USAWA

By Eric Todd (Reposted from February 22, 2018)

This is the third and final installment of articles regarding the lifts that will be contested at the Heavy Lift Championship.  This particular article is about the hip lift, which will be the last lift contested and the one in which the highest poundages should be attained.  Not unlike the other heavy lifts (including those that are not being contested-the harness lift and the back lift), the hip lift was a favorite of many of the old timers as it allows you to lift mostrous poundages.  It is the leverages and the short range of motion that allows that.  There are very few lifts out there where lifters can legitimately make the claim of having lifted a ton, but for some lifters, it is true in the hip lift.

The most ever lifted in the Hip lift was 2525 by John Carter who lifted it at the 1994 Heavy Lift Championship meet in Columbia, MO.  Big Frank Ciavattone was nipping on his heels with a 2515 pound effort at a record day in ‘07.  All the overall records in the 85 kilo to 125+ are at or above a ton.  Big numbers can be lifted in this discipline, and I do not imagine this year’s Heavy Lift Championship will be any different.

The first time I did any of the heavy lifts, I did the hand and thigh and the hip lift at the Deanna Springs memorial in 2002.  The difference between my results in the two lifts was negligible, and I just figured I was good at the hand and thigh, but not the hip. My results for years were about the same.  It was until I got a heavy bar and hip belt of my own that I was able to tweak my technique and make noticeable results in the hip lift.  Now the difference in my PRs between the lifts is 760 pounds.

I will tell you the thing I learned that made the biggest difference in a moment.  First I want to get into the generalities of the lift.  The rules as stated in the USAWA Official Rulebook , 10th edition are as follows:

A Heavy Lift Bar is used in this lift. A hip belt is also used, which fits over the hips and around the waist. An adjustable chain and hook is attached to the hip belt so it may be attached to the Heavy Lift Bar. The width of the hip belt must not exceed 4 inches. Hands may be used as support on the legs during the lift, but must be free of contact at the completion of the lift. The lifter assumes a position in which the lifter is straddling the Heavy Lift Bar. Width of feet placement is optional, but the feet must be parallel and in line with the torso. The feet must not move during the lift, but the heels and toes may rise. The lifter may adjust the chain length to his/her preference prior to the lift. The lift begins at the lifter’s discretion. The lifter is allowed one test lift to check the balance of the weight and to make adjustments to the chain length. The lifter will stand and lift the weights from the platform. The shoulders and torso do not have to be upright upon the finish of the lift. The legs must straighten, but the knees do not need to be locked. Once the weight is motionless, the hands free from the body, and the plates on both ends of the bar are off the platform at the same time, an official will give a command to end the lift.

The execution of this lift is rather simple.  Place the hip belt around your waist.  Straddle the big bar.  I always sit on the weights to attach my chain. Run the chain through the designated space in the bar, then back up to clasp to the other end of the hip belt.  Connect it at a length where you have some flex in your legs, but not a boat load.  You will want to start with your feet placed such that your chain is perpendicular to the floor. Start with your hands on your thighs, and drive up through your feet.  When both ends of the weight leave the floor simultaneously, remove your hands from your thighs.  At that point, you will get a “down” command from your official.

Now, the key in my eyes for this lift is the belt placement.  When i started off, I would put the hip belt about where my powerlifting belt sat, around my core.  So when I executed the lift, the belt was pressing against by lower back.  The more I practiced the lift, the more I realized this placement was wrong.  It is called a hip lift for a reason.  Push that hip belt down on your hips.  Anymore it is not on my low back at all, and that has helped my results tremendously.

So, there you have it.  Go find a big bar and a hip belt and give it a whirl.   You will lift more weight than you ever thought possible (unless you have done a back lift or a harness lift, then maybe you have lifted more). This will be the last lift contested at the Heavy Lift Championship.  It has more than once been the deciding factor in who the overall champion would be.  Now you have a primer for all three lifts.  So, time to get training and get that entry into the mail.  I will be waiting…

 

By Eric Todd

HEAVY LIFT CHAMPIONSHIP – THE HAND AND THIGH

(repost from April 5, 2020)

The Hand and Thigh will be the second lift contested in the Heavy Lift Championship, which is being contested on May 9th this year. When I last hosted in 2018, this was the article I posted regarding the execution of the lift: Hand and Thigh

I am not going to go so far as to say the hand and thigh has a richer past outside of IAWA/USAWA than the neck lift, but it certainly has a more well documented past. Many of the Old Time strongmen of past used the hand and thigh as part of their routine.  This very lift was one of those contested when John B. Gagnon bested Warren Lincoln Travis for the unofficial title of World’s Strongest Man as mentioned in my last article on the neck lift.  It was also included in Travis’s “Challenge to the World,” which was included as part of his will upon his death in 1941.  This challenge included 10 feats that must be performed, including several that were repetition lifts, within 30 minutes.  One of the items on the list is a single successful effort with a 1600 pound Hand and Thigh.  The man who successfully completed the challenge would be awarded Travis’s “diamond-jeweled gold and silver” championship belt.  To date there have been no takers.

Travis had a protégé by the name of Charles Phelan who, like Travis, performed his feats at Coney Island, New York.  One of the lifts he performed on Coney Island was the Hand and Thigh, where he was credited with a lift of 1125 pounds.  Phelan was also known for his capacity to entertain, as he would tell jokes between his feats of strength.

The famous Canadian strongman, Louis Cyr is credited with a lift using the hand and thigh method of 1897.25 pounds. More recently, a strongman who was inspired by Cyr performed the hand and thigh out in New Jersey.   His name was Jack Walsh, and he claimed a hand and thigh of 1500 pounds around 1950.  Iowa strongman Archie Vanderpool claimed a lift of 1840 pound in the hand and thigh.  He utilized the method of a bar through two barrels to get the weight up in lieu of the big bar attached to a chain method that we use in the USAWA today.  When I first saw a picture of him using this style, it seemed familiar.  That is because I had seen Milo author, and renegade strongman, the heavy metal iron master himself, Steve Justa using that method in the book “Rock, Iron, Steel” that he authored.  Apparently, Justa’s father was a friend of Vanderpool.  In the book, Justa claims to have lifted over a ton using this method on multiple occasions.  While he did compete at least once in the USAWA (it was a Kevin Fulton meet back around the time I was first getting started in the all-rounds), I do not believe he has ever performed this lift in competition.  I am sure that is a rather abbreviated record of old time strongman performers who have been known for the hand and thigh lift.

That brings us to the hand and thigh lifting done in the USAWA, which, from any meet I have witnessed was done under professional judging within strict guidelines.  In the Women’s  class I am including any lifter who has gone 600 pounds or more.  Our number one here, Armorkor Ollennuking is in a league of her own with 1100 pounds in this discipline:

1) Armorkor Ollennuking  1100 pounds 1997 Zercher

2)Jacqueline Simonsen 810 pound 1994 Nationals

3) Cara Ciavattone 702 pounds 1996 New England Championships

4) Jaenne Burchette 700 pounds 1991 Nationals

5)Mary Jo McVey 605 pounds 1993 Worlds

6) Jenna Lucht 600 pounds 2014 Old Time Strongman Championship

7) Amy Burks 600 pounds 1998 Zercher

 

For the men, I am including lifters who have gone 1400 pounds or better. Again, our leader is in a class of his own, with Joe Garcia hitting 1910 pounds:

1) Joe Garcia 1910 pounds 1997 Zercher

2)Frank Ciavattone 1610 pounds 1995 New England Strongman

3) Eric Todd 1510 pounds 2015 Heavy Lift Championship

4) Al Myers 1505 pounds 2010 Deanna Springs Memorial

5) Jim Malloy 1400 pounds 1995 Worlds

6) John Carter 1400 pounds 1996 Zercher

7) Steve Schmidt 1400 pounds 2004 Backbreaker

8) Sam Huff 1400 pounds 2005 Deanna Springs Memorial

9)Joe Ciavattone Jr. 1400 pounds 2013 Heavy Lift Championship

The Hand and Thigh has a rich history both in old time strongman performances and the USAWA.  I am sure we will add to that history at this year’s Heavy Lift Championship.

Justa, Steve. “The Hand and Thigh Lift or the Quarter Deadlift.” Rock Iron Steel: the Book of Strength, IronMind Enterprises, 1998, p. 52.

“Louis Cyr.” <i>Wikipedia</i>, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Cyr.

Murray, Jim. “Jack Walsh — World’s Strongest Man?” Iron Game History, vol. 4, no. 5, Oct. 1995, pp. 10–11.

Myers, Al. “Hand and Thigh Club.” USAWA, 2 Aug. 2011, usawa.com/hand-thigh-club/.

PeoplePill. “Warren Lincoln Travis: Strongman – Biography and Life.” PeoplePill, peoplepill.com/people/warren-lincoln-travis/.

Wood, John. “Archie Vanderpool.” Www.oldtimestrongman.com, 12 Oct. 2017, www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/2016/08/23/archie-vanderpool/.

Wood, John. “Charles Phelan and His GIANT Kettlebell.” Www.oldtimestrongman.com, 6 Dec. 2018, www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/2018/12/05/charles-phelan-giant-kettlebell/.

(Reposted from February 16, 2018)

By Eric Todd

With the Heavy lift Championship just a few short months away, I am going to continue on with my series on the Heavy Lifts.  The last article on the series focussed on the first lift we will be contesting at the event, the neck lift.  This one will focus on the second lift in the order of the meet, the Hand and Thigh Lift.  The hand and thigh lift is a quite old lift.  It was a favorite of many old timers, and was done by many of them including Louis Cyr and Warren Lincoln Travis.

Quite a bit more should be lifted in the hand and thigh than in the neck lift.  The heaviest neck lift is around 1000 pounds, while the heaviest hand and thigh is over 1900, by Joe Garcia.  However, that is quite an outlier, as most of the rest of the best hand and thighers in the USAWA are in the 1500-1600s. The rules of the Hand and Thigh in the rulebook are as follows:

A Heavy Lift Bar is used in this lift. A hand bar is also used, which must not exceed 28 inches in length and 1 inch in diameter. The hand bar will have an adjustable chain and hook attached to it in the center so it may be attached to the Heavy Lift Bar. No knurling is allowed on the hand bar. The lifter assumes a position with the Heavy Lift Bar in front of the lifter, or the lifter may straddle it. The feet must be parallel and in line with the torso. Width of feet placement is optional. The feet must not move during the lift, but the heels and toes may rise. The lifter may adjust the chain length to his/her preference prior to the lift. The hand bar must be in the lifter’s grasp and will lie across the thighs. The hands must remain on the hand bar and must not change position during the lift. The lift begins at the lifter’s discretion. The lifter is allowed one test lift to check the balance of the weight and to make adjustments to the chain length. The lifter will stand or lean back to lift the weights from the platform. The shoulders and torso do not have to be upright upon the finish of the lift. The legs must straighten, but the knees do not need to be locked. Once the weight is motionless, and the plates on both ends of the bar are off the platform at the same time, an official will give a command to end the lift.

So, I have seen the hand and thigh done with both feet in front of the bar and also straddling the bar.  That being said, from what I have seen,  far better poundages are done with both feet in front of the bar.  I like a flat sole, such as wrestling shoes for the hand and thigh (as well as all the heavy lifts for that matter) though I am not sure if that offers any advantages or not.  Some people, me included, like to stand on a platform of sorts to complete the lift.  It seems to give you better leverage to complete the lift.  My platform comes by way of a few sawed off 4×4 timbers. Stance is optional, but I prefer a rather narrow one.  I like my shins just a few inches behind the bar so my knees can float over the bar when I bend them to dig my knuckles into the top of my thighs.  Grip is optional, but I would suggest double overhand with the thumbs in line with the fingers.  You do not need your thumb to lock in the bar, as your thighs serve in that capacity, so I have been more successful with keeping them over the top of the bar. Once you have the bar locked into your thighs, lean way back, looking up, and drive back on your heels.  The first few times I did this, I had someone spotting me from behind, because I felt I may fall over.  I never have, though.  As soon as both sides are off the platform simultaneously, you will get the down command.  As you can see in the rules, if your chain length is wrong or you are off center and only one side comes up, you do have the opportunity to make one adjustment.

Not unlike the neck lift there is no absolute substitute for actually doing the hand and thigh to train for the hand and thigh.  The technique takes some getting used to in order to become proficient at it to maximize your poundages. However, there are some movements that doing help strengthen your connective tissue.  Strong connective tissue (such as tendons and ligaments) is crucial to heavy lifting.  You could halfway simulate an hand and thigh with heavy partial barbell pulls in a rack.  You could also play with heavy squat lockouts or heavy partials on the leg press to help build strength in your connective tissue.

Check out this video of Jim Malloy performing a 1200# Hand and Thigh at the 1991 National Championships, and keep training for the Heavy Lift Championship!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrxZWECwMq0

By Eric Todd

 

Today was our cutoff for the Heavy Lift Championship.  Any entries received after this point will not be accepted. Our field is rather small, but mighty.  I have some cool awards on order, and HMB/Peak ATP is again sponsoring our meet in the way of T-shirts and such.  I look forward to seeing everyone a week from tomorrow,

By Eric Todd

This was posted February 25, 2020.  The neck lifts listed are those from the record books.  I do not have access to all the heavier lifts done that no longer qualify for records.

 

With the Heavy Lift Championship only a few months away (it occurs on May 9 this year), I thought I would try to drum up some interest by writing a series of articles.  Last time I hosted this meet, I ran a series of articles that related to the performance of the lift.  The one for the neck lift can be found here: Neck Lift

From my understanding, the neck lift is only contested in All-round organizations such as IAWA. Otherwise, it seems like different variations of the neck lift have been used by old time strongman-esque performers.  Here is a video from a performance at Coney Island. It includes footage of a fellow named Steve Weiner performing a neck lift and hold with a fire hydrant: Coney Island

I have read a number of accounts, in particular one by Bill Pearl who is seemingly rather an expert in physical culture.  This particular account is of a strongman named John B. Gagnon.  Gagnon, at one point won the title of World’s Strongest man from Warren Lincoln Travis.  The title was unofficial, as the event was unsanctioned; however, he did, according to this account, best the champion in this particular competition.  All the lifts were done using a platform that could be lifted from above or below.  A number of lifts were contested in this challenge, including several of our heavy lifts.  This meet did include a neck lift, where the claim was that this strongman, Gagnon, hoisted a lift of 1317 pounds. (Pearl).

Pearl, Bill. John B. Gagnon. 1 Oct. 2018.

I found an image of a strongman from the Bronx named Joe Ragusa who moved to Hollywood to perform in the pictures.  This image shows him doing something similar to our neck lifts with a weight of 655 pounds, though it does not appear that using this method would put nearly as much torque on the neck muscles as what Our USAWA/IAWA method does.

Wood, John. Joe Ragusa. 30 May 2017.

Then, there was a gentleman only known as “Kong” who claimed to have the world’s strongest neck.  HE has a claim of 502 pounds lifted with his neck.  As you can see from the photo, this method would put a great deal of torque on the neck; however, you can see that he has a hand holding the chain, so I am not completely sure what to think of this claim.

Wood, John. Kong. 8 Nov. 2017.

Outside of Old time strongman acts and circus type performers, the neck lift has pretty much only been a movement used in our organization.  It appears that it has pretty much been contested in our organization since it’s inception, with the earliest record still in our record book being a 470 pound effort by  18 year old Randy Breitenfield on January 23 1988 at the Zercher (I can only assume that refers to the Zercher Classic in Columbia, MO). It also was contested in the USAWA National Championship in 1989.There have been a number of superb neck lifters over the years in the USAWA.  The Women have been dominated by a handful, with Kerry Clark being the cream of the crop with a few attempts over 500 pounds.  Here is a list of women lifters who have have met or exceeded 300 pounds in the neck lift:

Kerry Clark	550	1995 Nationals in Columbia, MO
Jacqueline Caron	400	1992 Gold Cup
Cassie Morrison	325	2016 Heavy Lift Championship
Angela McBride	300	1999 Zercher Challenge

Back in 2011, Al posted an article with the top male neck lifters of all time. neck lift list The numbers have jumped some since, and some new names added to the list of men who have gone 600 pounds or more.   The current list is as follows:

Eric Todd	1080	2014 Heavy Lift Championships
Chad Ullum	1020	2015 Heavy Lift Championship
Joe Ciavattone, Sr	805	2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Al Myers	780	2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Frank Ciavattone	750	2002 Heavy Lift Championship
Joe Ciavattone, Jr	700	2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Christopher Lestan	700	2019 Heavy Lift Championship
Jeff Ciavattone	650	2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Mike McBride	630	2005 National Championship
Joe Garcia	623	1998 Nationals, Mansfield
Dale Fries	605	1995 Goerner
Nile Larson	603	2004 Heavy Lift Championship
John Monk	600	2000 Heavy Lift Championship

In the USAWA Steve Scmidt was the first to hit both the 400 and 500 pound benchmarks in the neck lift.  Big Frank was the first to 600, with his brother Joe Sr being the first to hit 700 and 800 pounds.  Chad Ullum was the first to 900, and I was the first to 1000. Will we see a first to hit 1100 at this edition of the Heavy Lift Championship?  Time will tell…

Myers, Al. “CHAD’S 900 POUND NECK LIFT.” USAWA, 27 May 2011, usawa.com/chads-900-pound-neck-lift/.

“New Video: Coney Island Olde Time Strongman Spectacular!” Markets of New York City, 5 June 2012, marketsofnewyork.com/2012/06/new-video-coney-island-olde-time-strongman-spectacular/.

Pearl, Bill. “Bill Pearl.” John B. Gagnon, 1 Oct. 2018, www.facebook.com/116733248412758/posts/john-b-gagnon-born-in-1883-in-caribou-maine-was-a-strongman-performer-in-the-192/1881209421965123/.

Wood, John. “Neck Lift Archives.” Www.oldtimestrongman.com, 8 Nov. 2017, www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/tag/neck-lift/.