Liftathon Fundraiser For The Homeless!

[Jay Hagadorn]

I want to pass this by you all and get your thoughts before I pursue this.

I was thinking about all the blessings I have in my life while driving down the road and seeing a homeless man. At the same time I was listening to BBC and they were interviewing a homeless person. Apparently the current economic downturn is even affecting them as they have shut down some homes and shelters due to lack of funding.

I was thinking about doing a "Lift-A-Thon" fundraiser for the homeless. I would get the local media involved and local business'. My thought is of setting a Guiness Record for the most tonnage lifted in a 24hr period to assist in fund raising.

If I did a set of 10 w/ 225lbs every minute (squat then bench then deadlift and repeat) I could lift 3,240,000lbs. Any thoughts?

[Jason Alencewicz]

its a great thought, but i dont think u could do that for 24 hours str8 dude

[Jonathan Creason]

Yeah, I know those weights are nothing for you, Jay, but I can't imagine anybody being able to keep up that kind of pace. You might be better off going a little heavier and increasing your rest periods.

[Corey DuCharme]

Go for it Jay, sounds like a great idea!!! You've clearly been inspired to attempt a selfless act to benefit others.

If you get your fund raiser organized, have somebody on hand who is quick with numbers to assist you in making sure you hit the goal. A lift every minute may be too much to ask for 24 hours straight (1,440 reps), so you may need to adjust weight and reps as you go. (toilet break, eat, drink)

Nutrition will play a giant part in meeting your goal as well. You'll have to cleverly stock and resupply your body to accomplish the task.

Obviously, prayer will be the biggest boost. Make sure you tell us when the day is so we can pray for you as it is happening.

[Billy Wolt]

Jay,

What is the current record?

I think I read the most squatted in 24 hours was like 101k, which sounds doable.

[Jamey Niewojna]

cool idea! ridiculous cause. homeless people should get off their ass and get a job! give the money to cure cancer or something worth your time.

[rickfreitag]

Jay,

I like the idea. But this kind of strength endurance is a whole new beast. We learned that when training for THE GREAT CAR PUSH. The fatigue sets in quick and once it does, light weight seems like monster weight.

Try it first for an hour or two and see how easy it is.

Would you be interested in getting a team together to come join us in a SUV car push race. I'd like to find some other teams to turn THE GREAT CAR PUSH into a race.

[Ryan Rhodes]

I have to tactfully agree with a lot of what Jamie's saying. Furthermore, with the threat of robots on the rise, I feel your efforts would be better spent supporting the old folks being attacked by these metallic menaces. They're everywhere, stealing their medicine and eating it for fuel. They strike without warning and when they grab ahold of these frail old people with their metal claws, they can't break free because they're made of metal and robots are strong. Anybody will back me up on this. In this harsh world of crime and robots, the only thing these poor old people have left to rely on is strong people like us to support them...

[CharlesDMickey]

That would require a tremendous amount of strength endurance. You will most certainly need to train for it.

I've seen 95-135lb barbell complexes with 60-90 seconds rest between humble some pretty strong guys.

[Eric Todd]

If I were going for those types of poundages, I would use a heavy lift such as back lift, harness lift, hand and thigh, etc, where you do not have to move the weight as far, and would get the weights quicker. I once saw steve schmidt of MO beat one of Warren Travis's records by banging out more than a rep a second on the backlift with around 2000# (weight might be a little off, but not by much). He would hit a hundred or so, then rest for a couple of minutes, then go again. It was amazing.
Et

[D.J. Satterfield]

With regards to the homeless cause, lets think about a couple of things. You don't know what their situation is or what brought them to being homeless. Now I am by no means saying some of them aren't "using the system" but others aren't.
When they have no decent clothes, home address, etc., what are they supposed to put on their job app. and what are they supposed to wear? So it isn't always as easy as "just get a job".

No matter what cause you are doing this for, I applaud you for thinking of others Jay.

[Paul_Koskinen]

Just a thought...

It may attract more public/media attention if the effort had a certain "hook" to it. Since the homeless are to benefit why not calculate the tonnage of carrying construction supplies for an organization such as Habitat For Humanity?
I'm not suggesting a long marathon carry from supplier to job site but how about off-loading the lumber and other materials a person can carry. All you have to do is cover a short distance and cross an arbitrary line.

[Anthony Esquerdo]

How about get the 20 strongest guys you can put them onside of a bus and see how many flips they can get!

[Scott Markowitz]

Just a thought...

It may attract more public/media attention if the effort had a certain "hook" to it. Since the homeless are to benefit why not calculate the tonnage of carrying construction supplies for an organization such as Habitat For Humanity?
I'm not suggesting a long marathon carry from supplier to job site but how about off-loading the lumber and other materials a person can carry. All you have to do is cover a short distance and cross an arbitrary line.

I like this idea. It wouldn't even have to be carried - just lifted. I doubt a house weighs three million pounds, so it'd be more doable and more relatable, :IMHO:

[Jay Hagadorn]

Thanks guys, I do not know what I am going to do exactly. I do not know if I could pull this off physically, maybe if I train for a few months specifically for this.

I have done a set of 10 on bench, then dead lift, then squat for one hour (one set of ten per minute), and I was pretty tired. We'll see what develops.

I used to have the same perception as some of you guys. Homeless people really prefer waking up with nothing to eat, stinky clothes, very little belongings, no where to bath or perform basic hygiene. Homeless people relish the addictions they have. They enjoy people sneering at them and having to beg for money. They also very much enjoy the tormenting past which haunts most of them causing mental illness. I also know they don't want to get a job, that's why most of them will work for food. They enjoy not having the simplest of things to prepare themselves physically for a one on one interview. They also enjoy being vagrants with no home address or phone number to reply to if someone was kind enough to call them in for an interview.

The strong should rise above the weak, and lift them up when they are down...

[Jay Hagadorn]

Jay,

What is the current record?

I think I read the most squatted in 24 hours was like 101k, which sounds doable.

http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/uhh/faculty/gotshalk/LincGotshalkBiography.php

"During a 24 hr period Dr. Gotshalk lifted 887,280 lbs, a Guiness World Record for the most weight lifted by a human during a 24 hr day. He deadlifted 303 lb for repetitions (aiming at sets of 10 repetitions every five minutes throughout the 24 hrs)."

[Jay Hagadorn]

Jay,

I like the idea. But this kind of strength endurance is a whole new beast. We learned that when training for THE GREAT CAR PUSH. The fatigue sets in quick and once it does, light weight seems like monster weight.

Try it first for an hour or two and see how easy it is.

Would you be interested in getting a team together to come join us in a SUV car push race. I'd like to find some other teams to turn THE GREAT CAR PUSH into a race.

Rick, send me a PM about this, I am sure I could hook a team up.

[Jay Hagadorn]

If I were going for those types of poundages, I would use a heavy lift such as back lift, harness lift, hand and thigh, etc, where you do not have to move the weight as far, and would get the weights quicker. I once saw steve schmidt of MO beat one of Warren Travis's records by banging out more than a rep a second on the backlift with around 2000# (weight might be a little off, but not by much). He would hit a hundred or so, then rest for a couple of minutes, then go again. It was amazing.
Et

ET, I really like this idea.

[Jay Hagadorn]

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[Jay Hagadorn]

www.worldrecordfederation.com

[Justin Wood]

I like this idea alot. What I was thinking was possibly organizing something similiar to the "jump rope for heart", "miles for smiles" that I did when i was in Grade School. What if it were set up as groups of people around the U.S., possibly the world. Who could get donations based on the amount of weight they lift. $1.00 per 1,000 pounds lifted. Something along those lines. I am a school teacher and have gotten a group of pretty hardcore students together who would love something like this. Possibly set a goal of Raising $1,000 in donations during a lift-a-thon where we would attempt to total one million pounds. Groups of 4-5. I like the idea alot and there is a hundred different ways you could go with it. Let me know what you think.

Regardless of you organize if you could let me know what fund you will be giving to, will it be national, perhaps I could organize something similiar and seperate specifically for my kids. Thanks again.

[Darin Heltemes]

cool idea! ridiculous cause. homeless people should get off their ass and get a job! give the money to cure cancer or something worth your time.
With all due respect Jamey, I would agree with this during an economic boom, but this is a poorly thought statement with respect to our current economic state. U.S. unemployment is expected to reach 9% sometime this summer, and that's not counting demoralized job hunters and part-time workers. Count them into the mix and it's more like 15%. With people losing their jobs left and right, and some becoming homeless due to that, I think there is no better time to do what Jay has proposed.