Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Interviews With Three World Champions - Yuri Vlasov (1962)


Before we get started, here's a grab from the 1954 film "Black Tuesday."

 


On to the serious stuff . . . 

Yuri Vlasov




The Soviet School of Heavy Athletics (weightlifting) has been described in many articles books and courses of instruction published in Russian periodicals by our leading trainers. However, very little is known about the standard of this sport abroad for only brief and incomplete data find their way into our journals and newspapers of other countries. 

I decided to make good this omission by holding discussions with some famous champions from other countries. I wanted to get the opinions of the American champions ; Schemansky, Bradford and Vinci but unfortunately they were not available but I was able to obtain some information on training methods and selection of exercises from other lifters at the world's championships. 

In talking to various champions from other countries it is possible to form opinions as to certain training idiosyncrasies. Some of the things I learned were: that the men in the lighter classes recuperate faster than the big men; that all champions consider leg and back strength most vital; and that all sleep well. 

I learned that greater emphasis is being placed on the strength part of training in all categories. Power exercises are of great importance. Squatting and pulling are being stressed by all the trainers of champions. I found that each of the leading weightlifters has his own peculiarities and this often explains the difference in technical development on the three Olympic lifts. I learned a number of fundamental opinions from each man I interviewed. 

I found that one cannot copy blindly the poundages and training methods of an individual world's champion. There seems to be no universal formula. Each champion has his own special methods and what may be good for him many not necessarily be good for another. The exercises of the first three men I interviewed; Foeldi of Hungary, Berger of the United States, and Baszanowski of Poland were found to be suitable for them only after years of preparatory work.



My Impressions of Imre Foeldi of Hungary. 

This small, strong man unexpectedly became the second prize winner in the bantamweight class at the world's championships by equaling the world's record total of 760.5 pounds. He tied for first place with our own champion, Vladimir Stogov, but was the heavier man. 

Imre was born in May, 1938 in the small Hungarian town of Kechemet. His father was a machinist. Imre moved to Tataban, where he now lives and is by trade a miner. He is not married. 

Imre recalls the mine with a smile for it was his first school of sport. He extended his right hand to me and showed me a severe injury. 

"This is a souvenir of the mine," he said. "I haven't been rewarded with strength for nothing. It took a great deal out of me." 

I saw what he means by "a great deal" -- the joints were missing on three of his fingers! 

"I lost them in an emergency underground," he explained. "I managed to get off cheaply." 

How a man could lift such phenomenal weights as he with such a handicap was a mystery to me. 

In spite of his small height and weight, Imre stands out among his fellow workers because of his great strength. In general, people who have been made weak and small by nature are almost invariably attracted to strength. You meet them in gymnasiums and they train with greater enthusiasm than bigger men. 

Imre is as strong as a young oak tree. He has wide shoulders and well developed muscles in his arms and legs. He first entered a weightlifting gym in 1956 and in just three years attained international stature. 

Foeldi trains all year round without exception, five days a week from 2 to 2.5 hours at each training period. He considers strong legs and a strong back to be the most important asset to a lifter. 

He performs different pulling assistance exercises, his favorite being the forward bend with barbell across shoulders (good morning). In this movement he works up from 150 to 200 pounds. 

Another of his favorite strength-building exercises is the squat and in this he works up from 220 to 350 pounds. He does the squat three times a week. 

To improve his press, the lift at which he presently holds the world's record, he trains on the standing incline bench press, working up from 130 to 200 pounds. This exercise in no small measure has made it possible for him to press 253.5 pounds which is 7 pounds over double bodyweight -- a truly remarkable lift. 

After training he likes to run medium distances at an easy tempo doing some gymnastics along the way. He spends a lot of time on the Swedish Wall in order to strengthen his abdomen. He considers a strong abdomen necessary in the press. 

Imre does not snatch very well and spends considerable time improving his technique. (At the world's championships Imre snatched 220 which is some 22 pounds behind the record.)

His best training efforts are: 253.5 press, 220.5 snatch, 297.5 clean & jerk. Imre trains under medical supervision and he seldom uses vitamins or massage. He is very calm and does not get excited before a contest. He says he sleeps well. Apart from weightlifting his hobby is reading. 


  
My Impressions of Isaac Berger of the United States

This multiple champion and world's record holder in the featherweight class was born into a large family in Jerusalem in November of 1936. After the war the Berger family moved to New York. A few years ago Isaac moved out to Hollywood and opened a small restaurant. He is not married. 

"Ike," as he is affectionately known, is fond of heavy athletics and thoroughly enjoys a hard workout. 

"The moment I first saw a barbell I liked it," he told me. "From that moment on I started to train and that was back in 1951."

I asked him how much he lifted the first time. Ike blushed and waved his hand. "Very little, very little indeed." 

"How much was this?" I persisted. 

120 in the press, 105 in the snatch, and 120 in the clean & jerk," he said, smiling with some embarrassment. "It was not very much but then I was only 15 years old and weighed 103 pounds." 

Here is what Berger told me about his training:

"My first coach was Mr. Heimansheifer from New York. He only taught me for a short while but I learned very quickly. I made friends with many of the other athletes. Now out in Hollywood I train by myself and in the good company of Dave Ashman and Dave Sheppard. 

"In my opinion the greatest asset to a weightlifter is strong legs and therefore I devote two of my training periods each week to squatting with a heavy barbell. During one period I do front squats, the next period back squats. I do pulling exercises once a week.

"The technique and timing of the exercises I learned from Sheppard and I honestly doubt if you could find a better technician than he. In general I like to do all training exercises and a heavy workout gives me a lot of satisfaction, but I do like the press best of all.

"I particularly like to perform the press on the incline board tilted at various angles from 30 to 50 degrees. I often do the press with a wide grip. I do not like to jerk and because of this I lost on several occasions the chance to win a gold medal at world's championships."

Berger is an excellent acrobat. He devotes a lot of time to gymnastics and also likes to swim. 

Back in 1959 in El Paso, Texas he lifted in the Junior National championships and made a total of 848.75 pounds in the featherweight class! This is his best total and is 27.5 pounds in excess of the official world's highest total made in international competition.

In training, while his bodyweight was 135.5 pounds he lifted 281 in the press, 255.75 snatch and several times was able to hold 336.25 in the jerk.

"So far," he said, I train rather negligently. There are times when I stayed away from the barbell for as long as four months but now I realize that I must train consistently for I want to take part in international competition as long as my legs can stand it.

"I shall try to realize my dream of an 880 total as a featherweight. I believe it is possible for me to make a 281 press, 264.5 snatch, and 352.75 clean & jerk." (This comes to more than 880 but Berger believes he might make these lifts individually.)

This great American champion used vitamins sparingly. He sleeps peacefully the night before an important contest but gets very excited just before appearing on the platform during the contest. 

"There is nothing I like better in life than sports," he told me, "but I particularly like the heavy athletics. I like car racing, and going to concerts to hear classical music gives me great satisfaction." 



My Impressions of Waldemar Baszanowski of Poland

He recently became the world's champion in the lightweight class. Baszanowski will be 24 years old this summer. He was born in Gaansk, Poland. 

This year he completed his training at the Warsaw Academy of Physical Culture and Sports and now works there as a lecturer. He is a bachelor. He spends all jhis time training for weightlifting. 

Waldemar saw his first barbell at the Academy. For his initial try at lifting he pressed 123.5. snatched 154.25, and jerked 198.25 pounds. That was back in 1957. His first coach was the celebrated Dzhedin but now, like the American Berger, he trains on his own. 

"I never try to emulate anyone in the sport," he told me. "All I have achieved I did thanks to my own head and effort. I learned everything myself." 

Waldemar trains regularly five times a week with a one month's layoff during the winter for a rest.

"The legs and back are most important to a weightlifter," he said. "I like pulling exercises and squatting most of all. I do them two or three times a week. My poorest exercise is the press. I train for the press with dumbbells using 110 pounds in each hand several times in succession. Three times a week I do light athletics and prefer running with weights for a distance of 150 feet. I jump a lot and practice throwing the discus and putting the shot from  various positions."

Baszanowski achieved his best results so far this year by pressing 275.5, snatching 286.5 and jerking 363.75.

"I hope to be able to total 970 pounds as a lightweight by the time of the Tokyo Olympic Games," he told me. "I am not certain yet but it seems probable that I will graduate up to the middleweight class after that."

Baszanowski injured the tendons in his right knee during the performance of a squat snatch and from then on he was compelled to use the split technique. His usual bodyweight is around 152 pounds. On the eve of competitions he sleeps well and is quite calm. Apart from weightlifting his chief hobbies are radio and automotive engineering.


Enjoy Your Lifting!  



 



 



























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