USAWA

By Bill Clark

THE BACKBREAKER PENTATHLON

This meet is about as old as the IAWA/USAWA – but not as old as the Ed Zercher Strength Classic – which started in the Missouri State Prison before there was a Clark’s Gym or a USAWA.

The 2023 version of the Backbreaker has not changed in the 35 years it has been in existence – the same hip, harness, neck, back and hand-and-thigh combination that Steve Schmidt gave us in his farmyard and basement gym which in 1988 drew a crowd from coast-to-coast and lasted until 2 a.m.

Who can ever forget his implements of torture – the elevated platform for the harness lift that towered over a pile of iron that weighed around 2,900 pounds and only Steve had lifted on it – until John Carter challenged Steve over three decades ago?

And who can ever forget Steve’s back lift device in his basement office which used tractor wheel weights to load the monster up to over 3,000 pounds?

The Backbreaker was soon given the title of USAWA Heavy Lift Championship and was held at Clark’s Gym for several years before being passed along to other hosts where lack of proper equipment for the back and harness lifts have reduced the national meet to only three events today – the hip, neck and hand-and-thigh. The heaviest of the heavy lifts have not been a part of the nationals for some two decades.

So – if you enter the Backbreaker next week at Clark’s Gym, you’ll be a part of lifting history, but, once again, it will not be a national championship – just the heaviest of all heavy lifts. It is a true return to the days of the days of the great strongmen of the past century – and beyond.

The meet gets under way with 8 a.m. weigh-ins and the action to start at 9 a.m.

Once again – the meet is open to the world. Any registered IAWA lifter can participate, regardless of site. If any USAWA lifter’s efforts have been judged by a USAWA certified official(s), the lifter’s efforts will qualify for the USAWA record list.

In the U.S., any registered lifter, regardless of site, can set records with only a single USAWA as a judge. That lifter is also eligible to do five record lifts in addition to the Pentathlon.

If no officials are available, the meet director (that’s Ol’ Clark) will accept your honesty and you will be included in the summary of the competition as if you were in Clark’s gym on meet day.

No videos are needed, though appreciated, and I would like your e-mail results by the evening of Dec. 6. The awards will be certificates.

There is no entry fee and no deadline unless you plan to lift in the friendly confines of Clark’s Gym. If you plan to be on hand at the gym on December 2, I need to know. Even if you don’t lift, your help as a loader will be greatly appreciated.

And don’t forget – you have the weekend to do five record lifts in addition to the Pentathlon.