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Chicago FitExpo - Low Attendance Discussion


Eric Roussin

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I might be in a minority here but to me it is irrelevant if non-grip enthusiasts watch me compete, I could not possibly care less. Same with prize money as I don't think grip will ever be 'visual enough' for big sponsors. As a collective we are also way too ugly so it will never be a 'sexy' sport to watch for a spectator looking for entertainment.  From an outsiders perspective, we walk up to a strange looking implement, fiddle with it a bit, produce an extremely distorted facial expression and then walk off the stage again. Having said that, few thing in strength are as useful as having powerful hands and there will always be those willing to test their strength against others and that includes grip.

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21 hours ago, Eric Roussin said:

Though I asked about the Chicago contest, I could have asked the same about Anaheim or San Jose. Generally, these grip contests don't get large turnouts. But I don't fully understand why. Though these fitness expos aren't as large as the Arnold Classic, they still attract thousands of people. I'm afraid with continued low turnouts, Odd will stop bothering to organize these contests, and I think it would be a shame. So I'd like to try to make some suggestions to improve the contests to make them more appealing. He seemed a bit surprised last year when I told him that be might want to consider varying the types of lifts contested. Last year, two of the four events were thick bar (RT and Axle), making it great for someone like me, but not very appealing to those whose thick bar strength is a weakness. I think he took this comment to heart, because this year there are more events that test different aspects of grip strength (though RT and Axle are still in the mix). Odd has great thick bar strength, which may be a reason he likes to feature these events.

Odd's contests need to move quickly, due to a tight schedule and the need to make things appealing to spectators. I don't think he will ever run a contest according to NAGS rules.

I've been to two of his contests so far -- at the LA FitExpo in 2014 and the Chicago FitExpo last year -- and I'll be going to the Chicago event again in a couple of weeks. Definitely a different feel to these events, but a fun time nonetheless.

This. And while it'd suit me fine the whole ig crowd thing puts some off. Not me - I've done the Arnold lol. If I ever win the lotto I think I'd add one of these events to my holiday list. Either to watch or take part in.

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10 hours ago, Mikael Siversson said:

I might be in a minority here but to me it is irrelevant if non-grip enthusiasts watch me compete, I could not possibly care less. Same with prize money as I don't think grip will ever be 'visual enough' for big sponsors. As a collective we are also way too ugly so it will never be a 'sexy' sport to watch for a spectator looking for entertainment.  From an outsiders perspective, we walk up to a strange looking implement, fiddle with it a bit, produce an extremely distorted facial expression and then walk off the stage again. Having said that, few thing in strength are as useful as having powerful hands and there will always be those willing to test their strength against others and that includes grip.

Some truth. The expo events aren't events that Joe Blow can try out, like a gripper, yet grippers on a big stage doesn't 'sell'.

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On 6/9/2016 at 2:52 PM, Tom Scibelli said:

I think Odd mostly works with ironmind on his competitions, but I'd be interested to hear if @Jedd Johnson has ever talked to him about his competitions or even posting on the gripboard. 

Yes, I have.

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  • 3 weeks later...

1st - Martins Licis

2nd - Eric Roussin

3rd - Ulice Payne

 

There were five competitors in all.

 

I lifted slightly more than Martins with the Little Big Horn, but he lifted slightly more than me with the Rolling Thunder, Axle, and Pinch Block. His time was also better than mine in the Silver Bullet.

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I wasn't aware that this competition was taking place. It might be helpful to maintain a calendar of NAGS events as well as non-NAGS grip events.

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59 minutes ago, Squeezus said:

I wasn't aware that this competition was taking place. It might be helpful to maintain a calendar of NAGS events as well as non-NAGS grip events.

I think jedd does a calendar but with making dvds, coaching and promoting. I don't think it gets updated all the time. He's a busy mofo.

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32 minutes ago, KapMan said:

I think jedd does a calendar but with making dvds, coaching and promoting. I don't think it gets updated all the time. He's a busy mofo.

I try to do updates as often as possible.  I only put up NAGS sanctioned events though.

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Here are links to information on Odd Haugen's upcoming grip contest at the Anaheim FitExpo on August 28th:

http://www.thefitexpo.com/TFEAN_grip.asp

The 2017 LA FitExpo grip contest will be held over the weekend of January 7-8, but the details have yet to be confirmed. The LA contest is the biggest of the annual events that Odd Haugen puts on.

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I think that this contest, with 5 competitors, had the fewest number of all Haugen contests to date.

 

Thanks for hanging in there Eric, thanks for letting us know about it, and congratulations!

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What was Martins' time on the Silver Bullet? Mine sucked last month and everyone, including Martins, annihilated me on it. I had something like 6.6 seconds. did not get the handle completely lined up with the bullet, so I was 25, 30% off center. I thought I could "squeeze my way hard" out of it, but it was a disaster.

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24 seconds. For my attempt, I set the gripper, but then I felt it shift a bit just when I was about to start. I should have reset immediately, but went ahead anyway and only got about 12 seconds.

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18 hours ago, Eric Roussin said:

24 seconds. For my attempt, I set the gripper, but then I felt it shift a bit just when I was about to start. I should have reset immediately, but went ahead anyway and only got about 12 seconds.

 

Yeah, I think the IM rules allow one reset, or am I remembering something from a specific contest. We are not really trained to reset; next time we'll know better

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