Monthly Archives: April 2011

Dr. Russell Wright

Dr. Russell Wright, D.O. & Pioneer in Sports Medicine

by Thom Van Vleck

You may not know who Dr. Russell Wright (D.O. Doctor of Osteopathy) is, but Tommy Kono, Bob Bednarski, Tommy Suggs, Gary Glenney, Norbert Schmansky and many others probably owe him half the hardware in their trophy cases.  Dr. Wright made his living as the team Physician for the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Pistons.  But he is best known to weightlifters as the team physician for five USA Olympic Weightlifting teams and countless World Championship teams.  He did much of this by traveling to these events on his own dime and providing a lot of the treatment for free. The lifters he treated often commented that he would tell them he’d “send them a bill” and the bill would never come.

Dr. Wright did back surgery on Schmansky and solved Kono’s knee problems to allow them to further their great careers.  He employed Osteopathic manipulation in his work with many other lifters and was there when Bednarski dislocated his elbow so badly at an international meet in Canada.  It was typical to put the dislocated joint in a cast and allow to heal, but Dr. Wright took the cast off once back home and worked with the injury with light exercise, massage, and Osteopathic manipulation.  This could have ended his career, but Bednarski won a World Championships after that!  Wright was an athlete himself having competed in football and basketball in college and a short pro career after that and he felt that gave him insight into athletic injuries and needs.  He was also known to be able to motivate the athlete in his recuperation and had a  deep understanding of sports psychology helping athletes who were devastated by their injuries forge successful comebacks.

Dr. Wright is credited with pioneering the “medical manager” concept.  It seems logical now, but until Dr. Wright came up with it, it was not practiced.  Simply put, someone trained in sports medicine would assist the coach in all medical decisions as a direct consultant.  Osteopaths like Dr. Wright were pioneers in sports medicine.  He was following in the footsteps of Dr. Wilbur Bohm  who was the first sports medicine specialist and he graduated from the school I work at, A.T. Still University which is the founding school of Osteopathic medicine.  Dr. Bohm was the team physician at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics for the U.S.A. track team and assisted  Jesse Owens in his historic run of 4 Gold Medals and the FIRST ever full time professional sports team doctor!  Dr. Wright was part of that heritage of sports medicine and his role in the 1956, ’60, ’64, ’68, and ’72 Olympics would continue that tradition.

Russell Wright was the president of the Medical Committee of the International Federation of Weightlifting and Culture and conducted many seminars on treating weightlifting injuries.  In 1966 he conducted a seminar in East Berlin, East Germany for Doctors from 92 nations.  He was a member of Sports Medicine (an organization that Dr. Bohm was a founding member) and was a delegate to the 16th World Congress of Sports.  He made most of these trips on his own.  His wife always accompanied him and they were considered real friends and ambassadors of Weightlifting.  He made dozens of these types of trips over the years.  Dr. Wright often joked that he kept “retiring” over and over again.

Dr. Wright graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Des Moines University in 1929 and practice medicine for 7 decades as he lived well into his 90’s.  The Des Moines School was the second Osteopathic school ever and was founded in 1903, now there are over two dozen D.O. schools across the U.S. and they represent an ever increasing percentage of Doctors in the U.S.  They have all the same rights and privileges of an M.D. plus they have to know Dr. Still’s Osteopathic principles as well.  Dr. Wright represented the type of “forward thinking” that has made D.O’s so popular.  It is estimated in the near future D.O’s will represent 1 in 5 Doctors and they are a large part of the sports medicine world due to Doc’s like Dr. Wright and Dr. Bohm.

Dr. Russell Wright was a true friend of weightlifting as a sport, but was a better friend to the lifters.  He also wrote books including “How to Become and Olympic Champion” where he tried to integrate not only exercised but every aspect of being a top athlete into one book (Diet, sleep, etc.).  I hope you enjoyed reading about a real unsung hero of USA weightlifting.

Bernarr MacFadden

Bernarr MacFadden, "Father of Physical Culture"

by Thom Van Vleck

If you know who Bernarr MacFadden is then you truly are a student of Iron History.  MacFadden was born in 1868 and died in 1955.  He became internationally famous and a millionaire (when a million meant something!) promoting Physical Culture.  I have heard that  Bob Hoffman was called “The Father of American Weightlifting”, but before Bob, Bernarr was the “Father of Physical Culture”.  MacFadden not only promoted exercise, he promoted all around physical fitness, all natural foods (he disliked processed foods) , natural treatment of disease (he hated “pill pusher Doctors”), and inspired people to live healthy lives.  Vim, Vigor, and Virility are terms you often heard him say. He directly influence many greats that you will know like Charles Atlas.

He was also at times branded a charlatan and was arrested on obscenity charges (his books were often very frank in there subject matter, but he was NOT arrested for what we would call pornography today).  He often rubbed the medical establishment the wrong way, at least the M.D.’s but not the D.O.’s…..I’ll explain more later.  He made his millions promoting his books and developed properties that had schools, resorts, and all things that in some way related to physical culture and health.  His empire rose and fell and rose and fell.  Personally, I think had he died or retired at a younger age his legacy would likely be more secure in the weightlifting world.  But some of his later dealings, eccentric tendencies, a damaging book by and ex-wife perhaps unfairly tarnished his early work and unfortunately what you do last is often remembered most.

McFadden’s long and colorful life could fill many volumes and I would encourage anyone interested in Iron History to ready up on him.  There is a website dedicated to his life at www.bernarrmacfadden.com.

My connection to MacFadden is as a boy my grandfather, who was born in 1913 and grew up when McFadden was truly at his peak, often quoted and spoke of McFadden and taught me many of his valuable principles and in that way had a major influence on the JWC.   I learned later he also filtered out many of McFadden’s teachings that were probably built on faulty logic and social norms of the day….but you wonder how people will someday look back on us!  I also work at A.T. Still University, founded in 1892 by Andrew Taylor Still and the founding school of Osteopathic Medicine.  A Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) has the same medical training and credentialing of a Medical Doctor (M.D.) PLUS they have to learn Still’s Osteopathic teachings.  Again, volumes could be written on Osteopathy but I will just point out that Still believed in natural cures, healthy living, was against “pill pushing” as a doctor, thought exercise was essential to health (back when many M.D’s thought exercise was actually bad for you!!!!) and finally was a pioneer in whole person health.   Dr. Still was probably the kind of doctor Bernarr MacFadden would have liked!  I’m researching that right now!

At any rate, our library has a huge collection of rare books.  They often surplus out extra copies and sell them.  When they go unsold, they are given away.  I was checking through a bin of “free” books and when I came across a first edition copy of Bernarr MacFadden’s “Manhood and Marriage” published in 1916.  It had an old style library card in the back and the last time it was checked out was 1963!  Previous to that, 1957!  Kind of hard to believe this book has been on a shelf here my whole life (I was born in 1964) and now I have it.  It is not surprising to me this book was here as the type of people attracted to being a D.O. are the types that believe in whole person health, exercise, healthy living and natural cures.  Don’t get me wrong, they prescribe medication, do surgery and EVERYTHING an M.D. would do but if you see a D.O. you can expect a lecture on healthy living along with your antibiotics!

I am enjoying reading the book.  It is really outdated in many ways, but there is no doubt MacFadden really believed in the healthy lifestyle even if the basis of many of his tenants of healthy living have since been proven otherwise by research.  At least he set a standard which others could then prove right or wrong and if I had to guess, he was more “right”!   Check his story out some time….he’s a real character of the Iron Game!

Gold Cup

by Steve Gardner

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

2011 IAWA GOLD CUP

 ‘WORLD RECORD BREAKERS EVENT’

 POWERHOUSE GYM, BURTON ON TRENT, ENGLAND 

SATURDAY 1st OCTOBER

Rules of the Gold Cup Competition

1.  All Lifters MUST be Current IAWA Members

2.  Lifters who are current World Record Holders can attempt a new World Record for the ‘GOLD CUP’ (The first attempt on the platform has to be for the new World Record!)

3.  Lifters who are not current World Record Holders are eligible to lift for the ‘Silver Cup’ for a National or Club Record or a new Personal Best

Gold Cup Promoter: Steve Gardner – 18 Holly Road, Barton under Needwood, Staffs. DE13 8LP England Tel: 01283 713464 or 07960960509 E Mail: steve-g@powerful.co.uk

Lifting Venue: Powerhouse Gym, The Pakistani Community Centre, 228 – 231 Uxbridge Street, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire DE14 3LA England

Banquet Venue: The St. Andrews Suite, Branston Golf & Country Club, Branston, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire DE14 3DP, England

Accomodation:

Any lifter from home or abroad that will be looking for accommodation, please contact the promoter as soon as possible and he will deal with your accommodation needs, finding the best lodgings at the best price to suit you!

Competition Entry Fee: £35                                           Banquet Fee: £17.50

The Banquet will also be the venue for the 2011 Induction to the IAWA(UK) Hall of Fame

For Entry Form – 2011 IAWA GOLD CUP

Watch Your Back!

by Jarrod Fobes

Amber Glasgow, of the Ledaig Heavy Athletics Club, performs a Turkish Get Up with 35 pounds. The Turkish Get Up is a great exercise to strengthen muscle imbalances in the back.

Injuries have shaped a lot of my training, and there is nothing that will get you thinking more about how you train than an injured back. Bum knee? Work your upper body for a while. Injured shoulder? Train around it. Hurt your back? You won’t be in the gym for at least a few weeks. After my last back injury I got busy researching back health and learning what I could do to prevent any future relapses. From what I’ve learned, spinal “prehab” can be distilled down to two major factors. Here’s what they are and what you can do about them.

Muscle Imbalances

Muscle imbalance refers to any break in the symmetry of the muscular system. You don’t want your right side stronger than your left, or your front stronger than your back. Most of you have heard that to protect your back, you should strengthen your abdominals. Strong abdominals are important to provide a counter to the powerful muscles of the lower back, but they are only part of the equation. Is your left hip flexor stronger than the right? Then your hip may be pulled down on the left side, and your back will struggle to compensate for it. Are your hamstrings disproportionately stronger than your quads? That may have an effect on the stability of your knee. If your knee goes out, your hips may start compensating for your injured knee. From there the chain of compensation can easily reach your back.

Fortunately there are two exercises that are terrific for correcting major muscle imbalances. One is the Turkish Get-up, already and official USAWA lift. The other is the One Legged, One Armed Deadlift.

If you are balancing on your right leg, you will grab the weight with your left hand. Put a slight bend in the knee of your support leg. As you lean forward to grasp the weight, your non-support leg should rise up, keeping in as straight a line as possible with your back. Maintain that alignment as you stand up with the weight. As with any deadlift, don’t let your head droop forward.

Both lifts should be trained heavy, but not to failure. Within a month or two diligently giving each side of your body equal work with these lifts, you should have corrected the major imbalances in your body. But stay on guard against overworking one side or the other in day-to-day life too: if you ride a bike, don’t always push off with your dominate leg. If you carry a kid around, make sure you use both sides of your body for roughly equal time. You get the idea.

Muscle Endurance

Muscle endurance is the ability of a muscle to work for a prolonged period of time. It is related to, but separate from muscle strength, which most of us focus on in the gym. Many of us have strong backs, but inexplicably still have back problems. That’s because while we may be able to lift enormous loads with our backs, we haven’t conditioned them to handling sustained, symmetrical loads. Just as being able to do 100 push-ups may not translate into a huge bench press, heavy deadlifts do little to condition our backs to prolonged work. That is why kettlebell swings are so important.

Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. You should have about a 90-degree bend in your knees, as well as at your waist. Do not let your back round, and keep your head up. The kettlebell (or whatever implement you decide to you use) will be in both hands tucked under your behind. Your wrists should rest on your inner thighs.

From this position, explode forward with your hips, extending the legs and back. The weight should stop at 12-o’clock, directly over head with your arms straight. A common mistake is to initiate the movement with the arms. The explosive hip extension should provide the momentum to get the weight moving. Guide the weight back down to the starting position, and repeat.

Since we’re focusing on muscle endurance, execute a high number of reps, at least 75. Focus on maintaining a high rep speed, too. This will mean starting with a lighter weight than most of us like to be seen with in the gym, but do it anyway. If 75 is too daunting, start with 3×25, and “steal” reps from the last set and give them to the first in following workouts. So following rep schemes might look like 35x25x15, 50×25, etc until you reach 75 reps. Once you can handle 75 you have the option of increasing weight or increasing reps. Besides muscle endurance, my posture has improved greatly since adding kettlebell swings to my routine. I recommend them to anyone whose shoulders roll forward. Another benefit of this exercise is the tremendous cardiovascular work it provides. If done with speed, explosiveness, and adequate weight, your heart will really be pumping by the end!

Black Swamp Meet

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT

ATOMIC ATHLETIC GREAT BLACK SWAMP OLDE TIME STRONGMAN PICNIC AND ALL-ROUND MEET

Roger LaPointe, of Atomic Athletic, is hosting an All-Round Weightlifting Meet on May 14th.  Roger is not new to the USAWA as a meet director, as he has hosted a couple of competitions in the past – but it has been a few years.  I am REALLY GLAD to see him get back into the USAWA fold by promoting this meet!  Roger owns a very unique equipment company, Atomic Athletic,  that caters to lifters wanting to buy unique equipment that we as All-Rounders would appreciate.  He also sells about anything else that a lifter would need.  Take a little time and check out his website for his business.

This meet will feature two popular all-round lifts – the One Hand Deadlift and the Clean and Push Press.  This day will be more than just a meet.  Roger has planned a picnic and other Strongman Shows to compliment the meet.  It sounds like a great day of fun!!

Great Black Swamp Olde-Time Strongman Picnic Promotional Poster.

For an entry form, click here –  Black Swamp Meet Entry Form

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