USAWA

By Dan Wagman and RJ Jackson

Back in 2016 we wrote an article titled All-Round Weightlifting’s Greatest Lifters. In that article we set out to answer a simple question: Who has set the greatest number of records in the most lifts? In all-round weightlifting this is an important question to answer as in the United States this sport contests a total of 244 different lifts if you count one-armed lifts left and right and finger lifts with each finger and thumbs as separate lifts. However, a fundamental change in how competitions are run requires us to enter a new era in answering that question.

STANDARDIZATION

For the sports scientist, the concept of standardization constitutes perhaps the most fundamental concept in sport. And of course every athlete needs to consider their sport’s level of standardization as paramount to fairness. While being such an important concept for organized sport to adhere to, standardization is rather elementary. Take USAWA’s Rulebook; it outlines not only the rules of performance for each lift but also clarifies what barbell standards should be adhered to, what sort of clothing is allowed, what sort of lifting equipment is allowed, how competitions are run, etc. Obviously, you cannot have fair competition unless everybody adheres to the same standards.

USAWA came up with a fantastic concept called Record Day competitions.

As it relates to holding meets and setting records, USAWA came up with a fantastic concept called Record Day competitions. These meets would often be held after a regular competition, on a Sunday after a normal Saturday meet, or as stand-alone meets. The sole purpose of these meets was to allow lifters to go through the record list and establish new records—and there was no limit as to how many records a lifter could set. As a result, and over many years, dedicated and strong lifters could amass hundreds of records that beginning in 2009 became recognized in the Century Club. But then the standards changed. In 2016 a new rule was approved that limits the number of lifts each competitor can set records in to only five. The standards have changed and therefore lifters no longer enjoy the same record-breaking opportunities as in years past. We have, therefore, entered a new era in which we must account for the change in standards, which your authors have done.

THE NEW ERA

In our analysis we employed USAWA’s Record List of June, 2022. In order to account for the new 5-lift Record Day limit we removed all records prior to 2017. Next we counted only one record per lift for each competitor. The reason for doing so lies within the incongruence in the rules that allows Junior and Master lifters to set two records (age group and overall) while the Senior age group, those aged 20 to 39, can only set an overall record that must exceed the record set in all other age groups. So, basically we evened the playing field best as we could in establishing who the greatest all-round lifters are in this new era.

THE GREATEST

The greatest lifter in this new era of all-round lifting in the United States is an immensely dedicated and talented lifter—Dean Ross. Despite the change in Record Day standards he amassed new records in 106 different lifts.

The greatest lifter in this new era of all-round lifting…is an immensely dedicated and talented lifter—Dean Ross.

 

Dean’s record-breaking career started in 2005 at the Dino Challenge where he competed as a Masters lifter. And we must note that in this new era of all-round records, Dean is the first to break the 100-records mark.

Contrast Dean to the leader in the Women’s division, Phoebe Todd. Phoebe’s first records appear in 2019 as a 13-year old and since then she has established records in 42 different lifts. In taking a closer look at Phoebe’s records, we have concluded that she’s a true all-rounder as her records span a wide range of lifts.

Phoebe’s first records appear in 2019 as a 13-year old and since then she has established records in 42 different lifts.

Calling her a specialist who racks up records only in her favorite movements is not an accurate way to describe this up-and-comer in all-round weightlifting. We applaud Dean and Phoebe and look forward to seeing them continue with their record-breaking efforts.

TOP 5 MEN AND WOMEN

Men

1. Dean Ross — 106

2. LaVerne Myers — 96

3. Al Myers — 89

4. Denny Habecker — 87

5. Chad Ullom — 65

Women

1. Phoebe Todd — 42

2. RJ Jackson — 33

3. Janet Thompson — 30

4. Elizabeth Skwarecki — 28

5. Amorkor Ollennuking — 21

When it comes to determining overall strength, all-round weightlifting reigns supreme among strength sports. And not only that, but you have to be dedicated for many, many years and be willing to often times learn totally new movements to excel in this sport. We challenge you to step out of your comfort zone to take on the challenge of attempting to become an All-Round Great.