Marty - Joe, how did you get
interested in and started in
weightlifting? How old and how
much did you weigh?
I was in a grocery store with my mother
in 1958 and saw an old Strength &
Health magazine on the mag rack. I
bought it and saw pictures of Tommy
Kono, Paul Anderson, Isaac Berger,
Vinci, etc. I was amazed and the bug
hit me right in the face. I knew then
that this is what I wanted to do. My
brother Virgil also wanted to give it a
try. We did not come from a family that
had extra's to purchase a barbell set so
we decided to save what little money
we came across, lunch money, cutting
grass, etc. We bought our first set of
weights and decided to do some
bodybuilding as we needed to put on a
little muscle before tackling the
Olympic Lifts.
Marty - Who was your first coach?
How long had you trained and what
did you weigh when you first
competed and at what weight?
I guess my first coach was my older
brother Virgil and I was his. We
studied S & H mag. pistures and
sequence shots of lifters in the Olympic
3. I trained for about a year and half
before my first meet. My first meet was
the Duval County High School W-L
Championships. I took first place in the
181 lb. class with lifts of 200-190-250.
My weight was 175
.
Marty - How did you train at first?
What others influenced your training
in the early periods?
I trained mostly on the 3 lifts. I started
with the split snatch and then alternated
with the squat snatch. I did a lot of reps
on the lifts working on my speed. I
made a lot of misses in the squat snatch
before I started clicking them in the
right groove. There has been many
influence's in my early career. Paul
Anderson, Tommy Kono, Ike Berger,
N. Schemansky to name a few. I
always had my face in W-L magazines
studying the lifter and their training
methods and so forth.
Marty - How did your training
evolve as you got older?
During the early years of my training I
worked mostly on the three Olympic
Lifts. I did a few assistant exercises
such as B. & F. Squats, Dead Lifts and
Incline Presses.
The more I learned through reading
Strength & Health magazine and also
Iron Man, I included other assistance
movements to help build my strength
up.
I would keep a constant lookout for
any additional info about training that
would help my lifting.
As time went by for some years, my
lifts came to a standstill. I needed
something new that would give me a
kick in the butt and get me moving
again, I had a tremendous amount of
strength but was not using it in the
most effective way. I knew that I
needed to maybe change my technique
and do it fast. Walter Imahara, my
friend and teammate suggested trying
the "Frog" Style in my Snatch. I tried it
and it proved to be just what I needed
to get that Snatch moving again. It
helped me keep the bar closer to my
body, bringing in to my upper thigh
for the explosion and jump in the last
part of the pull. I used this style for
quiet some time and later I widdened
my feet some to get that extra needed
leg in the first part of the pull. But, I
did keep my toes and knees pointed
out.
Lifters need to sometimes experiment
to see what technique is best for them.
Everybody does not have the same
body structure, and what works for one
may not work for the other.
Marty - How often did you train
when you were at your best?
My early years in training I would train
5 days per week. I was young then and
could recuperate faster.
When I was at my best I would train 3-4
days per week. I was lifting heavy loads
and needed the extra time to recuperate.
I would cut back on assistance
movements the closer the competition
got. Then I would work more on the
Olympic Lifts.
Marty - Who were some of your
training partners when you were at
your peak?
My brother Virgil when we trained at
home or at the Y. He was always there
when I needed him. My other brothers
(Twins) Alfred and Clifford, were there
helping me also. Some of the other
training partners were Walter Imahara,
Bob Bednarski, Ernie Pickett, Russ
Knipp to name a few.
Marty - Take us through your
memories 1968 Olympic Trials:(I
think this is what you meant?)
It was a very close neck & neck battle
and came down to the last lift. WOW,
Pickett and Bednarski didn't want to just
give it to me! That was a tough one to
win. I do admire a lifter that has the
fight and will to succeed.
I was tho, not going to denied again to
make the Olympic Team. I had failed
miserably in the 1964 Trials because of
a freak accident a few weeks before the
meet, resulting in me staying home. I
did put up an effort anyway.
Marty - My Pre-Meet Training:
At the Nationals a few weeks before the
Trials, I had trained considerable hard
and was overtrained, just that simple.I
didn't want to make this mistake again
for the Trials. I cut back on some of the
things I was doing in training. I also got
more needed rest and watching my
eating habits.
Marty - What were the highlights
of your lifting career? What were
your alltime best lifts - press, snatch,
c&j, front and back squats?
Winning the Gold Medal in the 1969
World Weightlifting Champioships in
Warsaw, Poland. Super heavyweight.
Winning the Bronze Medal 1968
Olympic Games, Mexico City, Mexico.
Heavyweight
Invited to the White House by
President of the United States, Richard
Nixon after winning the 1969 World
Championships.
Invited and performed on the Tonight
Show Starring Johnny Carson.
My Best Lifts in Lbs.:
Offical:
Press: 462 1/4
Snatch: 369
Clean & Jerk: 473
Unoffical:
Press: 475
Snatch: 385
Clean & Jerk: 485
B. Squat: 710X17 reps., 745X5 for 4
sets ( hardly ever did any low or single
attempt records, only before meets with
lighter weights and lower reps ).
F. Squats: 625X5 for 3 sets.
Who were the greatest lifters you ever
saw, American and foreign?
I have seen and been around a lot of
great lifters during my career. The ones
that stick in my mind are: Tommy
Kono, Paul Anderson, Norb
Schemansky, Ike Berger, Bednarski,
Alexeev and I could go on and on.
Marty - Give me a short comment
or two about each of these people -
sort of a capsule summary.
Bob Hoffman: He was always very
kind to me and everyone else I saw him
come into contact with. Sometimes he
would come up to me and slip into my
hand a $100 bill, or a few on
occassions. Then he would say " I see
you brought your muscles with you
today". We need a lot more of Bob
Hoffman's today for our Sport. He did
things in a BIG WAY!!.
Bob Bednarski: He was my friend and
a very fierce competitor. He had a lot
of confidence in himself and that was
good. I tried to keep in contact with
him from time to time. I talked to him
just a few days before he died. I was
totally shocked. I will miss his
friendship.
Leonid Zhabotinski: He was a very
competitive lifter with a lot of
experience on the platform. He hardly
ever missed any attempts. I would like
very much to get into contact with him.
David Rigert: A very polished and
Powerful Lifter.
Ken Patera: I didn't know or get close
to Ken that much. But, he was a very
Strong and Powerful Lifter.
Marty - Based on your involvement
with lifting and what you know, how
would you try and change WL in the
US to make it better?
I would try and get some changes made
in our State (Florida) and Country
School Systems that would benefit and
support our Sport of Olympic
Weightlifting on a competitive level. I
think this should be one of the
priorities for our Weightlifting
Federation. The Bench Press should
not be included with the Clean & Jerk
in School Competition between
Schools. The Snatch needs to be
included and eliminate the Bench Press.
This does not help our Sport at all!
Marty - How would you like the
sport of WL to remember Joe Dube?
I would like to be remembered as a
Lifter that loved the Sport and gave it
his ALL. That I did not shy away from
the feirce competition that faced me and
had that competitive spirit to go all the
way. Also, one that spoke from the heart
about things that needed attention for
our sport to make it better.
Thanks Marty so much for giving me
this opportunity to express myself for
this Website. I hope the readers enjoy it.
Take Care,
Joe Dube Sr.
by Marty Schnorf
