High Country Vigour

Back Row:  Steve Gardner, Chad Ullom, Al Myers, Denny Habecker, Carl Puzin, Carl's wife, Mark Haydock, Emily Haydock, Cara Collins, Natalie Collins, Joe Collins, Frank Ciavattone, Barry Bryan, Dan Jones Front Row: Sanjiv Gupta, Paul Hallam, Jessica Hopps, Wade Marchand, Anthony DiFlaminis Sanjiv and Al Long Timers Steve Gardner and Frank Ciavattone I was very fortunate to attend the 2026 IAWA World Championship.  Since 1988, IAWA has brought together all-round lifters from around the world for camaraderie and competition.  This year (16) athletes took the platform nearly entirely from Massachuseetts and Pennsylvania.  Paul, Emily and Mark made it from the UK.  Unfortunately Josh Davidson's flight was canceled.  Chad and I came from west of the Mississippi.  Abe was injured and Tony was ill.   Even among the lifters, there were challenges.  Barry Pensyl could not attend Day 2 and I missed Day 1 to attend a celebration of life. Emily Haydo...

The USAWA Strength Journal published its last issue (Volume XX, No 6) on October 19, 2009.  This was produced by Bill Clark, the founder of USAWA and a driving force of strength sports in the Midwest.  The notes in the journal include correspondence with Tommy Kono, Vic Boff, Bill Starr and many others. I received a treasure trove of back issues from a friend 2009 Volume XX (6 issues)  2008 Volume XIX (7 issues) 2007 Volume XVIII (7 issues) 2006 Volume XVII (8 issues) 2005 Volume XVI (9 issues) 2004 Volume XV (8 issues) 2003 Volume XIV (9 issues) 2002 Volume XIII (8 issues) As I perused this decade of All-Round Weightlifting history, I was immediately impressed by the discipline and effort required to collect content, compile results (typed or handwritten), add commentary and finally copy and distribute.  Coming up with a thoughtful, curated update today is hard enough. The content is primarily: Meet results Personal tidbits on athletes Upcoming evnets Calls for memb...

I had an amazing adventure at Wellington Lake.  I completed the Wellington Swim-Run event which consisted of 3 laps of a 0.3 mile swim and 1.7 km run.  My training had been going well, but I did not take into account the colder water (60-65 degrees) and 8,000 feet elevation.  Despite these environmental factors, I executed my race plan well and finished in 1 hour 49 minutes. 0415 - Alarm goes off, dress, brush teeth, take meds, load car, use restroom twice, load up car 0500 - Get on the road to Lake Wellington.  Directions to main office was fine, then I started to get turned around 0645 - Park at campsite area 0700 - Arrive at starting line, get checked in and body marked 0745 - Race briefing 0800 - Start 0949 - Finish 1005 - Walk back to car and drive home 1145 - Arrive home, clean up gear and shower After checking in, I milled about talking to Felecia, Dana and Steve among other eager race participants.  The disparity in kit and  preparation was startlin...

I had heard of Oliphant's Gym (the oldest gym in North America) a few years earlier on  YouTube . I did not give it much thought until I found myself taking a trip to Toronto and remembered that the gym was located somewhere in Canada.  It could have been Toronto, Montreal or any other city in Canada.  In advance of the trip, I called the phone number and talked to (?).  He asked me to text Carlos who explained that I could just drop in and someone should be able to buzz me in.  I opted for a Monday morning, got in, filled out the waiver and Nisha and I were able to lift. We started with bench press and did a few sets.  I used the straight bar and Nisha used dumbbells. Next we did cleans at the "squat rack."  I used the fixed bar and Nisha grabbed the short bar at the lightest weight. Next was bodyweight movements with the back extension and I did a couple of pull-ups on the bar hanging from the ceiling.  I also felt the need to string up the low ...

Jarrod hosted the Repetition Rampage Record Day.  We did a rules briefing for the athletes and the officials and then got underway.  It was a little chaotic, but overall things went very smoothly with records being attempted when athletes were ready roughly taking turns. Jarrod - 49 - 216.8 pounds Finger Lift, Thumb, Right - 54 pounds x 10 reps Finger Lift, Little, Right - 75 pounds x 11 reps Finger Lift, Ring, Right - 104 pounds x 10 reps Finger Lift, Middle, Right - 120 pounds x 10 reps Finger Lift, Index , Right - 99 pounds x 15 reps Sanjiv - 55 - 208.2 pounds Trap Bar Deadlift - 210 pounds x 16 reps Front Squat - 135 pounds x 9 reps Bench Press, Feet In Air - 135 pounds x 11 reps Press From Rack 100 pounds x 6 reps Kim - Age - 128.7 pounds Clean & Press, Middle Fingers - 35 pounds x 21 reps Gardner Full - 25 pounds x 6 reps Diya Clean & Press, On Knees - 30 pounds x 10 reps Leg Press - Self Loaded - 25 pounds x 10 reps Despite the heat we all had fun.  Jarrod'...

Women's Podium Lifters and Officials The 2026 National Championship was a whirlwind trip.  Nisha and I flew out Friday morning, arriving in St. Louis around 11 AM and driving to Columbia, MO by 1:00 PM.  We relaxed in the room and then headed over to the annual meeting. As usual in Columbia, MO, dinner consisted of barbecue at D-Rowe's which has good service and good food.  It is a bit expensive at $30/person, but that is OK.   Attendees: Chad Ullom Jessica Hopps David Glasgow Larry Traub Neveah Traub Jayden Traub Kristin Traub Drew Traub Jarrod Fobes Nisha Gupta Sanjiv Gupta Logan Wenzel Jeff Wenzel Dylan Wenzel Allison Lupo Tony Lupo David DeForest Lisa Gore David Beversdorf Tony Hose Bill Clark (10) Clark's, (6) Ledaig, (3) HCV, (1) Dino, (1) Frank's Officer reports were read and/or waived. Old Business - Board decisions to be able to remove athletes due to disruptive behavior and waive official scoring were overturned. By-Law Changes - Laundry list were deba...

This was the inaugural installation of the Carnival in the Cul-De-Sac hosted by Joshua Guerin in Greeley, Colorado. The drive up was pleasant enough and enjoyed the hour drive up listening to The Grip Show recap of US Nationals and Canada Nationals. Arriving at the venue, Josh had set everything up and was a very accommodating host.  I emptied my bladder and just squeaked into the 95 kg weight class after taking off my shoes and my t-shirt.  I was pleased with my svelte 208.5 bodyweight and began to get in some food and hydrate.  We took a group picture before hand.  Joshua even had stick on old time mustaches for us to try.  With rainbow and black choices, I opted for rainbow in honor of pride month. After rules briefing we started with the Steinborn Squat.  I went 3 for 3 with good lifts at 89, 109 and 131 pounds.  With some practice, I would like to get this up to 150 pounds, but will not be breaking Al Springs 200 pound record anytime soon.  T...