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14.9.19 lift in Vegas, Mr Olympia arm lifting championship. Weigh in 98kg SB #4 - 5.5 seconds Rolling thunder 100 kg miss at 103 kg axle 180 kg miss at 185 kg 3” Saxon 112.5 kg miss at 115kg 1st Place overall finish 394/400 points. miles of walking post contest.

This is a video from 9 years ago, when I first purchased my Inch dumbbell:

Yeah CCSinng a #3 will be a tough ask for me but I'm not thinking about that until I hit a few other targets first. Like Jordan Peterson said, if you set the bar low enough, you have a better chance of success. So it's mini goals for me, If the #3 cert looks possible after I hit a few other marks, I think about the CCS when I get to it.

Sorry guys unfortunately I no longer have the video of me lifting it so you’ll just have to take my word for it

Bench 50x12 70x10 90x7 105x20 PR!!! This is an all-time projected max PR.

Lots of thick bar yesterday. Lots of pinch today. Then a bunch of these lefty. Would love to lift this with both the right and left.

Big congrats on the win, Adam!!!

9/15/19 Did a nice sledge feat this A.M. after my pinch workout. Double coin DL Front 8lb stamped & Rear 12lb stamped. This looks easy but it is very, very difficult strength/coordination

Congats on the win! Brilliant preparation too, you really know how to get yourself in peak condition for an event.

No I didn't get a GHP 5, it seemed like it would be too close to the stiffer CoC #2, so I just decided to start filing the #2 I do have a light dusting of chalk, it's climbers chalk that comes in a ball/bag (ballbag??) but I can't seem to get much of a coating from it. It just sort of blows away if you try to rub it in and get a decent coating of it. I noticed that it had slipped too when I watched the video. I was doing TNS's with lighter grippers for a few days (I rested a day before I did that session) before I tried that, so I was a bit lazy on the set but you're right I'll try to get set a bit better next time. Thanks for the advice guys!

Adam, great job with your strong numbers lifted & squeezed at Olympia. Big congrats

Yea. The higher the handle in palm the steeper is angle between palm and finger handles. And right there is the answer for dispute between "it is just a matter of strength" and us poor "little hand guys." Large hand guys hit the spot much easyer. We need grippers with smaller ROM. But it is just watter under the bridge for meatheads. If we manage to equalize conditions for all we will get bigger numbers squeezed with smaller ROM but it doesn't matter because there will be an upper limit. We can produce harder springs anytime.

I thought I might have had the #2.5 today, I did everything right beforehand, I only drank about about 200ml of vodka & got a solid 5 hours sleep last night. I was hoping that and the new aerodynamic haircut would get me over the line but it didn't happen. I'm a bit disappointed I've been stuck on the #2.5 for about a month. I'm determined to get the bastard though. After that I did a few single TNS's with the GHP4 and laddered down to the #1, I can't quite do a TNS with #2 yet. I also did 5x18 bodyweight squats, 4x20 pushups, 3x2 rolling handle pullups, 12 pullups on blue fat gripz and played with a Holle dumbbell.

Training focus - better and worse uses of resources Consider a situation ::: you are coaching a basketball game, 6 seconds remain on the clock. Your forward gets the ball and charges the net. From right behind the 3 point line he stacks up to take the shot.... what advice makes sense here 1 feel your muscle, focus on the hip and lat and abs stabilizating the spine as they load up the arm. Feel the sweat dripping down your face, hear the squeaks on the floor as shoes grip the court 2 fixate on the target, ignore what you are hearing, ignore what is tired, direct all effort to shoot the ball in to hoop option 1 is an internal focus, option 2 is an external focus. Given these options which produces points on the board more often? to someone who plays sports there is a more obvious answer. All things can be tested in the sphere of fitness- try it yourself. I train at a commercial facility with about 300 members. I have been here now 5 years. Week in, week out. In recent conversations with some of the young guys I note they consistently seem to apply focus in wrong sight picture. Lots of time in the mirror feeling their little muscle burn and ache...lots of time feeling the contraction and pump. Very little time counting the gains....doing what everyone tells them to do. To this I say If it seems stupid, but works; it’s not stupid... external focus vs internal focus does it matter where your mind is at? 10 years ago I changed up everything about my training. Where as previously I would spend time seeking a muscle-mind connection, I moved to focusing exclusively on outcome. I put away my encyclopedia of body building and picked up Super Training. The connection between how effective you FEEL the training is and how productive it actually is a poor measuring stick. In fact feelings are wholely the wrong compass. Sensation and action- our senses exist to lead us to action. There is action coupled to every sensation. The context loop is sensation-action-resolution of sensation. What happens when you focus on sensation? You will experience more and more. What are all sensations leading to? Physical pain. What does action lead to? Fewer sensations. What could this be called? Flow state. The existence of action without sensation. The zone. The thing every sporting event rewards. The zone is the place where all focus is external. Outcome driven- no distractions of bodily awareness. To me it is a High. In my military career and competition career I have chased the zone. Honestly I don’t remember the medley events at contests. I just lift that junk. I don’t remember the Mighty Mitts stage run, US Nationals, the decathlon medleys. At those times I was so focused on lifting the stupid weight I couldn’t perceive the crowd, the noise, the help from team mates, the events on the sideline. So I’m the zone like a machine doing it’s function. In contrast I clearly remember a bjj tournament in 2013. My toe was busted, my index finger was swollen. I showed up that day with concerns over my business. For some reason that day I remember being hot all day. All up in my head- terrible result. My game plan fell apart and rather than listen to my coach on sideline I was trapped in my mind. Too internally focused. Put all effort in to completing the task. Most of the incoming data is not relevant to the task at hand. How do you test this? Get away from seeking feelings. Get away from mind muscle mind connections. Find the no-mind. Free yourself in that moment from thoughts and sensations. Record your lifts- compare. Pay no attention to what feels like it’s working and instead evaluate what is actually happening. The Zone is not a place you have to go to, but instead it’s where you already are. Practice yields competence, which moves you from being conscious of your action to being unconsciously competent. The height of human potential.

I approve this message. Great progress, Adam! If you’ve never trained with Adam don’t get the erroneous idea it’s all burgers and beer. He’s one of the most focused individuals you’ll ever meet. No freakish gifts of genetics, just consistent hard work for the long haul. Determination trumps all.

September 2018 to September 2019 year in review in 2018 this month average body weight was 189-193 lb. I was alerted to an upcoming event and was told to prepare my Dumbbell lifts. From the end of 2013 to that point was calisthenics and gymnastics with very little grip work. The little I was doing was pinch grip and some vertical bar. In October Tommy Jennings suggested getting some guys together to lift. That became a standing appointment every week to this day. My daily training switched from handstands, bar work, and floor exercises to fat gripz doh lifts, rolling thunder, gripper holds and Saxon lifts. My barbell lifts were down from previous years but my body felt great and moved well. Lifting a bar 4-5 days a week will transform your body. Over the last year my weight has moved up to nearly 30 lb. For the year the two real targets have remained axle & Saxon. Axle went from a tough 375 in October to 445 lockout and being able to lift 412-420 any day of the week and day after day in training. In January I lifted 220 on my 2.5 bar, now on any day I can lift 268-275 consistently with best lift being 283. In every contestthis year I have lifted over 400 doh and pinched over 220. Silverbullet was the biggest jump. In the December meet I used a 3 for something small like 15 seconds. In March at the Arnold set and held #4 for 2 seconds, and Europa #4 for 6 seconds, at Metroflex for 8 seconds. This was the largest proportion increase of any event. Rolling thunder is the slowest progressing event. My December result was 215 and missed at 220. At Europa I locked out 231. On any given day I may be repping 220 or missing 211. Crazy variations in performance. My strong side has been left but the last 5 months I’ve had a nagging injury that flares up with bent arm lifts. Getting better fast. The Rollie handles always a wild card in my score sheet. Some notable prs this year in grip lift Thomas Inch 20 reps in 60 seconds Pinching 131 kg at South West contest. Rogue Record Breaker Farmers walk attempt- just so amazing to able to try. 440 lb axle weighing 207 lb For the coming year I will continue this focus to consistently chase these lifts. I know what meets I will travel for and I have my off season months marked off. I’ll have two rounds of 20 rep squats and will possibly move up a weight class for a portion of the year. Lots of hamburgers and revolver on the menu. For the guys coming up behind me - consistently showing up to the gym and moving plates is the only way I know that always works. Most of the programs and rep schemes so frequently discussed are useless compared to the mindset of showing up week after week and doing work. This is a S L O W process. My results this year are that if someone returning to climb again. Muscle memory that whole deal. If you are coming in to this with no real foundation it will be a slow go for the first 2 years. 9 out 10 will give up- be that 1 who doesn’t. Dont get caught up in whatever the shiny thing of the week is. Don’t worry about the new handle. Stay on that axle or fat gripz until you are consistently lifting a heavy load for your skeleton size. Dont worry about what everyone else is doing. Worry about what you’re doing. Build a local crew. Don’t make it all a virtual thing. Your challenge is not to find people who care about what your training for- it’s finding some people that care about training. Out of the Texas team some are all about arm lifting but others power lifting others arm wrestling others steel bending- doesn’t matter. We get together and keep the ball moving towards the goal post every week. A good year of training in the books. I hope yours has been as well. If not I hope you do something about it other than explain why it wasn’t.