Powerlifting Squad

          

The Powerlifting Squad of Durham ARC.

 

The powerlifting squad was established at Durham ARC in 2002. They train on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The members of the squad make it to the training sessions convenient to them. Some members make it to one, others two and the competitive members make it to all three. The training takes place in the new top quality gym at the clubhouse of Durham Amateur Rowing Club at Green Lane , Durham. The equipment and facilities are excellent. The coaching of the squad is undertaken by World and National Championship Medal Winners. Durham ARC is a member off the British Weight Lifters Association - The national governing body of weight lifting and powerlifting.

   Make contact through Durham ARC mailto:enquiries@durham-arc.org.uk and cc to  durhampowerlifting@hotmail.co.uk 

What is Powerlifting?

 It involves lifting big weights. The lifts are squat, bench press and deadlift. For more information the best regional site is www.ynecawla.org.ukAt Durham ARC we do a lot more.

Is powerlifting all that happens?

      General Strength Training.

We have members who concentrate on using weights in order to improve their general strength. They fall into two groups, those who just want to be fit and strong and those who want to be strong in order to increase their performance in their sport. These are mainly rowers but we do have climbers, footballers and swimmers. Graham is a climber and needs some extra strength as he has to have a go at Everest later this year - he is so pleased to have found the Durham Powerlifters!

      Olympic Weightlifting.

There are four members who are trying to get better at Olympic Weightlifting. Two of them hope to enter the Regional Championships.They are both on target to get Gold Medals and this would  be a first for Durham ARC. In the competition they would have three attempts at the two Olympic lifts, the Snatch and the Clean+Jerk.

       Weights for Rowers.

  All rowers know the importance of having big weights included in their land training programme.The expertise of the powerlifters is available to all rowers of the club. The junior section has taken great advatage of this. Some of the juniors have been able to make GB Squad selection and have represented their country at World Championships.  Who knows, they might not have made it without the expertise of the powerlifters of Durham ARC.

       Tone and Trim.

  There are a few members who use powerlifting as part of their tone and trim regime.

                                Work done = force (N) x distance (m)

 By lifting big weights they are using up body energy as well as giving muscles a real workout. Powerlifting and rowing machines are very good fat burning excercises and having a fitness regime that use both of these is one that will work.

      Social.

  There is a strong social dimension to the powerlifting squad. Not only after training in the bar but also regular evenings on the town. Some of the members like real ale and go for the CAMRA pubs while others prefer the luxury of the Eperney Champagne Bar. There is always the Christmas Dinner - being powerlifters we don't have turkey we have big steaks and chips. We also organise Band Nights down at the clubhouse and we are fortunate to have a squad member in the local punk band  ZIPJAM and they contribute to the fundraising of our squad by giving us their time and providing entertaining nights.

We also run fun events such as "A night at the Races". This is a fun and fundraising event held at the club. There are horses, jockeys and owners as well as the punters and general spectators. What a night. Great ,great fun!!!!

2008 Results

 

 2nd February        Yorkshire + North East Powerlifting Championships Ashington.

Name

Category

Squat Bench Deadlift

Position

Title

Chris Cooper

M1 82.5 kg

200 kg 160 kg 225 kg

1st

Regional Champion

Jim Dulling

M2 100 kg

160 kg 135 kg 225 kg

1st

Regional Champion

 23rd February        Yorkshire + North East Senior Weightlifting Championships,  Mytholmfoyd, Halifax.

Name

Category

Snatch    Clean+Jerk     Total

Position

Jim Dulling

Senior 105 kg

65kg            65 kg              130kg 

     2nd

8th/9th March     Benchpress National Championships of  Great Britain at Hatchbrook , Birmingham .                  

Name

Category

Result (kg)

Position

GB National Ranking - all ages.

Alex lee

M3 67.5kg

150

1st Gold medal

            3rd

Chris Cooper

M1 82.5 kg

160

2nd  Silver medal

             5th

Jim Dulling

M2 100 kg

140

2nd  Silver medal

             7th

6th April      Powerlifting National Championships of Great Britain, Birmingham Sports Centre.

Name

Category

Squat    Bench      Deadlift          Total

Position

Chris Cooper

M1 82.5

190kg     162.5kg      222.5kg         575kg

2nd Silver medal

16th April      World Benchpress Championships, Bratislav, Slovakia.

Name

Category

   Bench 

Position

Alex Lee

M3 67.5kg

  157.5kg

 BronzeMedal

26th May     Yorkshire and North East Unequiped Powerlifting Championships, Ashington.

Name

Category

Total (kg)

Position

Title

Jim Dulling

M2 100kg

515

1st

Regional Champion

Chris Cooper

M1 82.5kg

500

2nd

Runner up.

Phil Spenser

Sen 110kg

460

4th

 

Jammie Walton

Sen 100kg

440

5th

 

Stewart Lee

Sen 82.5kg

380

1st

Regional Champion

Alex Lee

M3 67.5kg

367.5

1st

Regional Champion

Sarah Dulling

Sen 67.5kg

222.5

1st

Regional Champion

1st June      British Unequiped Benchpress Championships, Birmingham.

Name

Category

Result (kg)

Position

GB National Ranking - all ages.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Cooper

M1 82.5 kg

137.5

1st Gold medal

           3rd

Jim Dulling

M2 100 kg

122.5

3rd Bronze medal

            12th

2008 Social

 

March 11th   We had a great night out at one of the best eateries in Durham - Bistro 21. The pre-dinner soiree was at the Weatherspoons pub " The Waterhouse". An excellent selection of real ales at the "spoons" was just the thing before the knife and fork. Top ale vote went to Abbot Ale. Best food @ the Bistro - chicken liver starter, roast shoulder of pork main course and creme brule dessert. Great company and conversation. A lot of strategic planning for the upcoming competitions; and some new training systems - look out for the elastic bands!

April 8th   Another night at the 'spoon and Bistro 21. Excellent beer- they had their beer festival on. In the 'spoon we made contact with the most well known nutters of Durham - most of whom are well known by Jim. They did not impede on the evening and actually had an imput into the best beer of the night. The beer vote was split between JW Lees of Manchester and their Brewer's Dark ( chocolate and malty) and a Belgium hand pulled Ecaussinnes Cookie Beer (ginger and cinnamon). On the food at the Bistro the vote went - starter was Caeser Salad, main chicken legs/sardines (a hard call to make) and dessert creme brule - the best in the world according to my wife - who is a regular diner at the Bistro. Apre dinner was taken up with stories of what to say to unwanted callers on the phone - so funny !!!!   -   and we also had a session on strategic planning and mental preparation for competition. A very worthwhile and enjoyable night..

June   A night of real ale avoiding the "Dark Side". The plan is to sample a few nice halves in a selection of pubs in the more civilised part of Durham. Possible hostelries are Dunn Cow, Court Inn, Queen Vic, City Tavern, Half Moon and The Swan. Friday 20th a possible date.

July ? Pub and Punk at Newcastle prob Carling Acadamy.

August ? A Night in the woods - Ray Mears style.

 2008 Fundraising and Purchases

 Raffles We have had 4 successful raffles. The first one was a bottle raffle, the second an unwanted Xmas present raffle, the third an Easter egg raffle and the fourth a bottle of whisky on Boat Race day! The raffles have raised over £180 !!!

New Bar  We have purchased a reconditioned olympic bar for competition preparation. It's a good one - Ivanco - £185 to us --- it would have cost over £800 new!

Bar Box   We have had a wooden bar box made so that the new bars are kept safe.

Boards  A few more boards have been purchased. They were needed so that the floor does not get damaged.

Rubber bands Two new position resistant bands (AKA Woody bands) have been purchased. These are designed to be fastened to the bench and the bar and are to train the top of the benchpress lift.

New Benchpress Bench   A new benchpress bench has been commissioned from the clubs' top welder Micky Stevens. This £70 investment will be the best investment yet. Micky has made a bench that would cost £400. We are all grateful to Micky and so are all the members who are using it.

New Clock   We have bought a new clock for the gym with a second hand. The clock is essential as we often try to use a 4 or 5 minute recovery time between lifts.

Three New Belts   There has always been a need for belts. The rowers often do weights that should be done with the support of a belt. We had a raffle on Boat Race Day and used the money to purchase three belts for general use.

Strategic Developments

Equipment

The equipment of the club is very good. We are not short of any essentials. There are a few things that would help the performance of members:-

          1)    A Squat Cage with an integrated pull up bar.  This would increase the safety of all who train and allow supplementary exercises such as shoulder shrugs as weel as pullups,chins, etc.

          2)    A general purpose bench. Many uses especially dumbell work.

          3)    A few more 20kg weights as we now have three exercises on the go at the same time.

          4)    A few big plastic 'bumper weights' in order to do Olympic lifting - say a pair of 10kg and 20kg weights.

Membership

The membership of the powerlifting squad who have serious competition ambition is to be encouraged. To this end our members need to join BWLA with all the added advantages that the membership brings.

Coaches

A long term goal is for squad members to gain recognised coaching qualifications. The squad hopes to offer such courses to all organisations that train with weights, such as local rowing clubs and those who supervise sports centres.

Referees

The squad needs to find in its' numbers people who are prepared to become referees. This is an expectation of all clubs associated to BWLA.

Courses

The squad needs to extend the knowledge and understanding of all its' members and as such full advantage should be taken of the courses that are available.

Competitions

All the members of the squad have competition ambitions. We compete at local, regional, national and international level. The numbers that are able to do this will increase.

Make contact through the Durham ARC site and cc to  durhampowerlifting@hotmail.co.uk

          *********************     Under construction.  ********************

This site is under constuction by Jim Dulling - Secretary of Durham Amateur Rowing Club ( Powerlifting Squad).