[Tom Ryan]

Okay, Al, I observed that you noted in your write-up that Lance Foster broke my harness lift record that had stood for 23 years. And by a mere 5 pounds! It looks like he must have been gunning for my record. Don’t walk down any dark alleys, Lance. LOL

Very few lifters are average in that lift, as either a person has strong tendons and ligaments that enable him to lift well over 2,000 (Schmidt, you, Garcia, John Carter, etc.) or he does not. I watched Brian Meek struggle mightily to make 2,000 at one of the Zercher Meets at a time when he was benching over 500 and squatting with about 800 (in the 1980s).

I never made big harness or hip lifts and neither did John V., for example. I didn’t have the equipment for practicing the lift and the side rails used in competitions were too short for my height. Consequently, there was only 350 pounds difference between my competition PR hip lift and PR harness lift. It was a somewhat funny sight at the 1987 Zercher Meet at the prison in Moberly, MO to see some inmates scurrying around to find blocks of wood to boost the side rails up high enough so that they could benefit me. I did 1,560 at that meet, which was the first time I had tried a harness lift.

Incidentally, I am indebted to whomever it was (Jesse?) who mentioned the Metals Depot in Kentucky, which I found to be a good source of round steel (they will cut it to the desired length) for making an extra long dumbbell. I had them give me an 18-inch cut several months ago.

I am still doing one-hand seated (in a chair) dumbbell “deadlifts” and I got 5 reps with 223 with my left hand about 10 days ago, using a strap. That wasn’t overly difficult and I am sure that I am capable of over 250 for a single. My goal is to do 300 on my 70th birthday, which is only 15 months away.

My seated presses off the rack are improving as I got 3 reps with 110 recently (but unracking the bar is a bit of a chore), in addition to 5 reps with 67.5 on a left-hand seated clean.

I know virtually nothing about making a YouTube video but sometime in the next few months I want to make a video to show how I use a lifting strap and the type that I use, which seems to be different from what everyone else does. I will be interested in comments from the lifting fraternity.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

He was indeed a great lifter, Jesse, and it is remarkable that he was able to overcome polio and become a national champion and a world-class lifter. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Deal

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Yes, thanks for the article, Thom. Your uncle certainly had some huge pressing numbers…. and huge arms!!

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Yes, John has been a major contributor/participant as a meet director and competitor for a very long time. I was somewhat amused to see a photo of myself in action with John standing in the background. There must be a shortage of photos of John. 🙂

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

This is a common scam. I’ve received e-mails like this from “relatives”. If the crooks say enough, they will tip their hand, so I have always been able to detect it as a scam.

[Tom Ryan]

Yes, thanks for that story, ET.

[Tom Ryan]

Thanks for bringing those videos to our attention, Jim.

The only interaction I ever had with Suggs was a short conversation outside the York gym in 1966, at the time of the Senior Nationals, which were held in York that year.

To correct what was stated at the outset, Suggs was not the editor of S&H for “many” years; rather, he was the editor for a few years.

There are a few points that could be added to what Suggs stated in the 2nd video. To press efficiently, you want to avoid pressing “around” you head, as that would be inefficient. (Unfortunately, that is how Kono pressed.) Instead, you want to press straight up and that means you need to get your head out of the way!

I could write a paragraph about how to do that but the best example of how to do so that I have seen are the sequence photos of Tony Garcy doing a heavy press that were given in an issue of S&H circa 1963. He seemed to press somewhat differently at the ’66 Senior Nationals but when I discussed that with him then, he didn’t seem to pick up on the point I was trying to make.

I believe that Suggs is now 76 and is much smaller than he was when he was in his prime. At 5-11 (I think), he was ideally suited for the 242 pound class, and he became one of the top contenders for national honors when that class was created. Hoffman said that Suggs doing a heavy snatch was like “poetry in motion”, and there is one action shot in S&H that was a great illustration of pulling through on a snatch, as he was high up on his toes at the top of his pull.

[Tom Ryan]

Thanks for posting this, Ruth. I had read about Ramos testing positive on another forum, but I didn’t know all of the details.

[Tom Ryan]

Thanks for giving that link, Jesse. This is very timely for me because I am running out of room on the 14-inch dumbbell that I am using for one-arm lifts from the floor while sitting on the edge of a bed. Of course 14 inches is the standard length of a dumbbell and I have not been particularly excited about the prices plus shipping that I have seen on eBay for longer bars.

What I am doing is probably closer to a seated one-arm row than a seated one-hand deadlift. Whatever it is called, I got 5 reps (3, 2) with 156 with each arm the other night. My left arm is clearly stronger than my right arm and I always lift the dumbbell up on top of my bed on the last rep with my left arm. Maybe that isn’t too bad for a “dying old man”, which technically I am supposed to be according to conventional medical thinking since there is supposed to be no cure for congestive heart failure (CHF), with life expectancy after diagnosis at 5 years. So I should have four more years.

I beg to differ, however, as I feel great and I doubt if I am still in a CHF state. I am still not ambulatory, however, which I attribute to incompetent local prosthetics companies, so I am almost resigned to having to design a prosthesis myself and have some place like a machine shop assemble it for me. (If Al didn’t live so far from me, I might ask him if he could use his obvious machine shop skills and assemble one for me.)

Anyway, my goal is to use over 200 pounds in that exercise and I’m sure that I will either do it or come close to it because 156 is clearly not close to my limit and I hope to continue improving in that lift. Something resembling a seated one-arm row with over 200 at my age would presumably be world class, I would think.

I know virtually nothing about steel so for my purpose should I order hot rolled steel, or cold finish steel, … or maybe lukewarm steel? LOL Seriously, suggestions would be appreciated. (I will definitely order 1 inch as I intend to use regular exercise plates on it, not Olympic plates.)

One disappointment I have had in recent years is that my press has dropped off considerably as I passed age 65, whereas I assumed that I would be able to press decent poundages almost forever. But I am coming back a bit as I did a seated reverse press with 101 for 2 reps the other day. That is well short of where I want to be, but maybe I will keep improving.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

We are living in an era in which young kids make YouTube videos and act like they are experts in what they are discussing. Based on his comments, I do not consider this kid to be an expert.

Some of you may be interested in Bill Starr’s comments about stiff-legged deadlifts versus good mornings. You will see from this
http://billstarrr.blogspot.com/2012/01/lumbars.html that he prefers the latter. I agree with Starr that good mornings are great for the lower back, but they must be done properly and carefully.

I am not exactly the president of the Bill Starr fan club but I do believe that his words of wisdom may not be taken seriously enough since he is a bit off the wall. Well, more than a bit, actually. 🙂 (I will add that my only direct interaction with him has been a phone conversation a few years ago, but of course I followed his career over the years.)

I certainly consider him to be an expert on weight training.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Well, I an just an innocent bystander in this controversy but I completely agree with Al.

Using Al’s approximation, multiplying 0.9 times the reverse curl numbers listed in the contest report would give the expected poundages for the rectangular fix if that lift had been contest. That would give a top rectangular fix of 180 pounds, and a 71 year-old man would have done 121.5.

Cramer has done very well at all kinds of lifting as a Master’s lifter, but he’s not doing 121.5. And nobody this side of King Kong is going to do a rectangular fix by the USAWA rules with 180! LOL

I have never had an interest in curls, either regular or reverse, but I did train on the rectangular fix at times several years ago and I presently hold three USAWA age-group records in the lift. Therefore, I can certainly relate to poundages in that lift.

I don’t know if Kazmaier ever did a rectangular fix but with his huge forearms I would expect him to exceed 150. What would Savickas, Shaw, and other current top tier competitors in strongman competitions be able to do in that lift? I would expect them to exceed 150 but it would take incredible forearm strength for anyone to do close to 200.

Dale Harder likes to compare performances both within and across sports. From a personal standpoint, I would like to see a ranking list for the rectangular fix, as I did 95 officially at the age of 61. I think Matt Graham was about half my age when he made his big lifts and he also outweighed me by a bunch. So on a formula basis I might be somewhat competitive with him. Whatever. 🙂

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Love your last comment, Ruth. 🙂

[Tom Ryan]

I never had much thumb pain when I did one-hand deadlifts, although I do recall having some pain when I first started doing them in competition. I never lost a lift in competition because of a grip problem and can recall missing only one deadlift in competition, and that occurred because of a problem with the bar.

I don’t have an Olympic bar with a center knurling, so when I prepared for competitions, I did so with a bar that was smooth, almost slick, in the center. I would work up to 244 a few days before a contest and assumed that if I could handle that weight easily on a smooth bar, then I should be good for about 350 in the contest, and that was generally the case. I got 356 off the floor during one contest preparation, but with that much weight and no center knurling, the bar came crashing back down very quickly.

I found through experience that I needed to make sure that my arm was perfectly vertical when I started the lift, with my hand and arm pushed to the left as much as possible. I gave a “tutorial” to Bob Karhan and Jimmy Malloy at one meet and this is one of the points that I emphasized.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Yes, congratulations, Denny.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Congratulations, James.

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