Whose the best USAWA lifter of all time?

[Al Myers]

Whose the best USAWA lifter of all time?

[Thom Van Vleck]

I vote for Al Myers….and not because I’m trying to get you make me an anchor….HAHA

My serious vote, I think it would be Steve Schmidt.

Thom Van Vleck
Jackson Weightlifting Club
Highland Games athlete and sometimes All-Rounder

[Al Myers]

haha Thom – I’m working on the design today! Al

[Steve Angell]

Without hesitation, i would say Bob Hirsh. He kept me from winning the best overall title twice, and the poundage’s he lifted for his bodyweight were phenomenal.

[Roger Davis]

Hello chaps,

Finally managed to get my password sorted out for the forum !

I agree with Steve, Bob Hirsh stands out as having mind blowing lifts on both the pull and push lifts (ie deadlifts and Press) , this is quite unusual, as a body type that helps with one usually hinders the other.

It is not only the quantity of record lifts that Bob holds, but the quality.

In my quest to break 40 IAWA World records this year to celebrate (?) my 40th year, I have taken 3 Bob Hirsh records … these are the most precious to me (along with one of Rick Meldons) as he is such a talented lifter.

I never had the priveledge of lifting against Bob, but if he stopped Steve from total dominance then he has my respect.

Roger

[Tom Ryan]

Now that all of the votes seem to be in, I will cast my vote. At various times I have known Hirsch, Montini, and Schmidt and I still stay in regularly contact with Steve.

All three have outstanding records. Art was already about 60 when the USAWA was getting started, so we didn’t get to see him lift in his prime. But what he could do at his age was impressive enough! It was a bit embarrassing to be outlifted in certain lifts by someone who is almost a generation older than me and more than 100 pounds lighter!

When I met Bob Hirsch he acted like he was happy to meet me “having read a lot about me”. Huh? He was a far better lifter than I was!

I think Steve Schmidt is slightly head of the others simply because he is at the head of the class in various lifts and I believe he is the only USAWA lifter in the Guinness Book of World Records. We all know about his proficiency in the backlift, harness lift and teeth lift, but Steve has been good at almost every lift he has tried.

When he was in his prime and competed in the Zercher Meet, he was good for a heels-together military press with at least bodyweight at just about any time. (I believe his best official military press may have been 226, but I’m not sure of that.) Like Paul Anderson, he really didn’t use any technique. He just stood there and pressed! And his deadlifts had to be seen to be believed. I recall one Zercher Meet in which he did a heels-together deadlift with a weight that was almost certainly in the 540-560 range. That may not sound impressive but it was almost a stiff-legged deadlift! I was sitting beside the platform and after Steve completed the lift, I chuckled a bit and said to Bill Clark “That was just about an all-back deadlift”. That is simply the way that Steve did deadlifts. He just reached down and picked the weight up and was strong enough to do deadlifts that way.

So pound-for-pound he is one of the greatest back lifters and harness lifters of all time, he is in Guinness, and I have seen him do some impressive things in other lifts and feats, including repetition back lifting, with some of these feats performed when he was 50 or older. So I believe that Steve, who now stays busy as a professional, performing strongman in his mid-50s, is a shade better than Montini and Hirsch.

[Steve Angell]

Frank Ciavattone has his neck lift record in the Guiness book of records.

IAWA Member Barry Anderson from England has had many records in the Guiness book of records over the years from strandpulling to finger lifting.

Just out of interest, did anyone see that Guiness put Mark Felix in to the record books for a 225kg left hand one hand deadlift. It was in the sept edition of Muscle & Fitness (May be the English edition though) They said that the biggest lift in history (Left handed) was 221kgs. Firstly, the picture in the mag had one end of the bar well bellow knee level, as the bar was tilting a lot. Secondly, the 221kgs is my OHDL. I had a 230kgs failed two to one that was a much better lift than the one Felix has now got in the record books. Not that i’m bitter or anything. LOL. And the supliments he takes are quite a lot stronger than mine!

[Al Myers]

Steve, I hadn’t seen that about Felix and his one arm deadlift. Where did he do it at? Who judged his lift? I don’t doubt his capabilities but question the circumstances in which the lift was done.

Barry Anderson is a LEGEND. I have a picture of him in my gym doing his Guiness Record in the little finger deadlift. And you couldn’t meet a nicer guy. Al

[Roger Davis]

All,

Just to add to the I.A.W.A lifters in the guiness book of records thing!

My current training partner Nick Molloy, who I have encouraged to join and lift in the I.A.W.A, last year broke the Guinness record for most weight lifted on the deadlift in 1 hr.

He managed 41,800kg

He is pretty good on the strength lifts also , and has deadlifted 215kg @ 75kg.

I am introducing him to all round lifting, and he is enjoying the new challenge.

regards

Roger

[Al Myers]

That’s great! I bet his back was a little sore the next day. Sometimes I’ll do “volume days” with my deadlift training. This usually includes timed sets with 1 minute rest in between sets. The most I’ve done is 20 tons (or 40,000 pounds). This is less than half of what Nick did – and I’m always wiped out the next day!! Al

[Author]

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