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2013 Fit Expo Grip Contest, Los Angeles


Hubgeezer

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You guys missed it! Great contest!

It was Thomas Inch Dumbbell Day, 3 consecutive world records!

Burke was absolutely on fire. Daniel got a lot of video. He is probably still driving home. Me? I got on a plane, and this is from a Las Vegas Hotel computer, with 22 cents left on it. Good group of guys, good crowd, excellent. The best of the three that they have had so far, uh oh, 2 cents lef

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Great contest as always. Burke lead fromthe start and didn't look back. 2nd-5th changed hands throughout the day. I don't remember weights other than my own. Definitely one of the best comps ever. Personally i felt good and either pr'd or tied a pr. Just need to get stronger. Lots of video/photos taken by numerous people. Flying home and back to work tomorrow.

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Who is this Burke? Strongman? Grip board member?

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At the end, he also certed on a 3.5!!!!!!

Fresh...this guy can probably pull off a #4 close!

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Also, when he pulled 507x2, he actually dropped the bar vice setting it down. So he picked it up again!

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Wow! 507 looked like a joke for him. ridiculous strength.

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At the end, he also certed on a 3.5!!!!!!

Fresh...this guy can probably pull off a #4 close!

he certed AFTER the competition? wow!

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Who is this Burke? Strongman? Grip board member?

Google. Successful strongman guy. He won the same grip comp last year.

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At the end, he also certed on a 3.5!!!!!!

Fresh...this guy can probably pull off a #4 close!

he certed AFTER the competition? wow!

My thoughts exactly! GREAT. Not my music on the vid though :grin:

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Sounds like a great comp. Congrats to all who stepped up to the plate.

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Mike Burke delivered the single most dominating performance ever seen in the grip strength world as he won the Visegrip Viking competition at the LA FitExpo yesterday in commanding style.

After demolishing the world record on the IronMind Apollon’s Axle Deadlift not once, but twice, Mike Burke pulled 240 kg to knee height, signalling where he’s planning to go with this lift. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

Burke left everyone’s eyes wide open in the contest’s first event: the IronMind Apollon’s Axle Double Overhand Deadlift, where Rich Williams’ longstanding world record of 501 lb. (228 kg) has proven tough for anyone to overtake.
Burke jumped from 485 lb. (220 kg) to 507 lb. (230 kg), lifted it with ease, but he dropped the bar so he was turned down; nonchalantly, Burke repeated the lift and lowered it carefully, for a new world record. Burke would later say that he knew he wasn’t thinking when he let go of it after completing the lift. Since he had effectively done a double with a world record weight, how could one be surprised that Burke then called for 516 lb. (235 kg) and that he hauled it up for another good lift and another world record. But wait, he wasn’t done yet: Mike Burke showed what’s coming down the road because he then called for 528 lb. (240 kg) and pulled it to about knee height before losing his grip on the bar.
While there was no new world record in the Rolling Thunder, Mike Burke and Mark Felix battled it out for top honors and hit very respectable performance levels: both men made 259 lb. (117.5 kg), but missed 270 lb. (122.5 kg).
The world record in the IronMind CoC Silver Bullet Hold has been attacked by top grip strength competitors worldwide in the last year, and coming into this competition the record of 52.49 seconds by Alexey Tukalov appeared lofty indeed, but then, with former world record holder Mark Felix in the field and rumors that Andrew Durniat and Chad Woodall were ready to rewrite the record book made one wonder.
And talking about wondering, how would Mike Burke do—he’s never attempted certification on a Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper, and here he was in an event where he had to use a CoC No. 3 to hang on for time, but that’s exactly what he did—posting a time of 53.97 seconds for his second world record of the day. Anyone who had seen Burke perform in the 2012 edition of this grip contest knew he was a force to be reckoned with, but now he was starting to look invincible. Durniat was second, at 32.95 seconds, and Woodall was third, at 30.41 seconds.
Next up was the Iron Grip Pinch Medley and out of the 12 competitors, 8 were stopped by the fifth of the six blocks that had to be lifted onto low platforms using a pinch grip. Odd Haugen and Chad Woodall made it through five, only to get brick walled by the sixth, which was starting to look impossible, until Mark Felix brought down the house when he succeeded in loading it. But wait, who’s this coming out, the final competitor? Mike Burke; and while Felix has loaded all six blocks in 32.24 seconds, Burke swept up all six in 15.02 seconds!
The Viking Fishing Pole Wrist Roller uses an IronMind Vulcan Rack/One Wicked Wrist Roller setup to wind up a large fishing pole with weight hanging off its tip—it’s a screamer to watch and not all competitors could fully raise the pole. To put things in perspective, of those who succeeded, it took some guys about half a minute, or more, to complete the job. Mark Felix got third, with a time of 10.53 seconds, Chad Woodall was second, with a time of 8.95 seconds, and, you should know his name by now, Mike Burke won the event with a time of 8.41 seconds.
Odd Haugen had introduced the idea of deadlifting a replica Thomas Inch dumbbell for reps with a 2-minute time limit and coming into the contest, Andrew Durniat’s 17-repetition performance from last year’s contest was considered to be the world record. Kiss that one goodbye as Haugen knocked off 22 reps, Mark Felix did 23, Durniat did 30 and, yell it out loud, Burke did 37! In the end, it looked like Burke’s back was fatiguing at least as much as his hands, so as big as that number was, 37 reps didn’t really seem to reflect the limit of his grip strength on this type of implement.
So there have it: the world’s top grip contest made it clear that if there’s a current king of the grip strength world, his name is Mike Burke.
Mike Burke held the CoC Silver Bullet for 53.97 seconds, for a new world record. Burke produced a sensational performance in the Visegrip Viking contest at the 2013 LA FitExp. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.


Chatting with Mike Burke on Saturday at the LA FitExpo, grippers came up, and he mentioned that he’d never tried a Captains of Crush No. 3.5, so I told Mike that I had one with me, if he wanted to try it, maybe, after the contest, and Mike said he would.
Among his performances in the grip contest at the LA FitExpo, Mike Burke broke the CoC Silver Bullet Hold world record—keeping a CoC No. 3 gripper clamped on the Silver Bullet for a world record 53.97 seconds before his hand opened up. Imagine doing that and then succeeding on his official attempt to close the Captains of Crush No. 3.5 gripper? That’s exactly what Mike Burke did and now he's the latest guy to certify on the CoC No. 3.5. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

After what Mike went through—ripping the place apart with his world records on the IronMind Apollon’s Axle Deadlift, the CoC Silver Bullet Hold and then Inch DB Deadlift for Reps—you’d have thought his hands would be toast and I surely was not going to force a CoC No. 3.5 on him, but when Mike asked me about the CoC 3.5 right after he’d sent the grip world into orbit with his performance, I ran over to Clay Edgin (CoC3 ’03 , Red Nail ’04), told him what was up and asked if he’d like to referee the attempt. Clay, who’d been masterfully emceeing all weekend, said yes, and about two minutes later, Mike Burke had decisively put away the CoC No. 3.5 on his official attempt.
Mike Burke, 38, stands about 6’ 6” and weighs about 335 and he’s only been lifting weights for about three years, having played football and been a snowboarder before he jumped into strongman. Although Mike’s been competing in strongman for only a few years, he competed in the qualifying round of the 2012 World’s Strongest Man contest and then went straight over to the America’s Strongest Man contest, where he won the title.
To say that Mike Burke is the biggest thing in the grip world at this moment is quite an understatement—after watching him destroy world records and level the field at the Visegrip Viking grip contest, why not expect him to end the day by destroying the CoC No. 3.5 as well?!
Many thanks to Clay Edgin for ably serving as the referee on Mike Burke’s official attempt, and congratulations, Mike, it’s official and your name has been added top the official Captains of Crush No. 3.5 gripper certification list.


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Thanks Daniel,

This guy proves what I've said for years that all grip titles will be held by the strong man type, either currant or retired guys. I wouldn't mind seeing record breakers being drug tested either.

Edit: on second look he seems to drop the weight on purpose, as if he wasn't aware that it had to be lowered to the ground , does anyone else think that? Sorta reminds me of marunde back in the day.

Edited by rico300zx
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Mike did drop it, probably due to being excited. One has 30 seconds to do the lift so he had time to correct himself and show control on the lift. I believe the IM writeup on their site mentions this. I hope Mike goes to the MM and takes the title away. He can probably do it.

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Mike did drop it, probably due to being excited. One has 30 seconds to do the lift so he had time to correct himself and show control on the lift. I believe the IM writeup on their site mentions this. I hope Mike goes to the MM and takes the title away. He can probably do it.

In that case, he probably could have done a set of five with it. It looked that easy. It looked like he just let go like he thought he was training and dropping all his deads to save his back on the eccentric.

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Ok, Mike is great and all that, but how did your certs go Daniel?

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Edit: on second look he seems to drop the weight on purpose, as if he wasn't aware that it had to be lowered to the ground , does anyone else think that? Sorta reminds me of marunde back in the day.

Afterwards he said he knew about setting it down, but got excited and wanted to play to the crowd. So he lifted it again..:D

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I have some and will try to upload this week. Been a crazy week back from vacation.

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Fantastic display of strength.

Having said that the 230k lift should have been deemed a no lift. A very quick down signal, before the shoulder were pulled back. Big difference between this and his first attempt at the same weight where he does a good, clean lift before dropping the weight. Last lift at 235k is also questionable, a very quick down signal and shoulders not pulled back. Questionable judging. IM Axle judging is often sloppy I am afraid.

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Fantastic display of strength.

Having said that the 230k lift should have been deemed a no lift. A very quick down signal, before the shoulder were pulled back. Big difference between this and his first attempt at the same weight where he does a good, clean lift before dropping the weight. Last lift at 235k is also questionable, a very quick down signal and shoulders not pulled back. Questionable judging. IM Axle judging is often sloppy I am afraid.

I was there. In general, yes, the judge was too quick on the "down". For the Rolling Thunder, it was even more "generous". It was a bad Rolling Thunder day, and no records were in danger of being broken.

That being said, the weights that Burke had lifted in the Axle were not at the top of his strength and power.

I was okay with the judge's call on his axle lifts. Both Haugen's and Felix's top lifts were a bit under standard, in my opinion. I think it was 220/485. It was obvious that they would not pull 230/507, and Burke would. That's how it went.

I am fine with Burke's lifts as records. I was really surprised at how easy the initial 230/507 was for Burke, the lift that he intentionally dropped. It truly was EASY.

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