[61pwcc]

What do you think of this V Bar Lift, Timo? https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=743837525642993&set=o.215255511931501&type=2&theater

[61pwcc]

Going to be 42 in three weeks. Started setting World Records in my 40s. I can do tasks around the yard and at my job that make 20 somethings pause. Why wouldn’t I train forever. I can shovel all the snow a Maine winter can produce. I can split as much wood as my parents need for the winter by hand. I love being strong BUT, being ‘able bodied’ means even more. That’s one of the reasons I do all the weird flexibility lifts like the Kelly Snatch. For what good is my strength if I’m only good at demonstrating it with a lift? I think its part of being a man to be strong. I have no ‘aspirations’ of sitting in front of a TV and playing video games for hours on end. I have had many examples here in Maine of people doing what they’ve always done into their 80s/90s. They died with their boots on. There was no peak to their lives. The just kept on getting better at living. Lord willing, I plan to do the same.

[61pwcc]

I’ve been subscribed to Timo’s YouTube channel for awhile and his videos are excellent. His grip feats are mind boggling.

[61pwcc]

For Traps:
Standing Calf Raise Machine Shrugs: just shrug up against the pads…no grip necessary!!
Kelly Snatches REALLY nail the Upper Traps!!
Lee Haney(owner of Traps that went up underneath his hairline!!) faithfully did Upright Rows with the bar BEHIND the back.
For Lats:
Side Bends with free hand behind the head for a good stretch or free hand down at the side of the body for a peak contraction! Remember, Lats connect into the hip bone(crest of the Illium) so do your Side Bends. Number 1 mistake I see is people stop pulling when they are back to straight standing position…NONONONONONO!! Keep pulling until there ain’t nothing left to contract/no more movement possible.
Two Arm Dumbbell Rows laying on a table/tall bench: allow you to pull up AND in better. Those Scapula have to move in an arc around the rib cage. Dumbbells help this movement. Can also be done with a Trap Bar(my preference)
Bench Dips: forget about the Triceps, try to get those shoulders down and back at the top of the movement. Try to get your shoulders to touch your hips=wicked arch.

[61pwcc]

Good luck to ALL lifters. I hope we hear some great stories!!

[61pwcc]

have they’re day in the sun. I have neither the ego nor the inclination to care where I place due to an age ‘correction’. Let the open class where the most is lifted/thrown be the top dogs in EVERY way. Masters not competing in the open class should be content to do the best they can with their contemporaries. A scoring system in a lifting/throwing event that has to be explained looks pretty silly. Who threw/lifted the most? There’s your winner. I think an All-Round meet for new spectators will already be confusing enough with lifts many have never seen or heard. Why add to the confusion? We need to make All-Round lifting interesting, approachable and straightforward.

[61pwcc]

Got to be calling him Denny ‘Krusher’ Habecker from now on!!

[61pwcc]

Except for Strongman, I’ve had to ‘find my way’ with Powerlifting,Olympic Lifting, Highland Games and All-Round Lifting. Yeah, there’s a ton of Powerlifting in Maine but, I didn’t want the suits or the steroids. By not doing those two things I wasn’t considered ‘seriously committed’. I feel those who do those two should be ‘seriously committed’!
Strongman and Highland Games are the only ones I would/could do in Maine. I’ve now stopped doing AAU Powerlifting meets and do the AAPF/APF meets even though they are not tested nor raw(at the time) just because the meets are local. We haven’t had an Olympic Lifting meet here in Maine since 1987!?!? Connecticut is where I usually compete in Olympic Lifting.
My first USAWA meet was the Heavy Lift Championships in York,Pa. That was my first because it was my closest. It was also the first time doing ANY of the Heavy Lifts. Meets at Frank Ciavattone’s house are three hours away which is the closest to me.
Most people in the gym who get the Bodybuilding magazines know about the Power and Olympic Lifts and can do them on some level. Strongman events have been seen on T.V. Depending on whether or not you go to the Scottish festivals you may or may not have seen the folks running around throwing things while wearing kilts. Yes, I’ve gone on quite a bit to show that I am a committed lifter. Even WITHOUT a family member,co-worker or friend involved with these sports I sought them out. I am NOT the norm. Most will not do what I’ve done to ‘get into a sport’.
So what do we do to grow?? Or maybe better to say, how do we appeal to folks young,old and in between to join? First things first, when I joined the USAWA, I thought there HAD to be some video library of the lifts to be sure. A rule book is helpful but, training videos and even better, contest footage showing passed AND failed lifts would educate best. This is exactly why I began putting up videos of my lifts for whatever meet I was getting ready: to educate those who may compete and to possibly generate interest in the meet/USAWA to non members. If the prompter of a USAWA meet asked me to put up examples of the lifts for the upcoming meet I would do so whether I was going to that meet or not. Maybe if meet promoters assumed not everyone was sure of the lifts and posted video examples, that would help generate interest.
Where are we aiming our meets? If I was aiming a meet towards my strongman group’s abilities, then I would have a Fulton Clean & Jerk, Jefferson Lift, Anderson Squat, One Arm Deadlift. Aiming at a Crossfit group: Kelly Snatch, Arthur Lift, Full Gardner, One Arm Clean & Bent Press. Since here in Maine, Olympic lifting is on life support at best, I may be able to get away with an olde school five lift Olympic meet…if the interest is there.
We would also do well to help train athletes. You got to admit, no one brings as much ammo to the training table as an All-Rounder. A Powerlifter is going to train an athlete from their perspective of a three lift world. The Olympic lifter will do the same coming from a two lift world. Neither are going to deviate far from their competitive lifts. Strongman is a bit harder to use as a training tool unless you have the equipment and the space. Highland events will have to pretty much be done outside and a place to throw is not always easy to find AND set up. This puts us in a great position. We don’t have a ‘loyalty’ to a set of lifts. Most of our lifts DO NOT require special equipment or space. With such a selection of lifts we should be experts at helping athlete uncover and fix weaknesses. As it has done for Olympic Lifting and Powerlifting, training kids with a certain style of lifting usually sees them competing in that same style later on down the road because that’s what is FAMILIAR to them. More thoughts later on.

[61pwcc]

Thom, that was a great article!! I tried to make a homemade Roman Chair Squat set-up at home…once. As my training partner could tell you, the results were….negative. I need to build a Roman Chair like Al’s(also a must read). I worked at a gym that had a Body Masters Sissy Squat stand. WOW, those work the Quads. I see why guys shied away from them. Was shocked that these were NOT a Tom Platz staple, though his version of a Hack Machine Squat was probably in the neighborhood.

[61pwcc]

I’ve read one lifter NOT liking them because they are soft compared to a regular bar. This was a grip specialist. They also tend to be a bit wider than stated when you actually fit it on to the bar just so you know. Overall, people like training with them ALOT!!

[61pwcc]

“Jim, it’s important to keep this in the realm of weightlifting (WL) and Don Ramos…because it’s about Ramos and WL, and perhaps most importantly, the use of T in HRT. Also, not all substances/methods are banned by WADA year-round, not all sports test for the same substances/methods, there’s a difference between endogenous and exogenous substances, etc., etc.”

No, its NOT important to keep this in just the realm of WL and Don Ramos just because you want. Its OK to use any and all examples that help convey attitudes or perspectives that are pertinent to the discussion.

“Although Ramos lives in Colorado Springs, and although USAW has their training hall and administrative offices here, what happened to him in no way sheds any disparaging light on USAW, if that was your implication.”

It is a curious coincidence that a WLer got busted for steroids(or too much T:E) in the ‘hometown’ of the sport of which he competes.

“You seem to agree that HRT isn’t the same as doping. Yet you also seem to believe that engaging in HRT at such minute levels that can’t be detected by the insanely accurate, valid, and reliable testing technologies that are employed still constitutes cheating.”

Can’t be detected?? He got ‘detected’.

“As it turns out, the scientific community involved in doping control has discussed this issue and would disagree as WADA has specific policies in place for HRT under Therapeutic Use Exceptions. Ramos should’ve taken advantage of that as the policies would’ve been able to help him remain negative in doping control.”

So, if the policies are in place for HRT under Therapeutic Use Exceptions then, why did he get ‘caught’. Again, was he ‘transparent’ on what he was doing? Did the officials and FELLOW competitors know about his HRT?? If he simply decided to go with HRT but decided to not bother with the ‘paperwork’ of Therapeutic Use Exceptions, that places him outside the rules as well.

“Also, and I don’t believe the rules in this regard have changed, whenever Ramos would’ve broken a record or won a national title in the last 20 years he would’ve been drug tested. Therefore, whatever happened most recently doesn’t taint his previous accomplishments.”

Sorry, it most certainly DOES taint his previous accomplishments and maybe those of his peers!! You don’t get ‘caught’ or ‘busted’ obeying the rules.

“Of course him admitting to HRT for the past 20 years wasn’t necessary, nor a smart thing to do as it might open the door to more severe punitive actions. Besides, if before he didn’t exceed the 6:1 testosterone:epitestosterone ratio, which has been reduced to 4:1, then the ergogenic benefits of T are at best trivial.”

So trivial that he popped a piss test? Trivial enough to win? Trivial enough to break a national Record? Trivial enough to break a World Record??

“Regarding my parts per billion comment, sometimes the forum leaves out digits. One part per billion is the equivalent to a pile of ten million dollars in pennies, and being able to pick out that one “offending” penny. Another way to look at it is one minute in two-thousand years. But in truth, this comparison actually diminishes the complexity of doping control as it goes far beyond just detecting a substance but also looks at several biological markers to confirm and support the notion that doping occurred.”

Dan, if the comparison actually diminishes… then WHY DID YOU BRING IT UP?

Since there is a provision for HRT then they need to do when they cracked down on the drugs….make new weight classes. The records BEFORE HRT should remain. Make new records in new weight classes for the new masters athlete!

[61pwcc]

Another thing that bothers me:
“After moving to Colorado Springs 20 years ago, Ramos gave himself testosterone shots, he said.”

Isn’t Colorado springs where the U.S. Weightlifting team is based?

[61pwcc]

“Jim, if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep this in the realm of weightlifting and with Ramos instead of bodybuilding.”
Dan, we CAN keep it in the realm of Weightlifting but,why?? It really doesn’t matter what the sport is.

“So let me clarify a bit what I mean with no harm was done.

First, I suppose that’s not quite correct. The harm that was done was to Ramos himself, his reputation, his motivation, his records, etc. And along those lines, and perhaps I’m actually being agist here, I don’t think that holding a senior citizen amateur athlete to the same “doping” standards as others is appropriate; after all, there is a difference between doping and HRT.”

Yep, there IS big difference between doping and HRT. Until the governing bodies have also made that distinction, the PRESENT RULES still stand. Just cuz I think we should be able to travel the highway at 75 MPH vs. the legal 65 MPH doesn’t AUTOMATICALLY make it right. When the laws are changed to a max MPH of 75 then and ONLY then will it be OK to do so. Don had a choice to err either way. He chose to say it was OK before the rules specifically said so.

“If I read between your lines accurately, you would seem to suggest, however, that any form of exogenous AAS use is doping, damaging to the sport, cheating, damaging to other athletes, etc. But how can this be if the substance can’t even be detected, as it was in Ramos’ case for 20 years?”
Well, how many times was he ACTUALLY tested in the past 20 years??

“Consider that the testing methodologies employed can detect one part per billion. That’s the equivalent to a pile of million dollars in pennies, and able to pick out that one bad penny.”
Wouldn’t it actually be equivalent to being able to pick out TEN bad pennies? I think your example comes out to be one in a hundred million?

“So not even that much was in his system. Or in the case of T, whatever was found was found to be well within the normal range. Or perhaps he went off several weeks before a meet in order to pee clean, and did. With all of that in mind, can one still consider what he did doping? Moreover, what sort of ergonenic benefits could he possibly have derived from that level or approach of use?”
So he POSSIBLY cycled off to pass the drug test?!?! Dan, that is so cheating,even the blind could see it!!

“I guess I’m trying to put myself in his shoes and I find it personally difficult to condemn him. After all, he tried to keep his HRT within medically acceptable levels, which would not constitute doping, it didn’t turn out that way and he got busted, and he
’s man enough to admit to it. At some level I respect him for that.”

I have NO problem with the HRT. Was he out in the open with his HRT. Did the officials and fellow competitors know? If no, then why not if he’s got nothing to hide?!?! As I was raised, if you’re sneaking it, whatever it is….its WRONG!!

“As to setting masters weightlifting back, perhaps that’s true.”

Hasn’t Weightlifting fought long and hard to keep the association with drugs down to a dull roar?? Now Masters Weightlifting has a tarnished image due to this selfish dickhead. Again, his actions affect many.

“But I also think that masters athletes should deserve a different sort of consideration when it comes to HRT. It might be time for sports organizations to engage in some erudite discussion in order to find a fair, sensible, scientific, and medically appropriate way to address this.”

It ABSOLUTELY is time for a change in regards to masters athletes and HRT. Bigger question is, will allowing Masters athletes to compete with HRT become a gateway to Masters Drug abuse with escalating dosages?? Human nature being what it is, I feel it may be best for HRT folks to compete in NON DRUG Tested meets. Allowing some hormones can become slippery slope.

[61pwcc]

this jackass Don Ramos has just set Masters Athletics back how many years? How many Masters competitor’s results are now going to be viewed with a bit of undeserving skepticism? His actions reach FAR beyond his own self. Again I say,”No harm done?”

[61pwcc]

“Finally, isn’t this testament that doping control works and that no harm was done?”- Dan Wagman
Dan, please tell me that you honestly don’t feel this way. How ’bout the guys who SHOULD HAVE the awards/accolades that this guy instead cheated and received.
Recently, in Muscular Development magazine, Shawn Ray, Flex Wheeler,and Kevin Levrone were asked about memories that stood out about their Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic win(s). Most disturbing was Shawn Ray’s recounting of his failing the drug test in 90′ resulting in forfeiture of his first place trophy and cash prize. What burned me was his comments basically stating that,”yeah, I got caught but hey I still got to have dinner with Arnold!” At that time, the winner of the Arnold was treated to dinner with the MAN himself. That honor SHOULD HAVE gone to Mike Ashley….the rightful winner. It wasn’t enough to forgo the trophy and the cash, Shawn STOLE that opportunity from Mike Ashley. How many opportunities has this man stolen from his fellow athletes?!?! He FULL well knew what he was doing and was OK to cheat for the past 20+ years!! No harm done??

[Author]

Posts