USAWA Club Build Out

The Lifts and Equipment Required

• 219 - lifts contested
• 161 - no special equipment required (basic bars/plates/dumbbells/risers)
• 14 - Fulton Barbell
• 10 - Ring (finger lifts)
• 8 - Heavy Lift Bar
• 4 - 2" vertical bar - vertical lifts and Thor's Hammer
• 4 - "Roman Chair" - Sit-up, bench, abdominal raise, back extension
• 3 - Fulton Dumbbell - deadlifts
• 3 - 1" vertical bar - vertical lifts
• 3 - Inch Dumbbell - deadlifts
• 1 - Weaver Stick
• 1 - Saxon Plank
• 2 - Apparatus - Foot Press, Back Lift
• 1 - 3 inch barbell without knurling
• 1 - Trap Bar
• 1 - Dinnie Handles
• 1 - 3.5" Dumbbell - Dumbbell Walk
• 1 - Short bar for Rim Lift

Over 25% require some specialty equipment.

Heavy Lift Bar (with accoutrements)

• Carter Lift - Hip Belt (Records Only)
• Deanna Lift - Hand and Thigh (Deanna Springs Memorial Meet)
• Hand and Thigh - Hand and Thigh (Popular)**
• Harness Lift - Harness and Hand Rails (Popular)
• Hip Lift - Hip Belt (Popular)**
• Neck Lift - Neck Harness (Popular)
• Phumchaona Lift - Hip Belt (Records Only)
• Travis Lift - Special connection to belt (last contested 2006 Dino Gym Challenge)

Teeth Bit

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Theory Behind Equipment

Fulton Bar Lift - Homage to grip, easily sourced

Ring Lifts - Odd, but easily sourced

Heavy Bar Lifts - Quite popular and people love to see what they can put up.  These are difficult to source and require an array of belts/harnesses to compete with

Vertical bar lifts - Certainly an homage to grip.  Thor's Hammers was a new lift as of 2014.

Roman Chair lifts - Odd as USAWA has unique requirements for the chair.  Specifically the flat surface.

• Abdominal Raise - well contested
• Back Extension - (9) male (Myers, Songster, Ross) and (0) female records
• Bench Press, Roman Chair - well contested by men, (1) female record
• Roman Chair Sit-up - (20) male, (0) female record

Dumbbell Variations 

• Fulton Dumbbell - Minimum diameter 1.9 inches
• Inch Dumbbell - 2.5" diameter
• Dumbbell Walk - 3.5" diameter

Weaver Stick - Kind of weird, but easily homemade

Saxon Plank - 3" thick wooden plank with way to secure plates, typically homemade for Saxon Snatch

Apparatus - Back Lift (recently contested at Buffville), Foot Press (any Commercial Vertical Leg Press should suffice)

Barbell Variations

• 3 Inch Barbell without knurling - Deadlift - Clark's, Frank's, Dino Gym
• Trap Bar - Deadlift - very popular

Dinnie Handles - Dinnie Lift

Custom Short Bar - Rim Lift

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High Country Vigour (HCV)

HCV has made a very good start, but is a far cry from a club capable of hosting all lifts.

• Basic Equipment - YES - Would need some calibrated 55's for heavy bar lifts
• Fulton Bar - YES - Generic
• Ring for Finger Lifts - YES - Michael Black
• Heavy Bar Lifts - NO - Phased Plan below
• Hip Belt - Hip Lift, Carter Lift, Phumchaona Lift
• Hand & Thigh - Hand & Thigh, Deanna Lift
• Harness - Harness Lift
• Neck Harness - Neck Lift
• Travis Lift Attachment - Travis Lift
• Vertical Bar Lifts - YES - 2" Generic Sleeves and 1" FBBC v-bars
• Roman Chair - NO - Need to design or modify exiting
• Dumbbells - YES - Fulton and Inch from Nemesis, 3.5 inch TBD
• Weaver Stick - NO - Have broom handle, need to fabricate
• Saxon Plank - NO - Lower priority, may purchase a metal one from Sorinex
• Commercial Vertical Leg Press - NO - I do not have the space for this
• 3" Barbell - NO - Could purchase from Titan Fitness for $120
• Dinnie Handles - YES - Cerberus
• Custom Short Bar for Rim Lift - YES - Works with stubby axle bar, Dino Gym has 20" spacing on an axle

Progression

• As it stands, HCV could contest 200 of 219 lifts.  
• Heavy Lift Bar, Hand & Thigh & Hip Belt 205 of 219 ($300)
• Neck Harness, Travis Lift attachment 207 of 219 ($150)
• Roman Chair, Back Extension 211 of 219 ($800)
• Saxon, Weaver, 3" Bar, 3.5" DB, Trap Bar 216 of 219 ($500)
• Harness, Hand rails 217 of 219 ($500)
• Vertical Leg Press 219 of 219 ($2000)

The Heavy Lift Bar with accoutrements 

• PHASE 1 ($306):  Arm Assassin Heavy Lift Bar ($140), Hand & Thigh Bar ($70), Titan Support Systems Dip Belt ($96).  $$*
• PHASE 2 ($100):  Custom Neck Harness.  Leather, Rivets, Delta Ring, Chain, Slip Hook $***
• PHASE 3 ($60):  Travis Lift Belt attachment - Rogue Dip Accessory Straps (2 x $30) $*
• PHASE 4 ($400):  Harness for Harness Lift and Hand Rails - Leather, Rivets, Delta Ring, Chain, Slip Hook, Custom Fabricated Hand Rails $$$***
• Calibrated Plates as required (Current 1000# set-up; $1,700 for 1500#, $4000 for 2,000#) $$$*

The Roman Chair intrigues me.  While only used for (4) lifts, it does not take up that much space.  I will likely acquire a commercial Roman Chair and modify the pad so it meets the USAWA requirements. $$$***

Making a Saxon Plank will be harder requiring a 3" wood plank, plate holders and a means of securing them. $$, ***

Making a Weaver Stick should be easy. $,**

3" barbell ($130-$250) and 3.5" dumbbell ($60-$90) do not interest me.  I do not care for the Trap Bar ($100-$200) either.  3" barbell available from a variety of sources.  3.5" dumbbell handles are uncommon but currently being offered by Arm Assassin and Nemesis Grips.  Trap bars are often found in commercial gyms. $$*

Back Lift/Foot Press apparatus are not likely for a completely different reason, space..  These could be fashioned from a commercial vertical leg press, but they take up a lot of real estate, especially in a home gym. $$$$**

A Custom Short Bar is a bit of a mystery on cost.  I am envisioning an 18" collar to collar distance with 12" of loadable sleeve length for an overall length of 42".  Either a 1.96" sleeve or a 1.9" Axle Bar.  A custom axle should be on the order of the cost of a 60" short axle under $100. I CAN CONTEST THIS LIFT ON A STUBBY AXLE BAR. $$**

$ - low cost, $$ - mid, $$$ - high, $$$$ prohibitive

* - buy easily, **fabricate easily, ***fabricate hard, ****fabricate prohibitive

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Theoretical Build Cost

• $3000 Basic Gym - Standard length barbells, fixed/loadable dumbbells, plates, rack, benches, means of elevating barbell; available at most commercial gyms
• $3000 (20) 100 pound plates to contest heavy lifts
• $1500 Commercial Vertical Leg Press (2000 pound capacity); uncommon
• $1000 Heavy Lift Bar, Hand and Thigh Bar and Harnesses; requires some skill and craftsmanship
• $500 Roman Chair; custom fabricated
• $600 Fulton Bar, Trap Bar; Short Rim Lift bar commercially available
• $200 3 Inch Bar without knurling
• $300 Vertical Bars (1" and 2"); commercially available
• $200 Dinnie Training Set; commercially available
• $200 Inch Dumbbells (loadable); commercially available
• $150 Fulton Dumbbells (loadable); commercially available
• $100 3.5 Inch Dumbbell (loadable); commercially available
• $100 Saxon Plank - homemade
• $30 Ring for finger lift; commercially available
• $0 Weaver Stick; homemade
• ---
• $10,880 (or around $11K)

Hip Belt Design

Belt, D-rings, Grab Hook, Chain, Steel Quick Link