Author Archives: Al Myers

Dino Gym Club of the Year

by Al Myers

Every year the USAWA gives out yearly awards honoring special achievements amongst the membership for the prior year.  This Awards Program began in 2009.  The award recipients are voted on and chosen by the membership with the exception of the Club of the Year.  This award is earned on merit -with points being accrued by participation in the USAWA by each registered club.  I just calculated the club points for all registered clubs in 2013 – and I’m excited to announce the Club of the Year for 2013 is the DINO GYM!  This is a team effort with each club member earning points.  For this I want to congratulate the Dino Gym members: Darren Barnhart, Rudy Bletscher, Scott Campbell, Chuck Cookson, Ben Edwards, Tasha Ullum, Alan English, Mark Mitchell, LaVerne Myers, Molly Myers, Dean Ross, Scott Tully, Brianna Ullum, and Chad Ullom.  Extra points were generated by club participation in the “big meets” by Molly, Bri, LaVerne, Dean, Chad and myself.

Club Awards are determined by adding up club points using this 4-Step System:

1. One point awarded to the club for EACH USAWA registered member that lists the club as their affiliated club on their membership application. This designation is also listed beside the members name on the membership roster.
2. Two points awarded to the club for EACH club member that participates in the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup. Points are awarded for each competition, so if one club athlete competes in all three of these big meets it would generate 6 points for the club.
3. Three points awarded to the club for EACH USAWA sanctioned event or competition the club promotes.
4. Four bonus points awarded to the club for promotion of the National Championships, World Championships, and Gold Cup.

Habecker’s Gym won the Runner Up spot in the Club of the Year Award.  Despite only having 3 registered gym members (Denny Habecker, Judy Habecker, and Barry Bryan), thru big meet participation and promotion of the 2013 Nationals and 2013 Gold Cup by club leader Denny, they secured a solid second place finish.

Club of the Year Final Standings (Top Five Listed)

1.  Dino Gym – 46 points
2.  Habeckers’s Gym – 28 points
3.  Frank’s Barbell Club – 20 points
4.  Ambridge BBC – 10 points
5. (tie) Clark’s Gym – 7 points
5. (tie) – Jobe’s Steel Jungle

Frank’s Barbell Club came in fourth by being “well rounded” in their point generation, and getting points in all areas. The club had 5 registered members (Frank Ciavattone, Jeff Ciavattone, Colleen Lane, Jessica Hopps, and James Delaney), had participation in the Nationals and Gold Cup by Frank and Colleen, and promoted three meets (including the Heavy Lift Championships).

Ambridge BBC came in fourth – all due to one man! Art Montini was the only one from the Ambridge Club to register membership in the USAWA for 2013, but thru Art’s devotion to the USAWA by participation in Nationals, Worlds, and the Gold Cup, plus promotion of his annual birth day bash he generated all the points himself!

You may notice that the 2012 Club of the Year Ledaig HA is not listed on the above list.  There’s a reason for that – the defending Champ is not eligible the following year.  This was put in place originally as to not allow the same club to win the club of the year award year after year.  The Ledaig HA Club will have the honors of presenting the Club of the Year awards this year at the National Championships during the awards ceremony.

All together there were 13 registered clubs in the USAWA for 2013.  All of these clubs need mentioned as they are the “backbone” of our memberships.  Over 75% of our yearly membership comes with lifters affiliated with a registered club.  The USAWA Clubs for 2013 were: Al’s Dino Gym, Ambridge VFW BBC, Clark’s Championship Gym, Frank’s Barbell Club, Habecker’s Gym, Jackson Weightlifting Club, Joe’s Gym, Jobe’s Steel Jungle, KC Strongman, Ledaig Heavy Athletics, Salvation Army Gym, Schmidt Barbell Club, and M&D Triceratops (owned and operated by the late Dale Friesz).   Making the “TOP FIVE” is a great achievement for any club, and one each USAWA club should strive for!

Time for Nominations!

by Al Myers

It’s that time of the year again to nominate deserving lifters for the yearly awards! The USAWA award program was started in 2009 to honor those individuals that displays outstanding achievements throughout the year in different categories. I have been the USAWA Award Director that entire time and was the one who started the USAWA Awards Program. Part of the USAWA budget goes to these awards, which means that part of your membership dues support this program. These awards are awarded at the Annual General Meeting of the USAWA, which occurs at the same time as the National Championships. It is important to remember when “casting your vote” that these awards are for the calendar year 2013 (which is the calendar the USAWA follows for memberships, etc.). Now for a little “overview” of the rules for nominations:

  • You must be a USAWA member to make a nomination or cast a vote
  • Nominated individuals must be a USAWA members to be eligible
  • Only one individual may be nominated per person per award
  • Two nominations for each award may be submitted, one for your choice of the Winner and one for your choice of the runner-up.
  • The awards are for the calendar year 2013
  • An individual may be nominated for more than one award

These are the different awards for which you should chose your nominations for:

Athlete of the Year – This award is for the individual who has accomplished the most athletically within the last year in the USAWA. Top placings at the Nationals and World Championships should figure in high. Also, participation in other Championship Competitions such as the Heavy Lift Championships, the Grip Championships, the Club Championships, the OTSM Championships, the Team Championships, or the National Postal Championships could factor in. Participation in elite IAWA events such as the Gold Cup should make an influence on earning this award as well.

Leadership Award – This is for an individual that has shown exceptional leadership qualities within the USAWA during the past year. Things that should be looked at are: going above the level expected of an Officer position, promoting sanctioned events with emphasis being on promoting National or World Competitions, promoting the USAWA by developing a strong club, writing articles for publications about the USAWA, or through other means.

Sportsmanship Award – This goes to an individual who possesses and shows great sportsmanship within the USAWA. The act of sportsmanship may be by conduct at all events, or by an specific example of exceptional sportsmanship.

Courage Award – This goes to an individual who shows the courage to overcome an obstacle in order to return to competition. This may be a comeback from an injury, or just having to deal with difficult personal issues but still shows the courage to compete in the USAWA.

Newcomer Award– This award goes to an individual who in new to the USAWA or has become involved again. It doesn’t have to go to someone in their first year of being involved in the USAWA.

As stated earlier in the rules, I would like you to submit your choice for the WINNER and your choice for the RUNNER UP for each award. I will score it this way: for each nomination per award I will give 2 points for the nominated winner and 1 point for the nominated runner up. I will then add up all the points from all nominations with the person receiving the most points declared the winner and the one with the second most points the runner up. So you can see that the Award Winners are chosen by YOU THE MEMBERSHIP! That’s the way it should be done.

Please email me at amyers@usawa.com with your nominations. The deadline for this is this Friday. I’m only giving a week because it has been my experience with this is that if a person does not make their nominations shortly after reading this announcement, it never gets done. So make it easy on yourself (and me!) and turn your nominations in today!!!!

Heavy Lift Championships

by Al Myers

2014 USAWA HEAVY LIFT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Group picture from the 2014 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships (left to right): Dennis Mitchell, Dave Hahn, Chad Ullom, Eric Todd, Lance Foster, and Dean Ross

What a big day at the Dino Gym!!! Saturday, May 3rd, the Dino Gym hosted a “double-header” of strength events – the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships in the morning and the Kansas Strongest Man in the afternoon.  Six brave all rounders showed up to tackle the heaviest of the lifts in the USAWA.  Veteran Dennis Mitchell made the longest trek to Holland Kansas to compete, coming from Cleveland, Ohio.  I was very glad to see Dennis and Flossy here, as less than a year ago Dennis had a knee replaced and I didn’t think Dennis would be up to taking on these heavy types of lifts yet.  But Dennis was an eager as ever, and lifted solid in all lifts.  Eric Todd and Lance Foster from the KC STRONGMAN club made their appearance as well.  ET set the tone early on that he was going to be the guy to beat when he went three for three, and set the highest Neck Lift of ALL TIME with a 1080 pound successful lift!!!  I’ve seen ET lift over 1000 pounds several times in the Neck Lift to date, but I’m continually amazed at seeing it again.  This big lift of ET’s overshadowed Chad Ullom’s herculean Neck Lift as well. Chad lifted a personal record 1014 pounds in the Neck Lift.  Very rarely do you get to see two lifters put up these type of Neck Lifts on the same platform.  Eric went on to win the overall best lifter of the day, with Chad a close runner-up.

We had a welcomed newcomer to the USAWA on Saturday – if you could really call him that.  I say that because Dave Hahn of Overland Park, Kansas made his return to the USAWA after a 23 year absence!  The previous time he lifted in our organization was at one of Bill Clark’s Zercher Meets in the early nineties.  I was very impressed with Dave’s lifting ability – and he seemed to have knowledge of the heavy lifts as well.  He put up great numbers – 350 Neck, 520 H&T, and 900 Hip.  He took a shot at over 1000 in the Hip, and if not for a little balance issues, would have got it.  After the meet I told Dave not to wait another 23 years before lifting in the USAWA again!!

Now who have I forgot to mention????  I guess I saved the best for last – Dean Ross!  Dean has been one of the biggest supporters of the Dino Gym events over the years, and rarely misses anything!  He’s also been a tremendous supporter of the USAWA these past few years and probably does more USAWA events than any other lifter!  One thing about Dean – when he’s in attendance there’s never a dull moment!  I was most impressed by his 700 pound Hand and Thigh.   Also – once the meet was over Dean had to “hit to road” immediately to make it to Texas for a Highland Games the next day!

I hope all the lifters had a great time at this championships.  I know I pushed things along at a fast pace to get done in time for the strongman meet afterwards.  From start to finish the meet lasted just a little over 3 hours!   I especially want to thank my dad LaVerne for officiating and helping me out, all the guys who pitched in loading, Chad for helping me finish the awards and helping with the BBQ,  and Scott who was my partner in the day’s promotion.

MEET RESULTS:

2014 USAWA Heavy Lift Championships
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas
May 3rd, 2014

Meet Director: Al Myers

Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Officials (3-official system used): Al Myers (head), LaVerne Myers, Lance Foster, Chad Ullom, Eric Todd, Dennis Mitchell

Lifts: Neck Lift, Hand and Thigh Lift, Hip Lift

LIFTER AGE BWT NECK H&T HIP TOT PTS
Eric Todd 39 247 1080 1350 1810 4240 3384.4
Chad Ullom 42 254 1014 1210 1610 3834 3107.5
Dave Hahn 76 152 350 520 900 1770 2560.7
Dean Ross 71 267 250 600 760 1610 1631.3
Dennis Mitchell 82 153 246 350 475 1071 1611.2
Lance Foster 48 332 300 600 850 1750 1320.9

EXTRA FOR RECORDS:

Dean Ross – Hand and Thigh 700#
Dean Ross – Hip Lift 800#
Dennis Mitchell – Hip Lift 600#

NOTES:  BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  All lifts recorded in pounds. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall adjusted points for age and bodyweight correction.

Try DIGGING into a heavy workout!

by John McKean

" Winning one of Al's Dumbbell Walk Handles helped crafty ole John to develop an enjoyable new fitness movement! Can ya DIG it?!"

Before we started dating, my future wife, Marilyn, told me I couldn’t touch her with a 10′ pole. So I got an 11′ pole – it musta worked as we’ll be married for 45 years this September!

Seriously, the long pole has figured its way into my training regimen ever since I studied and practiced Chinese long pole FORMS over 20 years ago in Wing Chun Kung Fu. In addition to use as a self defense tactic, this leverage form of resistance has been terrific for both cardio training, when done for a sufficient length of time, and is fantastic for a warmup to an all-round lifting program. A long pole’s smooth flow and circular motions, when done in precise martial arts patterns, really activates and awakens every muscle of the body.

However, while playing around with training tools this past winter, it occurred to me that the long pole, with one of Al’s homemade “Dumbbell Walk Handles” slid down and positioned on one end would yield a lot more resistance from the pole’s other far side. This would yield a heavier, rep oriented, leverage-weighted exercise, that maybe wouldn’t require a half hour of work, for use as a pre workout warmup. I recalled how my old friend, the late Dr. Len Schwartz, in his original “Heavyhands” text had advocated a digging type movement with the small dumbbells that he employed for aerobic training. Dr. Len was very high on all the benefits of his shoveling motion, but couldn’t convince many to attempt it, as this particular exercise seemed awkward to maneuver with 2 dumbbells. Later, however, as Schwartz formulated awesome “Longstrength” programs – which were much shorter duration than standard aerobic sessions, with slightly heavier fitness movements – shoveling fit right in. He even devised a screw-in 6″ dumbbell connector which welded two dumbbells into one solid unit.

Now my LONG lever “shovel” makes this exercise quite a bit more hardy than did Dr. Schwartz’ tool. With added barbell plates and collars it can be loaded heavy enough, if desired, to produce an actual one rep maximum lift ! Yet I still keep it unloaded as pictured here to go through wide arc front circles, back circles, and realistic over the head shoveling. Hitting both left and right sides, I find that about 35 reps for these 6 maneuvers instills a robust feeling that just begs the ole bod to attack some serious heavy barbell work!

Of course, there is plenty of room for much further exploration, and many other digging style exercises to be discovered. From my initial experimentation I can assure that besides a superb warmup, my forearms, biceps, and obliques are becoming seriously toned from this fun activity! Even Marilyn must see the positive benefits – I’m now allowed a mere 7′ pole around her and for workouts!

Heavy Champ Update

by Al Myers

I’m busy getting the final plans made for this weekend.  The good news is that the weather forecast is looking positive for a very nice sunny day!  There will be a lot of activity going on at the Dino Gym on Saturday.  In addition to the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships in the morning we will be hosting the Kansas Strongest Man in the afternoon.  Scott and I have planned the competitions in such a way that a person can compete in both if they want!  I have made some very nice custom awards for both of the competitions which I think everyone will really like.

The Heavy Champs will be conducted in the Dino Gym on the heavy lift platform.  I will have loaner neck harness’s and hip belts available.  The KSM will be contested on the athletic field behind the gym.   I have made some new equipment for the competition (including new yokes and farmers implements).  There is a shelter house for those just wanting to watch and stay out of the sun.

Afterwards I will be having a deck BBQ for anyone who wants to stay for it.  There’s nothing better after a long day of competing than sitting back, eating,  and relaxing with friends!  I’m looking forward to the weekend!!! See everyone soon!

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