Archive November 2009

An old article about the death of a friend

It has been happening. Just like my coaches and friends warned me about over twenty years ago. In the past year, three of my friends have died. Two of my childhood heroes are shells of men even though they are only in their fifties. In the tiny throwing community, guys who toss the shot, disc, hammer and javelin, the talk of early deaths, heart attacks, and terrible joint problems are becoming as commonplace of a discussion as the weather.

I saw it happening, too. A mediocre thrower would suddenly start dominating local and regional competition. In Olympic lifting, a lifter who had been making the usual progress would within months add forty pounds in the snatch and sometimes more in the clean and jerk. You could see the other effects, too, the bloated self-confidence, the terrible skin traumas, and then the injuries. It seemed that everywhere one looked you saw blown biceps, dislocated elbows, and popped ligaments as the body failed to keep up with the increased load and intensity over such a short amount of time.

And, we all denied it.

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The Dick Smith Interviews: Insights on Isometrics and Overtraining

Thanks to Mike Rinaldi, I had the wonderful opportunity of talking with Dick Smith over a series of telephone interviews. Dick’s background includes World War II experiences, a quarter squat over 1000 pounds and a lifetime of funny insights about the world of athletics. Yet, when you begin to look at the roll call of athletes who looked to him for help, his influence is staggering. Where would American lifting be without the names Lee James, Bob Bednarski, Bill March and Lou Riecke? Among hosts of others, over our discussions, we tended to keep coming back to these four, as well as Tommy Kono. As Kono trained in Hawaii and Dick lived in York (the “home” of American Lifting), it was difficult for the two of them to get together much. Whether the discussion turned to mental toughness, intelligent training or courage in the face of obstacles, the same list of names kept coming up.

Ideally, I hope to organize Dick’s pointers. For the record, I noticed that Dick and I both seem to enjoy the “story” as much as the “point of the story.” Unfortunately for me, I was then faced with pages of notes to reread and attempt to connect point “a” to point “b.”

So, forgive me, if you will if a point seems lost or a principle forgotten. However, three overriding principles dominated our conversations and Dick’s insights:

Not overtraining!
Motivation (The mind of a champion)
Flexibility

Dick still laments the loss of isometric work in the USA.

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