Author Archives: Al Myers

Roman Chair

by Al Myers

The Dino Gym's homemade Roman Chair, complete with an adjustable upper back safety pad.

Recently on the USAWA Discussion Forum, there was talk about the Roman Chair.   A Roman Chair has an almost mystical name that shrouds confusion.   I have seen (and read) about lifters referring to something as a Roman Chair, and when in fact, it is not a Roman Chair at all, but rather some type of Hyperextension Bench or a Glute-Ham Developer (that’s another story!).  A few of the lifts that we do in the USAWA require the use of a Roman Chair to perform them so understanding what a Roman Chair is REALLY IS  important.  That is why I’m going to try to properly describe a Roman Chair and it’s description to the use of All Round Lifts.  Like I said, some Official USAWA lifts require the use of a Roman Chair – i.e., the Roman Chair Situp, the Roman Chair Bench Press, and the Abdominal Raise on a Roman Chair. 

This is an ancient medieval Roman Chair. But instead of using this chair for exercise, it was used to torture prisoners!

You will read on the internet that Roman Chair exercises (namely Roman Chair Situps) are inherently dangerous amongst the general consensus of the cross fit lifting crowd.  You will read some bad things about this exercise and ALL of the reasons why you shouldn’t do it.  I’m not going to get into that debate here (but aren’t MOST of the All Round Lifts dangerous???, and we love them anyways!), but rather provide an accurate description, and a little history of the Roman Chair.  Professor Attila is often credited with the invention of this device, as well as the Roman Column and the Roman Board (made famous by pictures of Sig Klein performing layouts using them).  And speaking of Sig Klein, I have also read in his writings that he said the Professor didn’t actually invent the Roman Chair, but rather popularize the Roman Chair by it’s use in his gym.  Klein had mentioned once that a Roman lifter who was visiting the Professors gym actually demonstrated exercises using a device similar to a Roman Chair, which gave the Professor the inspiration to build a Roman Chair and give it it’s name after this Roman lifter. In doing my research for this piece, I found that there actually WAS a Roman Chair in the Middle Ages.  It was a chair of torture that was used up till the late 1800’s in Europe.  I found this very symbolic – and could make for a good story on how the Roman Chair we use today got it’s name.  Afterall, most Roman Chair All Round lifts are VERY PAINFUL and could constitute torture to some individuals!  Just try doing a Roman Chair Bench Press and you will get my drift.  On our USAWA YouTube account there is a video of Dave Beversdorf doing a HUGE Roman Chair Bench Press of 250 pounds (YouTube Video of Dave’s RC Bench Press), which is the top All-Time Roman Chair Bench Press in the USAWA Record List.   Read some of the goofy comments regarding his video.  It is obvious that these critics giving these comments have NO IDEA what is required and the back-splitting pain that is involved in doing a heavy lift like this!  (the comments are so absurd that I didn’t even delete them because I found them funny, and I know ANYONE who has done this exercise would agree with me!).

Past USAWA lifting legend Howard Prechtel excelled at the Roman Chair Situp. He held the All-Time USAWA record at 738 pounds for many years. Amazingly, he did this in 1990 at the age of over 60 years!

The only description of a Roman Chair in our USAWA Rule Book falls under the rule for the Roman Chair Situp.  It says, “This lift is done on a Roman Chair or similar device.  The toes must be secured at floor level.  The seat of the Roman Chair must be level and parallel to the platform and must not extend above the top of the buttocks when the lifter is fully laid back on the Roman Chair.  A second bench of lesser height than the seat of the Roman Chair may be used for safety purposes under the lifter’s shoulders when laid back”.   Not all commercial Roman Chairs would fall under this description. I have seen some where the foot pad is level with the seat, some with “rounded” seats, and some with even inclined/declined seats.  These types of Roman Chairs would not be legal for use in the execution of the USAWA lifts.   The Roman Chair I have in the Dino Gym is one that I made.  It works very well, and is of a very simple design.  The seat is 12″ by 24″, the seat sits 20″ high, the Chair is 4 feet long,  and it contains an adjustable safety back support. The feet can be braced on a bar positioned at floor level.   

There is nothing more “old school” than training on a Roman Chair.   And if it was good enough for the Professor – it is good enough for me!

Grandma’s Wooden Dumbbells

by Jarrod Fobes

Grandma's wooden dumbbells.

We’ve been cleaning out the crawlspace in my basement in preparation for a yard sale.  The house was built in 1924, and belonged to my wife’s maternal grandparents until they passed.  Anyway, tucked behind a box of knitting supplies from the 1950’s, I came across what looks like a pair very well used wooden dumbbells!  You can see in the picture that they are marked as weighing 2lbs, so I suspect they belonged to Grandma.  I never met the grandparents, but I know that Grandpa was in the Alaska gold rush and was something of an adventurer, so I suspect 2lbs might have been a bit light for him.

Rubber Grip Trainers

The night before, my lovely wife Karena also came across these rubber grip trainers in the storage room. They’re made out of dense rubber, have a nice feel to them, and provide some pretty good isometric grip work.

I know these aren’t exactly artifacts of old-time famous strongmen, but I still thought it was interesting because Karena has recently started more serious strength training and is showing some real potential. Her mom keeps pretty fit as well, and it’s fascinating to me to see the roots of all that go back to Grandma!  In any case, I was wondering  if anyone knows the approximate age of these things?

Century Club

by Al Myers

Joe Garcia is moving up the Record List Count faster than anyone else! This past year he has went from 9th to 5th. This picture is from the 2011 Heavy Lift Nationals in York, PA where Joe added another USAWA record in the Hand and Thigh with this 1400 pound lift. Joe has more H & T records (17 total) than anyone else, everywhere from the 90 KG class to the 110 KG class.

A couple of years ago  I tagged the term “Century Club” as a way of identifying lifters who currently hold over 100 USAWA Records.  It has been a while since I have given an update on these record-setting lifters, so I think it is time I revisit this topic again.  I believe it has been a year (after last year’s National Championship) that I gave my last update on the current members in this Century Club.  I know I have highlighted the “records race” between Denny and Art a few times since, but now since Denny has stretched his lead over Art 401 USAWA records to  Art’s 378 USAWA Records, the drama with this has been  subdued and the  records race has taken a seat on the sidelines until Art starts to make “a run” on Denny.  

The Century Club is an ever-changing list, and it changes constantly.  It is based on CURRENT records, so it is possible to be on the list and then if some of your records are broken, you may fall out of the club.  I sadly report this has been the case this past year.  John Vernacchio’s record count has fallen to 97 records,  and now he is out of the Century Club.  No one new has joined since Scott Schmidt in the fall of 2009!  Scott was sitting at the number 20 spot when he made the Century Club in December 2009, climbed to spot 17 after last year’s Nationals, and now resides at the 15 spot.  By John falling off the list, the Century Club now stands at 19 members.  Who will be the next to join??  Two Dino Gym members are “knocking at the door” of accomplishing this.  Rudy Bletscher just BARELY missed the list this time as he currently stands at 99 USAWA Records.  Chad Ullom made a big push on his USAWA records this past year and now has 97 records.  With Chad hitting the Masters Class next year that will open up the record book for him to set more records as he will then be eligible for age group records.  I got my money on both of these guys to make the Century Club this summer! 

There were some changes in the orders and number counts, but the same names hold the Century Club down.  The top four spots on the list remained the same.  The biggest dropper was Bill Clark, as he dropped from the number 5 spot to 10th with only a decrease of records from 214 to 199.  I know the reason for Bill’s decrease in records as I’ve been lifting with this guy in meets all winter and have watched him break several of Bill’s records.  I’m talking about Mike Murdock.  The biggest increaser on the list is our USAWA Records Chairman Joe Garcia.  Joe added several new records this past year and moved from the number 9 spot to 5th overall with 226 records.  Dennis Mitchell notched up one spot to number 6. Take notice of  all the USAWA Hall of Famers who are members of the CENTURY CLUB (marked with a *).

Century Club

1.  401 Denny Habecker *
2.  378 Art Montini *
3.  274 Al Myers
4.  247 John McKean *
5.  226 Joe Garcia *
6.  223 Dennis Mitchell *
7.  214 Noi Phumchaona *
8.  206  Frank Ciavattone *
9.  201 Bob Hirsh *
10. 199 Bill Clark *
11. 171 Howard Prechtel *
12. 138  Dale Friesz *
13. 134 Ed Schock
14. 132  Jim Malloy *
15. 131  Scott Schmidt *
16. 123  John Monk
17. 117  Mary McConnaughey
18. 114   Chris Waterman *
19. 106  Joshua Monk

Middle Atlantic Postal

by Al Myers

MEET RESULTS – 2011 MIDDLE ATLANTIC OPEN POSTAL MEET

I just received the meet results for the 2nd quarter postal meet results for the USAWA Postal Series from the USAWA Postal Meet Director John Wilmot.  Congratulations to Orie Barnett for being the BEST LIFTER.  The turnout for this postal meet was a little less than previous ones, but the month of June presents many conflicts for people (with summer vacation plans and other competitions).  I know this was the reason I didn’t get my lifts in – I was busy getting ready for the USAWA Nationals and then I had a business trip right at the end of the month.  The deadline entry date passed before I could get my lifts done! 

Meet Results:

Middle Atlantic Postal Meet
June 30th, 2011

Meet Director:  John Wilmot

Lifts:  Clean and Press – Reverse Grip, Cheat Curl – Dumbbell, One Arm, Continental to Chest and Jerk

Officials: (1 official system used for all lifters)

Lifters using a Certified USAWA Offical:

Kohl Hess – Official Denny Habecker

Lifters using a judge who is not an USAWA Official:

Denny Habecker – Judge Kohl Hess
Orie Barnett – Judge Sam Rogers
John Wilmot – Judge Kay Wilmot

Lifter Age BWT Press Curl C&J Total Points
Orie Barnett 50 230 183 95-R 225 503 462.1
Denny Habecker 68 191 110 75-R 132 317 375.5
Kohl Hess 17 315 154 85-? 198 437 326.8
John Wilmot 64 221 115 60-R 125 300 317.2

NOTES:  BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  All lifts recorded in pounds. Total is total pounds lifted.  Points are points adjusted for age and corrected for bodyweight using the Lynch Formula.

5th Edition Rulebook Changes

by Al Myers

At the Annual National Meeting of the USAWA last month, a few minor rule changes were approved by the membership that I want to let everyone know about.  Most of the changes in the individual lift rules were made to bring the USAWA rules into compliance with the IAWA rules.  As I’ve said before, I feel this is a very important step in accomplishing uniform rules between the USAWA and IAWA.  However, this will be an ongoing process that will need to be addressed every year for a few more years until this problem is resolved completely.

A few “big changes” were made to the General Rules.  The first was requiring Officials to be USAWA members in order to serve in an active capacity. Our official’s program has really taken off the past couple of years,  and I feel this is just another “small step” in developing a solid program for officials (I still feel we are not there yet, and more improvements need to be made).   I want to stress that there will be NO LOSS of certification status if an officials membership lapses.  All that is required is rejoining the USAWA in order to be an active official again.  These inactive officials will be identified on the Officials Roster with an asterisk.  Another change is from now on all new Fulton Bar lifts will need to be approved as new lifts by the membership.  Once approved, any new Fulton Bar Lift  will be added to the rulebook.   The next big change is that sanction requests must be turned into the USAWA at least 6 weeks prior to the meet date.  This is necessary in order to allow ample time to adequately announce the event on the website. 

These new changes will become effective August 1st, at which time the new 5th Edition USAWA Rulebook will be available.     

USAWA Rulebook Changes/Additions/Subtractions

Individual Rules of the Lifts:

  1. D7. Curl – Cheat:  Remove “Heels and toes must not rise during the lift.”  Add “The heels may rise during the lift” and “the bar may be lowered below the knees during the lift”.   These changes will bring the USAWA rule into compliance with the IAWA rule.
  2. A15. Clean and Press – On Knees:  Remove “However, touching the buttocks to the feet or lower legs during the press is a disqualification.”  Add “The lifter may press with the buttocks touching the feet or lower legs or press in an upright position, but if the buttocks are touching the feet or lower legs at the beginning of the press the lifter is not allowed to become upright during the press.”  This change will bring the USAWA rule into compliance with the IAWA rule.
  3. A44. Snatch – On Knees:  Add “The knees are allowed to move on the platform during the lift.”   This change will bring the USAWA rule into compliance with the IAWA rule.
  4. H24. Vertical Bar Deadlift: Add “Both vertical bars must be loaded to the same weight.”     
  5.  E9. Curl – 2 Dumbbells, Cheat:  Remove “The dumbbells must be turned so the rods of the dumbbells are in line with each other prior to the curl and during the curl.” Add “The dumbbells may be in any degree of rotation during the curl, but must finish with the rods of the dumbbells in line and parallel to the shoulders.”  This change will bring the USAWA rule into compliance with the IAWA rule.
  6. H15. Pinch Grip:  Add “front hang or backhang is allowed to the loading of the center bar”.  
  7. H21. Turkish Get Up:  Add “A dumbbell, kettlebell or barbell is used for this lift, but only one record will be kept regardless of the implement used.”  This change will bring the USAWA rule into compliance with the IAWA rule.

 

General Rules:

  1. VII. Officials:  Add “USAWA Officials must have current USAWA membership to be active officials.  Officials who do not have current USAWA membership will be identified on the list of certified officials as inactive.  The lack of current membership will not result in the loss of certification status.”
  2. Fulton Bar (2” Bar) Lifts:  Remove “Fulton Bar Lifts are approved for all bar lifts using a Fulton Bar and the rules of the individual lifts. Listed below are the rules for the Fulton Bar Lifts in which records have been set”.   This would require that all new Fulton Bar Lifts would need to be proposed and passed as new lifts.   
  3. VII.3 The Competition:  Add “Sanction requests must be sent in for approval at least 6 weeks prior to the scheduled event.”

 

Editing:

  1.  B7.  Deadlift – Fingers, Middle:  The photo caption changed from “Deadlift – Fingers, Little by Dale Friesz” to “Deadlift – Fingers, Ring by Dale Friesz”.

 

All changes will be made to the 5th Edition USAWA Rulebook, which will become effective August 1st, 2011.

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