[Tom Ryan]

Joe,

I enjoyed reading Part I and I look forward to Part II.

I admit that I did a double take when I saw the name Homer “Brannon”, however, as I wondered if there could be both a Homer Brannum and a Homer Brannon. That did seem somewhat unlikely. I called Bill today as it had been several months since I had spoken to him and I had been trying to reach him recently. He told me that was indeed Homer Brannum, who became the first national champion in both Olympic lifting (1965, beating Russ Knipp by 5 pounds in the 148 class), and powerlifting, as the following year easily winning the national title in his class.

For any of you who are not familiar with Homer, like Joe (just kidding you, Joe :-)), he is profiled in Lifter’s Corner in the August, 1966 issue of S&H.

Homer did not live a long life as he died several years ago, apparently at the age of 62 or so.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from dinoman on December 27, 2011, 11:05[/b]
I have noticed Vasily’s last name spelled many different ways. In Dennis’s story of the day is just one of the many ways I’ve seen it spelled. Does anyone know the CORRECT spelling??? Al

I don’t know about “many”, Al, but the biography of him had it as “Alexeyev”, so perhaps that is correct.

I believe the most common spelling, however, is “Alexeev”, which is what I have always used. Admittedly, I had never seen the spelling that Dennis used. I see that is the spelling for Alexeev’s Wikipedia entry, however, but you will see something funny if you look at that entry. Specifically, above the entry there is a message that he is not to be confused with another person named “Vasiliy Mikhaylovich Alexseyev”, but if you look in the “Personal Information” section of Alexeev’s entry, you will see his full name given as just that! So obviously the left hand and the right hand haven’t managed to get together. LOL

To me he will always be “Alexeev”.

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from dinoman on December 18, 2011, 11:17[/b]
Read this article and look at the picture of the lifter (the one Tom referred to) competing in, what appears to me to be sweatpants (even a violation of the IWF’s new liberal costume rules).

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/IWF-Changes-Dress-Code-Rules-Lets-Muslim-Weightlifter-Compete-125090654.html

If only the coach in the gorilla suit would have cut off the sleeves he would have been in legal costume!!! (not covering the elbows) That seems to be the only costume violation he violated!

I now feel much better about the USAWA official dress policy. haha Al

Al,

Unfortunately, things are a bit lax in contests here in Georgia. At the Southern Open last January, there were men lifting in sweatpants (and they weren’t Muslims), some lifts were passed that should not have been passed, and the session in which I lifted started about an hour earlier than it should have started, almost causing me to miss the start as I was the first lifter!

Incidentally, John Coffee is in the middle of the three guys in red in the photo that was in the link you provided.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from dinoman on December 16, 2011, 15:01[/b]
I just received a letter from Dale, and with it he sent a flyer detailing the new IWF rules on costume. When I first read it I thought it was some sort of satirical joke – but then I did some internet research and I see it is indeed the truth!

tp://weightlifting.teamusa.org/news/2011/06/29/news-from-the-international-weightlifting-federation-iwf-creates-more-inclusive-sport-environment/43174

Now Olympic lifters can wear full body unitards (with long sleeves) and anything on their head they want! This includes ball caps, skull caps, stocking caps or even a hood!

I also found it humorous that they referred to this as a “costume”. A clown costume if you ask me! No where in our USAWA rulebook do we refer to the official dress of competition as a costume – we call it “lifting uniform”, “gear”, and/or “lifting attire” – but NOT COSTUME!

What’s everyone’s opinion on this????? Al

Al,

You apparently don’t know the reason for the change, and I would guess that is also true for almost everyone else here.

So let me enlighten everyone. 🙂

Kulsoom Abdullah is a very bright (Ph.D. from Georgia Tech) 35 year-old Muslim lady who resides here in Atlanta. I don’t know her but she has trained at John Coffee’s gym some (as I have done a few times) and John, whom I have known casually for decades, likes her. He thinks she has a future as a weightlifting coach. The IWF changed its “costume” rules to allow her to compete. See
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2011-06-29-weightlifting-attire-rules-modified_n.htm

She made history by competing in our national championships in her lifting outfit (see http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2011/07/16/kulsoom-abdullah-honors-muslim-faith-makes-history-at-us-weightlifting-nationals/) and a few months ago competed in the world championships. She was below par because she said she had only 3 hours sleep the night before she was to lift (I never saw a reason for that) and finished 23rd in her class (see http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/11/kalsoom-23rd-in-world-weightlifting-c%E2%80%99ship/)

[Tom Ryan]

He actually died on August 23, 2010, at the age of 79. (He was born on 8/17/31.)

[Tom Ryan]

Yes, he did, as I read it the other day. Bill certainly doesn’t look like he weighs 235, though. Maybe his surgeon, Dr. Royster, has been putting some lead in the joints he gives Bill. LOL

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from memck487@aol.com on November 16, 2011, 20:25[/b]
Fortunately not many lifters (or anybody else) bothered to read that “truthseeker’s”(whoever he actually is) book of accusations and speculations! I found it boring & poorly written, in its pitiful attempt to discredit much of a very exciting era of American weightlifting. I feel it is a huge injustice to downplay the achievements of any legendary lifter based on the rantings of this insignificant, trivial piece of trash.

I assume that you are referring to Fair’s book, Muscletown USA: Bob Hoffman and the Manly Culture of York Barbell, which I read several years ago. Opinions of the book vary, as can be seen by reading the Amazon reviews. I found the book to be interesting but some Iron Game people do consider the book to be too negative. Inaccuracies have also been mentioned, which are inevitable when the author, a retired history professor, must rely heavily on interviews. I’ve met John Fair but I don’t really know him. He does have stature as an Iron Game historian and has written many articles for Iron Game History.

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from memck487@aol.com on November 16, 2011, 06:30[/b]
Tom,I think you sometimes get influenced by those grumpy old curmudgeons on the historical weightlifting sites, who delight in discrediting EVERY big lift of yesteryear,except,of course, their OWN lifts which were done in a garage,unseen by anyone! Sure lifting has always had more than its share of scams ,but I tend to go with the late ,great Peary Rader and give credit to what is witnessed by reasonable people. For that matter, some of the GREAT lifts & tremendous All-Rounders that I’ve seen in our USAWA and were properly judged for these records, will in the future probably be dissed completely by THAT group of historians!

As to Bruce Randall, my take on him from much reading and anecdotes through the years is that he was always sort of outside the mainstream of the iron game, and did things on his own, never caring whether people believed his strength feats or not.In the Iron Man story that he basically authored for Peary Rader’s approval he simply states “these are the lifts,sets and poundages I used, I don’t lay claim to anything.” In other words,no axe to grind at all, and very little ego involved.

No, John, those “grumpy old curmudgeons” like John Fair (see http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/IGH/IGH0701/IGH0701d.pdf) are simply seeking the truth. Forty years ago I contributed to the Paul Anderson Youth Home and I was proud to display a PAYH bumper sticker on my car, especially when his sister happened to park behind me at a supermarket one day and saw it. I was not happy to learn that there is no evidence that certain lifts that Anderson claimed, especially his 6,270 back lift, ever happened.

The simple truth is that Anderson was not very good at telling the truth. I had corresponded with him for a few years before I finally met him in the Fall of 1972 at his shopping center exhibition. This was before his planned “postal contest” with Jon Cole to determine who was the “World’s Strongest Man”. I asked Paul if he was getting ready for his contest with Cole. He replied that the contest was off because Cole didn’t want to do the Olympic lifts. In retrospect, that made no sense whatsoever because Cole had just competed in the Senior Nationals in Olympic lifting a few months earlier! Anderson claimed that he never used steroids. Jim Witt was convinced that he did use steroids and someone I know who saw Anderson frequently during the 1960s, is also certain that Anderson used steroids. (I can’t mention his name because he is still alive and may not care to be quoted.)

John Grimek had a very active imagination regarding some of his accomplishments and then there were the phony weights that Hoffman is known to have used in many of his exhibitions.

And I could go on and on and mention Archie Vanderpool, Stout Jackson, etc. As I said, it would be a very long list.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

John,

I admired Peary Rader for the man that he was and for what he and Iron Man stood for, but he was not a reliable source of information since he was somewhat naive and gullible. When someone reported to him that they had made certain lifts in training, he seemed to accept it uncritically and reported it in Iron Man, regardless of how suspect the lifts, diets, or training systems should have seemed. Certainly Bob Simpson’s “purported” presses off the rack fall into that category.

A short time before Anderson’s kidney surgery, Rader reported in Iron Man that Anderson was doing well. I had just seen Anderson about the time that issue came out and Anderson was in awful shape. Indeed, he later stated that he would have soon died (within 2 weeks I think he guessed) without the surgery. So I wrote a note to Rader to inform him that what he had said wasn’t true. He replied and said something like “I guess I wasn’t well aware of Anderson’s condition” and stated that he planned to later call Anderson in Minneapolis, a few days after his surgery.

I truly believe that a book of moderate size could be compiled from all of the false claims made by and for weightlifters. I don’t believe Randall could shoulder
2100 pounds anymore than I believe that Simpson could press 502 off the rack, or whatever silly number he claimed.

There is a prominent weightlifter from the past whom I hear from occasionally, so I will let him be anonymous. 🙂 (He recently contacted me to ask if I could locate one of his long lost relatives since I have a reputation for being able to locate people using Internet resources. Indeed, I have helped him in that way in the past and this time I was also able to help him, as I did find the person.) He has stated on a forum that in his prime he would back out of squat stands with over 1,400 pounds and do partial squats with it, but there is a prominent weightlifting historian who doesn’t believe he could have walked with that much weight. No comment from me here, although I do have an opinion. 🙂

Many of us are well aware of the impromptu reverse pressing contest between Karl Norberg and John Grimek on December 21, 1940, which Grimek won by doing 280 to Norberg’s 270. (Norberg was 47, almost 48, at the time.) Indeed, Grimek’s 280 was featured in Gord Venables’ “Incredible but True” section in S&H in June, 1941.

Well, that didn’t happen, as Terpak later “confessed” that the weights they were pressing were actually in the 220-240 range, as discussed, for example, by John Fair
at the end of this article http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/IGH/IGH0504/IGH0504w.pdf and recently discussed on the GoHeavy forum. Admittedly, I had not questioned the 270 and 280 and surely that must also be true of many others in the Iron Game.

In a way that makes me feel “better”, relatively speaking, because I did a reverse press off the rack with 201 and 202 when I was either 46 or 47, so I wasn’t too far behind Norberg at the same age, although I didn’t reverse clean the weight, which of course does make a difference.

I’m afraid that the well-worn expression “I could write a book”, which was actually a tune in the 1940 musical Pal Joey (how many of you knew that? 🙂 I didn’t) does apply to the fact that Hoffman, Grimek, Anderson and undoubtedly a long list of others have tried to pull the wool over the public’s eyes for a very long period of time.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

John,

I would have to see the 2,100 to believe it. First, for safety reasons, no one should ever try to do that from squat stands. Furthermore, he would need a heavy bar and at least a bunch of 100 pound plates. How prevalent were heavy bars back then?

I would not recommend that anyone try doing heavy supports with the bar in front because the bar can cut off your circulation and you can end up on the ground! That happened to me the only time I tried doing partial front squats, circa 1964. I was doing partial back squats with 850 for 3 reps then, starting from the bottom, with what would have been an 8-inch movement before the weight scrunched me up. So one day I decided to doing partial front squats, just for variety. Bad decision.

It isn’t good for anyone’s spine to try to support a huge amount of weight while standing, regardless of whether the bar is in front of or behind one’s head. I felt that the partial back squats did help my jerk, but they were also a bit risky relative to my spine, as I could tell that bad things could happen if I got a bit off balance, even though I was inside my power rack.

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Thanks, Al, I enjoyed watching those. Eric’s 350 Anderson Press blew me away somewhat. I guess I should not be surprised, though, because I see that he has a 320 log press to his credit. That’s pretty stout when one considers that Kazmaier did 360 at the 1981 WSM contest and that was the highest log press of the day. Of course Zydrunas has moved the log lift record into another world!

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from jarrod on October 17, 2011, 13:23[/b]
is there a difference between the side press & the bent press? i’m excited for the single-arm challenge…except for this lift.

Yes, there is a big difference in the performance of the lifts. A side press is, literally, a press, whereas a bent press is more a matter of just getting under the bar by lowering the torso to a very low position. The bent press is extremely difficult to learn and many lifters, including me, never master it. Anyone, however, can do a side press.

[Tom Ryan]

I wouldn’t worry about it, Abe. Just try to “stay lubricated” as much as possible. I’ve been a “rice krispies” lifter for decades but there has never been any pain. All of my joints are the original ones and they feel fine.

I love your solution, Al. I don’t understand how the modern lifter can train under the very noisy conditions that one encounters in today’s gyms. I wanted perfect quiet whenever I was about to start a lift. No dogs barking, nothing.

[Tom Ryan]

[b]Quote from JWCIII on September 19, 2011, 08:35[/b]
Will do.

Thom,

I believe you have forgotten to e-mail me your article. 🙂

Tom

[Tom Ryan]

Abe,

Well, I am certainly one of those “advanced age” lifters and I have a long history of knees cracking, off and on.

Art Tarwater may have been the first “Rice Krispies” Missouri Valley lifter, as that was what he was called because of the noise that his knees made. Bill Clark and I have joked about the racket my knees have made in competition and he brought up Tarwater.

There is friction between bones in joints when cartilage is wearing thin, but I don’t know if that is your problem. Another possible cause is a shortage of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints.

I had a scary moment about 13 years ago when I planted my left foot when I was climbing some steps and my left knee seemed to shift. I thought I was literally falling apart and I shortly thereafter starting taking Glucosamine/Chondroiton, which I have taken ever since. That seemed to help immediately!

Glucosamine is believed to increase the thickness of synovial fluid and thus make it more effective as a lubricant. See, for example, http://www.coachroblowe.com/nutrition-glucosamine.htm

It is also believed that Glucosamine may increase synovial fluid http://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/pdf/6874.pdf

I did thousands of squat cleans and squat snatches when I was in my prime and since I have always had slender legs (even when I weighed over 300) and excellent flexibility, I hit some very deep positions, which undoubtedly stressed my knees considerably.

I can’t recall ever having any knee joint pain, however, so I must have been doing something right.

Now at the age of 66, various bones crack when I get out of a chair, but not necessarily my knees. This includes bones in my lower legs and I just decided to do a test as I was typing this, so I got up from my chair and my left elbow cracked, among other bones. (I did presses yesterday, so that might have something to do with it.) I still have all of my joints and I don’t have any joint pain, so at my age I am certainly not complaining! 🙂

Tom

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