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More on Rotating Sleeves

After the publication of Part 41 of this series of articles, the title of this month’s piece could have been “Let The Debate Begin.” There was an overwhelming response to my comments that there was no true advantage to utilizing a barbell with rotating sleeves when performing the squat, bench press, or deadlift. To some, this was the equivalent of attacking the Pope, noting that Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick produces a lot of statistics but few clutch victories, or that the Nautilus machines designed and produced in the early 1970’s brought better overall results than the end product of today’s training even with lots of friction in the mechanical components and some strength curves that needed modification.

The Rotating Barbell and Ivanko

After a few months of discussion involving the politics and behind-the-scenes events that affected powerlifting and the founding of the sport, I would like to continue the point of debate that also affected the sport at one time. In any storefront gym or garage where lifters gathered to train, there was almost always a discussion involving the merits of utilizing a barbell that did not have rotating sleeves as per the standard Olympic barbell.

A Brief But Necessary Explaination of “Powerlifting Vis-à-vis Olympic Lifting” Part 3

As one of my long time readers stated about last month’s article,

“…what a fun read !….wasn`t aware you & Kathy were offered jobs w/ Weider…….btw, that picture of Joe Weders ‘most muscular’ was actually me, taken either @ Community Health “Studio” -OR- Vito`s basement gym. Always wondered what happened to the negative.”

That specific photo of Joe Weider has always provoked controversy. In fact, physique man Dan Lurie said in an interview that Joe used “retouching art work on several of his pictures. Putting his face on well built men is not new for Joe.” I know that much of the York gang of the 1960’s always believed that Joe had attained his peak of development for the 1953 Mr. Universe Contest and none were impressed.

A Brief But Necessary Explaination of “Powerlifting Vis-à-vis Olympic Lifting” Part 2

While it was my intention to return to the ongoing discussion related to powerlifting equipment and specifically questioning the need for a bar with rotating sleeves, the thirty-eighth installment of our TITAN series of articles sparked a great deal of comment and a number of requests for additional information.

A Brief But Necessary Explaination of “Powerlifting Vis-à-vis Olympic Lifting” Part 1

My compulsive nature is most comfortable when I can maintain both order and the order of completing tasks in a sequential manner. However, an interruption in communication with Ivanko Barbell founder Tom Lincir due to his schedule, and our readers’ repetitive request for further explanation about “Powerlifting as it was then” requires a month’s delay in Part 2 of our discussion about the necessity of having rotating sleeves on a barbell used exclusively for powerlifting.

Early Beginnings for Powerlifting’s Bar

I can recall an article written in the Weider publication Muscle Power, the forerunner to Muscle And Fitness magazine, and it noted that one did not necessarily need an Olympic barbell with rotating sleeves to perform the three official powerlifts, once the bench press, squat, and deadlift, in that order, were standardized as the competitive lifts.

The Strongmen

When it was time to train for an odd lift contest or powerlifting meet in the early to mid-1960’s, the fellows I would occasionally train with would do their best to have an Olympic barbell available. Any quick reading of the thirty-five preceding articles in this Titan series would make it obvious that the rules of “early powerlifting” borrowed liberally from the sport of Olympic weightlifting. Not yet being official, not yet being completely organized, and not being wholeheartedly accepted by those who ran national and international weightlifting, perhaps it was easiest to do what made the most sense which would have been to adapt the weightlifting rules to this new sport.

Let’s Make Dumbbells

Typical of the era and like almost all of the other teenaged boys I knew at that time, I had a job that kept me busy after school, in the evenings, and/or on the weekends. With time “off” to participate in high school sports, most of my “employment related work” was left for the weekends although a Saturday afternoon high school football game would often be approached after working with my father or uncle from 6 PM Friday evening, until perhaps 8 AM Saturday morning without a hint of sleep. My uncle was a respected chef who believed that the best way to keep me from falling prey to the clutches of the street was to insure that I had a viable trade. Thus, I had the advantage of learning the skills of an iron worker with that of a typical saucier and broiler man.

Making Dumbbells for Everyone

Before getting into the construction of home made dumbbells and discussing the archaic “revolving sleeves” that were part and parcel of every 110 pound set of standard weights sold throughout the 1950’s and ‘60’s, I want to present an e mail from Jan Dellinger. For those who don’t know, Jan was York Barbell Company’s representative from approximately 1976 into the early 2000’s.

More Dumbbells for Everyone

I was contacted by a fellow I knew in high school whose son was a patient and trainee of mine and he mentioned that he had been reading the ongoing Titan/Eleiko series of articles and remembered how so many of my classmates and others around school thought that walking through town with a loaded barbell in order to accumulate free plates was “just the strangest thing anyone could do.” Of course, lifting weights in any manner in the late 1950’s and early ‘60’s was also considered to be “the strangest thing anyone could do” so one must maintain the perspective common from that time period. This individual did however follow up with a “left-handed compliment” when noting that “everyone also thought you had to be pretty strong to do that stuff.” Call it dedication, motivation, or simply an obsession to gather as much weight as I could if it was offered at no cost. As a youngster intent on becoming muscularly larger and stronger so that I could improve my football and street survival skills, I was convinced that the possibility of having “too much weight” or “too many dumbbells and extra plates” did not exist.

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