Tag Archives: Al Myers

Grip Championships

by Al Myers

USAWA NATIONAL GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

The FIRST EVER USAWA National Grip Championships was a huge success this last weekend at the Dino Gym!  The bad weather we had earlier in the week  was past, and besides lots of snow on the ground, it was a beautiful day! Eight brave competitors showed for this inaugural event.  The quality of competition was very high and several new USAWA records were set.  I want to thank everyone who made it out to compete, help or just watch.  I was going to go over the “highlights” of the meet but Ben Edwards has already hit them all in the discussion forum!   He did such a great job covering the meet in the forum, I really think it needs to be shared here in the Daily News as the meet report.  Thanks Ben!!

Group picture of the 2011 USAWA National Grip Championships. Front row (left to right): Denny Habecker, Mike Murdock, Rudy Bletscher, Felecia Simms. Back row (left to right): Mark Mitchell, Dave Glasgow, Ben Edwards, Al Myers.

MEET REPORT by Ben Edwards

I had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone and the after-lifting meal was great too because we all got a chance to just sit around and chat.

I’ve got quite a list of memorable moments but here are just a few since I’m home and want to spend some time with my wife.

Felecia Simms pulled 280 pounds in the 3" bar deadlift, breaking a record held by arm wrestling champion Mary McConnaughey.

-Felecia! Destroying the 3″ bar deadlift record in style. I have no doubt she could’ve pulled the weight I did and made it look a lot cleaner than I did too. It was also neat getting to offer my 2 cents on what weights you should attempt on one or two events – along with Dave. You didn’t think you’d be able to pinch lift the two 45s but you did that with ease – and about 10lbs more!

-Rudy! Beat HIS 2″ vbar record by 10lbs and didn’t even know it until I looked it up and made sure that was the case. I am somewhat of a rainman with certain numbers (usually my own of course) and remembered his lift on the 2″ vbar from last year.

-Mike! Loved the middle fingers deadlift attempt that went from being a failed attempt – no movement at all – to suddenly being a dominating pull after taking a very short break to re-set.

-Mark! Huge pinch strength! He made 175lbs look like a feather pillow and seemed to be close on the 190+lbs attempt too. And he doesn’t train his grip. Which would make me dislike him slightly – if he wasn’t one of the nicest guys in the world.

-Denny! Had very good and balanced strength on all the lifts that it’s hard to pick one that stood out in my head. Plus the aforementioned super integrity.

Al Myers had the highest 3 inch bar deadlift of the meet with a lift of 555 pounds.

-Al! MONSTER 3″ bar deadlift – 555lbs! – to end the meet in great style. Dave and I were puzzled by your 1-pound weight addition though to the 2″ vbar weight that you ripped off the ground and could’ve seemingly held for a day. I thought you were joking us, haha! Also considered “saving” a 3rd attempt on the 3″ bar deadlift and asking for 1 pound more than what you did on your best attempt. Then of course not being able to lift it wouldn’t be so funny, but hey.

-Dave! That 360lb (?) 3″ bar deadlift was the most impressive IMO of your lifts. Very nice!

Ben Edwards had the best Vertical Bar Deadlift of the meet with a lift of 222 pounds.

-Me. So glad to pull that 310lbs on the middle fingers deadlift! I thought the 275lbs was going to rip my fingers off and really didn’t “want” to try the 310lbs but I knew that with the great crowd behind me I would at least have a chance if I could block the pain. Well, I couldn’t block the pain, lol. But the lift inched up and I just reviewed the picture that Felecia took of me on that lift and it looks like I’m about to fall apart. Little disappointed that my 2″ vbar strength was down 13 pounds from my best pull. Pinch strength was right where it always is – in the crapper, lol. The thick bar deadlifts were very challenging and I’m glad I had enough sense to not choose more weight and hurt myself on either of them. Was embarrassed to only get 325lbs to my knees since I’ve been able to pull that weight on the Apollon’s Axle since 2004.

MEET RESULTS

USAWA National Grip Championships
February 12th, 2011
Dino Gym, Holland, Kansas

Meet Director:   Al Myers

Certified Official (1-official system used):  Scott Tully

Lifts:  Deadlift – Vertical Bar, 2″, One Arm;  Pinch Grip;  Deadlift – Fingers, Middle;  Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip;  Deadlift – 3″ Bar

Loaders:  Alan English, John Connor, Matt Cookson, Tyeler Cookson

Lifter Age BWT VB Pin MF DLFB DL-3 Total Points
Al

Myers

44 249 183-R 132 275 325 555 1470 1226.9
Ben Edwards 35 219 222-L 162 310 300 300 1294 1099.8
Dave Glasgow 57 248 152-R 132 190 275 360 1109 1042.5
Denny Habecker 68 189 132-R 102 165 225 250 874 1040.0
Mark Mitchell 50 360 152-R 174 245 330 450 1351 1001.3
Rudy Bletscher 75 220 122-R 87 165 225 250 849 979.2
Mike Murdock 70 234 132-L 102 165 225 205 829 891.3
Felecia Simms 28 313 132-R 102 155 205 250 844 600.6

NOTES:  BWT is bodyweight in pounds.  Total is total weight lifted in pounds. All lifts listed in pounds. Points are adjusted points for age and bodyweight. R and L identifies right and left hands.

Extra lifts for records:

Pinch Grip:  Rudy Bletscher 92#
Deadlift – Middle Fingers:  Denny Habecker 180#, Mark Mitchell 275#
Deadlift – 3″ Bar: Denny Habecker 275#, Felecia Simms 280#

BEST LIFTER AWARDS

Best Senior Women:  Felecia Simms
Best Senior Men:  Ben Edwards
Best Master 40-44:  Al Myers
Best Master 50-54: Mark Mitchell
Best Master 55-59: Dave Glasgow
Best Master 65-69: Denny Habecker
Best Master 70-74:  Mike Murdock
Best Master 75-79:  Rudy Bletscher

Two Ounces of Prevention

by Thom Van Vleck

As we are all aware, Big Al has created a contest where we are supposed to write a story on a training “secret” we have that would benefit others.  This was a difficult thing for me to do as I don’t keep secrets.  I share everything I have with anyone willing to listen.  I’ve always been that way.  So I really don’t have any secrets…..but I looked at what I do and came up with something I do almost every workout.  It’s something I think has allowed me to compete at a high level as I head into my 47th year and 34th as a weightlifter.

Al & Chad executing a very complicated two man stretch of the spine. Now really, do you have the time for this or for that matter would you be caught dead in such a compromising position???

A healthy back is essential to weight training.  If you lift weights and have never hurt your back, you are either a very good liar, you’ve never pushed yourself, or you just started yesterday.  Back injuries are a part of the sport.  Especially if you are a master lifter over 40, and most USAWA lifters are over 40…..some WELL over 40!  If you’ve had a back injury, you’ve probably tried to rehab it in different ways.  Some of these with drugs like anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, or pain medication.  You may have seen a doctor, a chiropractor,  a massage therapist, or maybe an Osteopath.  You’ve probably been given stretching exercises, yoga exercises, or whatever the latest fad is.  You may have went so far to invest in some equipment, such as a stability ball, rubber bands, or went really expensive with a reverse hyper, or an inversion table!  You also may have found some really complicated and difficult ways to do what all these things try and do…..decompress your spine.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've had a little fun at Al & Chad's expense. These are great exercises, but their problem is the practicality of doing them every workout.

I’m going to share two very simple and basic stretches that require very little investment of time or money.  They can be very helpful in rehabbing a bad or injured back, but I would encourage you to do these EVERY TIME YOU WORK OUT to help keep your back healthy and prevent injuries!

First, there’s the good ol’ bar hang.  Sure, we’ve all heard of it and probably done it.  You hang from a chin up bar.  I know what your are thinking.  “Geez, Thom, I thought you were going to give us some great secret!  Well, I am.  Sometimes the best things are the simplest things and they are the things we tend to ignore.  Like squats, which is a really great exercise, and yet there’s been a hundred ways developed to avoid squatting each one more complicated than the last!  Now, here is a real secret.  When you hang from the bar, put your heels on something about a foot or two in front of you.  Why?  Because you want to tilt your hips forward.  This will straighten out the lower spine.  Otherwise, if you just hang there the weight of your legs will pull you hips back and bend your spin inward in your lower back.  As a result, the weight of your legs will bend your spine and true decompression does not occur!  You also need to relax everything except your grip (and another thing, this can be a tremendous grip exercise, an added benefit).  If you can’t hang for at least a minute, then use straps until your grip gets to where you can.  Total investment:  A chin up bar.

Now, the only problem with the bar hang is it only decompresses the lower half of your spine.  While this is where most injuries occur, it is only half the picture.   Plus, most guys don’t think much about this, but your spine is more than your back, it’s you neck as well!  Many weight lifters will injure their neck and it’s also an area that gets a lot more abuse than you realize.  Why, because it holds up your fat head!  Seriously, the head is always FORWARD on the neck so any time you are not lying down with your neck supported it is being leveraged with pressure from that bowling ball that’s sitting on top if it!  Also, many of us will injure our neck at some point lifting, playing sports, or doing something stupid (most guys that train tend to be risk takers….admit it, you’ve done something stupid with your body).   And as for the upper back, it gets injured much more rarely than the lower, as a result, how often do we decompress our upper back and neck?

So, this leads me to the second “secret” exercise.  Like I said before, if you got loads of cash, you can spend it on a personal massuese and an inversion table….but if you don’t this will work just as well.  Maybe better because it is so easy you will do it more often!

Neck and upper back stretch....and yes, I used a photo of a pretty girl to "sell" this and influence the vote! Really, would you want to see me doing this or her! Vote for my article!

The second exercise involves sitting in a chair and letting your head and shoulders fall between you knees.  There’s an added benefit that if you get good at this exercise you can also use it to kiss your rear goodbye when you do some of the aforementioned “stupid” stuff.  But seriously, you sit in a chair and let your arms fall between you legs while sitting right on the edge of the chair.  I was taught to let my arms fall relaxed and then let my head fall forward relaxing it as much as possible.  If you do this enough you can fell you vertebrae relax.  I now fell a “pop-pop-pop” in my upper back when I do this.  Again, you want to stay in this position for about a minute.  I also do the added exercise of  doing some head rolls once I sit back up, this will seem to always pop my neck a couple times.  Total investment:  a chair.

So, there you have it.  Two exercises, two minutes, cheap, easy and I would argue for the amount of time and money invested you will do your spine more good than any of that other stuff.  Call this, 2 ounces of prevention!

Final Postal Series Ranking

by Al Myers

Al Myers wins overall best lifter of the 2010 USAWA Postal Meet Series, pictured with his 617 pounds 12" base deadlift in the 2010 National Postal Meet.

I have finally tabulated the final rankings for the 2010 USAWA Postal Series.  The USAWA Postal Series consists of 4 quarterly postal competitions – the Eastern Open in March, the Middle Atlantic in June, the Delaware Valley in September, and the National Postal Meet in December.  John Wilmot has been the meet director for these Postal Meets for several years now.  He deserves recognition for all his hard work – organizing the competitions, calculating the meet results, and sending out award certificates to the winners.  Thank you John on behalf of the USAWA!!

The Postal Series Ranking is done using this simple scoring system.  Each lifter accumulates points based on their overall placing in each postal meet.  For example, if there are 10 lifters entered, first place receives 10 points and the last place finisher receives 1 point.  This way EVERY lifter at least receives some points toward their yearly ranking total.  If more lifters are entered – more points goes to the winner.  The National Postal Meet is worth DOUBLE POINTS since it is the most important competition in our Postal Meet Series.

For the 2010 Postal Series, 21 men and 1 woman lifter participated. Only TWO lifters participated in all 4 postal meets – Denny Habecker and John Wilmot.  The National Postal Meet was the most participated in with 16 entrants.

Top Ten Men Final Rankings

1.     50 points – Al Myers

2.    38 points – Mark Mitchell

3.    35 points – Joe Ciavattone Jr.

4.    34 points – Chad Ullom

5.    28 points – Denny Habecker

T.    28 points – Scott Tully

T.    28 points – Chuck Cookson

8.    26 points – Orie Barnett

9.   25 points – Randy Smith

10. 21 points – Joe Ciavattone Sr.

Top Women Final Rankings

1.    3 points – Helen Kahn

BEST LIFTER AWARDS

Women Best Lifter – Helen Kahn
Junior Men Best Lifter – Joe Ciavattone Jr.
Men Senior 20-39 Best Lifter – Chad Ullom
Men Master 40-44 Best Lifter – Al Myers
Men Master 45-49 Best Lifter – Orie Barnett
Men Master 50-54 Best Lifter – Mark Mitchell
Men Master 55-59 Best Lifter – Randy Smith
Men Master 60-64 Best Lifter – John Wilmot
Men Master 65-69 Best Lifter – Denny Habecker
Men Master 70-74 Best Lifter – Mike Murdock
Men Master 75-79 Best Lifter – Rudy Bletscher

Dear Dino Man

by Al Myers

I get HUNDREDS of questions per month from individuals pertaining to weight lifting or other matters since I have been webmaster of the USAWA Website. I guess that goes along with making your email address publicly known on a website. People are always looking for free advice and the internet provides plenty of it – some good and some not so good. I try to respond to most questions, but there are lots I don’t get around to. I hate to deprive the USAWA Daily News readers of these “email exchanges” so I’ve decided to start an advice column to share some of these questions and my responses. Maybe it will answer a few questions that I repeatedly receive, and cut out having to answer the same question over and over again. I have decided to name this column Dear Dino Man. I am leaving off the names of the email senders – to insure confidentially and possible embarrassment.

Dear Dino Man,

I am interested in all round weightlifting, and would like to know where to find out more information and a listing of the competitions. Where do I find this?

It’s all on the USAWA website – the same place you found my email address.

Dear Dino Man,

Our company (fill in the blank) sells (fill in the blank) and would like you to link our website to yours. Would you do that?

Sure – and how much do you plan to donate to the USAWA in yearly sponsorship? (followed by no response from the sender).

Dear Dino Man,

Im 17 years old and been liftin waites for 6 months now. Me and mine buddies is allready lot stronger than u guys. We train at the high school, and coach tells us we need to do a liftin meat cuz wear so good. We think ur meats sound fun and we no we would be da champions. How big uf trophes will get?

For the time being, it sounds like it would be best if you focus on your academic studies, and if you get time  take a course in humility.

Dear Dino Man,

Is the bench press and the roman chair bench press the same thing?

No, not even close.

Dear Dino Man,

I really enjoy the USAWA website! Thank you for the refreshing approach to weightlifting that I don’t see any more. I especially like the stories written by Thom Van Vleck. Is he someone famous?

Thom is indeed someone famous! He has written many articles published in MILO and other strength publications. He has weight trained for over 30 years and has a wealth of lifting knowledge.  He has directed many competitions (Highland Games and Weightlifting) and is a real leader in the strength World. He is also the assistant webmaster of the USAWA website. I only wish he would contribute a little more often instead of leaving most of the work to me.

(Disclaimer: Dear Dino Man provides answers that may fall into the grouping of “not so good” amongst the multitude of  free internet advice)

Hanging Dumbbell Presses

by Al Myers

Al Myers demonstrating a Hanging Dumbbell Press, using a special made dumbbell handle that attaches to a chain that suspends the dumbbells at shoulder height.

A few months ago I started a training program utilizing seated dumbbell presses with the hope that they would be less stressful on my shoulder joints than straight bar shoulder presses.  Years ago I did LOTS of dumbbell presses and really liked them.   The natural rotation of pressing dumbbells feels better on your shoulders than a straight bar. Pressing dumbbells also makes you  very aware of shoulder strength imbalances.  With a bar, some of these “imbalances” can be compensated for with the stronger shoulder – but with a dumbbell that weakness is EXPOSED very quickly!  I started this dumbbell training program after Worlds in which I was VERY disappointed with my dumbbell press at that meet.  I have been able to “hide” my weak left arm pressing strength for quite a while by just using my right in competitions that require a lift to be done one handed. But at Worlds the Scots pulled a mean trick on me – and put in place  a “meet rule” that required both one arm lifts to be performed with alternate arms.  I really wanted to snatch with my right, so the dumbbell press was “left” to my “left”.  Needless to say, I did less for a max standing than what I USED to do for 5 reps seated.

This is a picture of the Hanging Dumbbell Handle.

I started the program out easy with light dumbbells and progressed a little every week.  My shoulders felt great.  No front delt shoulder pain.   However, soon I reached a point when the dumbbell poundages got heavy enough that I remembered another problem that dumbbell pressing causes.  My elbows started hurting!!! My elbow tendinitis flared back to full force like the days when I was bench pressing heavy.  Back then, it was a standard practice of mine to ice my elbows for an hour after every bench training session.  I don’t really want to go back to doing that now – just for dumbbell pressing!  The act of hammer curling or cleaning the dumbbells to my shoulders was the culprit here.  I was about ready to give up on dumbbell pressing because of this – but then I came up with a BETTER WAY!

I decided to make a “special” dumbbell handle that could be hung suspended overhead from my rack at the seated shoulder height.  This way I could hang the dumbbell using both hands – thus taking out the part of the lift that was causing me the elbow pain that seemed unnecessary. Now with the dumbbells already hanging, I just “take my seat” and start pressing!   I also feel a lot safer because if for any reason I would lose control of the dumbbells they would be “caught” by the chain and not do any damage to the floor or myself!   I have never heard of read of anyone else making a dumbbell handle like this so I want to share this idea.  Someone else may already have done this,  so I’m not going to make any claim to this idea.  That’s not my point.  If it would help someone else experiencing this same problem as myself and this idea would help them – that is enough for me.  The handle was very easy to make, and hopefully, will help build up my dumbbell press once again.

1 19 20 21 22 23 33