Author Archives: Al Myers

Dino Gym Record Day

Records Fall at Dino Record Day

by Al Myers

Dino Gym Record Day Participants Front left to right: Chad Ullom, Molly Myers, Al Myers Back left to right: Dave Glasgow, Darren Barnhart

This past weekend was the weekend for the Dino Gym’s double header – the Grip Challenge on Saturday and the Record Day on Sunday. Five lifters made it to the Record Day yesterday – two of which competed the day before, Dave Glasgow and Chad Ullom. The youngest lifter to compete was my youngest daughter Molly. She picked a diverse group of lifts to set records in – from dumbbell lifts to squats and deadlifts. Her highlight was pulling a 185# Trap Bar Deadlift. Chad Ullom came with his eyes set on upping his One Arm Deadlift Records. He accomplished his goals – 413 pounds with the left and 419 pounds with the right. Darren Barnhart did some great One Arm Dumbbell Deadlifts and also put up the highest mark of ALL-TIME in the Rectangular Fix at 132 pounds. He had more in him! Darren and I went head to head in the Dumbbell Walk – with him edging me out 100 pounds to 95 pounds. Both of our marks exceeded the previous Dino Gym Record. My highlight was finally getting an official Roman Chair Benchpress of 200 pounds. Dave Glasgow made it to his first record day – and did he go to work! He first demonstrated his great flexibility by doing a DEEP Overhead Squat of 160 pounds. He mixed in some overhead lifting with One Arm Clean and Jerks and One Arm Snatches. Dave is willing to try any lift in the USAWA. He picks up on the lifts very quickly. His years of throwing in the Highland Games obviously help him tremendously – as Dave is very athletic for a 50 year old. As Dave often says, “I lift to throw, not throw to lift.”

Overall, this has been a great weekend of competitions. I want to thank everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to lift this weekend at the Dino Gym.

FULL MEET RESULTS:

Dino Gym Record Day

Dino Gym, Abilene, Kansas

February 14th, 2010

Meet Director: Al Myers

Officials (3 officials used): Al Myers, Chad Ullom, and Darren Barnhart

Results:

Molly Myers (Female, 11 years old, 130 pounds bodyweight)

Snatch – Dumbbell, Right Arm 30#

Snatch – Dumbbell, Left Arm 30#

Swing – Dumbbell, Right Arm 30#

Swing – Dumbbell, Left Arm 30#

Squat – 12″ Base 100#

Deadlift – Trap Bar 185#

Chad Ullom (38 years old, 240 pounds bodyweight)

Deadlift – Left Arm 413#

Deadlift – Right Arm 419#

Miller Clean and Jerk 121#

Scott Lift 254#

Rectangular Fix 100#

Good Morning 230#

Gardner – Full 100#

Darren Barnhart (42 years old, 295 pounds bodyweight)

Deadlift – Dumbbell, Right Arm 305#

Deadlift – Dumbbell, Left Arm 305#

Dumbbell Walk 100#

Rectangular Fix 132#

Al Myers (43 years old, 253 pounds bodyweight)

Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Right Arm 175#

Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Left Arm 165#

Dumbbell Walk 95#

Scott Lift 254#

Rectangular Fix 100#

Bench Press – Roman Chair 200#

Dave Glasgow (56 years old, 251 pounds bodyweight

Deadlift – No Thumb, Left Arm 198#

Squat – Overhead 160#

Squat – Front 265#

Steinborn Squat 242#

Clean and Push Press 176#

Clean and Push Press – Fulton Bar 198#

Scott Lift 154#

Maxey Press 170#

Push Press – From Rack 210#

Good Morning 135#

Clean and Jerk – Left Arm 100#

Snatch – Left Arm 100#

Dave Brown

by Al Myers

Dave Brown becomes ONLY the fourth person to ever pick up the Dino Gym's Inch Dumbbell Replica.

This past week the Dino Gym had a surprise visitor for our Tuesday night workout. It was my old friend Dave Brown, who was on vacation and decided to “stop by” and pay me a visit. He picked a good day – because Tuesday is our BIG NIGHT in the gym. This a big DEAL for the Dino Gym – having a STRENGTH CELEBRITY join us for a workout. It has been a few years since I have seen Dave – but he is still as big and strong as he used to be. Dave stands 6’3″ and weighs a little over 350 pounds – but carries his weight very well. His build reminds me of Paul Anderson when Paul was in his younger days. Dave has been a top level professional Highland Game athlete for 15 years. Before this, he was a record setting amateur athlete with the 28# and 56# weights for distance. Dave now resides in Redding, California and works as an engineer for a timber company. He is married to Shauna, and they have two children, a son Taylor (10 years old) and a daughter Arabella (2 years old).

Dave currently holds the WORLD RECORD in the 56# weight for height with a toss of 20’1″, which he set in 2006. I remember when I started throwing in the Highland Games (over 20 years ago) and athletes would “talk about 20 feet” in the WOB with anticipation that maybe someday someone would top that mark. Much like Olympic Lifters talking about a 600 pound Clean and Jerk. It seemed like an impossibility at the time, but the hope was always there that a SUPERMAN would come along and make the impossible happen. Well, that SUPERMAN is Dave Brown. Yet, Dave is as modest as they come. I have known him for close to 20 years and he is the same guy now as when he first started throwing. I remember many years ago when Dave was a 19 year old kid living in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was just starting in the games. Dan DeWelt commissioned me to “come down to Tulsa” to put on a Highland Games Clinic for new throwers, as I was the only Highland Games Pro around in the Midwest in those days. That was the first time I met Dave, and when we got to the weight over bar and he was matching me throw for throw – I knew he was going to be something special someday in the Highland Games. For a couple of years Dave would drive to my place so we could train together. He started going to more games. It wasn’t long before Dave turned professional and we were seeing and competing with each other several weekends a summer. And then it wasn’t long before Dave was far surpassing ALL of my throwing distances!!

I introduced Dave to an All-Round lift I knew he would excel with - the One Arm Barbell Snatch. In his first workout ever he snatched an unbelievable 170 pounds!!

Dave is a “student of the game”, and when mixed with his amazing genetic ability and work ethic, has accomplished things that others just dream of. I really believe if Dave had decided on focusing on another sport besides the

Dave has tremendous squatting ability. Here he breaks a Dino Gym record in the Zercher Harness Squat to a 15" box with a lift of 515 pounds.

Highland Games he would have been just as successful. In 1998, he tried Strongman Competition and with minimal implement training won the NAS Heavyweight Championships! And this was against seasoned Strongmen. I wonder what his Strongman career could have been if THAT was his focus? Dave also has a WORLD CLASS grip without working on it much. Many years ago at a Pro Highland Games in Arlington, Texas I will never forget him closing the #3 COC grippers with ease. This was in the days when that was a BIG DEAL! Carl Braun brought along a #3 gripper to “Challenge” Dave over our noon lunch break. I don’t even know if Dave had ever seen one before – but while he was sitting there with a sandwich in one hand and the gripper in the other he SMASHED it shut! Then he switched hands with the sandwich and #3 gripper – and did it again with his other hand! I’ll never forget how nonchalantly he did this! It just wasn’t that big of deal to him at the time. World renowned Strength Historian Dale Harder has been measuring athletes grips with a Baseline Dynamometer to get a very accurate reading of gripping strength. He has done this for over ten years now and has tested 1000’s of athletes. To date, Dave has the HIGHEST Dynamometer reading of ALL-TIME with a squeeze of 122 kilograms. Now THAT’S a firm handshake! It’s a shame Dave never gave football a try. With his size and agility I’m sure he would have had a lucrative pro career as an Offensive Guard in the NFL.

I only wish Dave would have planned his vacation so he could have made it to today’s Dino Grip Challenge. He would have been a MAJOR FORCE in the gifted lineup of grip-masters that are entered in this meet. Hopefully, the USAWA will see more of Dave Brown in the future.

Dino Gym Grip Challenge

by Al Myers

Group Picture of the athletes at the Grip Challenge Front Left to Right: Chad Ullom, Larry Traub, Ben Edwards, Jason Payne Back Left to Right: LaVerne Myers, Dave Glasgow, Andrew Durniat, Rudy Bletscher

I knew this meet had the potential of being a major “grip showdown” – but the record lifts that were done even exceeded my predictions. Andrew Durniat, of Wooster, Ohio made his comeback to the USAWA and lived up to the hype by not only winning every event but setting ALL-TIME USAWA records in 4 of the 5 events. Andrew has competed once before in the USAWA, at the 2008 USAWA National Championships in Columbus, Ohio. It was at that meet that his great gripping ability became known. In the One Arm Deadlift, he did 440 pounds with his left and 429 pounds with his right to set overall weight class records! Andrew is the 2009 US Grip Champion and by his performance today, he left no doubters as to why he is the best! A quick run-down of his highlights today – first he did 250 pounds in the one handed 2″ Vertical Bar Deadlift, followed by 308 pounds in the One Armed No Thumbs Deadlift. If this wasn’t enough he broke the UNTOUCHABLE record in the Inch Dumbbell Deadlift of 344 pounds held by Matt Graham, by lifting TWO Inch Dumbbells weighing 180 pounds apiece, for a total weight of 360 pounds. Next up was taking out Kevin Fulton’s ALL-TIME record in the Little Fingers Deadlift by becoming the first USAWA lifter to lift 200 pounds. Andy has been invited to lift in a major grip competition next month held at the Arnold Classic. In this competition he will be going up against TEN of the best grip men in the World.

Meet Director Ben Edwards Awards Andrew Durniat his Cash Prize

Pulling in a surprising second place was USAWA newcomer Larry Traub of Georgetown, Indiana. Larry is a member of the newest club in the USAWA, the Ledaig Heavy Athletics. Larry has had a story book career as a drug free powerlifter, and has won several National Championships. Larry is 56 years old, but doesn’t look much over 40. I’m hoping that he has caught the “All-Round Bug” and we will see more of him again in the future. Larry is a fabulous deadlifter, and I can only imagine how great he would do in a more traditional All-Round meet.

Third place was held down by the Meet Director Ben Edwards. Ben put in solid lifts in every event. On top of this, he ran one of the most organized All-Round meets that I have seen. From start to finish the meet was done in three hours, and it started ON TIME. Ben gave back all of the entry fee money and then some in prize money. First place received $100, second place $50, and third place $50. Being the great guy Ben is – he forfeited his winnings and passed them along to the fourth place finisher Chad Ullom. Chad had a great meet. He left two BIG extra attempt records off the scorecard – 212 lbs. in the VB and 165 lbs. in the Little Finger Deadlift. These two lifts would have given him 60 more pounds on his total. Fifth place overall went to my father, LaVerne Myers, in his very first weightlifting meet. In the last event, he tied Andy for the best lift of the day in Weaver Stick with a lift of 6 pounds. Dave Glasgow made it to his second All-Round Meet in less than 30 days, and was very consistent in all the lifts. Rudy Bletscher was the oldest competitor in the meet, but pushed hard on all the events. I was glad to see Jason Payne make it to another All-Round meet. Jason saved his BEST performances for after the meet. He did some HUGE hub lifting and block pinching after the meet was over. He even demonstrated his kettlebell routine that involves “tossing” a 70 pound kettlebell and catching it over and over.

This was a great competition. It is exciting to see new faces in the All-Rounds. I want to thank Mark Mitchell and Scott Tully who helped me judge. By the success of today’s meet, I’m sure Ben will want to host this meet again next year.

FULL MEET RESULTS:

Dino Gym Grip Challenge
Dino Gym, Abilene, Kansas
February 13th, 2010

Meet Director:  Ben Edwards

Officials (3 official system used): Al Myers, Mark Mitchell, Scott Tully

Loaders:  Scott Tully and Mark Mitchell

Lifts:  Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 bar,  2,” 1 hand; Deadlift – No Thumb, One Arm; Deadlift – 2 “Inch” Dumbbells; Deadlift – Fingers, Little; Weaver Stick – Forward

Results:

Lifter BWT Age 2″VB DL-NT Inch DL
 DL-LF Weaver Total Points Adj Pts
Andrew Durniat
 225 31 250 R
 308 L
 360 165 6 R
 1089 912.36 912.36
Larry Traub
 205 56 187 R
 203 R
 230 110 4 R
 734 646.87 756.84
Ben Edwards
 220 34 230 L
 220 R
 240 175 5 R
 870 737.85 737.85
Chad Ullom
 235 38 182 R
 209 R
 240 135 4 R
 770 630.71 630.71
LaVerne Myers
 244 65 177 L
 176 R
 180 80 5 R
 618 496.43 625.51
Dave Glasgow
 252 56 157 R
 209 R
 200 70 5 R
 641 506.65 592.78
Rudy Bletscher
 222 74 112 R
 154 R
 140 70 2 R
 478 403.43 544.63
Jason Payne
 252 44 182 R
 176 R
 200 60 3 R
 621 490.84 515.38


BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  Total is total pounds lifted.  Points are bodyweight adjusted Lynch Points.  Adj Pts are adjusted points for age correction.

Extra Attempts for records:

Chad Ullom  Vertical Bar Deadlift – 1 bar, 2″, one hand:  212 lbs. R
Chad Ullom  Deadlift – Fingers, Little: 165 lbs.
Andrew Durniat  Deadlift – Fingers, Little: 200 lbs.
LaVerne Myers   Weaver Stick – Forward: 6 lbs. L

The Weaver Stick

by Al Myers

Ben Edwards training the Weaver Stick.

I saved the most interesting lift for this last story covering the lifts that are in this weekend’s upcoming Dino Gym Grip Challenge.  The Weaver Stick is one of the most perplexing and misunderstood lifts in the USAWA lineup of lifts.   Bill Clark once told me that “judging the Weaver Stick is more subjective than judging depth in a squat.”  I definitely agree!  I will be the Official Judge in this competition, and I will make sure that everything is done right and all competitors will be judged equally and fair.  The most subjective part of judging the Weaver Stick is making sure that the lifting arm remains straight at the side with elbow locked.  With just a little bend at the elbow, other muscles can be pulled in to play, and much more weight can be lifted. The Weaver Stick is a leverage lift that tests the ligament and tendon strength of the wrist, primarily above the thumb.  It is surprising how little weight can be supported this way.  John Grimek many years ago set the World Record in the Weaver Stick at 11 3/4 pounds.

The Weaver Stick is named after George Weaver of Brooklyn, who popularized it in the early 1940’s. However he didn’t really invent it.  Many years before this Paul Von Boeckmann of New York City found that he had a “special knack” for this type of lifting and had a early version of the Weaver Stick made out of a broom handle.  He won several bets with his ability to lift it with weight attached by a rope on the end of it.  George Weaver based the measurements of the Weaver Stick from Von Boeckmann’s broom handle, and the regulation Weaver Stick length of 36 inches was born. By the way, Paul Von Boeckmann was VERY GOOD with the Weaver Stick and is credited with a forward lift of 11 1/2 pounds. When he was over 60 years of age he could still do 9 1/2 pounds!!  The Weaver Stick has also been contested backwards – meaning you face away from the Weaver Stick.  Slightly more weight can be lifted this way.  However, at this meet you must perform the Weaver Stick in the forward manner.  I would say a great lift is anything over 6 pounds, with most lifters capable of between 4 and 6 pounds if done correctly.  Occasionally in the gym we have pulled out the Weaver Stick to “play around” at the end of workouts.  I am always surprised by what guys lift. You can never predict.  I don’t think there is any correlation between overall body strength and ability with the Weaver Stick.  It is a humbling feeling to fail with 5 pounds when you can deadlift over 500 pounds.  The great Warren Lincoln Travis is said to have been only able to do 4 1/4 pounds with the Weaver Stick.  The top lift ever done with the Weaver Stick in the USAWA is 7 pounds.  This was accomplished by two lifters – Tom Ryan and Mark Mitchell.

The Rules for the Weaver Stick

“A Weaver Stick is used for this lift. The Weaver Stick utilizes a wooden broomstick with these dimensions. The handle is 5 ½ inches in length. The junction of the handle and the rest of the Weaver Stick may be marked with tape, or with any material that is raised to provide a distinct separation between the handle and the rest of the stick. This marking is ½ inch in length. At a point exactly 36 inches from the end of the marking, or 42 inches from the end of the handle, a notch is made in the stick to allow a cord to be attached to it. This cord may be of any length.  Weight is tied onto the end of the cord. The Weaver Stick must rest on a flat lifting surface with the weight hanging free. The lift will begin at the lifter’s discretion. The lifter will take a position alongside the Weaver Stick, and grip the handle of the Weaver Stick by one hand, facing the length of the stick. The lifting hand and arm must remain straight with elbow fully locked, and must not be in contact with the body during the lift. The lifting arm must remain at the lifter’s side throughout the lift. The heel of the hand must remain on top of the Weaver Stick. If the hand twists under the stick during the lift, it is a disqualification. The non-lifting hand must not touch the lifting arm, lifting hand, or Weaver Stick during the lift. The lifter’s body must be upright with legs straight at the completion of the lift, but the legs may bend when picking up the stick. The Weaver Stick must be lifted entirely clear from the lifting surface while maintaining the stick parallel to the floor. If the end of the stick containing the weight dips to any degree, it is a disqualification. If the lifting hand moves to a position in front of the handle marking during the lift, it is a disqualification. Once the Weaver Stick is motionless, an official will give a command to end the lift. Records are also kept for the Weaver Stick with the lifter facing backwards, away from the length of the stick.”

The Deadlift – Fingers, Little

by Al Myers

I pulled 155# in the Little Fingers Deadlift at the last Goerner Meet. Notice I have my eyes shut as I'm focusing on "pleasant things".

You can’t have a USAWA grip competition without at least one finger lift in it!   The USAWA has two types of finger lifting events. One type is using individual fingers of one hand, and by use of a ring attached to a loader, lift the weight from the platform utilizing just ONE FINGER.  The second type, which is type being contested in this competition, is using the same finger of each hand and deadlifting a bar from the platform. TWO FINGERS are used in this lift.  Ben picked the most sensitive fingers of the hand, the little fingers, to be contested in the Dino Grip Challenge.  The rules for this lift are very straightforward.

Rule for the Deadlift – Fingers, Little

“The rules of the Deadlift apply except only the little fingers of both hands may be used. The little fingers of both hands may grip the bar in an alternate manner.”
I wish I had some compelling advice on this lift – but I don’t.  It will hurt and you will probably tear flesh or injure a flexor tendon.  This lift requires MIND over BODY – and it is best to just “block out” the excruciating pain of the lift by focusing on “pleasant things”.  The Little Fingers Deadlift  hurts more than ALL of the other finger lifts.  I have theorized it is because all of the weight is focused on such a small area. It hurts like hitting your finger with a hammer, but the pain lasts longer.   Last year on the Discussion Forum it was voted as one of the most painful lifts in the USAWA.  But All-Round Weightlifting is NOT for sissies – so come to the Dino Grip Challenge and take on the Little Fingers Deadlift!!

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