighter, but I do need to highlight Kerry Clark’s 555-pound Neck Lift in 1995. The next highest women’s record is 400-pounds by Jacqueline Caron in 1992. In the last decade, the heaviest women’s neck lift was 325 pounds by Cassie Morrison in 2016.
Men’s Neck Lift Records
Women’s Neck Lift Records
HAND & THIGH – Men’s records are around 1500 pounds. Women’s records are around 800 pounds.
Men’s Hand & Thigh Records
Women’s Hand & Thigh Records
In recent years, the top lifts at the heavy lift contests have been lower. The athletes are lifting amazing numbers, but they are a fraction of the weights lifted by athletes in the first decades of the organization.
This year’s Grip Championship was an all-Colorado event. Nisha and Kim lifted in flight 1 and Sanjiv, Jarrod and Joshua lifted in flight 2. Weigh-ins and rules briefings were conducted and the meet was contested using the one official system.
We started with Pinch Grip, Deadlift, One Hand. This is the first time the lift was contested at the Grip Championship and mistakes were made. Flight 1 set the plates up vertical to the platform and had top lifts under 30 pounds. Essentially, they did a Pinch Grip Strict, One Hand. Jarrod correctly pointed out the error and Flight 2 set up the plates horizontal to the platform. Flight 2 all had good lifts at 100 pounds or more. Kim and Nisha declined the option to repeat their lifts. For record purposes, they should be recorded as Pinch Grip Strict, One Hand.
Next was the Deadlift, Fulton Dumbbell, One Hand. This was the fifth time this lift has been contested at the Grip Championship, and some big numbers were put up. The women’s field accounted for Age Class and ALL age records in their weight classes.
Next was another favorite, the Vertical Bar, 1”, One Hand. This was the third time this lift has been contested in the Grip Championship and athletes who competed in Tony & Allison’s Birthday Bash got to test their max lifts recently. At 86 pounds on a fourth attempt for a record, Nisha was the only athlete to set a record in this lift.
The last competition lift was the Deadlift, 3” Bar. Records were set across the board. Everybody was feeling the effects of the first three lifts, but everybody also knew what they needed to hit the overall field. Jarrod narrowly missed his third attempt at 355 pounds, securing Sanjiv’s position atop the men’s field. Joshua followed suit attempting 355 pounds on his third attempt.
The Pinch Grip Clean & Press, One Hand was offered as an exhibition lift. This is an IAWA lift and the IAWA rules were followed.
The lifter will grip the weight, either in front or to the side, as in the one hand pinch lift. The lifter will clean the weight to the shoulder and stand ready for the signal to press. The lifter will be standing erect with the weight held at the side of or just above the deltoid muscle, or even resting on the shoulder muscle (if desired). The stance is as for the start of any pressing movement, foot spacing is optional, but the feet will be parallel to the lifters front. On the referees signal the weight will be pressed out to arm’s length, as in the one hand dumbbell press. On completion the referee signals to replace the bar.
All athletes were able to complete the lift. However, maintaining a plate width spacing on the lighter loads required the use of foam spacers to achieve an outside spacing of 2.25-2.50 inches. The other challenge with lighter lifts was incremental plate loading. We utilized magnetic weight attachments so that athletes could still get a full grip on the plates.
Nisha – 15, 17.5, 20 pounds
Kim – 20, 22.5, 24 pounds
Sanjiv – 25, 28 pounds
Joshua – 28, 35 pounds
Jarrod – 25, 28 pounds
The consensus was that it was not a fun lift. As the weights approached maximum efforts, missing a lift resulted in an explosion of weight and collars as the plates came crashing down. The width of the rod was also a concern as the rod was coming dangerously close to the lifter’s ear. When I watched a video of Matt Jones’ 30-kg lift, it appear he used two 10kg plates, a 12-18 inch metal rod and 2.5 kg and 1.25 kg change plates along with collars. Our best lift was 35 pounds (16kg). Joshua attempted 50 pounds (23kg), but the weight slipped and went crashing to the floor.
Complete Results:
USAWA Grip Championship High Country Vigour Lakewood, Colorado April 4, 2026 Meet Director: Sanjiv Gupta Scorekeeper: Sanjiv Gupta
Officials: (1-official system) Sanjiv Gupta, Jarrod Fobes, Kim Van Wagner, Nisha Gupta
The Lifts: Pinch Grip Deadlift, One Hand; Deadlift, Fulton Dumbbell, One Hand; Vertical Bar, 1 Bar 1”, One Hand, Deadlift, 3” Bar
Bodyweight and Lifts in Pounds
WOMENS DIVISION
Lifter
Age
BW
Strict Pinch
Fulton
V-Bar
3” Bar
Total
Points
Kim
58
127.6
27.5 (R)
81 (L)
86 (L)
154
348.5
661.3
Nisha
17
87.3
22.5 (R)
61 (R)
76 (R)
88
247.5
610.7
MENS DIVISION
Lifter
Age
BW
Pinch
Fulton
V-Bar
3” Bar
Total
Points
Sanjiv
54
208.5
120 (L)
126 (L)
156 (L)
315
717
719.2
Jarrod
48
206.5
100 (R)
141 (L)
161 (R)
305
707
675.8
Joshua
41
257.1
120 (R)
136 (R)
161 (R)
305
722
575.7
Pinch Grip Clean & Press, One Hand [Exhibition]
Lifter
Age
BW
OH Pinch C&P
Lynch
Kim
58
127.6
24 (R)
45.5
Nisha
17
87.3
17.5 (R)
43.1
Sanjiv
54
208.5
28 (R)
28.1
Joshua
41
257.1
35 (R)
27.9
Jarrod
48
206.5
28 (R)
26.7
4th Attempts for Records
Kim Van Wagner Pinch Grip Strict, One Arm, Right – 30 pounds Vertical Bar, 1”, 1 Bar, One Arm, Left – 91 pounds Deadlift, 3″ Bar – 164 pounds
Nisha Gupta Vertical Bar, 1”, 1 Bar, One Arm, Right – 86 pounds
To determine the overall winner, the meet director decided to take the Age-Weight-Gender Lynch Totals of the three lifts performed to the same rule set:
Kim Van Wagner – 321 total pounds – 609 Lynch points
Sanjiv Gupta – 597 total pounds – 599 Lynch points
Jarrod Fobes – 607 total pounds – 580 Lynch points
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will have to move the time of our portion of the competition back to the afternoon on May 2nd. This affects the Turney location only. We will be conducting weigh ins at 1:00 and lifting will begin at 2:00. You will still need to get your entry into Jessica Hopps, but please let me know if you plan on attending for planning purposes. Hope to see you on the 2nd!
It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards! The USAWA award program was started to honor those individuals that display outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories. Part of the USAWA budget goes to these awards, which means that part of your membership dues supports this program. These awards are to be presented at the Annual General Meeting of the USAWA, which happens at the same time as the National Championships. Usually the USAWA Awards are yearly – meaning they are for the previous year’s accomplishments. I would consider yearly as being the time since (and including) last year’s National Championships. Now for an overview of the rules for nominations:
You must be a USAWA member to make a nomination or cast a vote
Nominated individuals must be a USAWA member to be eligible
Only one individual may be nominated per person per award
Two nominations for each award may be submitted, one for your choice of the Male lifter and one for your choice of the Female lifter. **This is a change from the past – instead of winner and runner-up. We’ll see how it goes this year.
The awards are for the accomplishments since last June
An individual may be nominated for more than one award
If no one is nominated for a category – that award does not need to be given!
These are the different awards for which you should choose your nominations for:
Athlete of the Year – This award is for the individual who has accomplished the most athletically within the last year in the USAWA. Top placings at the Nationals and World Championships should figure in highly. Also, participation in other Championship Competitions such as the Heavy Lift Championships, the Grip Championships, the Club Championships, the OTSM Championships, the Team Championships, or the National Postal Championships could factor in. Participation in elite IAWA events such as the Gold Cup should make an influence on earning this award as well.
Leadership Award – This is for an individual that has shown exceptional leadership qualities within the USAWA during the past year. Things that should be looked at are; going above the level expected of an Officer position, promoting sanctioned events with emphasis being on promoting National or World Competitions, promoting the USAWA by developing a strong club, writing articles for publications about the USAWA, or through other means.
Sportsmanship Award – This goes to an individual who possesses and shows great sportsmanship within the USAWA. The act of sportsmanship may be by conduct at all events, or by an specific example of exceptional sportsmanship.
Courage Award – This goes to an individual who shows the courage to overcome an obstacle in order to return to competition. This may be a comeback from an injury, or just having to deal with difficult personal issues but still shows the courage to compete in the USAWA.
Newcomer Award– This award goes to an individual who in new to the USAWA or has become involved again. It doesn’t have to go to someone in their first year of being involved in the USAWA.
As stated earlier in the rules, I would like you to submit your choice for the MALE and FEMALE WINNERS. I will score it this way; for each nomination per award,1 point will be awarded for the nominated winner. I will then add up all the points from all nominations with the person receiving the most points declared the winner. So, you can see that the Award Winners are chosen by YOU THE MEMBERSHIP! That’s the way it should be done.
If you are not aware of people outside your own gym, consider looking at the USAWA website and look for who participates in meets and who does well. Go to:
https://www.usawa.com/membership-roster/ to see who is who!!
Please email me at: lupoa0313@gmail.com with your nominations. The deadline for nominations is May 31st, 2026. That gives everyone a couple weeks to make their decisions. My experience with this is that if a person does not make their nominations shortly after reading this announcement, it never gets done. So, make it easy on yourself (and me!) and turn your nominations in today!!!!
This years Heavy Lift Championship is just a few weeks away! Make sure to get your entry form and payments in before April 18th to be eligible. Please make sure to select what venue you will be lifting at on your entry form, as we are privileged to offer 3 separate venues this year!
Meet name: Heavy Lift Championship
Date: May 2, 2026
Midwest Location: 10978 SW Pueblo Dr, Turney, MO (KCStrongMan)
Northeast Location: 204 East Street, Walpole, MA 02032 (Frank’s Barbell Club)
Western Location: Lakewood, CO 80235 (High Country Vigor)
Promoter: Jessica Hopps, Frank’s Barbell Club
Sanctioned by: USAWA-membership is required of all lifters
Lifts: Neck Lift, Hand and Thigh, Hip Lift
Cost: $35 payment can be made to Jessica Hopps (Venmo @Jessica-Hopps and Paypal preferred- jesshopps@hotmail.com) or check can be mailed to Jessica Hopps C/O Franks Barbell Club 204 East Street Walpole MA 02032
Awards: There will be awards for the lifters
This is a drug tested event. Please only enter if you know you can pass a drug test!
