Heavy Lift Championship-The Neck Lift

By Eric Todd

With the Heavy Lift Championship only a few months away (it occurs on May 9 this year), I thought I would try to drum up some interest by writing a series of articles.  Last time I hosted this meet, I ran a series of articles that related to the performance of the lift.  The one for the neck lift can be found here: Neck Lift

From my understanding, the neck lift is only contested in All-round organizations such as IAWA. Otherwise, it seems like different variations of the neck lift have been used by old time strongman-esque performers.  Here is a video from a performance at Coney Island. It includes footage of a fellow named Steve Weiner performing a neck lift and hold with a fire hydrant: Coney Island

I have read a number of accounts, in particular one by Bill Pearl who is seemingly rather an expert in physical culture.  This particular account is of a strongman named John B. Gagnon.  Gagnon, at one point won the title of World’s Strongest man from Warren Lincoln Travis.  The title was unofficial, as the event was unsanctioned; however, he did, according to this account, best the champion in this particular competition.  All the lifts were done using a platform that could be lifted from above or below.  A number of lifts were contested in this challenge, including several of our heavy lifts.  This meet did include a neck lift, where the claim was that this strongman, Gagnon, hoisted a lift of 1317 pounds. (Pearl).

john b gagnon

Pearl, Bill. John B. Gagnon. 1 Oct. 2018.

I found an image of a strongman from the Bronx named Joe Ragusa who moved to Hollywood to perform in the pictures.  This image shows him doing something similar to our neck lifts with a weight of 655 pounds, though it does not appear that using this method would put nearly as much torque on the neck muscles as what Our USAWA/IAWA method does.

joeragusa-strongman

Wood, John. Joe Ragusa. 30 May 2017.

Then, there was a gentleman only known as “Kong” who claimed to have the world’s strongest neck.  HE has a claim of 502 pounds lifted with his neck.  As you can see from the photo, this method would put a great deal of torque on the neck; however, you can see that he has a hand holding the chain, so I am not completely sure what to think of this claim.

kong-neckstrength

Wood, John. Kong. 8 Nov. 2017.

Outside of Old time strongman acts and circus type performers, the neck lift has pretty much only been a movement used in our organization.  It appears that it has pretty much been contested in our organization since it’s inception, with the earliest record still in our record book being a 470 pound effort by  18 year old Randy Breitenfield on January 23 1988 at the Zercher (I can only assume that refers to the Zercher Classic in Columbia, MO). It also was contested in the USAWA National Championship in 1989.There have been a number of superb neck lifters over the years in the USAWA.  The Women have been dominated by a handful, with Kerry Clark being the cream of the crop with a few attempts over 500 pounds.  Here is a list of women lifters who have have met or exceeded 300 pounds in the neck lift:

Kerry Clark 550 1995 Nationals in Columbia, MO
Jacqueline Caron 400 1992 Gold Cup
Cassie Morrison 325 2016 Heavy Lift Championship
Angela McBride 300 1999 Zercher Challenge

Back in 2011, Al posted an article with the top male neck lifters of all time. neck lift list The numbers have jumped some since, and some new names added to the list of men who have gone 600 pounds or more.   The current list is as follows:

Eric Todd 1080 2014 Heavy Lift Championships
Chad Ullum 1020 2015 Heavy Lift Championship
Joe Ciavattone, Sr 805 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Al Myers 780 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Frank Ciavattone 750 2002 Heavy Lift Championship
Joe Ciavattone, Jr 700 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Christopher Lestan 700 2019 Heavy Lift Championship
Jeff Ciavattone 650 2013 Heavy Lift Championship
Mike McBride 630 2005 National Championship
Joe Garcia 623 1998 Nationals, Mansfield
Dale Fries 605 1995 Goerner
Nile Larson 603 2004 Heavy Lift Championship
John Monk 600 2000 Heavy Lift Championship

In the USAWA Steve Scmidt was the first to hit both the 400 and 500 pound benchmarks in the neck lift.  Big Frank was the first to 600, with his brother Joe Sr being the first to hit 700 and 800 pounds.  Chad Ullum was the first to 900, and I was the first to 1000. Will we see a first to hit 1100 at this edition of the Heavy Lift Championship?  Time will tell…

Myers, Al. “CHAD’S 900 POUND NECK LIFT.” USAWA, 27 May 2011, usawa.com/chads-900-pound-neck-lift/.

“New Video: Coney Island Olde Time Strongman Spectacular!” Markets of New York City, 5 June 2012, marketsofnewyork.com/2012/06/new-video-coney-island-olde-time-strongman-spectacular/.

Pearl, Bill. “Bill Pearl.” John B. Gagnon, 1 Oct. 2018, www.facebook.com/116733248412758/posts/john-b-gagnon-born-in-1883-in-caribou-maine-was-a-strongman-performer-in-the-192/1881209421965123/.

Wood, John. “Neck Lift Archives.” Www.oldtimestrongman.com, 8 Nov. 2017, www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/tag/neck-lift/.

Training Partners Are Your Best Friend

By Christopher Lestan

Training, working out, or simply picking stuff up can be tough. Sometimes its a drag, and often can wear and tear on our minds. This can lead to over-training or even the worst of the options…. quitting. That is why it’s always important to have a training partner. While this article can be about training partners are important. I’m going to reflect on why they are your best friends and simply the closest thing to family outside of the family.

To put it simply… your training partner sees you at your worst, best, and even both at the same time. They have seen you scream at the barbell when it doesn’t move on an attempt in your 5×5 workout program. They have seen you come into the gym angry, frustrated and upset about something in your personal life. They have seen you make personal bests on lifts, and the hard work and determination it has taken to you to get to that goal.

Your training partner or partners are there always in the lowest of times, and the highest of times. They are there when you win 1st Overall at Worlds, 2nd overall at Worlds, or not even placing in the top 10. Heck, when you bomb out of meet they tend to be the first ones to tell you “it’s alright”. No matter the place of a competition they are always there. They don’t leave and go off to find the next “big thing” in the field of lifting. They stay put and get you ready for the next training cycle.

They help you load your barbell for the first set for the workout and decide whether or not that was “RPE 9”, “RPE 7.5” or “RPE 11/10″. Often they will be pushing you to do another set because they want to go home and go to bed. Sometimes you sit there with your training partner after a set of 10 and stare at each other and say at the same time ” 3 more sets”.

Your training partners are also your best critic. Often the saying “you had one more”, “didn’t hit depth”, or “no lockout” are often sayings that will be heard in the gym. This can lead to some heated arguments, but in a couple of hours, you will be on good terms again.

Your training partners are best friends. They are always there. They won’t leave.

 

Grip Championships

By Ben Edwards

2020 USAWA GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

Group picture from the 2020 USAWA Grip Championships

Group picture from the 2020 USAWA Grip Championships

The 2020 USAWA Grip Champs was another very well run contest at the Dino Gym. My wife Carrie and daughter Josie drove with me and cheered me on for the first and last events. And there were plenty of fun things to do in Abilene to keep Josie occupied while I competed.

I got to reconnect with many old friends. Jason Payne and his son Jarod were return competitors.

Dave Glasgow harassed Chad Ullom throughout the meet, and it was hilarious.

I was surprised when I walked in the door with only about 20 minutes until contest start and saw Bill Clark across the room. I hadn’t seen him since Al and I did the Record Day at Clark’s Gym in 2009. Joe Caron  made the trip and it was nice to meet him.

Denny Habecker and Dean Ross were there again.

Eric Todd, John Strangeway, and Lance Foster made the trip. I think they are all members of the same gym.

LaVerne was an excellent host and everyone had a great time.

Meet promoter LaVerne Myers (left) with myself

Meet promoter LaVerne Myers (left) with myself

I thought the lineup of events was well chosen. My grip failed long before my body would in any of the events.

We started off with the 2″ vertical bar. The bar felt slick to me until about halfway through warmups when the chalk started to accumulate a bit on the bar. In training I had recently pulled 213lbs. So my goal was about 215lbs and I got it on a 3rd attempt. I won this event, but I’m not sure by how much because I didn’t see the scorecard. I actually used my left hand, even though my right hand has been stronger in training by about 20lbs. The reason was because my right hand was going to be doing two of the events and I wanted to save it for those.

Jarod Payne deserves a mention on this (and every other event) event because I think he pulled 192lbs and had never touched a 2″ vertical bar before. He was pulling all his attempts so fast and effortlessly that we were joking with him about not snatching the weight.

Next event was the One Hand Fulton Dumbbell Deadlift. I stunk up the room with my lifting. But it was fun to watch the top 3 – LaVerne, Chad, and John battle it out for the top lift. I don’t even know the winning lift. But I think it was 180lbs. I only pulled 170lbs and barely got that.

The Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift was next. I’ve never been good at this lift. But I do enjoy it. I had a solid lift with 240lbs and then only pulled 250lbs a few inches off the ground. Again, LaVerne, Chad, and John were the top lifters and they all did some great pulls. Again, I don’t know what the top lift was but I thought it was around 280lbs. I think this is the lift where Bill Clark almost crushed his foot to dust on one of his attempts.

Final event was the one hand thumbless grip deadlift. This is usually a good event for me. But my right forearm was cramping up and I was unsure where to jump in to make sure I didn’t bomb out. I barely got 205lbs. And then missed 215lbs by a half second. John beat me handily on this event too. Chad might have also, but we were very close in the end.

LaVerne jokingly told me after the contest that he made sure to include vertical bar so that I’d compete. He was not wrong. I enjoy vertical bar the best.

In the end, LaVerne whooped us all like rented mules. It was something like 200+ points over 2nd place. I think I edged Dave out by a close margin because I think he called for a recount.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s Grip Champs! Hope to see you there.

MEET RESULTS:

2020 USAWA Grip Championships
Dino Gym
Holland, Kansas
February 8th, 2020

Meet Director: LaVerne Myers

Scorekeeper: Chad Ullom

Official (1-official system used): LaVerne Myers, Dave Glasgow & Denny Habecker

Lifts: Vertical Bar Deadlift 2″ One Arm, Deadlift Fulton Dumbbell One Arm, Deadlift 2 Inch Dumbbells, Deadlift No Thumb One Arm

MENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT VB1 FD1 IDB DLNT TOT PTS
LaVerne Myers 75 227 162R 170R 240 175L 747 909.6
Chad Ullom 48 219 187R 180R 260 195R 822 761.5
John Strangeway 41 207 190L 180L 260 215L 845 755.1
Ben Edwards 44 234 215L 170R 240 205R 830 714.8
Dave Glasgow 66 248 147R 155R 200 190R 692 705.7
Denny Habecker 77 182 102L 120R 140 135R 497 703.1
Bill Clark 87 213 82L 95R 120 125R 422 618.8
Joseph Caron 74 185 92R 100R 140 125R 457 614.5
Jason Payne 54 321 172L 160R 230 180R 742 599.9
Eric Todd 45 259 132R 140R 210 170R 652 538.7
Jerod Payne 18 286 187R 130R 220 160L 697 532.9
Dean Ross 77 237 87R 95L 130 115L 427 522.1
Lance Foster 54 340 142R 115R 160 130R 547 430.8

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORDS:

Joseph Caron – VB1: 102R
Chad Ullom – VB1: 195R
Denny Habecker – FD1: 125R
LaVerne Myers – IDB: 260
Dave Glasgow – IDB: 220
Chad Ullom – IDB: 280
John Strangeway – IDB: 270
Joseph Caron – DLNT: 135R
John Strangeway – DLNT: 221L

RIM LIFT EXHIBITION

LIFTER TOTAL
Jason Payne 340
Dave Glasgow 300
Eric Todd 300
Chad Ullom 300
John Strangeway 280
LaVerne Myers 280
Denny Habecker 210
Lance Foster 210
Bill Clark 160
Dean Ross 160

RECORD DAY LIFTING

John Strangeway – 41 Years, 207 lbs. BWT  (3 official system used)
Trap Bar Deadlift:  550 lbs
Deadlift 2 Fulton Dumbbells: 320 lbs

Dean Ross – 77 Years, 237 lbs. BWT (1 official system used)
Clean and Jerk 2 Dumbbells: 50 lbs
Clean and Jerk Dumbbell Right Arm: 25 lbs
Clean and Jerk Dumbbell Left Arm: 25 lbs
Clean and Jerk Fulton Bar: 40 lbs
Clean and Push Press 2 Dumbbells: 60 lbs.

NOTES: All lifts recorded in pounds. BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  R and L designate right and left arms. TOT is total pounds lifted.  PTS are overall adjusted points corrected for age and bodyweight. 

Dave Glasgow – Lifter of the Month

By Al Myers

Dave Glasgow is the Lifter of the Month for December 2019.

Dave Glasgow is the Lifter of the Month for December 2019.

The USAWA LIFTER OF THE MONTH for December is Dave Glasgow, leader of the Ledaig Heavy Athletics Club.   In December Dave anchored his club to a victory in the USAWA Club Championships.  Dave is very deserving of this award as he has been very involved in the USAWA of the past 10 years.

Congrats Dave!!!

Rule Book Updates

By Al Myers

I have added the Rule Book updates to the website, under “About Us” then “Rule Book”.   These were the updates that were voted on and passed at the 2019 Annual General Meeting of the USAWA.    Please just print off this page and add it to your current Rule Book.  Since there have been just a few changes/updates I’ve decided to do it this way instead of completely publishing a new edition of the Rule Book.

The current USAWA Rule Book is the 10th Edition Rule Book.

1 … 107 108 109 110 111 … 496