1945
The use of bar bells can really be divided into three groups:
Power Exercises
Growing Exercises
Lifting Skill Exercises
This article will deal with that phase relating to the development of power.
Some time ago when visiting foundries it occurred to me to find, if possible. the relation between loin and back strength to overhead lifting in the untrained man and the overhead lifting ability of a man whose work required him to use mostly his arm and shoulder muscles. It was an interesting experiment and one that you might give some consideration. Moreover, you might even check my finding if you should ever have the opportunity to do so when around a factory of any sort.
General foundry workers, I observed, did very little overhead work but a great deal of bending, stooping, twisting and lifting from the floor to the hips. It was esy enough to find something around that would serve as a test of strength and I was not surprised to learn that with no exception every one of these men who could be encouraged to try a lift surpassed other workers by 35%.
The additional power that back workers displayed over the men who earned their living by arm and shoulder but very little leg and back work was conclusive evidence that great arm and shoulder strength can only be the result of strong loins and back muscles.
Two of the men whose work caused them to use their arms and shoulders to a large extent were heavily muscled throughout that region and no doubt could have easily defeated the other men at wrist turning who had so conclusively bested them at overhead lifting. I told them to spend a couple of months doing a little off the floor lifting and then challenge the others to a new contest. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind who will win if those two will take the trouble to strengthen their backs. I will drop back in to see how they have made out and will let you know the result in a future issue.
In my opinion, based on observations in the past, the same holds true for weight lifters. The men who excel at dead lifting are, in the main, superior when it comes to overhead lifting, and especially is this true when they have developed lifting skill. There are exceptions of course, and to forestall a flood of letters calling my attention to this or that man who can't dead lift his pocket knife but who can, in a contest, beat competitors who can out dead lift him I have only this to say: That dead lifter is entirely without lifting skill. Moreover, the skilled lifter will increase his total by strengthening his back through the practice of dead lifting.
There are plenty of men who clean & jerk 250 pounds who find a 400 pound dead lift all they are capable of standing erect with. Regular practice on this particular lift will so strengthen their back that 475 or even 500 pounds will no longer feel heavy. With such an increase in power, repetition cleans with 250 pounds becomes an exercise, not a lift.
Chris Dinkalacker(not related to the Westerville Dinkalackings), a Columbus Y lifter is without one of the strongest men in the world at his weight. Standing 5'8" and weighing around 140 pounds, he can at any time lift to his limit 500 pounds in the dead lift style. Weighing no more than 133 pounds I have seen him do 536 pounds in the dead lift and I am sure that he was not doing his limit at the time. It is one of his pet exercises and repetitions with a weight in excess of 400 pounds is part of his regular workout.
In the past "Dink" has failed to show in competition the results of his amazing strength thru the regular practice of repetition dead lifting. Mainly, this has been due to faulty lifting styles but he is rapidly overcoming this of late. He has developed a manner of arching under the weight as he pulls it to his chest and the bar is no longer bouncing off, spoiling his clean. In the snatch he is stepping a little more forward thus eliminating the waste of energy in pulling the weight back as well as up. It is unusual now to see him fail with his top weights. Through practice of repetitions in the jerk he no longer needs to worry about holding his weights overhead.
While beautifully muscled, the fact that he appears slender for his height makes it difficult for one to realize that a weight as much as 280 pounds is pulled in to his chest with such ridiculous ease. We have all seen men in competition more heavily muscled than he, who would struggle with much less weight. We naturally expect the larger man to lift heavier weights when speaking of weight lifters as a c class. When such is not the case it will be found nine time out of 10 to be due to lack of POWER. And that power comes from leg, hip and back strength, particularly the latter two. I don't think anyone will argue the point that hip and back strength come from the regular practice of the dead lift.
Before coming to Columbus in 1935 I practiced the dead lift with a "hopper" three days a week. Situated as I was and not enjoying the competition of other lifters I had little incentive to practice lifting. Still, with very poor form, I could at that time clean 290 pounds. In the last four years I have not had access to a hopper and as a result my cleaning ability has suffered considerably even in the face of plenty of fine competition. The summer of 1937 I did make a clean & jerk of 285 on one occasion. My best since then has been 275 pounds which I made regularly until I suffered a back injury last fall. The back is entirely healed now and with a hopper to work on I expect to climb from my present 250 to a higher poundage than ever before in my life.
Damnit, where'd I put them reading glasses.
Hopper . . . not Chopper!
Relatively few bar bell men are acquainted with the apparatus known as a hopper. But rest assured that this magazine intends to harp on the subject until every man who owns a bar bell set adds this important piece of apparatus to his equipment. It is easily made and certainly inexpensive, especially when the results received from its use are considered.
The greatest argument against the hopper that I have heard is that it bounces the weight up for you and as a result of this the lifter is really not lifting the weight at all. That DEFINITELY is not true. Anyone who makes such a statement has either, first, never seen a hopper or second, observed one that was improperly constructed. The hopper does not bounce the weight in any really noticeable degree. A hopper properly [hear that] made will not bounce a 400 pound barbell more than one-half an inch. If anyone wants to argue about the first half inch they are welcome to do so but remember that the next 20 or 24 inches YOU are going to do the lifting.
Perhaps you are wondering wherein lies the value of such an apparatus. The reasoning behind it is very simple.
Let us assume that you are practicing dead lifts with a weight that you are capable of doing 10 repetitions. It is not our opinion that such a number is sufficient but that is the number usually practiced. 20 counts (reps) are more productive to muscular growth and certainly more effective in the attempt to speed up the metabolic process when attempting to gain weight. At the moment, however, that is beside the point. What I am getting at is this: If one is using a weight that tires him at 10 counts in the regular or straight legged dead lift he has a tendency to round his back thus stretching the muscles which lay along his spine to their full extension. When such is the case there is the danger of suffering a lesion in that region. So long as the back remains flat there is no danger to the exercise whatever, but one does not keep the back flat the last 3 or 4 counts when using a weight that is somewhere near his limit. The situation is somewhat comparable to a rubber band. There is plenty of elasticity unless it is stretched too far -- if you stretch it beyond that point it gives way somewhere along its length. That is exactly what happens with the muscles that run along your spine. The usual point of lesion is in the sacroiliac region.
Now, let us assume that you are practicing the dead lift on a hopper. You go down after the weight with bent knees and flat back, head up. Standing erect, keeping the knees locked you dive with the weight letting it strike the apparatus with the full impact of the dive. Immediately upon the weight contacting the hopper you pull, coming to the erect position again.
The difference between the two ways of doing the deadlift, with and without a hopper, is the difference between a strong back and a strained one. When doing this dead lift in the regular style there is a very short period of relaxation of the muscles when the bar bell plates contact the floor, and when you attempt to stand erect with the weight there is a contraction of the same muscles. It is at this point that the lesion may occur. When you dive with the weight using the special equipment to absorb the shock there is no period of relaxation and the back remains flat thus assuring you of a strong pull with the element of danger removed. Moreover, the amount of weight that can be safely used is increased some 35%. Any weight that you can stand erect with once can be used 10-12 repetitions. It is advisable, however, to use a weight that you can handle 20 times.
Construction of a hopper is not difficult. All that is needed are four pieces of 2x6 or 2x8 lumber 48 inches long. Two pieces of 2x4 lumber 54 inches long, and eight carriage bolts 6 inches in length and 1/2 inch in diameter. Washers should be used to prevent the bolt heads from pulling through the lumber. If it is not possible to fasten the hopper to the floor of your workout room put a floor in the hopper and your weight standing on it will keep it from moving about during exercise.
The details above concerning the construction of the hopper along with the accompanying drawing above should make it easy enough for all of you to build yourself this very important accessory.
Enjoy Your Lifting.
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