Tag Archives: Chad Ullom

Otto Ziegler, 1919 to 2011

by Al Myers

Chad Ullom did a 200 pound Ziegler Clean at the 2009 Dino Gym Challenge. This is the top mark of ALL-TIME in the USAWA Record List.

Recently Otto Ziegler of Baytown, Texas passed away. He was 92 years old when he died, but throughout his life made a huge impact on weightlifting and even All Round Weightlifting.  Most of us know that he is responsible for his name being tied to a very unusual lift in the USAWA – the Ziegler Clean.  But his contributions to Olympic Weightlifting go far beyond what he has done for the USAWA.  In 2003 he was inducted into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame.  He has coached hundreds of lifters throughout his life, served as a meet director numerous times, officiated Olympic Meets, conducting weightlifting clinics and seminars, along with a long career of lifting himself.

Bill Clark tried for years to get Otto involved in the USAWA, but to my knowledge he never competed in an USAWA event. However, he was a longtime subscriber to Bill’s Strength Journal and incorporated several of the all round lifts into his  training. In an old Strength Journal, Bill highlighted some of  Otto’s All-Round poundages (from the Strength Journal Vol.IV.No.5 – 1993). 

  • Bent Press – 190 LH and 180 RH
  • Dumbbell Swing – a pair of 75 pound bells for 20 reps.
  • Pinch Grip – Used a 68# two inch smooth plate and held it for 12 seconds.
  • One legged Clean and Jerk – at age 63, did 110 pounds.
  • Leg Press – Made 12 reps with 370 pounds on a six-foot bar which he took off a wooden rack and, like Ed Zercher, handled it free-legged.

However, probably the most impressive thing he did was when he did a 154 pound clean balancing a 2.5 plate on his head at age 58. Thus the invention of the Ziegler Clean!  This lift by Otto Ziegler was performed in 1977, and was included in the old Mo-Valley Record List.  It was the top mark lifted in this record list, but the number of lifters with Ziegler Clean marks was pretty small. Wonder why????  I have done this lift in an USAWA competition before and my greatest fear was that the plate would fall off my head during the lift and land on my foot, breaking a toe in the process!  

The Ziegler Clean was one of the original IAWA/USAWA official lifts.  However, it has been contested only a few times in competition. At this past Gold Cup in England, Scottish lifter David McFadzean did a Ziegler Clean as his Gold Cup lift.  He made 62.5 kilograms, which I thought was quite impressive. Maybe next time he does this lift he will exceeds Otto’s best mark of 70 kgs?!?!

I’m pretty sure when Otto Ziegler did this lift the first time he never imagined that this strange and unorthodox lift would become a fixture lift in the USAWA/IAWA  and it would carry his name as his legacy in the organization. But “hat’s off” to Otto Ziegler (or in this case “plate’s off”) for all that he has done for weightlifting with his lifetime of contributions.  He will be missed, but never forgotten.  I issue a challenge to all All-Rounders that in your next workout do the Ziegler Clean in his remembrance!

(webmaster note:  I just realized that all these years we have misprinted the spelling of Otto Ziegler’s name.  In our Rule Books, both the USAWA and the IAWA, we have printed his name as “Zeigler”.  I will make an effort to get this mistake fixed.)

Bars, Bars, and MORE Bars!

by Thom Van Vleck

Al doing front squats, his favorite lift! But try to ignore him, what I really want you to notice is the wide variety of bars on the Dino Gym wall!

Ok, if you lift weights regularly I’m sure you have noticed there are a lot of bars out there!   Yesterday, Al pointed out what’s “legal” in the USAWA and how that rule has changed to allow some wiggle room.  He wrote that article in response to my use of the over sized “John Ware” bar used at the OTSM Championships.  I think I inadvertently opened a can of worms for Al using that bar.  I, for one, appreciate the wiggle room. Here’s why:

Back in the day, all bars were assumed to be made for competition so they were all made to exact specifications.  I remember sitting down with my Uncle Wayne Jackson as he ordered a new York 400lb Olympic set in 1977 (I still have it!).  Back then, you had few suppliers to order from……then came the fitness craze and people started making bars for training, not competition.  What’s the one thing that can end the life of a bar?  Getting bent!  How do you make a cheap bar last longer?  Make it thicker and out of harder steel, so you end up with these bars that are thicker and of hardened steel that won’t “whip” like a high quality Oly bar.  When you walk into my gym you will see the “gun rack” of bars and at first glance, they all look alike.  But look closely and you’ll see all kinds of subtle variations.  I’ll blame China, too.  Even Eleiko, the “Cadillac” of barbells, now has their bars forged in China, then assembled in Sweden.  I had a York bar that had “York, U.S.A” on it….made in China…but assembled in the USA so I guess they get around the loophole of not mentioning “China” on the bar.  I’ll blame China because I don’t think they worry too much about “exactness”.  They don’t care if it’s “legal”, they just crank out a product and if it’s close, then it’s all good to them.

I have about 15 or so bars (I don’t know exactly how many because I have so much of my stuff out on “loan” I’ve lost count.  But let’s just say I have a wide variety of bars (but not as many as the Dino Gym) and when you look closely at these bars there are all kinds of subtle…and not so subtle differences.  There are also many variations in the type of steel used.  The best kind of steel for a bar will bend and good steel will bend and then snap back into it’s original shape.  Hardened Steel will not bend and will tend to snap if you force it to bend or it will bend and stay that way.  You can even have good and bad batches of steel that are intended to be the same.  So, two bars that are “Exactly” the same upon visual inspection, maybe even made by the same company, may have very different characteristics.  Companies today will “contract” out jobs to factories in China.  That contract may be bid out after each order and a different company will supply the bar each time resulting in all kinds of variations.

Ok, just ignore he ugly guy doing the Continental to the Shoulders and focus on the bars on the wall! More bars in Al's gym!

Finally, it’s my contention the original size of an Olympic bar was developed for the average sized man.  I am 6’3″ and my wing span is 6’9″.  It is very difficult for me to get under a “regulation” bar and not bind up.  John Ware was the same way so he had that bar we used in the 2011 OTSM Championships custom made for him.  I know there are some issues with having the weights further away from the center of gravity and that can create more “whip” and help with certain lifts…but it’s easier for the shorter guy to adapt to a longer bar than the taller guy to adapt to a shorter bar.

Again....try not to focus on the ugly guys...and notice the bars leaning against the wall in the background! The JWC has it's fair share of bars! (btw...that's Dean Ross hitting a Anderson Squat at the OTSM in the JWC Training Hall!)

So, the moral of my story?  There are a lot of variations out there on the “standard” Olympic bar.   Some will bend, some will have good whip. I have 4 made by York and there are differences in width INSIDE the collars and there should NOT BE as these are regulation bars.  We need a little play so that we can allow for more bars to be used.  Weightlifting for fitness is a growing craze, but lifting as a sport is DYING!  Today’s generation is not the sticklers for details like Baby boomers who were raised by the WWII generation where almost everyone had served in the military and picked up on that “attention to detail”.  Today’s younger guys just want to lift more weight and they don’t like rules that make no sense to them.  Rules are made to make things more fair, not the other way around.  So, thanks to the USAWA for loosening up the rules on the dimensions of the bars but keeping the spirit of fairness by having rules that keeps the lifting true and comparable from contest to contest!  I think it will be good for our sport!

Team Nationals

by Al Myers

MEET REPORT

Group picture from the 2011 USAWA Team Nationals. (front row left to right): Al Myers, Chad Ullom (back row left to right): Russ Morton, Rudy Bletscher, Mike Murdock, Dean Ross

The 2011 USAWA Team Nationals was again an outstanding success this year.  It contained a couple of  regular teams (Myers/Ullom & Murdock/Bletscher) and one new team that made their debut (Morton/Ross) in team lifting.  Team lifting is MUCH different than just individual lifting. Teamwork is essential in being successful – things like timing and coordination between partners can either help you or hurt you in a big way.  The teams this year seemed very balanced in regards to the lifters size and height.  

Dean and Russ put up the top Team One Arm Dumbbell Press with a lift of 180 pounds.

The Dino Gym brought another new lifter to the USAWA arena in this meet and he did a phenomenal job considering this was his first exposure to the crazy things we do in the USAWA, and I consider this meet an extreme meet in our yearly meet lineup. This man is Russ Morton. He is a VERY seasoned powerlifter who has MANY powerlifting meets under his belt, and it was obvious he was not intimidated in the least by the lifts that faced him.  He teamed with Dean “the Boss” Ross who in my opinion, has made his presence known in the USAWA this year.  Dean is one of the STRONGEST GUYS his age I have ever met.  He powers through any lift whether it requires technique or not, and through brute determination makes big lifts.  These two guys put up the TOP Team One Arm Dumbbell Press of the meet with a fine lift of 180 pounds. I’m sure you are wondering – how do you do a Team one arm dumbbell press??  At first it sounds next to impossible, but after “scratching our heads” awhile we came up with a way.  First of all, there is barely enough room to get two hands on a 6 inch dumbbell handle so the grip on the dumbbell is not the best.  All of us pressed the dumbbell standing to the side of each other facing opposite directions.  So it can be done.

We were entertained during a break in the lifting action when Rudy and Dave sang a harmonized duet.

The second lift was the Team Continental Snatch using the 2″ Fulton Bar.  I was concerned grip might be an issue for the lifters but it wasn’t for anyone.  The difficulty with the lift was the minimal hand spacing on the bar.  You had to use a snatch grip much narrower than the normal snatch width, which made the lift slightly more difficult.  Chad and I had the top lift here with a lift of 320 pounds.  Mike and Rudy made a solid lift of 117 pounds, and Dean and Russ finished with 177 pounds.   Chad and I used a power snatch technique while the other two teams used the hang snatch technique.

Mike and Rudy teamed up for a 175 pound Team Continental to Chest and Jerk. Not too bad for a couple of lifters over 70 years of age!

The third lift was the Team Continental to Chest and Jerk.  Chad and I had the top lift of 452 pounds, which is now the top lift done in this lift in both the USAWA and IAWA record books.  I was hoping that we could also break the mark from the old Missouri Valley Record List which record is an outstanding lift of 463 pounds set in 1983 by two legendary mid-west lifters, Bob Burtzloff and Kevin Fulton.   We simply ran out of attempts and didn’t start high enough.  Maybe next time!!! 

Chad and I had to use some tight teamwork to lift 1000 pounds in the Team 2-bar deadlift.

The last lift done was the Team 2-bar deadlift.  Each lifter gripped each bar just like in the individual 2-bar deadlift.  I actually thought this would be an easy lift for a team to do since the balance issue would be removed that presents when doing this by yourself.  I thought for sure that the lifters could lift more as a team than the sum of their individual lifts.  I was wrong!  This lift turned out to give the lifters the most failed attempts of all the lifts, because if both bars didn’t rise in unison, the weight would “shift” to the lifter on the lower end and force the lifters feet to move.   We tried it all ways – facing away from each other, facing each other, and even standing facing the same direction. I don’t think we ever decided which “lineup” was most favorable.  Mike Murdock took a nasty fall on one attempt after the weight “shifted”.  Luckily, Mike was not hurt (at least he was not bleeding!).   Chad and I had the top lift on this one with a lift of 1000 pounds.  I think we could have done a little more, but at this time we were ready to call it a day and head to town for supper!  Thanks to everyone who showed up to lift, and special thanks goes to Dave Glasgow for serving as the official the entire day.

MEET RESULTS

USAWA Team Nationals
Dino Gym, Abilene, Kansas
August 27th, 2011

Meet Director:  Al Myers

Official (1-official system used): Dave Glasgow

Lifts:   Team Press – Dumbbell, One Arm, Team Continental Snatch – Fulton Bar, Team Continental to Chest and Jerk, Team Deadlift – 2 bars

Lifters:

OPEN AGE GROUP & 115 KG WEIGHT CLASS
Al Myers – 45 years, 253# BWT
Chad Ullom – 39 years,  244# BWT

MASTERS 50-54 AGE GROUP & 125+ KG WEIGHT CLASS
Dean Ross – 68 years, 281# BWT
Russ Morton – 50 years, 275# BWT

MASTERS 70-74 AGE GROUP & 105 KG WEIGHT CLASS
Mike Murdock – 71 years, 231# BWT
Rudy Bletscher – 75 years, 217# BWT

RESULTS

Lifters DB Press Snatch C&J DL Total Points
Myers/Ullom 175-R 320 452 1000 1947 1535.4
Ross/Morton 180-R 177 253 617 1227 1019.9
Murdock/Bletscher 90-R 117 175 440 822 896.7

Notes:  All lifts recorded in pounds.  Total is total pounds lifted.  Points are adjusted points for bodyweight correction and age correction.

EXTRA LIFTS FOR RECORDS:

Murdock/Bletscher: MASTERS 70-74 AGE GROUP & 105 KG WEIGHT CLASS
Team Curl – Reverse Grip: 205#

Ross/Murdock: MASTERS 65-69 AGE GROUP & 125+ KG WEIGHT CLASS
Team Curl – Reverse Grip: 205#

Dean Ross:  MASTERS 65-69 AGE GROUP & 125+ KG WEIGHT CLASS
Swing – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 70#
Swing – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 70#
Swing – 2 Dumbbells: 100#

How to make your training more productive

by Al Myers

(Webmasters note:  This was a story I wrote for the Braemar Stone Tablet several years ago that applied to Highland Game training, but it contains ideas that can be applied to All-Round Weightlifting as well.  I had actually forgot that I had written this!)

Nothing inspires your training as much as good training partners. I was fortunate to have two of the best training partners around when I was training the Highland Games. This is the three of us when we competed together at the 2005 Inverness Highland Games in Scotland. Pictured left to right: Chad Ullom, Al Myers, and Scott Campbell

The throwing season is upon us again!  Time to dust off those hammer boots and put a new coat of paint on the throwing implements!  It always amazes me how fast the winter goes and all that off-season weight training that you have been doing to make you a better thrower never seems to be enough. It is now time to hit the throwing field and put in time with the throwing weights.  I want to share some of the things I have learned (mostly the hard way!) about how to make your training more productive.  These are the 5 most important things to focus on in making your training better.

1.  Set workout times – This is critical.  It is too easy to procrastinate if you don’t have a scheduled workout time.  Saying too yourself that I’ll workout a couple of days this week after work, if I’m not too tired, if it is not too hot or cold, if nothing good is on TV, won’t do it!  Even if time only permits one workout a week, plan for that day and then no matter what DO IT!!! Remember, the highland games are not a leisure activity!

2.  Keep a training log – How in the world are you going to be able to evaluate different training programs if you don’t have a good record of what you have done?  I know, there days that really suck and you wish not to remember them, but at least put something in a training log!  Maybe you are over-training?  Maybe you have a nagging injury that is keeping that one throw down? These are the things you want to avoid and by looking at what you have done leading up to it, it may be avoided in the future.  This is where a log helps!  I often look back at my log from previous years and evaluate training programs that worked for me and those that don’t .  Remember, it doesn’t really count if you don’t write it down!

3.  Set Goals – I know, everyone knows this.  You always hear guys saying I want to do this and I want to do that.  By next August, I’m going to throw that light hammer 150 feet!! Yeah right!!!  There are goals and then there are dreams!!!  To me, goals are something that you are actually taking steps in working towards, whereas dreams are those thing that you imagine doing while sitting on the couch eating Doritos. Goals need to be specific, and along with them the steps needed to accomplish them.  They need to be realistic, and they need to be short-term.  Long-term goals are okay, but will not give you the focus you need today!  Again, write these goals down, and develop a plan to achieve them.  Remember, real success is achieving what you set out to do!

4.  Get information – To be a better thrower, you need to continually learn.  Never tell yourself that you know it all.  Listen to the experts.  Look at tapes. Read everything you can get on the games.  Get feedback from other athletes.  Spend time watching other throwers and studying them.  Then after you do all of this, forget most of it!! What you ask?  Let me tell you something – there are no magic secrets, just good advice and bad advice.  It is up to YOU to tell the difference!!!  What works for one athlete won’t for another.  You have to find out those things that work for you.  And whatever you do, don’t change your throwing on game day because someone gave you a good tip right before you stepped up to the trig!  Take these “pointers” home and find out in training if they are good or bad.  I know that all throwers mean well and want to help out their fellow comrades, but this trick of giving someone a good “pointer” right before they throw is one of the oldest psych-out tricks in the book!!! Get information and study it at home and try to apply it to your training program.  Remember, it is not illegal to “steal” throwing information! 

5.  Have fun – This can sometimes be overlooked.   It is easy to put so much pressure on yourself that sometimes fun can be lost.  Enjoyment and having fun is one of the reasons that drew you to the games in the first place, but it is easy to drift away from this as you get more dedicated and focused.  I know, it has happened to me in the past.  Sometimes you have to step back, and ask yourself, what do I need to do to enjoy this more?  Maybe you need a different training environment for awhile.  Go to the park until they kick you out.  Maybe try a new training program.  Do a little traveling on the weekends and find other athletes to train with.  Training with other athletes will help with training enthusiasm greatly!!  In the past, I have done a lot of training by myself, and I can tell you, it is a lot more fun to have other athletes that can share in the throwing agony with you!!  Having fun, and enjoying the sport for what it is will go a long way in making those training sessions better.  Remember, you can’t set a personal record in every training session, but you can have fun trying.

I know I didn’t address any specifics, but these general points are the ones to focus on first in making your training more productive.  You may notice that I didn’t mention anything about having good implements.  Good implements are nice to have and may improve your self-esteem, but believe it or not they are not critical in improving as a thrower.  I know a lot of throwers that have homemade weights and made a lot of progress with them.  Don’t use this as an excuse that you don’t have the weights to train with or the weights you have aren’t Dodd weights.  Improvise, get something and start training!  I hope that these ideas will help a little in making your throwing season this year the best ever.  Consider yourself lucky to be involved.

CREDIT:   the Braemar Stone Tablet, Volume #3, Issue #1

Welcome to the Century Club Chad and Rudy!

by Al Myers

Chad Ullom "in action" at the Ledaig Record Breakers last weekend. Chad is the only lifter in the Century Club that has done ALL of his USAWA records in the Senior Division.

I predicted this would happen this summer as Chad Ullom and Rudy Bletscher have been “knocking on the door” of joining the Century Club.  The Century Club is a club that recognizes the elite group of USAWA  lifters that CURRENTLY hold over 100 USAWA Records.  However, it didn’t happen exactly as I thought it would.  I predicted it would take place last weekend at Dave’s Ledaig Record Breaker.  This was the case for Chad but not for Rudy.  Rudy was not able to attend.   At the time, I thought it would take another day for him to make this milestone accomplishment (and a little more effort after watching Rudy’s nemesis Mike Murdock take down a couple of Rudy’s records at the Ledaig Record Breaker), but I forgot at the time that at the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the USAWA in June it was voted and passed by the membership to retroactively implement the records set at the 2011 Dino Gym Old-Time Strongman Challenge since the lifts in that competition were approved as new USAWA lifts at the meeting.  So Rudy is IN on his prior performances!  Chad knocked down several new records at the Ledaig Record Breakers putting him in as well.  We celebrated this accomplishment after he broke the USAWA Record in the Snatch on the Knees with a lift of 135 pounds. Coincidentally, both these lifters now stand at 107  USAWA records, which put them at a tie at the number 19 spot out of 21 lifters in the club.  Chad is the only lifter on the list that has done ALL of his records competing in the Senior Division (which makes him only eligible for OVERALL RECORDS).  This makes his accomplishment all that more impressive.  If you are in the Junior Division or Masters Division you have the opportunity to “double dip” on records, which means you may set or break an age group record and an overall record with the same lift.  This helps tremendously with “padding” your record count number.  I counted back through the USAWA Record list and Chad’s sits NUMBER TWO in OVERALL RECORDS (not age group records)  with his 107 (and all I will say about the guy at number 1 is that he has 141 overall records, and Chad knows him quite well as he is his training partner! ). 

There are several other lifters close to joining the Century Club that I’m keeping an eye on.  But just because you get in the club doesn’t mean that you can “sit back” and revel in your accomplishment, and spend too much time “patting yourself on the back”, because if others break enough of your records you can fall out of it.  This has happened (and it bothers me to see it) to a couple of legendary lifters in the USAWA recently, so you must keep up your involvement in the USAWA to “maintain your spot” in the Century Club.  Congratulations to Rudy and Chad – I’m very proud of both of you two, and you deserve this recognition.

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