PLANETS ALIGN

BY DAVE GLASGOW

Dave (left) and Thom (right) enjoy an interesting conversation over a good meal following the 2011 Ledaig Record Day last summer. Dave put his new scales to use at this meet conducting weigh-ins at 12:00 AM the day of the meet (as required by the USAWA rules that weigh-ins must be on the same day). It was the only time I have EVER weighed in at midnight the day of the meet. His new scales were very accurate, and by having this early weigh-in we all could all enjoy breakfast! (photo and caption by Al Myers).

AROUND CHRISTMAS TIME LAST YEAR, I, UNFORTUNATELY, BECAME THE EXECUTER TO MY BROTHER’S ESTATE.  HE DIED VERY SUDDENLY WHICH THREW ME INTO A SOMEWHAT PRECARIOUS JACKPOT.  HOWEVER, HIS DEMISE IS NOT THE SUBJECT OF THIS STORY.  THIS IS A STORY ABOUT HOW, SOMETIMES, THE PLANETS ALL ALIGN AND THE NET RESULT IS YOU CAN MAKE SOMETHING GOOD COME FROM A SAD SITUATION.

AMONG MY BROTHER’S EFFECTS WERE HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES WHICH HE HAD, OBVIOUSLY, ACCUMULATED OVER THE YEARS.  MY DILEMMA WAS HOW TO BEST DISPERSE THESE ARTIFACTS!!  WE HAD BEEN SORTING AND CLEANING FOR SOME TIME.   HOWEVER IT GETS TO A POINT WHERE YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF THE ARTICLES AT HAND OR YOU FIND YOURSELF MOVING ITEMS FROM ONE ROOM TO THE OTHER WITHOUT GETTING ANYTHING ACCOMPLISHED.  SO, WHEN MY BELOVED WIFE OF 36 YEARS, GUNNER, TOLD ME THERE WAS TO BE AN AUCTION FOR THE CHURCH (SHE HAS ATTENDED TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH SINCE WE WERE MARRIED AND TAUGHT AT THE SCHOOL THERE FOR 25YEARS), WE BOTH DECIDED THAT DONATING A GOOD PORTION OF HIS ITEMS WOULD BE A GOOD THING ON SO MANY FRONTS!

HOWEVER, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BEING  “REMINDED”  THAT THE AUCTION WAS COMING UP, IT WAS TO THE POINT THAT I WAS GROWING VERY WEARY OF HEARING ABOUT  THE CHURCH’S AUCTION.  FINALLY, THE DAY CAME TO GATHER THE GOODS AND GET THEM TO THE AUCTION SITE.  WITH THE HELP OF TWO TRUSTED FRIENDS AND GUNNER, WE TOOK THREE PICKUP TRUCKS FULL OF THINGS TO BE DONATED.  WE ARRIVED AT THE BARN WHERE THEY WERE HOLDING THE AUCTION AND QUICKLY UNLOADED OUR GOODS INTO THE CAVERNOUS BUILDING THAT WAS GROWING SMALLER BY THE MINUTE!  WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE LOOKING AT THE THINGS OTHER FOLKS BROUGHT, THE PASTOR STROLLS UP TO ME AND SAYS, “FEEL FREE TO COME ON SATURDAY AND TAKE SOME OF THIS STUFF OFF OUR HANDS!!”  I CHUCKLED AND MUMBLED SOMETHING ABOUT HAVING ENOUGH “STUFF”  TO LAST THE REST OF MY LIFE, WHEN, ALL AT ONCE, I GLANCE OVER AND SEE THREE MEDICAL QUALITY SCALES ON THE OPPOSITE WALL!!!  I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ONE OF THOSE FOR OVER A YEAR AND HERE STOOD THREE. HOLY HELL, BATMAN!!!!

I PRACTICALLY RAN TO THE SCALES AND GREETED THEM AS LONG LOST, TREASURED FRIENDS.

WELL, I BOUGHT ONE OF THEM ON THE SPOT!! HOWEVER, THAT IS JUST THE START OF THE STORY!  AS I WAS WALKING OVER TO PAY FOR THE RELEASE OF MY NEWLY ACQUIRED PAL, I HAPPENED TO LOOK DOWN AT MY FEET AND, TO MY SHOCK, AMAZEMENT AND UTTER DELIGHT, SPIED A YORK BARBELL  SET!!!  I LITERALLY POUNCED ON THOSE SHINING (YES, SHINING!) WEIGHTS, IN FEAR THAT SOMEONE ELSE WOULD SPOT THEM AND GET TO THEM BEFORE I COULD!  GET TO THEM THEY MIGHT!!  HOWEVER, NOT UNTIL THERE WAS ONE HELL OF A FIGHT!!  NOW, FORGET THE FACT THAT THE ONLY OTHER FOLKS THERE WERE EITHER WITH ME OR THE HANDFUL OF CHURCH PEOPLE SETTING THINGS UP!  NO, BY GOD, THIS CATCH WAS MINE!!  THIS PRISTINE YORK SET WAS OF THE ONE INCH, “EXERCISE”  WEIGHT VARIETY, WITH THE 5 FOOT BAR, ADJUSTABLE DUMBELLS, ADJUSTABLE  KETTLEBELL HANDLES AND THE WEIGHT BOOTS!!!   I  AM GUESSING IT IS OF THE 60s VINTAGE.  I WAS ALSO DUMBFOUNDED TO FIND THAT THERE SET THE ORIGINAL CANVAS AND LEATHER STRAPS FOR THE BOOTS!  I JUST KEPT REPEATING, “I CAN‟T BELIEVE THIS!! I CAN‟T BELIEVE THIS!!”

I RAN OVER TO MY BUDDIES (WHO ARE LIFTERS AND “GAMERS” AS WELL) AND SAID, “DUDES!!! COME HERE! COME HERE!!” I WAS SO EXCITED; I HAD GOOSE BUMPS ON MY ARMS!!  MY ONE FRIEND SAID, “MAN, YOU NEED TO RELAX! IT’S JUST A WEIGHT SET. ” OHHHH, THE HUMANITY!! WHAT A HERETICAL THING TO COME FROM THE MOUTH OF ONE OF THE BRETHREN!!!”  AS WE STOOD THERE ADMIRING MY BOUNTY, I COULD ALMOST HEAR THAT WEIGHT SET SAY, “WELL, IF IT AIN’T OLE’ DAVE, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, COME TO TAKE US HOME AT LAST!”

TAKE YOU HOME, INDEED!!  JUST AS HARD AND FAST AS I POSSIBLY CAN!!   I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE WHAT TREASURES SHOW THEMSELVES THE NEXT TIME THE PLANETS ALIGN!!

Are you fit?

by Al Myers

James Gardner "in action" in the Tug of War competiton held the day after the Gold Cup at the Holland Sports Club. The Holland Tug of War Club competes at the World level, and in a few weeks will be competing in Belgium.

A couple of  weekends ago  at the Gold Cup in England, my daughter Emily was explaining to my English mate James Gardner what a sorority was in the United States.  She was telling him about her sorority that she lives in at the University, and how it is an organized group house with 50-100 other girls and how they participate in philanthropy on the campus and  in the community.  I found the whole conversation quite comical, but when James asked her if  “the girls were fit?” and Emily replied, “yes, we all work out at the fitness center”, I knew her answer was not what was meant by James’ question!  He was wanting to know if these girls possessed certain beautiful traits to his liking, while Emily thought he was talking about their level of  physical fitness.  Later that weekend on the Sunday after the meet, I was privileged to attend a benefit to raise funds for breast cancer hosted by the Holland Tug of War Club, which James is a part of and his dad Steve is the coach.  Several Tug of War teammates and pullers from other teams showed up to support the cause.  Steve divided all in attendance up evenly and a short tournament was contested.  It was when Steve announced to the crowd that the winning team would be taking on the AMERICAN DREAM TEAM (and pointing to Denny, Emily, and myself) that I started to get worried.  Sure, I have particapated in Tug of War contests in my college days, but after watching these seasoned Tug of War pullers go “after it” in serious competition  I knew I  was nothing more than a rank amateur with very little Tug of War skills, and for sure would make a fool of myself!  But I don’t turn down a good challenge, so when the time came to perform I gave it all I had.   I would say the first 10-20 seconds I felt pretty good about things, but the next couple of minutes were sheer torture.  Finally it was over and I thought that was it, but then Steve said it was going to be the “best of three”.  Well, let me tell you I was still bent over “huffing and puffing” when it was time to start the next pull!

This is a picture of James perfoming a 70 KG Turkish Get Up with a bar at the 2011 Gold Cup. This is the most ever done in the IAWA. James is one of those very unique athletes who is able to "be fit" to compete in two different sports at the international level.

This story brings me to a discussion Steve and I had later that night in the pub when I was telling him how impressed I was with his Tug of War Club.  Steve explained to me the training they do weekly, and the things they do to prepare for a full day of pulling, which may consist of 50 or so pulls in a day.  That takes lots of conditioning and stamina.   That brings us to the title of today’s story – ARE YOU FIT?  After talking with Steve, it is apparent to me that this question is a  very vague one, and only applies to whatever sport you are trying to be FIT FOR.  Just like James’ definition of “being fit” was different from Emily’s, there are many other different definitions of “being fit”.    I feel like I’m fit for a weightlifter, but obviously not for other strength sports, like Tug of War. I plan my training to prepare myself for a full day of weightlifting competition.  At least once per week I have a long training session (over 4 hours) so when meet time rolls around I still feel strong at the end of the day.  Sometimes I even take a long break during my workout (30-60 minutes) and resume training to simulate a long day with a break at a meet.  I have been around alot of lifters and throwers who don’t realize this is an important training effect and neglect it, only to be “totally shot” by the end of the day and end up deadlifting a lot less than they could in a powerlifting meet since the deadlift is last, or missing that last height in the WOB at the end of the day that they should get because they are worn out by that point.  It is all about being “FIT” for the sport you do, and that is what your training should be preparing you for.  I have had young highschool boys come the Dino Gym to workout, and after putting them through a squat workout that is less than I do weekly, it leaves them sore for days, sometimes unable to walk.  And these are kids who play football, are in good shape, can run windsprints all day long, but not “FIT” for lifting weights even though they are “FIT” for football.  

It is IMPOSSIBLE to be FIT for everything.   Pick what’s important to you and focus your training on that.  And when it comes time to compete, it will pay off and you can call yourself FIT.

Resorteras, Rehab, and Records

by John McKean

John McKean in the shooting position with his resoteras. A strong pull is needed, which works both the triceps and delts.

“THWACK!!!” A golf ball left mighty Paul Anderson’s tee after a typical set of ten with 800 pounds on the squat. You see, it is said that ole Paul had a three hole golf course set up on the grounds of his famous youth home, and he’d play the holes in between sets! This proved to be ideal “active rest”, well deserved fresh air, and much needed recuperation for the strongest man of all time.

“THWACK!!!” This is the noise that my nosy next door neighbor may hate worse than the clanging weights resonating from my open garage door. No, I’m not a golfer, but get this similar sound effect while target shooting my “resortera”, a Mexican term for a homemade, powerful, hunting-capable slingshot. Last year I renewed my acquaintance with slingshot target work, and find it a very relaxing, yet exercise oriented way of calming down from heavy, home gym lifts. The outdoor few minutes, alone ( I don’t rest quite as long as Paul Anderson did!) seems to energize me into better lifting efforts! Certainly the equipment is easy to acquire – the “resortera” concept dictates that you build your own slingshot from tree branch “Ys” (or cut from board or metal- a hunter/lifter/builder like Al Myers would probably weld one from thick steel to keep it HEAVY !), basic office rubber bands, and stones,marbles, or hexnuts for “ammo” (easy instructions for building lots of variations can be goggled at rebelslingshotforum ). I can attest to an actual increase of tone in my arms, delts, lats, and pecs from this unique band work (With the powerful hunting set up of seemingly simple office type rubber bands, a slingshot pull can get rather intense. You should see the wild game that my friends Jamie, Nico, Chepo, and Xidoo acquire with their homemade killing machines!) and nutrition habits (pizza!) of son, Rob,keeps me well supplied with cardboard boxes that serve as targets on my outdoor ” range”!

John demonstrating a band back press

Now in terms of bands, always a favorite subject of mine, the slingshot was not my only rubber training tool during this past summer. I’d been having really spirited productive lifting sessions early on, but was out fishing (another favorite outdoor activity- I tease Big Al by telling him that the fish I catch are so big & plentiful that I should apply for a “fish lift” category in the USAWA!)  and once found my foot shifting quickly on a hill over loose gravel; well,both the right knee and left lower back went into sudden ache mode,and stayed that way. Even a few days off, and a serious visit to my chiropractor didn’t give much comfort. But,  heck, there were meets approaching and records to set, so I just couldn’t take a long layoff!! While limping out to fire my nifty, homemade driftwood resortera one morning, I began to formulate a plan as the fresh air did its usual magic to invigorate me. I’d simply start all lifting sessions with Dr. Len Schwartz’ “Longstrength” concept, via Jumpstretch’s medium strength “mini-monster” bands. I did 50 reps with 2 bands over my shoulders for braced squatting, cable pulldowns while lunging toward my wounded knee for 35-45 reps, back presses while lunging over the other knee, high pulls along with wide squats, lying cable flys with leg pull-ins, and good morning bends + tricep pushes with the band over my neck. All light resistance, high rep combination style movements (which is the Longstrength concept) that really “gave an excuse” for blood to flush into the wounded areas. The fast paced  250+ reps also served as the best lifting warmup I’ve ever done!

My main workout,of course, had to be treated with “kid gloves”. The slingshot breaks kept me from getting really crazy (all you who know me, keep the laughter down and continue reading!!) , with restoring fresh air allowing time for common sense to intervene. So I’d take some of our most stable all-round lifts and do them in as perfect form as I could, adding control and slower tempo by placing a flex band over the bar (as I’ve displayed in past articles). With a single “mini-monster” band, I needed only to do a few singles up to about 60-70% of an anticipated record lift, that I was planning for the Fall meets. Often, especially if the knee or back started hinting that they were uncomfortable, I’d do the lighter build up singles without a band, then place it over the barbell to repeat the final top weight for the day for just that set. Usually a lift was completed in 4 easy sets (singles), and the five lift workouts were performed quickly with minimum agony.

John performs a "Longstrength" upright row and partial squat combo with a band.

As an aside, Dr. Schwartz often warned me that his Longstrength system was potent medicine. Shortly before his death (he was still exercising daily at 84 and could perform 35 consecutive, perfect chinups!), we’d had numerous spirited discussions on the great value of flex bands to supply constant tension during the fitness building, combination exercises.We even concluded that rubber cables fit in perfectly with his “moving isometrics” strength-aerobics concept. Yet I was still totally shocked to discover that my rehab program, seemingly quite mild, had reduced me to the middleweight division!

As I write this, I’m now mostly pain free and all set to try those records at Art’s Birthday meet in a few short days! Recent workouts, still with the same minimal approach, have been going great with emphasis on the prime commandment for Master’s lifting -” Thou shalt not injure thyself during training, ever! ” Now, if only I don’t go outside and catapult  a 200 fps rock into my thumb, I’ll be in fine shape!

The Second Apollon

by Dennis Mitchell

J.C. Tolson - the "second Apollon"

Most of today’s lifters are familiar with Louis Uni, who went by the stage name of Apollon. Uni was a 260 pound, 6 foot 3 inch strong man who lived from 1862 to 1928.  He was most famous for his railroad wheels barbell.  However,  there was a second Apollon named J. C. Tolson, who was born July 16, 1903 in Dewsbury, England.  Young Tolson got his inspiration to become a strongman after seeing a strongman at a traveling circus.  He was 17 years old at the time.  He started training and made very rapid progress, and soon was performing under the name of  The Mighty Young Apollon.  Tolson was much smaller than his name sake.  He stood 5′ 6″ tall, 17.5″ neck, 48.5″ expanded chest, 32″ waist, 14″ forearms, 17″ biceps, 24″ thighs, and 16″ calves.

Although Tolson was a very good all round lifter, he was outstanding at bending iron bars.  He entered a bar bending challenge in 1925 at the Empire Music Hall, put on by Alexander Zass, who went by the stage name of Samson.  This was his first competition and he took third place.  He rapidly improved and followed Zass as he put on challenges in other cities, always taking first place and the cash prizes.  By the time Tolson had won over 200 pounds, which was a lot of money in the 1920’s,  Zass changed his challenges to lifting a steel girder weighing 500 pounds.  Tolson again took first place, and the money, by lifting the girder with his teeth.   After this contest Tolson started issuing challenges for the title of Britain’s Champion Strongman.  The events consisted of bending iron bars in various ways, teeth lifting, the two hand military press, and the two hand dead lift.  Very few people took the challenge.  Tolson, billed as The Mighty Young Apollon, continued to perform as a professional strongman.  His act consisted of breaking chains with his fingers, lifting a 91.5 pound ring weight over head with his little finger (he later improved this to 108.25 pounds), bending iron bars,  and tearing playing cards still in their case into quarters.  He would drive a six inch nail into a wood plank and then pull the nail out with his teeth. He could support 20 men on his chest, and would have a tug-of-war with from 20 to 50 men, and at some shows would use two horses.  At a body weight of 168 pounds he did a pullover and press with 249 pounds. At 165 pounds he did a one hand dead lift of 500 pounds, and a press behind head with 214.5 pounds.  While weighing only 154.5 pounds he did a strict curl of 148 pounds. The heavy weight record at this time was only four pounds more.

As with many strong men of his time he also had a mail order muscle building course.  His course was mostly isometrics.  He would provide his students with various strength steel bars with instruction on how to bend them in order to work the different muscle groups.  His course sold into the 1950’s.  I could find no date for when or where he passed away.

My take on the Gold Cup

by Al Myers

A highlight at the Gold Cup for me was performing two 2-person lifts with my daughter Emily. On our first lift we did a 757# Straddle Deadlift, and on our second lift we did a 804# Deadlift. Both of these marks are ALL-TIME RECORDS in IAWA for a male-female team.

This is not intended to be a meet report, but rather “my take” on the 2011 IAWA Gold Cup held last weekend in Burton on Trent, England.  First of all, initially I was not planning on attending this meet since I’m going to the IAWA World Championships in Australia next month.  But when my good “mate” (that’s american for friend, haha) James Gardner invited me to stay at his place I could not turn him down. And after the fun-filled weekend I had, I’m glad I went! I made a quick trip out of it, only staying for the weekend.  I call a trip like this “pulling an Art” – after the the MAN OF STEEL  Art Montini and his reputation of going oversees to a big meet and only staying for the meet itself.  This weekend was EXTRA SPECIAL for me since I had my oldest daughter Emily traveling with me.  This was her first weightlifting meet EVER, and she only agreed to compete because that was the stipulation I had for taking her along!  

The person who made this event happen was our IAWA President Steve Gardner (in middle). To Steve's right is Chris Bass, who is the "official scorekeeper" for the IAWA.

Now for a  few general words on the Gold Cup.  This meet is one of TWO big IAWA competitions held each year (the World Championships is the other).  It was started years ago by Howard Prechtel as a meet to celebrate World Record Lifts by World Champions.  Initially, the only lifters who were eligible to compete were current World Champions.  A rule from the beginning in the Gold Cup is that the lifter must OPEN on his first attempt at a World Record in the lift of his choosing.  Also in the beginning each lifter could chose only one lift to perform their World Record in. You could call it the “ELITE OF RECORD DAYS” .  Since then the stipulations have been lessened and anyone can compete in the Gold Cup, regardless of whether they are a current World Champion or not.  If a lifter can not find a World Record they can break, they can enter the Silver Cup instead, and go for a National Record, or even just a personal best.  This way no one is excluded from this prestigious international event.  Also, at several Gold Cups of recent, time has allowed the lifters to have a second choice lift which they can perform as well.

I finally got to meet Steve Angell from England (right). Steve is a three time Overall Best Lifter at the IAWA World Championships (1996, 2000, 2001).

I felt the turnout for this meet was very good – 25 lifters took part.  Our IAWA President Steve Gardner was the meet promoter, and as he always does, promoted an exceptional meet.  I was glad the meet was held at his club in Burton, the Powerhouse Gym.  I like to experience the feeling of lifting in other all round clubs.  You feel “connected” to their involvement in All-Round Weightlifting.   Several outstanding records where set by the lifters in attendance. One of the neat things about a Gold Cup is that you get to see lifters perform the lifts that they are the best at, and in turn get to witness some great lifts.  The Gold Cup is not like any ole record day where the lifters go about their business lifting and doing records in a chaotic fashion.  One platform is set up and when it is YOUR time to lift you get it all to yourself while everyone else watches.  You perform all three (or four) of your attempts back to back, and the stage is all yours.  This allows one to watch EVERY LIFTER and gives each lifter a little extra recognition.  Like I said earlier, the Gold Cup is the ELITE OF RECORD DAYS.  The experience is WAY MORE than just setting a World Record, as it is about being part of something special offered by the IAWA.  I highly recommend that every All Round lifter go to the Gold Cup at least once in their life.  

James Gardner and his 96.5 KG One Handed Fulton Bar Deadlift. This is the most EVER lifted in this lift!

Now on to the lifts done.  I have done a lot of thinking what I would consider the BEST RECORDS of the day were.  This was a hard decision for me because I was very impressed with EVERY lifter, but I did come up with my TOP FIVE.   My vote for the NUMBER ONE GOLD CUP RECORD  was done by James Gardner.  James first lift was the newly formed IAWA lift, the Turkish Get Up.  In this he did the MOST ever done with a very fine lift of 70 KG.  But that’s not the lift that impressed me the most.  It was his second choice lift, the One Hand Fulton Bar Deadlift.  In this lift he lifted an UNBELIEVEABLE 96.5 KG (212 pounds).  This record is now the most EVER lifted in this lift, exceeding Frank Ciavattone’s mark of 210 pounds.  I consider Frank the BEST ONE HAND GRIP LIFTER in the history of the USAWA, so this really says something about James’ achievement in this lift.  Another lifter and lift that really impressed me, and was my second pick,  was Mark Haydock of England. Mark performed a 210 KG Front Squat breaking the previous World Record in this lift held by the current IAWA World Champion Chad Ullom.  I officiated Chad when he set his mark, and I remember how deep he took his front squat when he did it.  I was glad to see Mark break Chad’s record by taking his front squat just as deep.   My “third choice” in best records goes to England’s Steve Sherwood and his Ciavattone Grip Deadlift of 180 KG.  That is pushing 400 pounds for a lifter who is 60 years old and only weighs 80 KG!  What a grip!!   Later that night at the Gold Cup banquet Steve was inducted into the IAWA(UK) Hall of Fame, and it is no wonder why.  He lifts poundages that I would not expect him to lift.  He second choice lift of a 140 KG Fulton Bar Ciavattone Grip Deadlift was impressive as well.   Number 4 on my list goes to John Gardner and his 140 KG (309#) middle fingers straddle deadlift.   I would call John the “sleeper” in this group of great lifters because I didn’t expect a lift like that out of him.  That is a WORLD CLASS finger lift and on top of that, it appeared to me to be a submaximal effort on his part.  He made it look way to easy!  The last of my top five goes to the Scottish lifter Andy Tomlin and his 185.5 KG left handed deadlift.  Breaking 400 pounds in the one handed deadlift is always very impressive to watch, and currently there are only a small group of IAWA lifters who can do it.  To make Andy’s lift even that more impressive, is that he suffered a back injury a week earlier and wasn’t sure he would even be able to compete!   I will tell you this, later that night at the banquet when he was feeling really good (after a few pints of instant pain relief) he was really talking big – and issued a 2-man one arm deadlift challenge against Chad and myself at next year’s Gold Cup in Scotland.   He recruited Steve Angell to be his partner before even asking him, and of course I couldn’t turn him down even before asking Chad to be my partner.  Before long another “team” joined in this challenge as well (Mark Haydock and James Gardner).  So it looks like the 2012 Gold Cup is setting up to be a BIG SHOW of international competition in the 2-man one arm deadlift.  I did remind Andy that Chad and I have the BEST MARK ever set in this lift (done last year at the 2010 Gold Cup) of 800 pounds, so they better be in form “to bring it”.

Mark Haydock performing his record Front Squat of 210 KG.

I could go “on and on” about last weekends trip but I’m going to stop at this.  I especially want to thank Steve Gardner for his efforts in promoting this outstanding  meet.  It was a meet I will never forget.

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