2016 November - King Kong SF Bay Area, Part II - Hubgeezer

[Hubgeezer]

The contest. I figured there would be 4 or 5 participants, some family members, friends, and semi-interested future gripsters in attendance. Let's see, including all of the above, plus judges, plus weight loaders, score-keepers, and other assorted persons...we had three. There was me, in-his-early 40s science teacher Ricardo Magni (who drove up around 250 miles to be there, one way), and meet promoter and Pullup King Evan Raftopoulos. The contest was in a very cool rock-climbing gym in Concord, California, 30-40 miles from San Francisco.

The most taxing part of the day for me was going on the hunt for 45, 35, and 25 pound plates that could slide down the FBCC vertical bar. All of my plates at home, except my York 35s, go down the device easily. Oh man, I was about one for four with a success rate for the plates I tried. At one point, when yanking a plate that was stuck at the top of the VBar, I managed to dislodge it, and it was stopped  by my crotch. I scampered off in pain for less time than I remembered it being as a kid.

We split the plate loading/weighing duties, as well as the judging. Ricardo did the filming, and Evan kept score. 

It was pretty serious business for Ricardo, as he put a lot of training in for this contest. I think he was pretty happy with all of his results. Evan was hitting PRs on everything, and although weighing 100 pounds less than me, was not that much  behind my pulls, and beat me by a pound on the Hub.

Evan finished the day with destroying the World Record on the Rolling Thunder for most pullups ever done. If you are wondering why it was initially reported at 26 reps, but showed up a day or so later officially at 27 reps by IronMind, allow me to explain. After Evan did 27 reps, he dropped to the floor. We all counted 27 reps, but I said the last one was not good. Ricardo sent the video in to IronMind, and I get an email from Randy Strossen, who had viewed the video, and wanted to know why I only counted 26. We went back and forth through the day via email. Which one? What was wrong with it? Did you read the rules? Read them again. Now that you know the rules, do you think the last one was good, and how would you have called it? And, by day's end, the record was 27. Strossen was impressed we conducted the "Rolling Thunder spin test" properly and that it was part of the pullup video itself.

The fact that Evan did those 27 reps AFTER a full contest, and after loading lots of plates...well, I'm sure next time he attempts the record, it will be WELL over 30 reps.

My performance? Bah. The only result I was truly happy with was "The Crusher". I had not trained on the device in close to 5 years, and I think my  best was 152 lbs. So I started with 135, then went to 142 to 149 and ended with 155.2 lbs. The thing is, the 155 felt ealier than the first attempt at 135. No idea where that came from - - perhaps the tighter range of motion than what I am used to having made the difference. I'll take it.

Next time: Part III After the Contest

 

[riccardomagni]

You are correct, Mike.  I was very happy with my results.   It was a great time that I will always remember.