Author Archives: Al Myers

The Heavy Lift Bar

by Al Myers

Steve Schmidt, arguable the BEST OVERALL Heavy Lift lifter in the history of the USAWA, maxes a Heavy Lift Bar out with plates in the Hip Lift under the watchful eye of Bill Clark.

A very unique bar that we use in the USAWA (and is ONLY used by our organization) is the Heavy Lift Bar.  Often a lot of mystery surrounds this bar.  You will see ads on various websites advertising the sale of  heavy lift bars, but in most cases these bars DO NOT meet our rules specifications.  The Heavy Lift Bar is used for the Heavy Lifts – which include lifts like the Harness Lift, Hand and Thigh Lift, Hip Lift, and Neck Lift.  Our new updated Rule Book contains the specifications for the Heavy Lift Bar, which were not included in the previous Rule Book.  Section V.I. 22 of the USAWA Rule Book states this regarding the Heavy Lift Bar:

The Heavy Lift Bar must meet the following specifications.

• The diameter of the bar must be a minimum of 1 15/16 inches.

• The bar may be a pipe or solid steel shaft.

• The maximum length of the inside sleeve is 16 inches.

• The maximum length of the bar is 8 ½ feet and the minimum length of the bar is 7 feet.

• Only one hook is allowed on the bar, located in the center.

• The bar must be straight.

• The weight of the bar must be clearly marked.

• The bar must contain no revolving sleeves.

A brand new Heavy Lift Bar that I made specifically to be used at the 2011 USAWA Heavy Lift Nationals, to be held in York, PA on May 21st.

The most common problem with “other” Heavy Lift Bars is they often contain TWO HOOKS.  Our Official Heavy Lift Bar can have only one – located in the center – which obviously makes the balance of the lifts much more difficult!  The Heavy Lift Bar requires several accessories.  Proper hooks for attachments are needed, along with bar lifters to make  loading easier.  Special harnesses and belts are needed, depending on which lift is being performed.  The shaft of the Heavy Lift Bar is a solid cold roll bar, of diameter 1 15/16 inches.  A hollow pipe would never hold up – it would bend (or break) immediately!  I am always surprised how much the solid Heavy Lift Bar will bend under loads of over 2000 pounds!  All of the Heavy Lift Bars that we use in the USAWA are home-made or custom-made.  Only a handful of gyms have one – the Dino Gym, Clark’s Gym, Habecker’s Gym, Ambridge BBC, Frank’s Barbell Club, M & D Gym, Schmidt’s Barbell Club,  and the JWC.  OK – so most ALL of the Member Clubs of the USAWA have one!!  The Heavy Lift Bar will be featured exclusively at this year’s Heavy Lift Nationals in York, PA on May 21st with the Neck Lift, Hip Lift and Hand and Thigh Lift being contested.  If you want to give the Heavy Lifts a try, and in the process get introduced to the Heavy Lift Bar, just sign up for this competition!

Bill Good and the Good Dumbbell

by Al Myers

Bill Good and the Good Dumbbell.

Dennis Mitchell’s story on the Good Brothers got me thinking about the Good Dumbbell, and the brother who made it famous – Bill.  Bill would often celebrate his birthday every year by Harness Lifting the Good Dumbbell for repetitions. He did this up to the age of 90 years. In 1986 on Bill’s 76th birthday, he promised to lift the dumbbell 76 times, one rep for each year of age. This “stunt” was picked up by television and was well publicized.  He easily exceeded this mark.  The Good Dumbbell has a storied history, encompassing more than one famous strongman.  The Good Brothers purchased it from an Oldtime Strongman who’s name is embedded in the history of the USAWA, and of which we have a lift named after.  This man was Warren Lincoln Travis, and it is reported they purchase it from him for $110 in 1929.  The Good Dumbbell was displayed publicly for many years at the Crystal Spring Water Company in Adamstown, PA.  Around 2007, the Good Dumbbell went missing.  No one knew what happened to it for a couple of years.  Luckily, the new owner has made it known that the Good Dumbbell is in “safe keeping” and hopefully in the future it will once again be on display.

Never Too Old to Start Lifting

by Al Myers

LaVerne Myers wins his FIRST TROPHY EVER in weightlifting, at the 2010 IAWA Gold Cup.

One of the very interesting things about weight lifting is that you are never too old to start!  This isn’t the case with a lot of other competitive sports.  Take a sport like football or basketball – not something you could start over 60.  First of all your body wouldn’t hold up to it, plus there are minimal opportunities for competition even if it could.  Weightlifting is really a sport where you only compete against yourself.  Sure you compete against other athletes, but you pick the attempts at weights that you know you can achieve.   You only pick attempts that you have a shot at.  The joys of success often come from achieving a goal that you have set for yourself.  Plus, you can improve at any age in some lift.  The human body is made to adapt to training, and if you are willing to “put in the time” your muscles will become stronger and you will lift more weight.   I have seen all-rounders set personal records at ages most “normal folk” would have thought impossible.

Recently, my father LaVerne started competing in the USAWA.  He had competed in a few of my gym records days in the past,  but just this year he has entered some USAWA competitions.  He is 66 – not the age you would assume someone would start an athletic career!  But he has had tremendous success.  Last spring he placed 5th overall at the Dino Gym Grip Challenge amongst a very strong field. He even tied for the top Weaver Stick lift of the day.  This past November he accompanied me to the 2010 IAWA Gold Cup in Walpole – and of course he competed!  He very successfully set an IAWA World Record in the One Arm Ciavattone Grip Deadlift.  He was astounded that he set a World Record – something he would never have thought possible a few years ago before he became involved with the USAWA.   He should be an example for others as to what one can achieve in the USAWA!  You DO NOT need to have a lifetime of lifting under your belt to enjoy the successes of competitive weightlifting in the USAWA.  You can start NOW!!  I welcome ANYONE of any age to give the USAWA a try – and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Since my father’s involvement of competing in the USAWA, that now makes FOUR generations of the Myers family that have competed within the USAWA.   Has this been done before??  I’m sure it has but I would like to know.  If anyone knows of another family that has done this please email me (amyers@usawa.com) about them so I can share it with the readers of the USAWA Daily News.

Davis lifts Dinnie Stones!

by Al Myers

On December 7th, 2010, Roger Davis made a strapless lift of the Dinnie Stones.

Congratulations to Roger Davis for successfully lifting the Dinnie Stones!!  On a cold, snowy day on December 7th, 2010 Roger made another trek to the Potarch Hotel, the home of the Dinnie Stones.  Roger has lifted the stones before, but this time he achieved a STRAPLESS LIFT of the Dinnie Stones.  The Dinnie Stones weigh 321 pounds and 413 pounds apiece.  Both stones have ring handles attached which makes the grip on them a hard one to handle!  It takes someone with a very strong grip to be able to hold onto them – let alone a strong back to lift the total weight of 734 pounds in a modified-Jefferson style.

Roger has been a big contributor to the IAWA, having competed in the last 3 IAWA World Championships.  He is an outstanding spokesman for All-Round Weightlifting.  He has had numerous articles published in MILO related to All-Round lifting.  Roger is a CLASS INDIVIDUAL and I’m so glad to see him accomplish this long-standing goal of his.  Way to go Roger!!!!

2010 USAWA Highlights

by Al Myers

2010 is now behind us – and it’s time to start looking  forward to All-Round Weightlifting in 2011. I want to thank everyone who already sent in their 2011 USAWA memberships.  Sixteen of the most “die-hard” USAWA members have their memberships in so they can have the “January 1st” designation beside their name on the USAWA membership roster.  Memberships in the USAWA run for the calendar year, so you might as well join early because there is not a discount for waiting.  2010 was a “decent” year for memberships – the last count yielded 61 USAWA members.  Pretty much what it has been for the past several years.  Not the highest, but not the lowest either.  I know we have our critics who say our organization might as well “hang up our lifting shoes”  and “throw in the towel”.  I disagree.  We haven’t been over 100 members since the year 2000 – when we topped at 122 members. The USAWA has NEVER had over 200 members a year.  So we are far from being “down for the count”.  I want to mention just a few of the exciting highlights that have happened in the USAWA in the year 2010 that SHOW  the USAWA is very much alive!

1.  USAWA Club Membership hit an ALL-TIME high with 11 registered clubs.

2. 21 sanctioned competitions were held – the 2nd most of ALL-TIME.

3.  The first Club Challenge was held, hosted by the Ambridge BBC – marking the BEGINNING of a new signature USAWA competition.

4.  Chad Ullom won the BEST OVERALL LIFTER at the IAWA World Championships –  making him only the 6th USAWA member of ALL-TIME to ever do this.

5.  The USAWA Awards Program was created,  which recognizes outstanding accomplishments amongst the USAWA lifters throughout the year.

6.  The membership approved new USAWA bylaws which outline (for the first time) how our organization operates.

7.  We seen record growth in our USAWA Officials Program, which now has 32 USAWA Certified Officials.

8.  Scott Schmidt was inducted into the USAWA Hall of Fame, which marked the RETURN of the USAWA Hall of Fame Program that was inactive for close to 10 years.

9.  561 USAWA Records were set – the 5th highest in a year in our history.

10 .  Our USAWA website now averages over 250 “hits” per day – and is GROWING!

Those are just 10 things that quickly came to my mind from 2010.   It sure doesn’t sound like we are a dying organization to me?  Next year I would like to see us over 100 members again.  My opinion is that we don’t have to have a thousand members, or 10,000 members, to be successful.  But because memberships is our only form of income for our organization, we do need at least 100 members to be able to finance the general overhead expenses, our Awards Program, and our Drug Testing Program.   Also, we need at least that many members to insure that we have enough competitors at our big competitions  so the Meet Directors won’t lose a ton of money.

2010 was a great year for the USAWA!  I am very optimistic that the next year will be even better!!

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