Q & A - George Weaver

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THE EVOLUTION OF MILO BARBELLS
by
Reuben Weaver

"This is my 80 page book, printed and comb bound by myself. It contains pretty much everything I have learned about the changes that the Milo Barbells went through from Original Milo adjustable Barbell to the Milo Duplex Barbell. I have also included Alan Calvert's first advertising booklet, PROGRESSIVE WEIGHT LIFTING, 1902."

Price is $30.00 (U.S. funds) shipped, $35.00 international.
Check or money order to:
Reuben Weaver
15 Wise Ave.
Strasburg, VA 22657

or PayPal at:
weacross@shentel.net

"When I first started this project ten years ago it was my intention to record all the intricate changes that Milo Bar-Bells had undergone from the 1902 Original Milo Adjustable Bar-Bell through the Milo Duplex models, that were sold right up until the the Milo Bar-Bell Company went into bankruptcy on April 29, 1935. As I collected more Milo bells and Milo literature, I expanded the scope to include Milo exhibition bells and Milo plate loading bells and other weightlifting accessories that they sold.

It is not my intention for this book to be the last word on Milo Bar-Bells; rather, it is my hope that it will inspire other collectors and historians of old iron to share what they have learned and help complete the puzzle I have so enjoyed working on."

Reuben Weaver.






The Roman Column
from Vim, Volume 1, Number 4
by George Weaver (1940)


Question: In some recent weight-lifting news, regarding John Terry's dead lift of 600 pounds, I read that the great Charles Rigoulot had never lifted more than 550 in this style. How is it possible for little Terry to outlift "the strongest man in the world"?

Answer: Fourteen years ago, back in 1926, Charles Rigoulot lifted 621.7 pounds in the two-hands dead lift. But at that time his best record in he two-hands clean & jerk was only about 365 pounds. Three years later, in 1929, he cleaned & jerked 402.34 pounds. Rigoulot did not continue to be interested in making dead lift records; but if his ability in the dead lift increased in proportion to his ability in the two-hands clean, he must in 1929 have been capable of dead lifting no less than 683 pounds. But this is not all. Rigoulot's dead lift of 621.7 pounds was performed in the French style. In this style the over-grip is used for both hands, and the bar is lifted in one clean movement to the erect finishing position, without being rested in any way on the thighs. In the English style, on the other hand, the reverse-grip is used, with the palm of one hand to the front and the other to the rear; and it is permissible to rest the bar on the knees or against the legs as it is lifted. And according to the Willoughby table of the relationships of various lifts in poundage-possibility, Rigoulot's estimated ability of 683 pounds in the French style is equivalent to a lift in the English style of 727 pounds.

But John Terry's dead lift of 600 pounds at a bodyweight of 132 is one of the most remarkable of all weight-lifting records. It is equivalent in merit to an Olympic press of 244 pounds, a two-hands snatch of 249 pounds, and a two-hands clean & jerk of 320 pounds!

The record in the French style is held by Hermann Goerner, who raised 661.38 pounds twenty years ago in 1920. The present American record is Carl Pepka's lift of 675 pounds, English style. Walter Podolak is credited with an official lift in the English style of 641.75 pounds, and an unofficial lift of 660 pounds.

Question: I have read that Warren Travis broke the world's record with an 830 pound finger lift over 10 years ago. How was this lift made?

Answer: You have made reference to the two-finger lift which Warren Travis made in February, 1926, when he was 50 years of age. The correct poundage was 881.25 pounds. It was not a World record, being more than 20 pounds less than Travis' best official lift.

In this lift, the middle fingers of both hands are used simultaneously. A padded ring fits closely over the finger in such a way that it cannot come off and the finger cannot straighten out from the pull of the weight. The ring is at the end of a hook from which the weight is suspended. All that is then necessary is to lift the weight clear of the ground.

It should be mentioned that the lifting records of Travis as given in the books so far published by various writers are not his best official records at all, but merely the records he made when he was between 42 and 50 years of age. Thus his record in the two-finger lift was not 881.25 pounds, but 1105 pounds, made on November 1, 1907. Similarly, his best official hand-and-thigh lift was not 1498 pounds, but 1778 pounds; his best harness lift was not 3582 pounds, but 3895 pounds; and his best official back lift was not 3657 pounds, but 4140 pounds. The two-finger lift of 1105 pounds and the back lift of 4140 pounds are both World records. You may have heard or read of a heavier back lift, but the lift of Travis is the highest authentic record of which I know, of actual weighted iron.

Now, a few words about the one-finger lift. It is made in the same manner as the two-finger lift, except that the middle finger of one one hand is used. Travis, as I have said, raised 667 pounds in this style; John Pagano lifted 650 pounds; while the World record is held by Frank Olender who, at a bodyweight of 163 lifted 708 pounds. In raising these enormous poundages, the lifters mentioned would rest the lifting hand against the thigh.

Such lifting takes extraordinary gameness and the ability to withstand pain. It may be mentioned, on the other hand, that before the modern tight finger-grip came into use, some remarkable demonstrations of pure finger strength were given by old-time lifters. As long ago as 1879, for instance, Hans Steyrer hooked his middle finger through a plain iron ring and lifted 582 pounds a foot off the ground.