Author Archives: Al Myers

The Power Row

by Al Myers

John McKean, of the Ambridge BBC, performing the lift he introduced to the USAWA, the Bent Over Row.

At the 2011 IAWA World Meeting in Australia, the Power Row got approved as a new IAWA Official Lift.  This was the only lift presented by the IAWA Technical Committee to the membership for approval, and it was accepted.  This lift was accepted as an Official USAWA lift in 2010, but under a different name!  John McKean, of Ambridge BBC, was the one to present it to the USAWA for lift acceptance under the name BENT OVER ROW.  So now like the many, many other lifts that have different names in IAWA than the USAWA, this lift will join that long list as well.   The interesting thing with this lift was that it was presented first to the IAWA membership at the 2010 meeting in Glasgow, but was rejected by the vote.  I felt at the time (at the Glasgow meeting) that the lift wasn’t fully understood by the members in attendance.  This time copies of the presented rules were distributed to those present at the meeting which I think helped describe what this new lift is about, and helped “gather support” in getting it passed and accepted as a new IAWA lift.  The Bent Over Row has been done in several USAWA events to date (including last year’s Club Challenge) and it has been well received.  Let’s review BOTH the USAWA Rules and the IAWA Rules:

USAWA RULE:  D6. BENT OVER ROW

The lift will start at the lifter’s discretion with the bar placed on the platform in front of the lifter. The lifter will grip the bar with an overhand grip with the palms of the hands facing the lifter. The width of grip spacing and feet placement is of the lifter’s choosing, but the feet must be in line with the bar.  The body must be in a bent over position at the waist.  The upper body must not straighten past 45 degrees parallel to the platform at any time during the lift or it is a disqualification.  The legs may be bent during the lift and upon the completion of the lift.  The bar is lifted to touch the abdomen or torso by bending the arms.  The bar must touch the abdomen higher than the belt, or the navel if a belt is not worn.  It is a disqualification if the belt supports the bar at the abdomen upon the finish of the lift. The lift ends by an official’s command when the bar is held motionless at the abdomen or chest.

IAWA RULE: E37.  POWER ROW

The bar is placed on the platform in front of the lifter, who will grip the bar overhand with the palms facing the lifter, the width of the grip and feet placing is of the lifters choosing, but the feet must be in line with the bar. The lifters body should be bent forward at the waist, and the upper body must not straighten past 45 degrees parallel to the platform at any time during the lift. The legs may be bent during and upon completion of the lift. The bar will be lifted up to touch the abdomen or torso by bending the arms, the bar must touch the abdomen higher than the belt, or the navel, if a belt is not worn. The belt must never support the bar. When the bar is held motionless and in contact with the abdomen or chest, the official will give the command to replace the bar.

Causes for Failure:

1 . The lifters upper body straightening past 45 degrees parallel to the platform.                                                                     
2.  The Bar touching the belt, or anywhere on the body lower than the navel  
3.  Failing to hold the bar motionless, and in the finished position, to await the official’s command

One thing you will notice about the USAWA and IAWA rules are that even though they are written slightly different,  they are THE SAME (which is a GOOD THING!) in technical content. The only difference is the name of the lift.  Let me explain why this occurred.  The lift was presented with the name Bent Over Row, but after the group discussion, it was felt that the name POWER ROW better described the lift.  Peter Phillips made a good point that an old style Bentover Row is a STRICT style lift, in which the legs stay straight and the bar is brought to the upper chest instead of the abdomen.  The membership agreed with this point, thus the name was changed before it was presented and accepted.  Also, the point was made that by doing this it would “save the name”  Bent Over Row for the strict version of this lift, if it was ever presented as an IAWA  lift in the future. I definitely agree with this decision. The importance of this is that NOW the Power Row (or Bent Over Row) can be done in USAWA competitions for IAWA World Records.

Proper Process for Membership Application

by Al Myers

After my story the other day where I made it clear about the proper USAWA sanctioning process, I think the “time is right” to have a followup story about the proper process of applying for membership in the USAWA.  I try to keep things positive, so stories like this one are not my favorite to write because I feel like I’m “whining and complaining” about things, but then again, if I don’t make these points known the problems just continue.  Lately, I have received membership applications that have been improperly filled out (lack of information, no signatures, etc) or lifters just sending me the membership fees without evening filling out a form!!  This is unacceptable.  Also, I am getting tired of lifters sending in “old membership” applications from the Strength Journal.  I have been accepting them, but from this time forward I WILL NOT!  The new and updated membership applications are readily accessible on the website (under Forms and Applications on the left hand side of the Home Page). 

Since I’m on a “belly-aching” soapbox right now, I’m going to complain about another gripe of mine.  Please DO NOT send me checks for memberships (or anything else for that matter) that are going to bounce when I deposit them!  I’m “sick and tired” of this.  If you do NOT have the money to join – then don’t!  Every time I get a bounced check, it causes me problems and more work.  The USAWA only charges $25 for yearly membership in the USAWA (for the calendar year), and I consider this a token fee for all the benefits the organization has to offer you in return.  I have to deal with “bounced checks” in my business enough and I don’t want to deal with it in the USAWA.  I keep a list of people who bounce checks on me in my business – and at the top of the list is the name DEADBEATS.  Don’t join if you don’t have the money to.  Also, if  only $25 is causing you a financial burden, you shouldn’t be  even spending money going to meets. You should be getting a job (or second job) to pay your bills and feed your family.  My opinion is that our yearly membership fees should be at least $50.  The $25 fee is so “out of date” in terms of charging for membership fees it’s ridiculous. I leave bigger tips than that at restaurants!

Thom has told me that “with time” I will get as cranky as Bill (by having to deal with these USAWA problems).  I sure understand now why Bill also wrote stories like this one in the Strength Journal from time to time.   I’m not at the point of calling the entire USAWA membership “DEAD AND/OR COMATOSE” yet (give me a few more years on that one!).   I do want to thank the over 90% of USAWA members who “do  things right” – this story is not directed towards you at all!  It’s the others that should be taking notes.

World Championships

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT
THE 2012 IAWA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Chad Ullom (left) and Al Myers (right) will be the co-promoters of the 2012 IAWA World Championships. As you can tell by this photo, these two "jokers" know how to have a fun time so put this meet in your plans as it's FOR SURE going to be a GREAT TIME!

It seems just  like the “other day” when Chad and I put in a bid for these World Championships at the 2010 Worlds in Pennsylvania, and now the meet is being OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED. I am very excited about this opportunity to bring the IAWA World Championships to my hometown.  Initially, Chad and I thought we might have this big meet in Kansas City, but after more thought, we decided it would be more fun to have this meet in the place where we do our training – the DINO GYM & TRAINING CENTER.  It’s no fancy Hilton ballroom, but I know it is a place where most all-round lifters would “feel right at home” lifting weights.  After the great show the Australians put on in Perth this past year, we have a “tough act to follow”!  I promise to everyone that we will do our best to make this an enjoyable Championships, and make your trip to Kansas worthwhile.  We don’t have the  pristine beaches to show off like Peter and Robin showed us in Perth, or any castles to show off like the English and Scots have, so please don’t get your expectations too high for any exotic vacation in Kansas!  At least this meet is in October so we will avoid the hot, dry 100 Degree F days of the summer.

Chad and I tried to pick a broad selection of all-round lifts for this meet. I know it is hard to pick lifts that please everyone, and after hearing all the “moans and groans” when I read this list of lifts at this past years meeting, I hope at least SOMEONE likes them.  The meet will be a 2-day meet.  The lifts are:

Day 1: Saturday, October 6th

Reverse Curl (Curl -Reverse Grip)
One Hand Clean and Jerk (Clean and Jerk – One Arm)
Pullover and Press on Floor (Pullover and Press)
Steinborn (Steinborn Lift)

Day 2: Sunday, October 7th

Two Hands Snatch – 2 Inch Bar (Snatch – Fulton Bar)
One Hand Hacklift (Hack Lift – One Arm)
Straddle Deadlift (Jefferson Lift)

I included both the IAWA official name (the first one) and the USAWA official name (the name in parenthesis) of the lifts to minimize confusion.  I plan for this meet to be a 2-platform, 2 session meet each day. I also want to mention that this World Championships will be a BIG ONE because it is the anniversary of the 25th IAWA World Championships. Several “special awards” will be given to recognize lifters that have made significant contributions to the  IAWA throughout our history. So for that reason alone, this is a meet you DO NOT want to miss.  More details will follow, but for now I just want to get the meet announced so everyone can make plans to join us at the Dino Gym the FIRST WEEKEND OF OCTOBER.

2012 IAWA Worlds Entry Form (pdf) –  2012 World Championship Entry Form

Sanction Requests

by Al Myers

I have been getting some sanction requests as of recent where the proper protocol of sanctioning meets has not been followed.  Nothing that has been a major problem – but I want to take time today to OUTLINE the proper procedures in applying for a meet sanction.  I am bound by the USAWA Rules and Bylaws to grant USAWA meet sanctions according to certain guidelines, which must be followed. The following are the most important stipulations from the USAWA Rulebook and the USAWA Bylaws:

VIII. The Competition

3.  To be an official sanctioned USAWA event, an application for meet sanction must be completed and returned with the sanction fee to the USAWA Secretary for approval by the executive board.
4.  All sanction requests must be sent in for approval at least 6 weeks prior to the scheduled event. 
5. All sanctioned competitions must have a Meet Director.   A single person or multiple people may be assigned the Meet Director. This position is stated on the sanction application. The Meet Director will be the contact for the USAWA Secretary. 
8.  The Meet Director is responsible for verifying that all competitors are current USAWA members, and must submit new member applications along with the membership dues to the USAWA secretary.
11.  The Meet Director will select the lifts for the meet as outlined in the sanction application.  The lifts may be official lifts of the USAWA or exhibition lifts.  Exhibition lifts are not eligible for records, but may be used in scoring for the competition.

BYLAW ARTICLE 18 – SANCTIONS

A.   All USAWA Competitions and/or events must be sanctioned.
B.  The sanction fee is $30 and must be sent to the Secretary/Treasurer for approval. 
C.  The sanction request form must be completely filled out and signed by the contact individual for the competition/event.
D.  Sanctioned USAWA competitions and/or events must not be sanctioned with any other organization (with the exception of the IAWA).  Violation of this will result in loss of USAWA sanction.

It is very important that when a sanction form is sent to me for approval, that ALL the necessary information be present.  This is the checklist:

  • Sanction Form filled out, signed, and dated 
  • Entry Form or list of events, date of competition, time schedule, and location
  • Announcement for the website
  • Include the Sanction Fee of $30

It is also not a wise thing to announce a meet in other avenues before your sanction request has been approved. That is getting the “cart in front of the horse”.   There are several reasons why a sanction request might be denied – and all for good reasons.  An example would be if you picked a meet date that fell on the same day as one of our USAWA Championships, or our National Championships.  It has been the policy of the USAWA not to have local meets interfere with these big meets.  Another reason a sanction request might be denied is that you want to have the meet before “the 6 week window” of time (See rule VIII.4 above).  This time period was put in the Rulebook for this reason – to give adequate time for ANYONE to make arrangements to attend the meet.   We are trying to run an upstanding organization, and having meets “pop up” on short notice looks bad, and doesn’t give our meet schedule any credibility.  I will stick to this rule, and will deny sanctions for meets under 6 weeks notice.  Like the old saying goes, “your lack of planning DOES NOT constitute an emergency on my part!” (OK – maybe that’s MY ole saying).

A sanction is official once the meet/event has been put on the USAWA website’s schedule of events.  If you want to put on a meet, don’t hesitate to contact me prior to sending in the sanction request.  I will do my best to help you with this process.  If these Sanction Rules are followed, I won’t have to be the “bad guy” by turning down sanction requests;  but it’s my job to follow and enforce the rules and bylaws set forth by the USAWA.

A More Explosive Snatch

by Roger LaPointe

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It’s easy to say that you will snatch more if you just get stronger. Sure, part of getting stronger is lifting heavier weights. Yet, becoming more explosive in a lift often means that you have to go backward with the weight.

Yes, if you want to become more explosive, you probably need to lift lighter weights, as in the ones you can be explosive with, while maintaining perfect technique.

Tommy Kono once told me that he never ended a lifting session without doing three perfect lifts, regardless of the weight on the bar. It cements the technique into your neuromusclar synapses. Here is what I have learned. That is harder to do than it sounds.

When you are training the Olympic lifts and steadily going up in weight, once you have missed a lift, it’s because you are now too weak to do it correctly. It’s maddening. You will probably try to dig deep try that weight again. You may or may not make it. Let’s say you do. There is almost no way you are going to make that weight two more times. You are simply too tired. Therefore, you must lower the weight. How much? Good question. I have found that after I’ve started missing lifts, knocking off 5 kg means nothing. I can’t feel the difference. I recommend dropping down to what you do as a power snatch or power clean, but do the full lift.

After doing your three good lifts, move onto partials with heavy weight. I like pulls from the blocks, starting from your sticking point…

That’s some real world advice. Take it or leave it.

Live strong,
Roger LaPointe

Today is a good day to lift.”

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