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2005 British Iron Grip Champs Take 2


Andy

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OK guys, this is the situation at the moment.

I saw the '2005 British Irongrip Championships' thread on Monday when I came in to work. I phoned Steve Gardener (Mobsterone) today to find out what was going on, and he is definitely out of organising the 2005 Irongrip Championships.

I don't want to see the competition die after all these years, so I'm running with it for 2005. David and Mikael have gone to a lot of trouble to design the events, so I want to keep it the same as this year's as far as possible. Since the Challenge bars are no longer available, we need something to replace them and I'm going for the Rolling Thunder.

Why the RT? Well, it's a) well-known to everyone, and b) has been used in several competitions recently, so we can compare performances (yes, I know they vary and get easier with age; can't help that!).

The events will be:

1. Grippers.

2. 2-hand pinch.

3. Vertical bar.

4. 1-hand lift (1- inch handle).

5. Rolling Thunder.

Date: I'm going for Saturday 7th May at the moment.

Venue: probably here at the gym I run. However I'm going to have to speak nicely to Premises Department before I can confirm that.

Further details will follow as I have them.

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Nice one Andy. Count me in. I have some more questions concering the events but I'll hold fire for the time being. :)

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David Horne suggested to me last night that we make the Rolling Thunder a thumbless grip to make it more of a test of wrist strength. I think this is an excellent idea as we have an event for all the other aspects of grip strength - support, pinch, crush etc - but not wrist strength.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you - the Rolling Thumbless!!!

Any comments?

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I believe bending will once again be featured in the 2005 European Championship, so don't stop practice it or you will all have your bum kicked by the Swedes. ;)

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So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you - the Rolling Thumbless!!!

Any comments?

I thought David was not going to compete. :whistel

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Mikael,

Don't you worry, I'm definitely not competing. I promise. But I will be coaching Jim and the other guys if I come down.

David

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David Horne suggested to me last night that we make the Rolling Thunder a thumbless grip to make it more of a test of wrist strength. I think this is an excellent idea as we have an event for all the other aspects of grip strength - support, pinch, crush etc - but not wrist strength.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you - the Rolling Thumbless!!!

Any comments?

Yes, as per the previous comps any thumbless records are not going to be recognised by Ironmind. In addition changes were made as it was thought 1) that there was a potential danger and 2) there is no test of thumb strength. Of course David (who I knew wasn't going to be competing) has lifted a good weight thumbless previously.

Further, it would only be a test of wrist strength if the wrist is hooked. I'm pretty sure I have a photo of DH's big RT lift and he, with his pinch strength, was able to 'pinch' hard with his finger tips to prevent the sleeve rotating. I can provide the image if need be.

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I believe bending will once again be featured in the 2005 European Championship, so don't stop practice it or you will all have your bum kicked by the Swedes. ;)

What will you use for stock? At the 2004 European some C/bar stock was used.

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Not that I really like bending and have stopped doing that after messing up my hands in varying way during 8 months of bending. But not having challenge bars doesn't seem like a serious problem in a competition. If you just hack up the same bar in different lengths it shouldn't be a problem to have a bending contest? Or am I missing something here? OK, the actually poundages will be unknown. But you would have the same problem with the rather varying RT for example.

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Yes you were right Steve, I was not going to compete.

My big competition in May will be Arm Wars followed by the European Armwrestling champs in the next month.

David

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The way round the RT event, as per the comp I'm doing Sunday, is to use a brand new unused handle. No wear and tear, no chalk, no sticking. For the stock use at bot the EU and GGC they had some standardized stock but it was the middle poundages that required C/bars. At the GGC they only 'cut' the top strength bars and then these were measured fairly accurately. For the amatuer/novice classes not having c/bars may mean some big jumps.

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It should be a good contest, with a close run thing between Jim Wylie, Steve Gardener and Dean Bolt.

David

After the Sunday I'm resting my back and doing nowt but bar and gripper work until Xmas. I'll start training in the new year (ahem for those needing 5+ months) and (again ahem) would like to see more than a 3 horse race in the pro class.

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Personally, I'm pleased there is no bending event included this year. It is the one event where I would have gone in and winged it - I detest the event!! I do like the idea of the Rolling Thumbless.

The propsective early-May date is also welcome - gives me six months to put on weight!!

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I believe bending will once again be featured in the 2005 European Championship, so don't stop practice it or you will all have your bum kicked by the Swedes. ;)

What will you use for stock? At the 2004 European some C/bar stock was used.

Arne has not decided yet, but the lack of calibration is not really that much of a problem as the scores will have to weighed against each other anyway. One option is to use that dreaded 8mm HRS, which in the 7 1/2'' down to sub 5'' should cover all competitors at the Europeans. This stock is monster hard to finish off to 2'' (measurement between the outer edges of the legs) at shorter lengths. The bending results of LGC XI and upcomming XII and XIII could be used to calculate the coefficient. Johan Albrektsson won with 5 1/2'' at LGC XI and I have taken a 5 1/4'' piece down to under 2'' but it took me 12 minutes.

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Personally, I'm pleased there is no bending event included this year. It is the one event where I would have gone in and winged it - I detest the event!! I do like the idea of the Rolling Thumbless.

The propsective early-May date is also welcome - gives me six months to put on weight!!

Under the old rules a formula was used whereby the lighter, older and more female you were ( :blush ) if the weights were equal you got more points. So strength only matters not bodyweight.

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Open class will have no allowances for bodyweight, age etc. - who lifts most, wins. European qualifiers will come from this class.

Novice class will be handicapped by age and bodyweight (and sex if we get any ladies), for those of us too old and/or weak to compete in the open. :(

By the way, can anyone think of a better name for the Novice class? A lot of the guys aren't novices having done a number of these comps before, but just aren't of a high enough standard for the Open class.

We've thought of Handicapped, Adjusted, Half-Open ;) , but none of these really hit the spot.

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