Tag Archives: Eric Todd

Eric Todd is Now in Hall of Fame

By Al Myers

Eric Todd (right) receiving his Hall of Fame Award from Lance Foster (center)  and Al Myers (left).

Eric Todd (right) receiving his Hall of Fame Award from Lance Foster (center) and Al Myers (left).

One of the big highlights of the USAWA Nationals weekend happened during the USAWA Awards Ceremony, in which Eric Todd was inducted into the USAWA Hall of Fame.  It takes alot of time, effort, performance, and commitment to achieve this honor as the USAWA Hall of Fame is the highest award receivable in the USAWA. I was so happy to see Eric get recognized with this award as he has sure earned it!  Eric (or ET as his friends know him) is the all round man in all round weightlifting. He does it all – competes, officiates, coaches, promotes, runs a club, and now serves as an officer in the USAWA.

Other USAWA Hall of Fame members present at the meet joined Eric in the presentation. (left to right): Chad Ullom, Al Myers, Eric Todd, Denny Habecker, LaVerne Myers, and Dean Ross

Other USAWA Hall of Fame members present at the meet joined Eric in the presentation. (left to right): Chad Ullom, Al Myers, Eric Todd, Denny Habecker, LaVerne Myers, and Dean Ross

His friend and fellow KC Strongman club member Lance Foster gave an excellent Hall of Fame induction speech which I would like to share here.  Lance has known and trained with Eric for many years, and was the perfect person to be part of this special moment.

Hall of Fame induction speech by Lance Foster

To quote the mission of the USAWA, (“The USAWA was formed to
continue the long standing tradition of old-time weightlifters like Eugen
Sandow, Louis Cyr, Arthur Saxon, Hermann Goerner, Warren
Lincoln Travis, and many others. We strive to preserve the history of the
original forms of weightlifting, which in the past has been referred to as
“odd lifting.” Many of the lifts we perform are based on stage
acts or challenge lifts of old-time strongmen”), exemplifies what Eric
Todd has brought, and continues to
bring, to the USAWA.

While he more than meets the point total to be considered for induction
into the Hall Of Fame by merit, I believe that nominating him on the
basis of honor is the better option. Eric has dedicated his life to
weightlifting and athletic pursuits. Eric began these pursuits pre-
Kindergarten, running behind his father
when he went jogging, to high school football, track, and wrestling. He
attended college on a wrestling scholarship, and achieved national
ranking, in addition to competing in Highland Games, Strongman, and
later all-round lifting. He has also coached wrestling on a formal basis in
the public school system. He has
also coached many people in Strongman on an informal basis, at his
personal gym, always being a true
friend, mentor, and coach, without fees of any type. He hosted an annual
Strongman contest for 10 years,
in honor his grandfather Gus (who, too, exemplified old time strongman
type strength and skill). While many Strongman promoters around the
country operate on a for profit basis, Eric selflessly donated all the
proceeds, totaling $34,000.00, to Camp Quality, a week long summer
camp for kids dealing with cancer.

Eric is an active participant and promoter in USAWA. He opens his gym
for the Postal meets, record days, as well as hosting the Old Time
Strongman Championships, and occasionally the Heavy Lifts
Championships. He is a lifetime certified official. He is a member of the
Century Club, having amassed 160 records. He was also named the
USAWA Athlete of the Year for 2018. While a fierce competitor, he
is always willing to assist other members with training and tips on lifts.
Eric is also dedicated to his family, not only by instilling in them the
skills to be kind and respectful, but also by being encouraging of his
children and a nephew, as they participate in all-round lifting, and fitness
in general.

Eric is a humble, down to earth man, never seeking the lime light for any
of his achievements. Eric is a man of high caliber, not only of physical
strength and prowess, but also by having the personality of a
stand-up individual.

For the reasons listed above, Eric Todd is hereby inducted into the
USAWA Hall of Fame.

The Strongest All Round Weightlifters in History

  By Dan Wagman, PhD, CSCS

The Strongest All Round Weightlifters in History

Ranking the most weight ever lifted and naming names 

All-round weightlifting contests strength in lifts originating from the days of the old-time strongman and often referred to as odd lifts. For each of way over 200 tests of strength records are kept for women and men in age categories of Junior, Senior, Open, and Masters and weight classes starting at 30 kg (66 lbs.) for Juniors and increasing in 5 kg (11 lbs.) increments. However, the sport also values the overall greatest amount of weight lifted for an exercise in each weight class for men and women regardless of age called the “All” category. I decided to take it one step farther by looking at which athletes lifted the most weight ever in a given lift regardless of weight class and in how many lifts they had done so. The analysis is based on the USAWA Records List dated March, 2021. I thought it best to go from general/overall to specifics in highlighting the strongest strength athletes America has ever seen.

The Overall Strongest All-Rounders

My first step was to ascertain which lifters, regardless of gender, lifted the most weight ever and in how many different lifts they had accomplished that feat. Of note, rarely several athletes lifted the same amount of weight in a given exercise for an overall all-time record. When that occurred the exercise was counted multiple times and each athlete was added to the count. In the women’s ranks lifters set all-time records in 194 exercises while the men did so in 244.

I decided to take it one step farther by looking at which athletes lifted the most weight ever in a given lift regardless of weight class and in how many lifts they had done so.

Overall, in lifting the greatest amount of weight in 30 different lifts, the strongest all-rounder comes from the women’s ranks and is RJ Jackson. Eric Todd, having lifted the all-time greatest amount of weight in 27 different lifts, comes in second. He is followed by Mary McConnaughey and Dr. Al Myers who each established the greatest amount of weight ever lifted in 26 different lifts.

It is my belief that it would be difficult to argue against these lifters having established themselves as the four overall strongest people in the history of American strength sport. There have been claims made that other athletes in the heyday of strongman and strongwoman performers have exceeded these four’s number of record lifts. As an example, Hermann Görner is said to have set all-time records in hundreds of different lifts;2 one source even records “approximately 1,400 different feats of strength of all varieties.”1 It is important to note, however, that odd lifts in those days could not boast of standardized competition and equipment with established and uniform rules. Also, there were no concerted record keeping efforts supported by a well-established strength sport governing body such as USAWA. Therefore Jackson, Todd, McConnaughey, and Myers must be considered the greatest all-round strength athletes in the history of America…and perhaps beyond.

Jackson, Todd, McConnaughey and Myers must be considered the greatest all-round strength athletes in the history of America and perhaps beyond.

“All” Women

Let’s remain within the historical context for a moment. When thinking about old-time strongwoman performers names such as Katie Sandwina, Vulcana, and Minerva come to mind. Although these women were credited with some incredible lifts, each one excelled only at a few compared to today’s all-round weightlifters. This is illustrated no better than considering Jackson’s and McConnaughey’s overall ranking. And rounding out the top three women is Amorkor Ollennuking who is credited with an amazing 23 all-time and overall record shattering lifts.

Generally, observers tend to view strength sport form the perspective of lightweight and heavyweight competitors. I followed that lead and split the women’s weight classes roughly in half to highlight the lighter lifters’ accomplishments; the cutoff I selected was 80 kg (176 lbs). Because she’s a 50 kg (110 lbs) lifter, Jackson leads that category, too; Ollennuking comes in second as her all-time highest lift records were accomplished in the 75 kg (165 lbs) and 80 kg class. Beth Skwarecki’s strength propelled her in to third place with 11 all-time greatest records achieved at a body weight ranging from 60 kg (132 lbs) to 70 kg (154 lbs).

At 85 kg (187 lbs) to super heavyweight McConnaughey rules with Jera Kressly’s 9 all-time record-breaking lifts placing her second. Felecia Simms ranks third with 5 all-time records. In splitting the athletes into lighter and heavier groups, it seems worthwhile to ascertain which weight classes contain the strongest lifters. The super heavyweight class at greater than 125 kg (275 lbs) ranks number one with 37 all-time record lifts. That weight class is followed by the 50 kg class with 32 lifts and rounding out the top three is the 70 kg class with 29 different lifts.

Since all-round weightlifting as governed by USAWA has been around for over 25 years, the oldest still standing records date back to 1988. On February 6, Cindy Garcia set still-standing records in the bench press, roman chair and pinch grip deadlift, right hand of 45 and 90 lbs; respectively. That same day, but in a different weight class, Jo Schuster equaled Garcia’s pinch grip deadlift, right hand and that record remains as well. The second oldest and remaining all-time heaviest weight record was performed on August 27. Doris De La Rosa performed a 72 lbs clean and press, dumbbells, heels together. The next day garnered her another overall record that still stands—a 99 lbs jerk from rack, behind the neck.

“All” Men

Todd and Myers established themselves without doubt as the strongest all-round strength athletes in America. These two lifters, separated by only one lift, are closely followed by Kansas’ Chad Ullom who leads the count in setting all-time heaviest weights lifted in 20 different lifts. In breaking down the weight classes, it is worth noting that the super heavyweight class leads the men’s category with total all-time records in 51 different lifts. The 115 kg (253 lbs) weight class lifters rank second with the heaviest recorded lifts in 36 different exercises followed by the 110 kg (242 lbs) class with records in 34 different lifts.

It seems worthwhile to investigate which lifters weighing less than 200 lbs. were still able to hoist the most weight ever in a given lift.

Of note, throughout strength sport history many observers felt that male lifters up to and over 200 lbs should be separated. Considering that the top three men would be considered heavyweights, it seems worthwhile to investigate which lifters weighing less than 200 lbs were still able to hoist the most weight ever in a given lift. To do so, those lifters weighing up to 90 kg, i.e., 198 lbs, were analyzed. I have to admit that I was surprised to learn that I lead the under-200-pack with lifting the all-time greatest amount of weight in 6 different lifts. Bob Hirsh comes in second with having achieved the same feat in 4 different lifts. Stephen Santangelo and Abe Smith each set all-time heaviest weight lifted records in 3 different lifts and so share third place honors.

Who is the lightest lifter to have lifted more weight in an exercise than any other man?

In remaining within the theme of lighter men lifting the greatest amount of weight in certain exercises, an interesting question to ponder is: who is the lightest lifter to have lifted more weight in an exercise than any other man? His name is Mark Baldassarre and he did so at a body weight of 65 kg (143 lbs); he performed a 350-lbs bench dip.

Finally, which lifters hold the oldest all-time records? In the 100 kg (220 lbs) weight class Steve Schmidt does so with a 270 lbs pullover and press with a bridge set September 20, 1987. In the super heavyweight class Ken McClain’s record clean and press with dumbbells and heels together of 240 lbs is dated November 7, 1987. The next day Brent Pearce performed a continental to chest in the 65 kg (143 lbs) class with a remarkable 309 lbs.

A Different Sorta Animal

Like many aspects in life, strength sport has evolved over time. While the first modern Olympic Games included weightlifting, it only vaguely resembles today’s version of the sport. Back then lifters performed feats of strength in various different exercises. Today the sport of weightlifting only contests two lifts that both require the athlete to do but one thing—hoist a loaded barbell overhead. The sport of powerlifting is much newer to the strength-sport scene and requires athletes to lift maximal weight in the squat, bench press, and deadlift. With three instead of just two lifts, to include very different exercises, powerlifting offers a greater scope of testing overall strength than weightlifting. But considering the “parent” strength sport of strongman and strongwoman, both pale in comparison when seeking to establish a person’s overall maximal strength. With that purpose in mind, all-round weightlifting ranks supreme and the athletes highlighted here must therefore be considered the overall strongest people our country has produced.

All-round weightlifting should not, however, only be judged in that regard—producing the overall strongest athletes. Every other strength sport requires athletes to perform a very limited number of exercises that can therefore be trained to perfection. All-round weightlifting on the other hand tests strength in such a variety of different exercises that few, if any of them, can be trained to the same level of perfection as those contested in weightlifting and powerlifting. In addition, where weightlifting and powerlifting can self-select top performers who naturally excel in the few contested lifts, that is not the case in all-round weightlifting. Even the strongest all-rounder will find him- or herself humbled by how weak they are in some exercises. But to the credit of most all-rounders, they train and perform those exercises on a platform anyway. They put themselves out there. And so beyond deserving an immense level of respect and recognition for their strength, the athletes highlighted in this article also deserve reverence for their willingness to challenge themselves in areas other strength sports and athletes dare not to. Let’s hope the sport’s leadership keeps this—the greatest strength sport in history—alive by actively promoting it to the younger generation. It would be a tragedy if this sport would end up going the route of the circus strongman.

References

  1. Mueller, E. Goerner the Mighty. Vulcan Publishing, 1951.
  2. Willoughby, D. The Super Athletes. A.S. Barnes & Co., 1970.

Contest Memories Part III

By Eric Todd

After competing in Tri-States Strongest Man in Canton, and then the JWC Strongman meet a month later, I was hooked.  I could not wait to compete in another; however, at the time, there were not nearly as many opportunities to compete locally as there are now.  The next meet I could find strongman wise was the next May, over half a year away.  When you are chomping at the bit to compete like I was at the time, that was just too far.

In the meantime, I kept perusing the strongman sites and training.  Back then we had Worldsstrongestman.com forum, Samson power forum, and two forums for the North American Strongman Society.  I might be missing a couple, but these are the ones I frequented early on in my career.  It is while looking over these that I somehow found my way to the USAWA website.  While looking at the contest selection, I saw a meet close to me in March: The Deanna Springs Memorial at Clarks Gym in Columbia.  While I was certainly not familiar with all-round, or all of the lifts contested in this meet, I did notice the crucifix was in this meet.  Since I recognized this lift as a strongman event, I thought “why not?”  I called Bill Clark and told him I was coming.

Back in the day, when planning to travel to a contest, I would look up the directions on Mapquest.com and print off directions.  Though not as old school as reading a map or using a sextant,  it was a far cry from the GPS that many of us use today.  So, that particular day, I grabbed my printed directions and start to drive.  When I arrived at my destination as defined by these directions, I was clearly at a residence and not a commercial gym, like what I was expecting.  Turns out I had entered the address for Clark’s house and not the gym.  Not good, as the cell phones in those days were not advanced like what we have today, and I could not look up the correct directions on the fly. I needed to find my way from Grace Ellen Drive to Grace Lane.  I was in the neighborhood of giving up, as the weigh in time was coming and going, but then stopped at a gas station where they helped me find my way.

I found the gym a few minutes after the competition was supposed to be starting, but I gathered my bag and walked through the door.  You can imagine my surprise when I walked through the door to see only two other individuals sitting there.  Welcome to the world of all-round.  And I thought Strongman was fringe!  As I entered the gym, I was impressed by the dusty display of trophies, the York globe dumbbell set, and the assortment of equipment that resembled a torture chamber.  The two gentlemen were Bill Clark and Joe Garcia.  They accepted me into the meet, albeit late, and we proceeded to compete.

Bill served as the official, and Joe and I the competitors.  Though the crucifix was not the same as what is contested in strongman, I was still decent at it and lifted 120 pounds (or 60 pounds a dumbbell) on this discipline. My cheat curl was also decent.  It was when we got to the other three lifts that I needed help.  The last three were the Deanna Lift, the Hand and Thigh, and Hip Lift.  The Deanna was comparatively decent, as I am not sure anyone knew what they were doing with the lift at the time.  I did over 200 pounds more at a later date.  It was with the hand and thigh that I really got to witness the lengths of Joe and Bill’s expertise.  They worked tirelessly with me to help perfect my technique for that day.  With it only being two lifters, they took their time to show me the ropes.  I ended with a 1475 pound effort, and I have not done a boat load more than this over almost 20 years and much training.  The last lift was the hip lift.  Though Bill and Joe gave me the same attention that they gave me in the hand and thigh, it was not to be.  I only lifted 200 more pounds in this discipline than I did the hand and thigh, which is unacceptable.  Bill said that some people who excel in the hand and thigh are sometime poor in the hip lift.  I assumed that this was me, as I always fell in this same neighborhood.  That is, until I got my own hip belt and was able to spend some time playing with the belt placement to figure out what works for me.  I have since gone well above the 1675 I did that day.

This was my introduction to all-round and the USAWA.  Bill gave me a few of the recent newsletters, and signed me up to receive the new editions.  I read through the newsletters and ordered a record book.  From this point, I started competing in all-round on top of strongman.  For quite a spell, I did not compete terribly regularly in all-round, as I was heavily focused on my strongman career.   I would occasionally compete at Clark’s or at the Dino gym, but it certainly took a backseat to strongman.  It was not until my strongman career came to an end that I became much more focused on all-round lifting, and it has been the sole focus ever since.  I sometimes wonder what success I could have had in it if I would have focused on it more during my prime, but I reckon I have no regrets.

 

 

Contest memories part II

By Eric Todd

When I first decided to give strongman a shot, I was rather anxious to get rolling.  I found the aforementioned Tri-States Strongest Man contest in Canton, but a mere month later was another, even closer opportunity to see if I had what it took to compete in strongman.  It was in Kirksville, MO, just a couple hours away from me by automobile.  I went ahead and entered this meet as well, and trained for the 2 concurrently.

The events in this were as follows: a clean and press for reps with a railroad tie, anvil throw for height, sheaf throw  for distance, anvil/stone load medley, and truck pull for time.  The clean and press, I just trained with a barbell in the gym.  For the throw for height, I procured a keg to train with, though I was just launching it in the air, not over anything.  I just did repetitions with the 230 pound stone that I had made to try and get ready for the load medley.  I used the old tractor inner-tube as a harness to pull my brothers broken down car around what is now my yard.

It was the sheaf throw that threw me off.  When I studied up on it, I found it was a “bale” throw with a pitchfork for height, so I reckoned this was just a bale throw for distance  in the same fashion.  I already had a pitchfork, so I went out and bought a straw bale and went to work.  I had really no technique, and found this rather challenging.  I was maybe getting 10 feet.  My brother (of Lift for Leroy fame) was with me while I was training it one day.  I thought maybe it would  motivate me to throw further if I had a moving target, so I suggested he run away from me as I tried to hit him with the bale.  While this method did produce another foot or two in distance, it more closely resembled a Keystone Cops routine than a sound training method.

Contest time came.  I found my way to the park a little early and started looking over the implements.  I was at that time when I met Thom VanVleck and Brian Kerby.  As a rather introverted individual, I found it refreshing how engaging they were and how easily I was able to visit with them.  This is where the theme of “like minded individuals” began to draw me to strongman.

While I cannot remember the exact order of the events, I believe we started with the clean and press with the railroad tie.  While I am certain I was not the strongest presser (pretty sure that designation would go to Brian Kerby that day) i was able to hit more repetitions due to speed, resulting in an event win.  The sheaf toss for distance was not what I had envisioned.  The “bale” was much smaller and more compact than the straw bale I had been working with.  This discipline clearly required MUCH more technique that I was exhibiting that some of the other competitors with highland games experience had mastered.  I pulled my best throw of the day with my last throw where I left the fork in the bale, a throw that was ultimately good for last place.  I felt like that maybe was a nail in the coffin of a decent placing at the meet.  I would have to dominate the rest of the meet in order to place well.  It is usually the guy who is consistently toward the top who wins.  A last place finish can be devastating.

Well, I got to work.  In the anvil throw for height, I kept pace with the proficient highland throwers.  Seems like I tied for 1st or second in this event.  Then came the load medley. I consisted of loading 3 progressively heavier anvils, followed by 2 field stones to a platform a bit higher than waist high.  If I remember correctly, the heavier of the 2 field stones was a bit over 300 pounds. This type of event ended up being a strong suit for me. While I was one of 3 competitors who loaded all 5 implements, I did so the fastest, so another event win for me. The last event, we went up the hill to a parking lot for the truck pull.  We were to be pulling Thom’s father Earl’s semi-diesel truck.  It was probably the event I was most excited for, as this a feat I had watched the giants of World’s Strongest Man perform back in the day that I assumed  was something I would never be able to do.  While memory tells me that I won this event, I am not 100% sure that is accurate.  What I am 100% about is  that I performed well enough in the event for the overall contest win.

It was this win, coupled with my relative success at Canton that let me know I belonged; however, it was the absolute camaraderie that kept me coming back.  Though I was competing against Thom and Brian all day, they kept coming back to compliment me on what I had done.  They were explicitly positive influences on me that day, and this assured me that the strongman community was something I needed to be a part of.

As a side note, this was a two day event.  Day one was strongman, day two the highland games.  I competed in both. Make no mistake about it, what ego boost that had been a result of my day one success was quickly dismantled as I competed in the B class on day 2…

Contest Memories

By Eric Todd

I was inspired by the article Chris Lestan wrote called “The Excitement and Memories of Competition Prep.” Since things have been rather slow of late, I thought I might do a few articles about some of my more memorable contests/contest preps.  I have competed many, many times across a number of strength disciplines.

I am going to gloss over my first experience a little.  It was the Show-Me State Games powerlifting meet, which was actually a push/pull.  Training had gone OK, but a week prior, I  badly sprained my ankle by stepping in a hole, so I only did the benchpress, and performed poorly there.  So, not a tremendous experience, but though I did not realize it at the time, it is more than likely the first time I was at a meet with Bill Clark.  I do remember holding my pause for an inordinate amount of time.

What I was really excited to train and compete in was strongman.  While I always did well moving the weights in the weightroom, I always found functional strength to be more of my forte.  So, when I decided I wanted to try my hand at it, I found a contest in a small college town in northeast Missouri called Canton.  The meet was called Tri-States Strongest Man.  I sent in my entry and started training for the events.

The events in this contest were as follows: Farmers walk/sandbag carry medley, truck pull, crucifix, tire flip for reps, and atlas stones. Access to equipment as well as training advice at that time was minimal.  I got a tractor time (maybe 300 pounds) from a tire repair place in town.  I took the inner tube out of it  and used that as a dirty, makeshift harness by which to practice pulling my brothers broken down car up and down the driveway (that car was later converted into my shooting car).  Crucifix I was able to simulate in the weightroom with dumbbells.  I did make my first atlas stone at that time using the play ball and plaster of paris method for making the mold.  Somebody on one of the old forums said you can do farmers walks with ez curl bars.  So, one day in the high school when no one was around, I gave that a shot.  Needless to say, it was not a suitable substitution.

So, contest day rolled around.  We drove out the night before and arrived in town at around 10:00.  We pulled in to the contest motel  to check in.  The office where I checked in was clearly the living room of the older couple who owned the motel.  The old man snoozed on the davenport as his wife checked us in. I got  a decent night’s sleep, and when I got up, I decided to find the park where the contest was being held since I had never been there before.  Since this was the contest motel, most of the competitors stayed there.  As I left my room, my attention was drawn to a group of the competitors at the edge of the parking lot.  There were some MONSTERS in this group.  As this contest only had a lightweight class and a heavyweight class, and anyone 225# or less was a lightweight, I knew I was going to be competing against some of those behemoths. I instantly felt out of place, as though I had made a tragic error.  I thought to myself that no one knew me, so no one would notice if I just slipped back into the car and drove home (not unlike Melvin did after a couple of events-but that is another story).  I decided against it, and stuck it out. The contest was rather eye opening.  I saw competitor after competitor fail on the 800 pound tire.  I got 2 flips, which was good for second place.  I got third in the crucifix and the atlas stones, being one of only 3 to load all of them. I did find out that day that grip was going to be my Achilles heel and grip events my nemesis.  I must have done 20 some deadlifts with 250# farmers walks, only to end up 5 feet short of the finish line.  But, in my first contest I took 4th place among the giants, and figured out I belonged.  The other thing I found remarkable was what appeared to be fantastic camaraderie among the competitors.  They were all cheering for each other, even though they were competing against each other.  It is what drew me to the sport initially, and ended up being what kept me around it for so long. Anyhow, that is the story of how I got my start in strongman; however, it was my second meet that pretty much hooked me for good. (to be continued)

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