Wilbur Miller with an easy 605.
Norbert Schemansky, you'd better mover over!
There's a new guy gunning for both your lifting records and your record for longevity. He's a 29 year wheat farmer from Cimarron, Kansas, and his name is Wilbur Miller.
Until about a year ago, no one had heard of Wilbur Miller. He had been in a meet in Omaha in 1958 and, as a mid-heavy, had made 785 for second place. Not bad for a guy in his first contest, but when Wilbur dripped out of sight the weightlifting world hadn't seen enough of him to regret his disappearance.
Wilbur ran into back trouble and work problems and, being 400 miles from any lifting meet, he was content to train and wait till his back was strong and he had more time to travel. Last May he appeared again on the lifting platform in the Regional Junior Nationals in Columbia, Mo., and won the abbreviated heavyweight with 770, though his bodyweight was only 119-1/4.
Thus began the saga of Wilbur Miller, and a fantastic tale of dedication and self-discipline. This story quite probably will be only Chapter One. The length of the book has yet to be determined.
Since last May, Wilbur has been in four meets. He won the Missouri Valley AAU title in November with an 880 total on a 260 press, 270 snatch, and a 350 clean & jerk. In February he made 930 at Tulsa (the I'm Too Young To Marry city), with a 280 press, 285 snatch, and a 365 clean & jerk. He also won the United States prison power meet in September with a 340 jerk from the rack, 460 squat, and a 600 deadlift.
The "Cimarron Kid" improved on his power lift total March 30th in Dallas by benching 330 (his first competitive bench press), executing a 500 squat and coming up with a modern American deadlift record of 665 pounds for a 1495 total. He termed the performance "poor" because he had set 1600 as his goal. Also, he missed two tries in the bench press with 350 -- his first Mrs. in competition, Nadine, managed a, no, wait, his first misses in competition in 28 lifts.
Miller is a product of the power lifts and a man to command admiration because he trains in seclusion. He has been practicing deadlifts to strengthen his lower back, and amuses the citizens of Cimarron by hoisting up the rear ends of small foreign cars and tugging them as if they belonged on a kiddies' playground. Many men can pick up the front ends of these cars, but the motors make the rear ends slightly heavier.
He included heavy squats, deadlifts, abdominal raises and light bench presses in his regular workout routine, along with isometrics, in one of the most exhaustive training routines we have ever come across.
Of the power lifts he says: "The squat, I think, is one of the most valuable exercises. I can usually clean & jerk 75% of my best squat, and snatch 58 or 59% of the top squat.
"I started training on the deadlift because I injured my back and if I don't do them, the back becomes painful. At one time I stopped deadlifting after reading they would slow me down and I found my pulling power dropped badly."
Note: light deadlifts have value. Yes, the same lift that some people worry about being "dangerous" can be used therapeutically.
Miller's favorite way of training is to work for 6-8 weeks, depending on the schedule of meets he plans to attend.
In the schedule of training for the coming Junior Nationals, Wilbur will spend two hours on Sunday doing isometrics, holding the reps for 10 to 12 seconds. He uses 10 different settings.
On Monday he does deadlifts (8 reps with 500), squats (8 reps with 400), bench press (8 reps with 250), abdominal raises (8 reps with 50 pounds). He then does 5 sets of incline presses, 5 sets of 2 reps doing a power snatch followed by a dead hang snatch, 5 sets of 2 reps doing a power clean and a dead hang clean. The weight used for the final two sets is about 3/4 of maximum effort.
On Wednesday Miller goes on the power rack. He presses 325 or so from 4" below lockout 6 times, holding the 6th rep overhead for 6 seconds. He then presses 230 from eye level to the start position of the first set of presses (4" below lockout) for 6 reps, holding the 6th. Next comes 6 reps of pulls and 6 reps of shrugs, always holding the 6th rep for 6 seconds. He then starts the bar at a bottom squat position and does 6 reps to a half-squat position. This is doing half squats from the bottom.
The bar then goes to a parallel squat position and with 355 he does 6 reps to a quarter-squat position, holding the last rep. Then comes 650 from a quarter-squat start and a total of 12 reps, holding the last rep in a bent legged position for 12 seconds. 6 reps with 355 in the calf raise follow.
Miller then does 6 reps with 650 in the deadlift from 6" below top position and holds the 6th. He closes Wednesday's workout with 6 reps with 530 in the deadlift taken from the rack just below the knees, holding, of course, the final rep.
On Friday he did a total of 5 sets in the press, using 2 reps with his starting weight in a meet, should the next meet come within a week. In the snatch he did 6 sets of 2 reps following the same philosophy. 5 sets in the clean & jerk followed the same pattern. In each set the first rep was cleaned or snatched from the floor and the remaining reps from the dead hang. He then did 4 sets of 3 reps in the squat, ranging from 320 to a top of 440. The week closed out with 5 sets of 3 reps in the deadlift with a 600 top.
Wilbur Miller works alone. He pushes himself through a workout which would make many of our lifters quit. He has jumped in a year from 770 to 930. His goal for the Junior Nationals in May is 1,000 pounds. His power lift total is not set yet. He hopes to thrill the crowd with a 700 deadlift the same night he makes a 1,000 total -- a mighty fine night's work.
The lanky farmer, who stands 6'3" and weighs in around 230, needs more competition. It would be improper to say he needed someone to push him on the training platform for this is not so. Wilbur's biggest problem is the 450 miles he must drive to get to a meet, not training, for Wilbur is probably the most self-disciplined lifter in America.
A total of 1,000 is hardly a world record, but that will be only Wilbur's seventh meet. Schemansky gained new youth after 30. Miller is just starting. So, Norbert, stay tough! You've got a rival cut from the same tough cloth from which you evolved. He's a most refreshing new name on the lifting scene; a man who has successfully mixed the power lifts and Olympic lifts and proved that a man can do both without harm; a lifter who inspires everyone with a quick smile, a hearty "howdy" and a burning desire to better himself . . .
that's Wilbur Miller!
Enjoy Your Lifting!
This article is very good, I like it very much !!! From Blogger iPhone APP
ReplyDeleteI hate you, now kindly fuck off.
DeleteYou can be funny sometimes, Mr. Giveitaname! Anyway, what blows my mind about Mr. Miller is how at 6' 3", and with a pretty close foot stance, he could deadlift those enormous weights without causing a sciatic catastrophe. Not to mention at his height and lankiness, achieving some impressive Olympic lifts. I've noticed with Alexeev too, at 6' 1" or 6' 2", how he could clean those massive weights, sometimes starting from an almost straight-legged position.
DeleteRules that apply to us do not apply to them, for sure. So many differences in individuals! You watch some of these guys pull and wait for their spine to come flying off . . . but it holds and keeps on holding!
Delete