Periodically I’m going to re-post certain articles from this website’s past. This post is from 18 Nov 2009 and highlights some of the women that were powerlifting in the early 80s — and there weren’t many that didn’t look pretty good. Enjoy.
We don’t really get an opportunity to talk about women on 70’s Big, so I’d like to highlight some women lifters from the 1981 Women’s National Powerlifting Championships. You’ll see that these women were not only strong, but pretty good lookin’ too. All the numbers from this meet are in kilograms (2.2 pounds = 1 kilogram). All of the following women won their respective weight classes. And “(WR)” denotes a world record.
Terry Dillard
Terry Dillard squatted 137.5 (WR), benched 57.5, and deadlifted 145 for a 340 (WR) total. That’s a 302.5 pound squat for a 105.6 pound woman. She also won Best Lifter.
Gayla Crain
Gayla Crain, a 56 kg lifter, squatted 152.5, benched 70, and deadlifted 180 for a 402.5 (WR) total. I dare say she is very good looking. Nice hair. She’s my favorite of this bunch.
Vicky Gagne
Vicky Gagne competed in the 82.5 kilo class. She squatted 202.5 (WR), benched 115, and deadlifted 220 (WR) for a 537.5 total! That is a 445.5 pound squat and a 484 pound deadlift. In the picture, she had been red lighted on a 507 lb. deadlifted, and said, “It’s ok, I’ll get it next time.” Kinda cute, eh?
Wanda Sander
Wanda Sander won the 82.5+ kg class with a 192.5 kg squat, 110 kg bench, and a 210 kg deadlift. Pretty strong.
I keep going back to the idea that these women are both real strong and attractive. There has always been a silly misconception that lifting weights will make women bulky, but they tend to forget they have one-tenth the testosterone of a male. Being “toned” means being strong, and being strong means you are probably gonna lasso a 70’s Big fella real soon. Once you go adult male (>200 lbs.), you’ll never go back.
Does anyone know what’s become of these ladies? I wonder if they’ve produced any 70s Big offspring. I looked up Gayla and found a story about how her father and brothers were also lifters.
I remember this article, I’m glad it got pushed back up because it conveys and important message.
how about a “sequel” to the article on current female powerlifters?
maybe one on oly-lifters both past and current?
+1 for homerj’s suggestions
Hey Justin, a while back you posted a S&C program on here and said that conditioning examples would be posted later. Were those ever posted? I was planning on starting the program tonight, and I was looking for conditioning workouts I can do in the gym I go to.
I found some old conditioing workouts posted on some forum that were alledgedly taken from the CFWF website. I’m not sure if Justin is keeping these the same or not.
After PC days:
1)
10 dumbell hang power snatches
10 k-bell swings
7 pullups
2)
200m running repeats, 1 min rest. Repeat 4-6 times.
3)
-10 dumbell power snatches
-10 k-bell swings
-10 air squats
(It didn’t say, but I assume all of these workouts are done heavy, and for multiple rounds to get in around 5-6 min of hard work).
After DL
1) 4 rounds of: 5 power cleans, 250m row
2) 5 rounds of: 250m row, 5 pull ups, 15 push ups.
I’m pretty sure those were what I added in the original .pdf. They may have been posted from someone’s memory because the first two don’t include how many rounds and such. But, you are correct; I aim for short and intense conditioning with this mixed modal stuff.
Another example could be
5 rounds of:
8 dips
8 box jumps
5 pull-ups (dead hang, without stopping)
8 KB swings with 30+kg kettlebell
The reps are adjusted based on the person. The aim is to go non-stop and intense to get peak work output in a short time. Rounds four and five should be the most difficult. The reps can be modified for the person’s conditioning ability.
It’s important to note that this is a general conditioning workout, not specific to any activity, yet it can provide the physiological adaptations for a specific conditioning goal. More on this later.
–Justin
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I saw that the American Open was this past weekend. Here is a link to the results page.
http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/34550/Results_USAW.pdf
Justin- I noticed your friend Ben lifted. Are you gonna try and get him to do a write up of his weekend?
Thanks for linking that — I’d like to do a write up. Ben did pretty well and I’d love to hear his thoughts. If he can’t write something, I’ll talk to him and relay the info.
–Justin
hey justin, thanks for pulling this article out again. those women were fricken strong as hell. great inspiration. looks like their numbers are competitive with a lot of guys i know…sweet! i’m registering for my first PL meet in february after doing only oly meets previously. maybe i’ll blow my hair out like gayla or perm it up like wanda. so cute.
So…. hot….
LOVE IT! Thanks for a great article…
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