OHHH! My Toe!
by Roger LaPointe
Al Myers doing a Steinborn Lift at the 2010 IAWA World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. The Steinborn Lift is a lift that requires very tight quality collars that won't slip off!
Clang! Ding! Bang! Ohhh! My TOE!
Imagine the sound of plate after plate hitting the floor and then the other plates bouncing off those plates and rolling on the floor, with the ringing sound of milled cast iron followed by intense cursing and swearing…
Yes, the catastrophic failure of a crappy spring collar is what I have just described. Of course, it is followed by intense pain, maybe a little blood and a quick trip to the emergency room. None of this is anything I want to be a part of. I really don’t want to be the guy being taken to the emergency room.
Before you do a lift, make sure someone reliable has checked your collars, particularly if you are doing a dumbbell lift. Equipment failures happen. If there is a bolt, it can come loose. If there is a collar, someone can forget to tighten it down. If there is a weld, it can break. As unbelievable as it sounds, I have even seen dumbbell heads that have sheared off the steal handles. The long and short of it is that people abuse gym equipment and there is NO way a manufacturer or gym owner can anticipate every stupid thing that can happen in a gym… Believe me, I can tell you stories.
Quality Spin-Lock Collars are available from Atomic Athletic.
You have to be responsible for your own actions. Check your equipment.
RULE #1
I never use crappy collars for dumbbell lifts and ALL Spring Collars are crappy.
RULE #2
If I am the one who might be injured, I check the equipment before lifting with it.
RULE #3
See Rule #1 and Rule #2. If I violate them, then I only have myself to blame.
I can get a little OCD and excessive about certain things and will simply go overboard sometimes. For example, I have a collection of collars, both standard size and Olympic sized. I use different ones for their ideal applications. If you are just realizing that your collars are an important part of your equipment arsenal, then here is a good place to start looking. I love spin-lock collars. I highly recommend that everyone own at least one pair.
Happy lifting. Make sure to tighten down your collars.
Live strong, Roger
“Today is a good day to lift.”