Tag Archives: Wilbur Miller

Building Bigger Legs

By Roger LaPointe

Wilbur Miller knows the value of building leg strength through squatting. He just recently did a 320 pound 12 inch base squat at the Dino Gyms Record Day at the age of 79!

The secret to building bigger legs is really knowing the tools of the trade. You simply don’t build a skyscraper without a solid foundation. To build that foundation you need the right tools.

I had a great conversation, which did result in a sale, with a very high level basketball coach. As you might expect, he is dealing with very tall men who really are not built to be weightlifters. Yet, they do need the strength and explosiveness in their legs that serious weightlifting will bring them. We talked about the various bars I personally use, unsurprisingly, they are the same type of bars he uses, with slight variations. I regularly use an Olympic weightlifting bar with super smooth rotation, a stiff thick bar, a shrug/trap type bar, and a safety squat bar. At a height of 5 foot 3 inches, I am using them somewhat differently than his potential NBA recruits.

These are the exercises you need to do for building big and explosive legs:
1. Back Squats
2. Clean Pulls or, better yet, Power Cleans
3. A grip building exercise, such as Thick Bar Deadlifts
4. Front squat type movement – for some coaching situations, based on sport, facility resources, and/or body type – shrug bar deadlifts or a safety squat bar squats will be best

Now you need to apply these correctly.

Live strong,
Roger LaPointe

PS. If you can possibly get there, you need to come to the Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic. The real draw is the other people who attend. We have had coaches from the worlds of: football, track & field, basketball, mma, wrestling, cycling, boxing and a wide variety of other sports. This is your chance to pick their brains. Don’t miss it. Who knows, they might surprise you and try to pick your brain…

LESSONS

BY DAVE GLASGOW

WILBUR MILLER TRAINED ALL-ROUND LIFTS ALONG WITH OLYMPIC LIFTS AND POWER LIFTS.

I DON’T SUPPOSE THERE IS ONE OF US THAT, AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, DON’T THINK, “GEE, IF I HAD ONLY KNOWN THAT BACK WHEN….” OR “I SURE WISH I WAS YOUNGER.”  FOLLOWING MY WORKOUT LAST EVENING, I HAD SUCH A MOMENT.  YOU SEE, WHEN I FIRST STARTED LIFTING, IN THE LATE ‘60s, EARLY ‘70s, POWER LIFTING WAS MAKING A BIG ENTRANCE.  BY THE TIME I LEFT COLLEGE IN THE MID ‘70s, IT WAS KING.  FOR STRENGTH ATHLETES, IT WAS POWERLIFTING AND THE REST BE DAMNED.  OR SO I THOUGHT…  THIS IS WHERE THE LESSON SHOULD HAVE STARTED, BUT WAS LOST IN THE TRANSLATION.  THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE TO ME, A KID IN HIS EARLY 20s., AND NOT A BIT ‘HEAD STRONG’ , I MIGHT ADD.

IN AN ATTEMPT TO ‘EDUCATE’ MYSELF, I SUBSCRIBED TO ‘IRONMAN’ MAGAZINE.   THOSE OF YOU IN MY AGE GROUP WILL REMEMBER PERRY AND MABLE RADER AND THE VERY, EXCELLENT PUBLICATION THEY PUT OUT.  (TO MY MIND, THIS MONTHLY CHRONCILE HAS YET TO BE MATCHED.  YES, I UNDERSTAND THIS IS GOING TO START A RIFF; HOWEVER, THAT IS MY OPINION.  THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE DIVERSIFIED AND UNBIASED MAGAZINE, BEFORE OR SINCE.)  I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER PASSING OVER THE OLD TIME STRONGMAN ARTICLES, SKIMMING THE OLY LIFT STORIES AND INSTRUCTIONAL ADVICE TO GET TO THE POWERLIFTING SECTION. WHAT WERE THESE OLD GUYS FROM THE TURN OF THE CENTURY GOING TO TEACH ME?  HOW COULD OLY LIFTING POSSIBLY HELP ME?  I CAN ONLY SHAKE MY HEAD, NOW. WHAT A MISTAKE!!  I HAD ALL THE INFORMATION I NEEDED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME BUT I CHOSE TO TOTALLY DISREGARD IT.  ALL THAT WAS IMPORTANT WAS A BIG BENCH PRESS.  ‘WHAT CAN YA  BENCH??’, WAS THE COMMON PHRASE BACK THEN.  AS I KNOW NOW, THE CATCH PHRASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN, ‘WHAT CAN YA SQUAT OR DEADLIFT??’

THE MORE I GET INVOLVED IN THE USAWA, THE MORE I REALIZE THAT I, TOTALLY, MISSED THE BOAT.  THERE ARE SO MANY LIFTS THAT INVOLVE STRENGTH, ATHLETICISM AND POWER THAT IF ONE BECOMES ‘STALE’, IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE THE FAULT OF THE TRAINEE FOR NOT IMPLEMENTING THESE MIRIADE OF LIFTS.  IT JUST STANDS TO REASON THAT AN INCREASE IN OVERALL BODY STRENGTH WILL ONLY INCREASE THE ABILITY TO PERFORM ANY OTHER LIFT TO A HIGHER DEGREE.  HOW CAN ONE GO WRONG DOING SNATCHES, CLEANS, OVERHEAD PRESSES (WHICH I TOTALLY AVOIDED IN MY IGNORANCE), ONE HANDED LIFTS, DUMBBELL WORK…….MY GOD, THE LIST IS ENDLESS.  FROM TIME TO TIME, I HAVE BEEN ASKED BY SOMEONE TO SET UP A ‘PROGRAM’ FOR THEM.  WHILE I AM ALWAYS QUICK TO HELP, I HAVE GOTTEN INTO THE HABIT OF TELLING THE INDIVIDUAL TO DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH AND GET BACK WITH ME.  IT IS AT THIS TIME THAT I WILL TELL MY OWN STORY AND STRONGLY ENCOURAGE THAT PERSON TO MAKE HIS WORKOUTS WELL ‘ROUNDED’ AND DYNAMIC.  I NEVER FAIL TO CAUTION THEM TO BE CAREFUL THEY DON’T FALL IN THE SAME RUT I DID.

MAYBE THOSE ‘OLD TIMERS’ HAD SOME LESSONS TO TEACH, AFTER ALL!!

Dino Record Day

by Al Myers

Dino Gym Record Day

The USAWA welcome Jobes Steel Jungle to their first USAWA event! (front): Gabby Jobe (back row left to right): Troy Goetsch, Corey Kenkel, Jesse Jobe, Bryan Benzel

MEET REPORT

On Sunday the Dino Gym had the most participants in a record day than EVER BEFORE.  There was a total of 15 competitors setting new USAWA records!  I haven’t done an absolute record count yet, but I won’t be surprised to see it number over 150.  There were so many outstanding lifts that it will be impossible to cover everything in this meet report, so I’m going to save some of  “the best stories” for individual news stories at a latter date.  Plus I am under a time crunch to get this announced today, so the meet report will be short (that’s a FIRST FOR ME!). 

First of all I want to thank all the new lifters from the USAWA’s newest club, Jobe’s Steel Jungle, for attending.  I really enjoyed watching  them set new USAWA records.  They were all like “kids in a candy shop” as they got introduced to the many, many lifts of the USAWA.  One of them would do a lift and then the rest of them wanted to join in!  I also was quite impressed with Jesse’s daughter Gabby.  She is only 9 years old but I could tell she was “trained up” to do the lifts she set records in.   Jesse’s gym is in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  I made the mistake as referring to them as “the Nebraska boys”  (which NOT all live in Nebraska)  – I won’t do that again!!!  I KNOW we will be seeing more of Jobes Steel Jungle in the future. 

Wilbur Miller deadlifting 457 pounds at the age of 79!

The BIG NEWS of the day was that Wilbur Miller made an appearance – and this time he came ready to lift and set records!  Alot of the new lifters didn’t know Wilbur – but after the spectacular lifting he did they know him now!  Wilbur lifts like a man half his age.  He started off with the squat for record.  I told him the USAWA requires a 12″ base (the regular squat is not an USAWA lift), but that didn’t make any difference as Wilburs stance is close to 12″ normally.  He finished with an unbelievable 320 pounds!!!  (YES – I said that right!).  He then went to his favorite lift, the deadlifts, and set some big records in several different variations. I will be covering Wilburs performance at this record day in more detail in future stories.

Dean Ross set the most records.  Dean had A PLAN and he executed it perfectly.  He had the lifts he wanted to do and he went about setting records in a systematic fashion.  I had to take a break when I was imputing his lifts into this meet report because that alone was tiring me out!  At this rapid pace Dean is on with record breaking, it won’t be long and he’ll be in the CENTURY CLUB (and may I say faster than anyone else has ever done it!)

Chad Ullom performing a 480# Continental to Belt, the most ever done in the USAWA.

My dad LaVerne didn’t get enough “grip lifting” the day before at the Grip Champs and came to break some finger lifts.  Well, he did records on every finger including his thumb!   He was the first one in the gym to do his lifts and I think he did all of them in under 20 minutes!  Every record lift he did he had much more in him to do more. 

Dino Gym member Chuck Cookson didn’t set alot of records, but the ones he did were HUGE!  He broke the ALL TIME records in the French Press with a lift of 207 pounds and in the  Bent Arm Pullover with a lift of 195 pounds. I have seen very few people do a French Press in the proper manner as defined in our USAWA Rule Book, but Chuck’s has perfect body mechanics for this lift and performed this big lift of his very strict. His elbows stayed high and the bar touched the back of his neck easily. 

I could say so much more, but that’s it for today.  I want to thank everyone who showed up to lift in this record day.  Participation is what makes a record day a special event.  I especially want to thank Mike Murdock and Denny Habecker for taking their time officiating all day, at the expense of doing all the record lifts they wanted to do.

MEET RESULTS

Dino Gym Record Day
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas
February 12th, 2012

Meet Director: Al Myers

Officials: Al Myers, Denny Habecker, Mike Murdock

Gabby Jobe – Female, 9 years old, 89# BWT

Maxey Press: 38#
Push Press – From Rack: 45#
Hack Lift: 115#
Jefferson Lift: 115#
Deadlift – 12″ Base: 115#

Bryan Benzel – 24 years old, 284# BWT

Holdout – Raised: 71#
Holdout – Lowered: 71#
James Lift: 159#
Clean and Press – Reverse Grip: 259#
Miller Clean and Jerk: 110#
Clean and Jerk – Fulton Bar: 253#
Continental to Chest and Jerk: 298#
Hack Lift: 507#
Saxon Snatch: 95#

Troy Goetsch – 25 years old, 194# BWT

Maxey Press: 183#
Press – From Rack: 185#
Press – From Rack, Behind Neck: 155#
Clean and Press: 192#
Continental to Chest and Jerk: 220#
Deadlift – Heels Together: 429#
Deadlift – 12″ Base: 429#
Deadlift – Civattone Grip: 429#
Deadlift – Reeves: 300#
Bench Press – Hands Together: 250#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar: 506#
Snatch – Fulton Bar: 143#
Continental to Chest – Fulton Bar: 220#

Corey Kenkel – 29 years old, 206# BWT

Maxey Press: 203#
Push Press – From Rack: 185#
Press – From Rack: 185#
Clean and Jerk – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 75#

Jesse Jobe – 35 years old, 225# BWT

Maxey Press – 193#
Push Press – From Rack: 205#
Cyr Press: 125#
Curl – Reverse Grip: 154#
Bent Over Row: 286#
Continental To Belt: 407#
Pinch Grip – Right Hand: 63#
Pinch Grip – Left Hand: 70#
Bench Press – Left Arm: 100#
Bench Press – Right Arm: 110#
Jefferson Lift – Fulton Bar: 385#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar: 451#
Rectangular Fix: 80#
Saxon Snatch: 85#

Scott Tully – 36 years old, 344# BWT

Clean and Jerk – Fulton Bar: 203#
Jefferson Lift – Fulton Bar: 403#
Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat: 170#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 90#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 90#
Lateral Raise – Lying: 80#
Turkish Get Up: 40#

Chad Ullom – 40 years old, 248# BWT

Gardner – Half: 110#
Clean and Press – Alternate Grip: 159#
Miller Clean and Jerk: 110#
Squat – Piper: 230#
Continental to Belt: 480#

Chuck Cookson – 42 years old, 286# BWT

French Press: 207#
Pullover – Bent Arm: 195#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 110#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 110#

Al Myers – 45 years old, 251# BWT

Pullover – Bent Arm: 145#
Bench Press – Reverse Grip: 310#
Bench Press – Alternate Grip: 310#
Bench Press – Hands Together: 280#
Lateral Raise – Lying: 70#

Mark Mitchell – 51 years old, 360# BWT

Clean and Press – Fulton Bar: 223#
Deadlift – Fulton Bar: 403#
Maxey Press: 272#
Pinch Grip: 252#
Saxon Snatch: 107#

LaVerne Myers – 67 years old, 250# BWT

Finger Lift – Little, Left Hand: 48#
Finger Lift – Little, Right Hand: 48#
Finger Lift – Index, Left Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Index, Right Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Ring, Left Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Ring, Right Hand: 58#
Finger Lift – Middle, Left Hand: 78#
Finger Lift – Middle, Right Hand: 78#
Finger Lift – Thumb, Left Hand: 48#
Finger Lift – Thumb, Right Hand: 38#
Curl – Cheat: 141#

Denny Habecker – 69 years old, 186# BWT

Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells: 120#
Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells, Heels Together: 110#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 50#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 60#
Swing – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 60#

Dean Ross – 69 years old, 272# BWT

Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat: 80#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left: 50#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right: 50#
Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells: 80#
Clean and Press – 2 Dumbbells, Heels Together: 80#
Press – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 55#
Press – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 50#
Snatch – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 60#
Snatch – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 60#
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 Bar, 2″, Left Hand: 127#
Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 Bar, 2″, Right Hand: 127#
Bent Over Row: 179#
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip: 223#
Pullover and Push: 135#
Curl – Reverse Grip: 104#
Clean and Press – Reverse Grip: 104#
Clean and Press – Alternate Grip: 104#
Clean and Press – 12″ Base: 104#
Clean and Press: 104#
Clean and Push Press: 104#
Two Hands Anyhow: 80#
Deadlift – Trap Bar: 317#

Mike Murdock – 71 years old, 236# BWT

Bench Press – Hands Together: 145#
Bench Press – Left Arm: 55#
Bench Press – Right Arm: 55#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Right Arm: 55#
Curl – Dumbbell, Cheat, Left Arm: 60#

Wilbur Miller – 79 years old, 218# BWT

Squat – 12″ Base: 320#
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip: 397#
Deadlift – Heels Together: 419#
Deadlift – 12″ Base: 457#

Jesse Jobe and Corey Kenkel

Team Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip: 556#

Bryan Benzel and Troy Goetsch

Team Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip: 628#

Deadlift – 12″ Base

 by Thom Van Vleck

Wilbur Miller doing a partial deadlift, but still demonstrating the proper foot placement for the 12" base dead lift

Let’s talk about the 12″ Base Deadlift.   This lift will be contested in the upcoming USAWA 2011 Nationals held by the Jackson Weightlifting Club in Kirksville, Missouri on June 28th.  Make sure you know the rules!

The USAWA Rule Book says:

B1.  Deadlift – 12 inch Base
The rules of the Deadlift apply except that the maximum width of foot placing must not exceed 12 inches between the inside of the lifter’s heels. It is recommended that a 12 inch space be marked on the platform by a drawn line or tape.
Now, just to cover all the bases, let’s cover the rules for the Deadlift just to be sure we all understand it:
A.   Deadlift
The bar will be placed on the platform at the lifter’s feet, directly in front of the lifter. The lifter will grip the bar with both hands with any grip and any hand spacing. The lifter may use an alternate grip in which the palms of the hands are opposed. The lift begins at the lifter’s discretion.  The bar may be uneven during the ascent, but it must finish evenly.  The bar may touch the legs during the ascent, but must not be rested on the legs, bounced, hitched, or lowered. Width of feet placement is optional, but the feet must be parallel and in line with the torso. Heels and toes may rise during the lift, but foot placing must not change.  No substance of any kind may be applied to the legs. When the legs are straight, the arms are straight, the shoulders erect, the bar motionless, the lifter will receive a command from an official to lower the bar.  The bar must be returned to the platform under control for the lift to be complete.

Pretty straight forward!  At the Nationals this year we WILL have tape on the floor to help the lifters and judges make the call.

Heart of America Festival – Day 2

(Webmasters note: This is a reprint of the meet report covering the Heart of America Festival that occurred in August 1963 as published by the oldtime lifting magazine, the Lifting News. Dale Friesz passed this along to me to share, which characterizes one of the early-days All-Round Weightlifting Meets. Dale’s brother, Leonard, is included in the results as he was a member of the Columbia Athletic Club at the time. Our very own Bill Clark served as Meet Director, Head Judge, and Meet Reporter. He also competed! Past meets such as these are the reason why Bill organized All-Round Weightlifting into the USAWA. You will recognize several of the “meet stars” as they are legends in All-Round Weightlifting today. The meet was a two day affair, so I will divide the story into two parts, one covering each day. Enjoy!)

by Bill Clark

On the second day the squat and dead lift marks of Saturday are used and four other events are added to test a man’s back, endurance and will power.  The front squat opens the second day and Miller was very unhappy with his 390 front squat.  Wachholz made 385 and Friesz 380.  The Jefferson lift was next and Wachholz almost caught the lanky Kansas wheat farmer.  Miller did a straddle with 650, but Wachholz surpassed him on bodyweight with a 640 and moved within range with two lifts remaining.  Paul was able to make “only” 600 in the hack lift, but Miller endured with a 650 effort.  In the Zercher lift, Miller made 425 while Wachholz was good for only 365.   The meet was Miller’s once again.  This time with a total of 3320 and 2148 points.  Wachholz was close behind with 3020 pounds and 2072 points.  Your writer was third and felt happy with a mediocre performance after not working out more than five times since February.  He squatted 470 cold, made a 530 dead lift, front squatted 320, straddled up 560, hacked only 500 (has done 600) and Zerchered just 420 – 40 pounds under tops.  This was the meet he had planned to make a 600 squat, but baseball took care of that boast.  Maybe next year.  Too much umpiring this year and not enough time in the gym.

Lifter Squat Front Sq Deadlift Hack Zerch Strad Total Points
Miller 530 390 675 650 425 650 3320 2148
Wachholz 455 385 585 600 365 640 3020 2072
Clark 470 320 530 500 420 560 2800 1817
Friesz 445 380 490 450 385 475 2625 1790
Hahn 400 320 475 475 385 475 2530 1771
Hamilton 280 205 420 420 315 440 2080 1714
Witt 470 295 525 315 335 500 2400 1596
McPheeters 375 475 500
Lewellen 385 500 500
B. Fellows 420 315

Meet Director:  Bill Clark

Officials:  Bill Clark, Don Wickell, Ed Zercher

The question here, then, is how these two great lifters rank with strong men of the past.  Surely, in two days, few men of this size have ever lifted more.  To dead lift 675, hack 650 and straddle 650 along with the others is a phenomenal performance, and Wachholz was superb.  His 640 straddle must rank with the best.

These men are not goons, as power lifters have often been called.  Wachholz has done over 800 as a mid-heavy in the Olympic lifts and won the 100 yard dash, final event of the meet, in an amazing time of 11.3 seconds, running on asphalt in tennis shoes after a hard day on the platform.  Wachholz also throws the discus well over 160 feet and has a beautiful frame, placing high in every physique contest he enters.  He’s married and has two children.  He works in a bank and travels thousands of miles a year to meets. (No relation between his work and his ability to travel).  The marks he set at the Power Festival were all personal records.  In addition, he entered several of the side contests and won them.  He was best in the bench press with 315 pounds and did a stiffarm pullover with 110.

Miller was impressive as always.  He stands 6’3″, and weighs 235.  In high school he was a top miler and turned down a track scholarship at Kansas University after finishing his senior year at Ensign (Kansas) High School.  In his final high school race, he covered the mile in 4:33.6 and wound up third behind two great runners – Wes Santee, who later ran the mile in 4:00.2 and was America’s greatest miler until barred by the AAU for excessive expense money – and Billy Tidwell, a half-miler who represented the U.S. on many international fields.  Miller has done 930 in the Olympic Lifts and was second in the Junior Nationals this year.  He won one other event in the Power Festival, doing an abdominal raise with 105 pounds.  When the meet was over, a side bet came to pass concerning Wilbur’s ability to lift cars.  He promptly picked up the rear end of a Volkswagon, engine and all, and held it a foot off the ground.  He made the lift from the normal deadlift position.

Ed Zercher Sr., an old-timer who has moved enough weight to kill an elephant in his forty years on the platform, refereed all the lifts and branded Miller and Wachholz as two mighty strong youngsters.  He pointed out that their lifting was different from that in the old days when bars were not machined, but allowed the pair could have held their own with many of the greats.  Zercher, at 56, proved to be a horse even yet.  He took 600 pounds on his feet, and without any supporting devices, made 10 reps and held his balance perfectly in the leg press.  He then built a Roman Chair all by himself with 235 pounds balanced on his feet: 145 pounds in his hands and 130 pound Art Tarwater sitting astride the chair doing presses with 100 pounds.  When Tarwater lost his balance, Zercher held the chair steady – much to the amazement of the onlookers.

This meet was held in a shelter house the first evening and on the grass under a large shade tree the second day.  People driving through the park would stop and watch the lifting until they grew tired.  The crowd changed many times and townspeople still talk about the show they say in the park – for no charge.  It seems until someone comes up with a better performance, this must go down as one of the greatest ever.

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