Tag Archives: LaVerne Myers

Dino Gym Spring RD

By Al Myers

DINO GYM SPRING RECORD DAY

Group picture from the 2019 Dino Gym Spring Record Day

Group picture from the 2019 Dino Gym Spring Record Day

What an exciting weekend at the Dino Gym!!!  We celebrated LaVerne’s 75th birthday with a record day and a big fish fry afterwards.  The weather was perfect for a fun day.

Seven lifters made their way to the gym for the event. Each lifter set their “usawa max” of 5 records each. I want to really thank these guys for making it, as a few of them came quite a long way.  Our President, Denny, made the longest drive from Pennsylvania.  Dean never misses an event at the gym and made his normal drive from Oklahoma.  Lance and Scottish Johnny came from Kansas City, and John Douglas made his several hour drive from western Kansas.

LaVerne putting his new cane to use!!!

LaVerne putting his new cane to use!!!

Many great record day lifts were made.  As I inputted the results a few really stood out to me.  Regrettably, I was tied up with work and made it to the gym late so I missed out on most of lifts.  Scottish Johnny put up a 425# front squat which is a huge lift for a lifter over 40. The birthday boy LaVerne put up some great finger lifts. Big John put up over 400 pounds in the Neck Lift, and Lance combined many different types of lifting to put up the most well rounded set of records.  Dean exerted himself fully by back lifting and harness lifting over 1000 pounds. Denny put up big records in the one arm dumbbell deadlift with both arms.  My highlight was doing the Lurich Lift for the first time and realizing I like it much better than the Hack Lift!

The evening festivities were held on my deck.  We had a few other gym members join us that night – including Brandon, Casey, Hunter, Molly, K dog, Katie, and Cale.   Each of us took our time giving a roast and gag gift to LaVerne for his birthday. Even though we didn’t get the 75 new records I was hoping for, we did give LaVerne a birthday he won’t forget!

Meet Results:

Dino Gym Spring RD
Dino Gym
Holland, KS
May 4th, 2019

Meet Director: Al Myers

Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Lifts: Record Day Lifts

John Strangeway – BWT 207#, Age 40 years
3 Official System – LaVerne, Denny, Lance
Front Squat: 425#
Deadlift – No Thumbs: 474#
Deadlift – Ciavattone Grip: 418#
Finger Lift – Left Index: 135#
Finger Lift – Right Index: 135#

LaVerne Myers – BWT 235#, Age 75 years
1 Official System – Denny
Finger Lift – Left Little: 65#
Finger Lift – Left Thumb: 71#
Finger Lift – Right Thumb: 71#
Finger Lift – Left Index: 90#
Finger Lift – Right Index: 111#

John Douglas – BWT 314#, Age 55 years
3 Official System – Denny, Lance, LaVerne
Front Squat: 350#
Bench Press – Feet in Air: 275#
Bent Over Row: 303#
Deadlift – Trap Bar: 501#
Neck Lift: 410#

Al Myers – BWT 233#, Age 52 Years
3 Official System – Denny, LaVerne, Lance
Back Extension: 150#
Lurich Lift: 579#
Deadlift – 2 Inch Dumbbells: 241#
Habecker Lift: 320#
Wrist Curl: 230#

Lance Foster – BWT 348#, Age 53 Years
3 Official System – LaVerne, Denny
Anderson Press: 135#
Clean & Jerk – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 50#
Deadlift – No Thumbs: 275#
Harness Lift: 1240#
Bench Press – Fulton Bar: 144#

Dean Ross – BWT 235#, Age 76 Years
1 Official System – LaVerne
Back Lift: 1050#
Harness Lift: 1010#
Bench Press – Feet in Air: 135#
Bench Press – Hands Together: 135#
Back Extension: 75#

Denny Habecker – BWT 193#, Age 76 Years
3 Official System – LaVerne, Lance
Press – From Racks: 100#
Push Press – From Racks: 100#
Deadlift – No Thumbs: 243#
Deadlift – Dumbbell, Left Arm: 147#
Deadlift – Dumbbell, Right Arm: 187#

Lifter of the Month – LaVerne Myers

By Al Myers

LaVerne in action wiith the 2" dumbbell deadlift at the 2018 World Championships in Eastbourne, England .

LaVerne in action wiith the 2″ dumbbell deadlift at the 2018 World Championships in Eastbourne, England .

The USAWA Lifter of the Month for February is LaVerne Myers.   LaVerne was the overall outstanding men’s lifter at the 2019 USAWA Grip Championships which was contested in February. He bested 10 other outstanding gripsters in the meet.   That is a huge accomplishment!

Now don’t forget that this coming weekend we are going to be celebrating LaVerne’s 75th birthday at the Dino Gym in conjunction with an afternoon record day.   Everyone is invited to stay for the evenings festivities which will include a roast to LaVerne along with a fish fry.  I will provide all food and beverages.  Please remember to bring a gag gift for LaVerne along with a roast speech.  I want to make this a night that he won’t forget!!!

Grip Championships

By Al Myers

2019 USAWA GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

Group picture from the 2019 USAWA Grip Championships

Group picture from the 2019 USAWA Grip Championships

What a great day at the Grip Champs!

Twelve lifters made their way to the platform for the annual USAWA Grip Championships this year.   This has always been a well attended event in the USAWA, and this year was one of the best ever.

Kaela Janzen was the overall Best Womens Lifter. Presenting his award was meet director LaVerne Myers.

Kaela Janzen was the overall Best Womens Lifter. Presenting his award was meet director LaVerne Myers.

There were so many excellent lifts that there’s no way to cover all of them in the meet report.  The overall Womens Best Lifter was newcomer Kaela Janzen.   The overall Mens Best Lifter was the meet director and grip aficionado LaVerne Myers.

I was very impressed with both Junior lifters Cole and Jarod. These two have excellent coaches and mentors with their Dad’s John and Jason.  Also, excellent lifting was had by Scottish Johnny – who was the only one to break a Dino Gym record during the competition (his 185 1arm FB DL topped the gym record of 182 pounds).

Our President Denny Habecker made the longest trip to the event, coming from Lebanon Pennsylvania.  Denny set several new records over the weekend to extend his century club record number and stretch his lead  in the top spot.

It was great to see Ben Edwards back in action. Ben had the top mark in the dumbbell walk with 112 pounds.  LaVerne mentioned this is his opening remarks but I would like to repeat it here.  The Grip Championships only came about because Ben convinced me many years ago to have a grip challenge as he thought it would be well received by the membership.  The first grip meet in the Dino Gym was promoted by Ben and that was the start of the tradition of the Grip Championships.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who showed up to compete or support this meet.

MEET RESULTS:

2019 USAWA Grip Championships
Dino Gym
Holland, KS
Saturday, February 9th, 2019

Meet Director: LaVerne Myers

Scorekeeper: Al Myers

Announcer: Al Myers

Official (1 official system used): Al Myers

Lifts: Dumbbell Walk, Deadlift – Fulton Bar One Arm, Deadlift – Inch Dumbbells, Deadlift – One Arm No Thumb, Deadlift – Index Fingers

WOMENS DIVISION

LIFTER AGE BWT DW FB1 Inch DL1 IND TOT PTS
Kaela Janzen 24 186 47R 80R 160 85R 0 372 346.2

MENS DIVISION

LiFTER AGE BWT DW FB1 Inch DL1 IND TOT PTS
LaVerne Myers 74 229 97 170R 240 185R 135 827 926.8
John Strangeway 40 196 92 180R 240 190L 230 932 850.3
Chad Ullom 47 239 97 165L 240 200R 225 927 812.5
Ben Edwards 43 219 112 160R 220 195R 225 912 806.1
Cole Janzen 17 181 77 155R 190 160R 120 702 692.2
Denny Habecker 76 193 37 115R 140 120R 100 512 639.3
Brandon Rein 23 154 77 100R 160 130R 115 582 609.4
Jarod Payne 17 288 102 130R 200 145R 120 697 541.6
John Janzen 53 291 67 130R 180 145R 110 632 530.6
Dean Ross 76 243 57 90L 120 110L 90 467 514.9
Lance Foster 53 345 67 110R 140 145R 155 617 478.7

EXTRA ATTEMPTS FOR RECORD:

John Strangeway: Dumbbell Walk 102
Cole Janzen: Dumbbell Walk 102
John Strangeway: Deadlift Fulton Bar Right 185
Jerod Payne: Deadlift Inch Dumbbells 220
John Strangeway: Deadlift No Thumb Left 195
Denny Habecker: Deadlift No Thumb Right 125
Dean Ross: Deadlift No Thumb Left 120
Dean Ross: Deadlift Index Fingers 100

BEST LIFTER AWARDS:

BEST WOMENS SENIOR – Kaela Janzen
BEST WOMENS OVERALL – Kaela Janzen
BEST MENS JUNIOR – Cole Janzen
BEST MENS SENIOR – Brandon Rein
BEST MENS MASTER 40+ – John Strangeway
BEST MENS MASTER 45+ – Chad Ullom
BEST MENS MASTER 50+ – John Janzen
BEST MENS MASTER 70+ – LaVerne Myers
BEST MENS MASTER 75+ – Denny Habecker
BEST MENS MASTER OVERALL – LaVerne Myers
BEST MENS OVERALL – LaVerne Myers

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 corrected points adjusted for age and bodyweight.

RECORD DAY LIFTS

John Strangeway – Age 40 years, bodyweight 196 pounds
Finger Lift – Index, Right  125
Finger Lift – Middle, Right 160
Finger Lift – Ring, Right 150
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Left 160

LaVerne Myers – Age 74 years, bodyweight 229 pounds
Finger Lift – Index, Right 95
Finger Lift – Index, Left 95
Finger Lift – Middle, Right 105
Finger Lift – Middle, Left 105
Habecker Lift 185

Denny Habecker – Age 76, bodyweight 195 pounds
Anderson Press 145
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Left 100
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip 210
Habecker Lift  200
Deadlift – No Thumb, Left 100

Dean Ross – Age 76 years, bodyweight 237 pounds
Bearhug 152
Lurich Lift 220
Habecker Lift 185
Deadlift – No Thumbs, Overhand Grip 215
Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip 160

Grip Championships

by Al Myers

MEET ANNOUNCEMENT –
2019 USAWA GRIP CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Dumbbell Walk will be one of the events in the 2019 USAWA Grip Championships.

The Dumbbell Walk will be one of the events in the 2019 USAWA Grip Championships.

The USAWA Grip Championships will be here soon.  This has become an annual event in the USAWA over the past 10 years, and is one of the signature, championship events of our organization.

This year I have turned the promotion of the Grip Championships over to LaVerne.   He has picked a fine selection of official USAWA grip lifts for the competition.  Make sure to put the Grip Championships on your calendar, and I hope to see you there!

MEET DETAILS:

Meet Director:            LaVerne Myers  785-479-2264

Meet Date:                 Saturday, February 9th, 2019  1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location:                    Dino Gym, 1126 Eden Road, Abilene, KS 67410

Sanction:                    USAWA  – Membership required

Weigh-ins:                  12:00-1:00 PM the day of the meet

Divisions:                   Juniors, Women, Masters, and Open

Awards:                     None

Entry:                        None – But please give advance notification if attending

Lifts:

Dumbbell Walk

Deadlift – Fulton Bar, One Arm

Deadlift – Inch Dumbbells

Deadlift – One Arm, No Thumb

Deadlift – Fingers, Index

There will be time for record day lifts after meet and the following day.

Team Championships

By Al Myers

2017 USAWA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Group picture from the 2017 USAWA Team Championships.

Group picture from the 2017 USAWA Team Championships.

The USAWA has new TEAM CHAMPIONS!  The Overall Best Team Lifters in the USAWA for the past 8 years have been myself and my buddy Chad (and Overall winners in 9/10 Team Championships). But that streak is over…. and the dynamic duo of the USAWA is now LaVerne Myers and Dean Ross! These two have been at Team Lifting for many years now and with all that practice, are in tune to each other’s dance steps. The were in perfect synch and picked their attempts with precision. They were the only team to not miss an attempt all day, and finished close to their max on each of their final attempts.

LaVerne Myers (left) and Dean Ross (right) - the OVERALL Best Team at the 2017 USAWA Team Championships.

LaVerne Myers (left) and Dean Ross (right) – the OVERALL Best Team at the 2017 USAWA Team Championships.

I was very excited to have 4 teams participate.  The young team of Cale Dunlap and Brandon Rein showed great promise.  These two will continually improve. They have no idea of what they are capable of yet in the USAWA.

It was great to see John Douglas of the Ledaig Club here for his first Team Championships.  He paired with Dino Gym lifter Zach Lucas (since Dave let him down by not making it)  and these two put up big lifts, and ended up with the highest TOTAL of the day.  They lifted 600 in the Fulton Bar Ciavattone Grip Deadlift, and took a shot at the gym record of 672# held by Chad and myself.  It was ah, so close!

I have to thank fellow Dino Gym member Dan Mather for joining me at the last minute (since Chad let me down).  This was our first time lifting together in the Team format. We had a great time, and again, I greatly appreciate Dan stepping in so I could lift and not end MY streak of competing in all of the Team Championships.

Meet Results:

2017 USAWA Team Championships
Dino Gym
Abilene, KS
August 26th, 2017

Meet Director: Al Myers

Meet Officials (1-official system): Al Myers and LaVerne Myers

Lifts: Team Bent Arm Pullover, Team Deadlift – Fulton Bar, Ciavattone Grip, Team Deadlift – No Thumbs, Overhand Grip

Teams:

Al Myers (51 years, 229#) and Dan Mather (35 years, 183#) – 105K Class & Open Age Group

Cale Dunlap (22 years, 168#) and Brandon Rein (22 years, 154 pounds) – 80K Class and Open Age Group

John Douglas (53 years, 311#) and Zach Lucas (31 years, 260#) – 125+K Class and Open Age Group

LaVerne Myers (73 years, 240#) and Dean Ross (74 years, 219#) – 110K Class and 70+ Age Group

2-MAN DIVISION

LIFTERS PULL DLCBFB DLNT TOT PTS
Myers/Ross 190 500 500 1190 1291.9
Douglas/Lucas 275 600 650 1525 1088.4
Myers/Mather 230 500 550 1280 1062.6
Dunlap/Rein 170 360 400 930 921.6

Notes: All lifts recorded in pounds. TOT is total pounds lifted. PTS are overall points adjusted for age and bodyweight corrections.

RECORD DAY LIFTS

LaVerne Myers
Bent Arm Pullover 90#
Clean and Press – Middle Fingers 50#
Deadlift – Stiff Leg 210#
Pinch Grip Deadlift 325#
Deadlift – Dumbbell, Right Arm 195#

Al Myers
Bent Arm Pullover 120#
Clean and Press – Middle Fingers 95#
Deadlift – Stiff Leg 400#
Pinch Grip Deadlift 450#
Lateral Raise – Lying 90#

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