An Interview with the Young Man from Georgia (USA)... Lee James, Jr. - Howard L. Miller (1975)

 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 22^nd. 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. 1^st BN. 503^rd 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