International Olympic Lifter October 1975
In my report on the 1974 Cincinnati Open Weight Lifting
Championships (IOL Vol. 1 #3) I wrote the following enthusiastic lines: “An
unknown lifter, Lee James from Georgia [maybe another lifter of Anderson’s
caliber in the making] did some mighty fine lifting… His lifting won him the
outstanding lifter award over Ball, Yahraus and Stock.” Well, many months
have passed since that day in Cincinnati and Lee James, Jr. is no longer
unknown. My prediction of his abilities has come true, Lee James has made his
mark in American lifting.
At the recent USA Championships I had the opportunity to
interview Lee and delve a bit into his background. As he had just lifted that
day and the interview didn’t start until after 1:00 AM this report is obviously
not as complete as I would like. Still, it gives an impression of the type of
man Lee is and the fantastic progress he has made in so short a time.
James is 21 years old, having been born October 31, 1953 in
Gulfport, Mississippi. He has one older brother and one older sister. Lee was
small as a child, by the time he reached the eight grade he was only 4’11” and
85 lbs. At that time his family had moved to Albany, Georgia and Lee embarked
on a course in bodybuilding to gain some size. His family had the usual
objections, waste of time, muscle-boundness, etc. but young James stuck with it
and in October 1970 he had started doing the Olympic lifts, having become bored
with bodybuilding. He had only what he read in Strength and Health to learn
technique. James entered his first meet in Atlanta, Georgia as a middle weight
and did 90.7/200.0-88.5/195-115.7/255.0. His style was pretty rough and he
realized leg work was needed. At that time he was working out three to four
times a week.
At a meet in Eastman, Georgia, Lee met Rod Lapin of North
Carolina. Rod gave Lee some advice to aid his technique which helped greatly.
James entered four meets in the next two years culminating in the 1971 Teenage
Nationals. He placed fourth in the light heavy weight class at the low
bodyweight of 78.5/173.0 by doing 113.4/250.0-104.3/203.0-133.8/295.0 for a
351.5/775.0 total. All the cleans, by the way, were power cleans! (Lee gave up
training for a while after this contest. He was still not too serious and still
had no training partners. But the bug bit Mr. James again soon and by January
of 1972 he was back in training.) In March of 1972 he entered a meet in
Hampton, Virginia and posted lifts of 113.4/250.0-113.4/250.0-140.6/310.0 which
was his best total. He entered the U.S. Army in June of 1972, there were many
reasons for this move, not the least of which was marriage. Lee says his wife
Susan has backed him 100% in all his endeavors, and acts as a trainer, even
gives him massages.
James was a paratrooper until his division was taken off
jump status and he is now on special duty service but still stationed at Ft.
Campbell, Kentucky where he has been stationed for his entire Army
career.
In August of 1973 Lee made a 269.9/595.0 total at the
Winston-Salem Open (USA) in the biathlon which brought notice to his weight
lifting ability. Still in October in a contest in his home town of Albany he
added 6.8/15.0 to his total. At this time Dale Rhoades and Ben Green wrote to
USA Weightlifting Chairman Bob Crist about James. Crist along with military
service AAU representative Sgt. Herb Gowing helped Lee get more time to train
and approval grants for more contests. In December of 1973 he journeyed back to
Atlanta, Georgi and did 29.9/595.0 total. Lee considers this to have been his
first big push as he snatched 131.5/290.0 for the first time. This encouraged
him to work even harder on improving his technique and to enter more meets.
After hitting the national scene at Cincinnati in January 1974 the rest, as
they stay, is history. Lee’s best contest total to date is the 315.2/695.0 he
did at the Monroe J.C.’s in Des Moines, Iowa, February 22nd. He is
especially proud of the fact that he broke Rick Holbrook’s meet records with a
142.9/315.0 snatch and 172.4/380.0 clean and jerk.
Here now are Lee James answers to some specific questions:
What is your rank in the Army?
SP/4 (E-4) attached to DCO. 1st BN. 503rd
Int.
How big is your family now?
I have a wife, Susan and one son. His name is Steve.
What does your typical workout consist of?
Early in the year, I handle repetitions of five or six,
working up toa single with about six to seven sets for a given exercise. During
the middle of the year, around March, I use repetitions in triples except for
legs, working up to singles. Six weeks before a contest I do singles in
everything except leg work (I do singles for legs about two weeks before the
meet.) I train five times a week, two times a day, concentrating on one lift a
day and break the lift down in stages.
Monday Morning
Snatch Pull (complete)
Pull (stage 1)
Pull (stage 2)
Snatch Pull-ups [edit: fairly positive these are high pulls]
Monday Afternoon
Power Snatch
Front Squat
Bent Over Row
Press
Tuesday Morning
Clean Pull (complete)
Pull (stage 1)
Pull (stage 2)
Clean Pull-ups
Tuesday Afternoon
Hang Cleans
Back Squats
Hyperextensions
Shoulder Shrugs
Thursday Morning
Same as Monday except substitute Pull-ups with Shoulder
Shrugs
Thursday Afternoon
Hang Snatch
Pre-exhaustion Front Squats
Bent Over Rows
Lock Outs
Friday Morning
Same as Tuesday except substitute shrugs for Pull-ups
Friday Afternoon
Power Cleans
Back Squats
Good Mornings
Shoulder Shrugs
Saturday (only one workout)
Snatches
Cleans
Jerks
Leg Extensions
Leg Press
Twenty minutes of stretching is done before and ten minutes
after each training session, also sit-ups after each workout.
Best lifts in training: Snatch-145.1/320.0 and
Jerk-180.0/396.0. This was at the time I had peaked for the Pan Am
Championships in April 1974, before the date was changed. I am going to try a
cycling routine in the future.
Any thoughts on drugs?
Before accepting Christ as my Savior in January I had
experimented a little with steroids with little success. I didn’t feel like I
could witness properly and take steroids. And I’ve done much better without
them. In York I had 147.4/325.0 locked out parallel and did a good 180.0/396.0
clean and jerk.
Who do you consider the most knowledgeable people in the
game in the USA?
Carl Miller, who has done American weightlifting a big favor
in spreading up-to-date training information. Dick Smith, who is so experienced
in working with lifters, (He should be picked for many more international
trips.) Marty Cypher, who was my first real coach and Dick Green who has given
me encouragement. I still train alone for the most part by the way.
What is your proudest accomplishment in the sport so far?
That would have to be the European trip with the Junior team
in 1974. In a matter of days I improved at every contest (four: USA vs.
England, Germany, France, and Spain.) I think Carl Miller’s help and interest
in me during that trip was another turning point for me. Since I was on the
World Championships team last year, I was not allowed to enter the Junior
Nationals this year in Cleveland. I was very disappointed but as I had hurt my
elbow two weeks prior perhaps it was for the best.
What weight lifter do you most admire?
Ivanchenko. I feel he epitomizes what a weight lifter should
look like and act like. All functional muscle and neat in appearance. Also his
seriousness and machine-like actions are very impressive. His flexibility is
unmatched and technique fantastic!
https://youtu.be/hJ90qqbJZTg?si=JPOwrp6UL6D1ZsYb
What do you see as the future of lifting in the U.S.A.?
The national organization seems more interested in young
people now. This is going to help lifting all together. Lifting information
should be made more available and more wide-spread. We should get away
from the same old lifters making all the teams and going on all the trips.
Young fellows who are just starting out must get a good foundation of
technique. There are so many very strong lifters around, who’d poor technique
will always keep them from the top. I don’t like the power lifts! There is no
skill involved, no coordination. Just brute strength. Same for bodybuilding.
All that type of training does is to produce a lot of pretty, nonfunctional
muscles.
And what do you see as the future of one Lee James, Jr?
I predict that I will break all the light heavy weight
American records within the next two years, next year (1976) barring injury. I
also predict that I will be in the top three at the Olympics in Montreal next
year. I hope the Army will let me off to train at York more often as that will
be a real key in my progress.
One final thing, Lee. During the competition yesterday
you were heard to shout out “Eat More Grits.” Would there be any specific
significance to this strange battle cry?
Ha! That just means the South is on the rise in
weightlifting. We have Felton, Jones, the Cohens, Harvey Newton and, of course,
myself.
Here’s hoping that Lee James reaches all his goals. It
couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
https://youtu.be/DfA0HdX1v0E?si=PnYr5bzrcKRbvSsO
