USAWA

By Dan Wagman

This is the first part in a series of proposals from Dan Wagman that may be discussed at the national meeting.

Send queries to Send queries to <a href=”mailto:Wagman2022Agenda@icloud.com”>Wagman2022Agenda@icloud.com</a>

(e-mail address active until Juli 1, 2022)

 

1. AMEND BENCH PRESS RULE TO ALLOW USE OF BLOCKS UNDER A LIFTER’S FEET

In addressing a lifter’s foot placement, the current bench press rule (Rulebook XII.C.) reads:

 

“The feet must be flat on the floor and not braced against the bench during the lift.  Any width of feet placement is allowed. No heel or toe rising is allowed during the lift.”

 

It is therefore not permissible to place plates, blocks, or any similar thing under a lifter’s feet to raise them off the floor. This, however, is essential for many shorter lifters, to include reasons other than just body height or limb length, and many judges have therefore allowed this, contravening the rules of performance for the bench press. It is therefore advisable to clarify the bench press rule via a sentence that allows lifters to elevate their feet off the floor. It is suggested to add this fourth sentence to the section addressing a lifter’s feet:

The use of plates, blocks, or any similar device under the lifter’s feet is permitted

            in an effort to raise them off the floor.

 

2. JEFFERSON LIFT — FINGERS

         Add the Jefferson Lift — Fingers to USAWA’s contested lifts in line with IAWA-UK. The proposed language for that lift is as follows:

         Jefferson Lift — Fingers: The rules of the Jefferson Lift apply except that the lift will be executed with one of the same fingers on each hand.

 

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/.