The Long Journey To York Barbell: Part I

by Thom Van Vleck

Thom Van Vleck completes the 73 year journey to York Barbell

Recently I traveled to York, Pa to the home of York Barbell to judge at the USAWA Heavy Lift Nationals.  This, however, is not a meet report but a story about a Long Journey.

Back in 1938 my Grandfather ordered his first “real” barbell set.  Oh, sure, he had been training for along time before this, since 1928 to be exact, but it was at this point he finally could afford a real barbell set to replace the bodyweight exercises, the concrete “bucket” weights, and the assorted things like anvils he would find to train with.  By that time he was married and I recall he had a real fight with my grandmother over ordering that set since they were short on cash.  But it was his dream.  I still have what is part of that set.

Then, in 1957, my Uncle’s Phil and Wayne began to train and scrimped and saved until they could order a real “Olympic” set.  There was other choice but York!  This was the classic deep dish York set.  At that time, Wayne and Phil became avid Olympic style lifting fans and at that time York Barbell was the center of it all.  When I started training, in 1977, my Uncle Wayne bought a new set to encourage me.  I remember vividly him ordering it with a mail order form and a check.  I’m pretty sure he wanted it as much as I did and it was just a good excuse to order a new set!

I have a few hundred Strength & Health and Muscular Development magazines that were published by York Barbell.  I’m not a collector, most are the magazines that my grandfather and Uncles bought off the news stand to read.  I would read these for countless hours as a kid when I started training and as a result, probably know more about York Barbell than all the people who currently work there!

So, when Al asked me to come along and be a judge, I pushed aside a chance to go to Iceland and compete in a highland games and chose to go to York.  You see, even though my family had been “York Men” since 1938, NOBODY from my family had ever been there!

So, here it was, 73 years after that first York barbell set was mail ordered by my grandfather and I was on my way to York.  I was pretty excited but at the same time, I was realistic.  I knew it was not what it was in the glory days.  But I hoped it would still be a great trip.

We arrived the morning of the contest and pulled up out front.  There was Bob Hoffman’s statue standing as proud as ever.  My grandfather used to tell me that Bob was “a little full of himself” and I had to chuckle as I looked at the statue.  Most accomplished men are a little full of themselves.  It often takes a big ego to drive great success.  I wish I could have met the guy, big ego aside, he did much for lifting and made America quite literally….a lot stronger.

The life size barbell mobile hanging in the York Barbell HQ....is that thing real!!!!

Soon, we went inside.  There was a large “Barbell Mobile” hanging from the ceiling.  Barbell plates and bars balanced from a single point from the ceiling.  Not sure if they were real….but if they were that’s a lot of weight hanging there!  Then to the right was a lifting auditorium where the hall of fame induction took place.  I walked through and into the gym area.  It was loaded with platforms and weights, much more modern than I expected but then again, this is not the “original” club where the “York Gang” trained.  That place was long gone and while we drove by the location, nothing remains of it downtown.

The York lifting auditorium

Next, I walked through the museum.  I won’t detail all of it, but while what was there was very cool, it was not as big as I expected, but still not a let down.   What was there oozed history.  I would detour through the museum many times while I was there, taking just a minute to look at something else I had missed.  I then went into the retail store, that was nice, again not as big as I expected but it had “one of everything”.  While there I picked up matching York Barbell shirts with the old style split jerk logo for me and my Uncle Wayne.  I took tons of photos so that later I could show Wayne and Phil a “virtual” tour of the place.  I didn’t go anywhere else, but looked around at the warehouse.  The foundry is gone, they don’t make anything on site anymore.   Later, we also traveled by Bob Hoffman’s old house as the sun set on my York trip and we called it a day.

Next:  Part II My feelings about my Trip.

Heavy Lift Nationals

by Al Myers

MEET RESULTS
HEAVY LIFT NATIONALS

Group picture from the 2011 USAWA Heavy Lift Nationals. (front row left to right): Denny Habecker, Chad Ullom, James Fuller, Al Myers (back row left to right): Thom Van Vleck, Joe Garcia, Scott Schmidt, Randy Smith, Dennis Mitchell, LaVerne Myers (not pictured): Art Montini, Kohl Hess

Last weekend was a weekend I had been looking forward to for a long time!  Mike Locondro, of York Barbell,  had graciously invited us to be part of special day at York Barbell that included the York Hall of Fame induction of Slim “The Hammerman” Farman.  The days festivities included many functions, and our meet was just a small part of the things going on.  This report will only cover the Heavy Lift Nationals.  I’m sure the other activities and special events will be covered in future USAWA Daily News stories – so I’ll save those for that time.

Due to this meet being contested at the “mecca” of weightlifting York Barbell, we had the largest turnout of lifters for a Heavy Lift Nationals in a long time.  The attendees included some old veterans (Art Montini and Dennis Mitchell), some experienced Heavy Lifters (myself, Chad Ullom, Scott Schmidt, and Joe Garcia), as well as some newcomers to the Heavy Lift Nationals (James Fuller, Randy Smith  and Kohl Hess).  The judging crew was as good as it gets.  These guys took their job serious and looked the part of competent officials as they were all dressed in the new USAWA Officials Shirts with black slacks.  Our USAWA President Denny Habecker served as head judge and did an excellent job. Every lift was held for a count with a down command.  All lifts were required to “become motionless” as the rules require before the down command was given.  I don’t even recall a questionable lift being passed.  Thom Van Vleck served as one of the side judges and seemed very focused on his duties all day.  LaVerne Myers, my father and recent new USAWA Official, made his judging debut and looked the part of an old seasoned judge.  These guys didn’t just sit in the chairs half asleep, but instead, got down on the floor to make sure the weights cleared the platform.

The officials at this meet were dressed in official judging attire. I felt their professional appearance provided a positive reflection on the USAWA. (left to right): LaVerne Myers, Denny Habecker, and Thom Van Vleck

Now on to the lifting!  The first lift contested was the Neck Lift.  The expectations were high for Chad Ullom, as he just recently did a 750 pound lift at the Club Challenge in Ambridge.  Let me tell ya – he didn’t disappoint anyone!  He opened with an easy 700 pound opener, and then jumped to an ALL-TIME WORLD RECORD lift of 810 pounds.  He made it with ease.  At this point, the largest crowd of the day that were watching our meet had gathered.  For his third attempt he went for 850 pounds.  It looked as easy as his opener.  I was doing my best to get the crowd “fired up”.  It didn’t take much prodding to get Chad to take a shot at 900 pounds, which is more than 90 pounds more than anyone had ever done in history.  Chad didn’t waste any time in getting to it and made HISTORY by becoming the first man to ever Neck Lift over 900 pounds. And with this, broke the previous record THREE TIMES in one day.   This amazing lift made quite the impression on several of those in attendance, as throughout the rest of the day he was receiving congratulations on his record lift.  I’m tremendously happy for Chad and this record.  There was no question on it being a good lift (I have a picture showing the weight off the platform and evidence recorded on video).  It marked a great start of the day. 

Following the Neck Lift, we were scheduled to take a break for the Hall of Fame Inductions and other performances on the main stage.  This added to the difficulty of this meet.  We had to constantly “warm up” again for the next lifts as we had to take breaks throughout the day.   The next lift was the Hand and Thigh. Joe Garcia showed everyone that he is still “King of the Hand and Thigh” by putting up the meet best lift of 1400 pounds.  I was next in line with a 1300 pound lift, followed by Chad’s 1250.  The last lift of the day was the Hip Lift.  By this time, Joe had pretty much sealed the victory and the battle was for second place between Chad and myself.  Chad has really progressed in the Heavy Lifts, and put up a 1800 which is a personal best. I managed a 1900 pound Hip Lift on my last lift to edge him out for second place overall.   The interesting thing is that Chad, Joe and me all tied in total poundage with 3900 pound totals.  But when the age and bodyweight corrections were made, Joe won fairly easily.  I consider Joe one of the “top 3” heavy lifters in USAWA History,  and he proved it again at York.

There are several other lifters I would like to mention.  What more can be said about Art Montini??  He makes all of his lifts look easy and you just have to scratch your head in disbelieve at the amount of weight he lifts at his age.  He doesn’t seem to age, as his lifts are always as good as the year before.  Dennis Mitchell was solid in everything.  He does his Hip Lifts facing the bar (instead of straddling it), but uses this technique to his advantage.  James Fuller made his first USAWA appearance, and what a trooper he is!  This is not the best choice of a meet for your first outing in the USAWA, but James fit right in with the rest of us and with a little more specific training on these lifts he will be a force to be reckoned with.  Randy Smith made the trip from Michigan with Helen and has showed tremendous improvement in the Heavy Lifts.  Randy is now equipped with all the Heavy Lift Equipment, and I could tell his training had paid off. Scott Schmidt was a steady as ever.  I know he was nursing a sore knee that held him back a little, but not once during the day did I hear him complain about it.  Things like that impress me.  He was there to support the event even when he wasn’t 100 percent.  Scott has the spirit of  a Champion, and every lifter has the utmost respect for him.  After the meet was over, David “The Iron Tamer”  Whitley from Nashville, TN, came over and signed up for the USAWA.  David wanted to try for a record in the USAWA, and when I asked him what lift he wanted to do, he replied, “the bent press”.  I was somewhat surprised as this is not an easy lift to do.  But once David started his attempts it was clear to me that he had trained it before.  His technique was picture-perfect, and even Bob Hoffman himself would have given it his seal of approvement.  David went on to set the ALL-TIME best Bent Press with both arms with lifts of 137 pounds.  I hope to see him again soon in the USAWA.

This event would never have happened if it was not for York Retail Manager Mike Locondro. Mike organized the entire event and even put on his suit to serve as the Master of Ceremony!

This meet turned out better than I expected.  All lifters received beautiful awards for their Championship efforts.  The meet T-Shirts were very special.  The front of the shirts contained a picture of USAWA Heavy Lift Legend Dale Friesz performing a heavy Neck Lift.  Dale was not able to be in attendance, but he deserves a big THANK YOU from all of us for providing the intial inspiration for making this event happen. His initial contact with York Barbell is what led to our involvement on this special day.  Mike Locondro has already made his intentions known that he will be hosting this event next year,  and in the process has extended another invitation to us.  So – Heavy Lift Nationals may be held in York again next year.  Put it on your calendar now!!!

MEET RESULTS:

2011 Heavy Lift Nationals
York Barbell, York, PA
May 21st, 2011

Meet Director:  USAWA Executive Board

Lifts:  Neck Lift, Hand and Thigh Lift, Hip Lift

Officials:  Denny Habecker, Thom Van Vleck, LaVerne Myers

Lifter Age BWT Neck H&T Hip Total Points
Joe Garcia 57 212 600 1400 1900 3900 3981.2
Al Myers 44 252 700 1300 1900 3900 3236.7
Chad Ullom 39 244 850 1250 1800 3900 3132.9
Scott Schmidt 58 251 350 1000 1400 2750 2589.9
Randy Smith 56 194 400 850 1000 2250 2390.0
Art Montini 83 184 250 450 800 1500 2024.1
Dennis Mitchell 79 158 250 425 600 1275 1838.4
James Fuller 39 217 350 700 1000 2050 1751.7
Kohl Hess 16 297 400 0 0 400 320.9

NOTES:  BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  All lifts recorded in pounds.  Total is total pounds lifted.  Points is adjusted points for age correction and bodyweight adjustment.

EXTRA LIFTS FOR RECORD:

Chad Ullom – Neck Lift: 900 pounds
David Whitley – Bent Press, Left Arm: 137 pounds
David Whitley – Bent Press, Right Arm: 137 pounds
(Age 41 years, bodyweight 284 pounds)

Chad’s 900 Pound Neck Lift

by Al Myers

Chad Ullom set the ALL-TIME World Record in the Neck Lift with a lift of 900 pounds at the 2011 Heavy Lift Championships. Take notice that you can see light under both ends of the weights in this picture.

Last weekend at the Heavy Lift Nationals in York, PA, Chad Ullom did what I would classify as one of the most outstanding feats of strength I have ever seen in the USAWA.  Chad set the ALL-TIME WORLD RECORD in the Neck Lift with an unbelievable lift of 900 pounds.  The previous World Record was held by Joe Ciavattone set at the 2005 Heavy Lift Nationals.  In March, Chad showed everyone that he had the potential to break this record as he took an extra attempt and made a 750 pound lift with ease at the USAWA Club Challenge in Ambridge.  What made this record even more spectacular was that he broke the prevous World Record THREE TIMES in the competition.  His second attempt was 810, followed by a third attempt at 850, and ending with his historic 900 pound lift.  Often with heavy lifts, there is always speculation about the authenticity of the lift due to the nature of these type of lifts. Heavy lifts only need to clear the platform to be legal and if someone doesn’t have the right angle to view this, often people will feel like the lift didn’t clear adequately.  However, Chad’s lift was lifted so high there was no doubt among anyone in attendance.  The judging crew did an outstanding job in officiating this lift.  They didn’t get “caught up in the excitement” and they made sure Chad had to hold it at lockout the same as all other lifts of the meet.

What made this record even more special was the the largest crowd of spectators we had were present to watch it happen.  I was trying to “fire up the crowd” about what they were about to see, and I could tell many were in disbelief when it happened!  I knew before this meet that Chad had the potential to make this happen.  We trained together on the Neck Lift a couple of weeks prior and he made an easy 800 pound lift in training.  We actually considered having him open at the record, as he did this training lift as easy as an opener.  But after thinking about it for awhile, we decided a 700 pound opener would set him up better.  If you pick your attempts correctly, the first attempt shouldn’t matter anyways. 

After the record lift, Chad was "all smiles" as he posed with the record loaded heavy bar.

It is always a big thing to be the first person to break a barrier – and I consider this a major barrier.   Let me give you a little history on the Neck Lift.  Steve Schmidt was the first man to break the 400 pound and 500 pound barrier in the Neck Lift.  An English lifter, Adrian Blindt, was the first person to Neck Lift over 600 pounds.  Frank Ciavattone was the first American to Neck Lift over 600 pounds, with his lift of 603 pounds at the 1990 Strongest Man in New England.  Joe Ciavattone was the first man to Neck Lift over 700 pounds and 800 pounds.  And now Chad becomes the first man to Neck Lift over 900 pounds!!!  It makes you wonder who will be the first one to go over half a ton – or 1000 pounds! 

I have always considered 600 pounds as the “mark to hit” if you want to be in the elite club of Neck Lifters.  To date, there have been only 10 individuals who have done this or more in USAWA competition. 

USAWA Members in the “600 Club” for Neck Lifts over 600 pounds

LIFTER WEIGHT LIFTED MEET
Chad Ullom 900 2011 Heavy Lift Championships
Joe Ciavattone 804 2005 Heavy Lift Championships
Frank Ciavattone 750 2002 Heavy Lift Championships
Al Myers 750 2011 Club Challenge
Mike McBride 630 2005 National Championships
Jeff Ciavattone 625 2002 Heavy Lift Championships
Joe Garcia 623 1998 National Championships
Dale Friesz 605 1995 Goerner Deadlift
Nils Larson 603 2004 Heavy Lift Championships
John Monk 600 2000 Heavy Lift Championships

Congratulations to Chad on this amazing new record!

Black Swamp Meet

(WEBMASTER’S NOTE:  The following was taken with permission from Andrew Durniat’s blog covering the Atomic Athletic Olde Time Strongman Picnic and USAWA Black Swamp Meet. Congrats to Andrew and his record lift in the One Arm Deadlift!)

by Andrew Durniat

Andrew Durniat and his record setting lift in the One Arm Deadlift (519 pounds).

It was a good day to lift this past Saturday, May 14 while in Bowling Green, Ohio. It was here at the Atomic Athletic Olde Time Strongman Picnic and US All-Round Weightlifting Association (USAWA) meet that I set the single arm deadlift record. My lift of 235.5kg (518.1 lbs.) on my left arm bested Steve Angell of Britain previous record of 219kg (479.6 lbs.).

The running joke at the Durniat household leading up this event was; ‘there’s my problem, I just didn’t have a world record scheduled on my calender.’ You see, when Atomic Athletic approached me about this event, they did so asking me to break a world record. I then put a plan together and executed it perfectly.

The next time a challenge is presented to you, just schedule it in writing on your calender. Put together a plan and take action. You’ll be setting records in no time.

YouTube Video of Andrew’s Record One Arm Deadlift

MEET RESULTS:

Black Swamp Meet
Bowling Green, OH
May 14th, 2011

Meet Director:  Roger LaPointe and Atomic Athletic

Lifts:  Deadlift – One Arm, Clean and Push Press

Officials:  Denny Habecker and Scott Schmidt

(All lifts besides Habecker’s and Schmidt’s were passed with 2 whites using the 3-Offical system and are eligible for IAWA World Records.  Habecker and Schmidt were officiated using the 1-Official System and their lifts are only eligible for USAWA records)

Lifter Age BWT DL-1arm C&PP Total Points
Andrew Durniat 32 103.1 228-L 105 333 277.6
Chris Rice 62 94.7 138-R 75 213 228.6
Denny Habecker 68 87.5 120-R 70 190 223.5
Michael Rogowski 25 78.6 135-R 95 230 223.4
Scott Schmidt 58 113.3 136-R 85 221 208.8
Tom Montague-Casillas 14 121.0 55-R 60 115 106.0

NOTES:  BWT is bodyweight recorded in kilograms.  Lifts recorded in kilograms.  Total is total kilograms lifted.  Points is adjusted points for age correction and bodyweight adjustment. )

Extra lifts for record:

Andrew Durniat – 235.5 kgs One Arm Deadlift, Left
Denny Habecker – 125 kgs One Arm Deadlift, Right
Chris Rice – 138 kgs One Arm Deadlift, Left

Awards as Motivation

by Al Myers

This is part of the collection of awards present in Clark's Gym.

I have been in numerous club gyms, and one thing that sets them apart from commercial “chrome and fern” gyms is that there is always an abundance of old trophies, medals, plaques and award certificates hanging around.  Some of these places have awards that are over 30 years old!  Yet, they still bask in their glory of being visible for all gym members to see, as the day they were shiny new.  I always marvel at these old awards, and take the time to check all of them out.  I wonder, “who won this one?, and “what competition did this one come from?”.  This is a sight full of mystery, but at the same time gives you the burning desire of motivation. Anyone who has won an award knows the satisfaction that it brings, and not because of the hardware itself, but the hard work that goes into earning it.  The time in the gym pushing those extra sets, and the commitment and sacrifice training time takes away from the rest of your life.  If it was just the trophy that gave you this fulfillment – go out and buy yourself a big trophy and put wording on it proclaiming yourself the greatest weightlifter of all time!!  I assure you – that award would not mean near as much as the tiny certificate that you won the day you had a personal record lift.

In the Dino Gym I have a large collection of old weightlifting, strongman, and Highland games awards placed on a mantel overlooking the gym.  This mantel runs the entire width of the gym – 40 feet.  Most awards are “double stacked” on this shelf.  I haven’t counted them but it has to be well over 100 trophies. The funny thing is that I have at least that many in boxes in the attic!  When the mantel was full, I had to call it good.  When I first put up this trophy mantel, my wife referred to it as “my shrine” to myself.  I tried to let it slide, but her comment really hurt my feelings (even to this day and that has been a dozen years ago!).  That was not my intention.  I wanted to have a gym that any lifter would take serious when they enter the doors. I wanted us to not just “talk the talk, but walk the walk”.   Displaying hard-earned awards shows a gym newcomer that we are serious about what we do – and that we have the proof to back up what our training is all about. 

The trophy case in the Ambridge Barbell Club.

Most all of the other USAWA Clubs have a “trophy wall” as well.  Last November at the Gold Cup, Frank Ciavattone took me down into his basement which holds Franks Barbell Club.  I was overwhelmed by his collection of trophies and such.  Just a quick glance at this, and ANYONE would know  that Frank was a Champion.  As we browsed through things, Frank had a story on each award.  To him – these trophies were mementos that held a collection of memories from the competitions he has been in.  I have been to the historic Ambridge BBC a few times now, and each time I spend a little time looking over their collection.  Their collection is a lesson in weightlifting history – some awards date back 40-50 years.  The JWC Training Hall has many very unique awards.  Thom has on display some awards that were won by previous JWC members.  Truly a compliment to those that had a significant part of  the JWC history.  Clark’s Gym is another gym that has a great display of awards that is rich in history.  As you look over Clark’s Gym extensive collection of awards, it is a true inspiration.   I could go on with several other examples like these.

The point I want to leave you with is that it is not egotistical to display awards if done for the right reasons.  If it motivates one young kid to change their life by forming a commitment to training and physical fitness that keeps them out of trouble, it is worthwhile!   But now I gotta go – it’s time to polish my shrine!!!  (haha – THAT’S A JOKE!!)

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