Jedd Johnson Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 First off, many thanks to Zach Gipson for letting me and Brad (popeye10) stay at his house on Friday night. Thanks to CJ Murphy (MurphTPS), TPS proprietor, for letting me once again have a grand old time at his facility. You are one of a kind. Next, thanks to Dave Memont (Dave TPS) for running a great contest with one of the most interesting twists I have seen in a contest to date.... The events were in this order: 1 inch V-bar to Lockout, Rolling Thunder to Lockout, 1 Hand Plate Pinch lifted to standardized height; 3 inch thickbar to lockout, and finally Grippers. This put a major twist in the whole thing. Every other Grip contest I have heard of or competed in on US soil has had Grippers first. Dave innovated and put these ego-triplements (ego trip implements in Napalmese) in the final course of the competition. For each event, you got three turns lasting 30 seconds each. However, if you failed to miss a weight twice, you could not get your third attempt. If you missed you had to try that weight again. For the V-bar, the warm-up bar and the event bar were one inch steel cut from the same original piece and then fashioned into the final models. In warm-ups, I easily lifted 275 to lockout, so I figured I would make that my starting weight. I got to the platform and lifted my weight, but it was discovered that the bar was not loaded properly, and I actually only lifted 255. This was a blessing in disguised, because on the platform bar, I could not successfully lift 275. My second trip to the platform I could not even get it off the floor, my third trip I might have gotten it up high enough for a legal European lift. It felt like a sweaty-handed person had grabbed the thing and transferred their hand oils to the bar, and all the chalk I could muster would not allow me to get a solid grip. By the end of this event, my hands were feeling like I had dipped my palms into scalding hot water. It felt like my skin was literally peeling off from my hand sliding because of sliding off so violently. So, my ending performance was just 255. Either tying for second or taking third. Next event was the Rolling Thunder. This event was to lockout, as normal. Dave kept his eagle eye on us at all times and did not let any partial pulls count. I believe my lifts were 170, 180, 190, but I do not totally remember, and I did not write anything down. I do know that I just barely shot my hips through to get the "good lift" call from Dave on my third attempt. The implement again collected some skin oils and became very tough to hold onto. Luckily the vertical bar abrasions that I had suffered were beginning to cool down by now. I think I tied for first on this one. Next event was the pinch. Two quarters were put on a pipe and then tightened down by velcro collars, then outside the velcro collars were placed the added weights. The lift was done with one hand, and you could make as many attempts you needed to within the 30 seconds to make a good lift. A good lift was called when the loading pipe made contact with the standardized height plank that lay across two boxes. The lifter could either high pull the implement or deadlift it. It did not matter on the technique, as long as the pipe touched the board, and not a loaded weight. I am pretty sure I won this event. I think my best lift was 95. I got all my lifts on the initial pull, except for my third attempt, when the back end of the pipe struck my calf and interrupted my path. I think I had grabbed it lefty then, and had to grab it righty to get it - or maybe it was the other way around - either way I had to change hands to get it. The lift height made for about an 8 inch range of motion, if you lifted it parallel to the ground. Next event was the 3 inch bar deadlift. I was thinking that this event was going to be a 3 inch loadable dumbbell, but it ended up being a 3 inch axle lift. It was very challenging to lift the bar level enough to lock it out. The bar was a 6 or 7 feet long and if you grabbed even slightly off center, the bar would tilt, causing you to drop it, take a new grip and waste a lot of time, so it was very important to get an accurate grip in the middle from the onset. I ended with 90 pounds and took second to Zach, who pulled a monstrous 110 that I could barely break off the ground. This man's wrist strength is tremendous. Last was the grippers. By now, my hands felt like sludge. No amount of chalk or spit could make them feel adhesive enough lock the handle right on my fingers, and I felt very unsure about how much I had left in the tank. While warming up on them to get a baring on what I would be able to close, I was tackled and put into a headlock by Jim Murphy, who anybody who was at Global Grip Challenge knows as Bullfrog. Needless to say, his neck has not gotten any smaller. I can not remember the complete order of the grippers, but the upper range went something like this: BB SM (labeled a 2.5), the TPS three, Diesel's newly aquired European wide-as-hell COC 3 (rated there as a 3.25), Diesel's Thor Elite (purchased from Hulk on the board, slightly tougher than the Euro 3, Greg Amidon's MM3 Replica, Diesel's weaker #4, and TPS beast #4 that felt like a brick. I got the 2.5 no problem on my first attempt. I then tried the TPS 3 the next two rounds and could not get those things to touch. Again, my finish was lacking - they said I had it down to a credit car. Definitely having the Grippers at the end of the day made a huge difference. Very interesting. As the subtitle of this thread says, there were some beasts at this contest that came out of the woodwork. First off, Zach Gipson - at over 300 pounds and with 8 inch plus hands, he is a grip athlete who could have a bright future. This guy made it to Nationals last year for NASS, but could not finish due to an injury. I am sure he would have done great could he have finished. Dave will be posting the numbers today, because I can't remember them, but you will all see, Zach put up lots of numbers that kept him in the running. He came in second. The next beast was Tom Ricci. Tom is a competitive Bodybuilder, but would have no doubt won the Diesel Award because he was by far the most intense athlete there. Tom explodes into each lift and his eyes turn a firey red when he gets the "good lift" call. Remember to post that off hand big guy! The next guy was the biggest dark horse of them all. In fact, it was like a portal opened in the wall and this monster walked through the wall... I had never met him before in all my trips to TPS. He introduced himself only as BRUNO. I shook hands with him and his fingers enveloped my entire hand. I never sized up against him, but they were impressive. I looked and swear I saw the letters B-L-O across his hand, but could not make out the last letter..... Bruno manhandled the V-bar, beating me in the event. He pulled 275 on his second attempt, I think. He won the event. I do not remember the rest of his numbers, for the life of me. All the driving this weekend has fried my brain. Bruno is a member of this forum, and says he browses it now and again. Take my word for it, he can take care of at least a trio of records in the Records forum...probably more, I'd say. Like I said, I either didn't hear his last name or my erroded mind forgot it, but Bruno - If you get a chance, intorduce yourself so we can get to know you. Lastly, I'd like to highlight my buddy Brad's performance. You will recognize Brad (popeye10) in many of the more recent Diesel Videos. This man mountain has put on several pounds of solid muscle in the last month and a half training with us and taking protein drinks (Are any of these supplement companies publically owned???). This was Brad's first contest, but I'd say he did excellent. With hands about 7 inches or so, he did very well against at least 4 guys with 8 inch hands and bigger. He broke his Vbar-to-lockout PR by 45 pounds on this day. He cut a 1/4 inch gash into his thumb pad on his second attempt of pinch, only to rub chalk into it and dominate the next attempt like the altered beast he is. Keep up the intensity mang. All in all, while it wasn't the biggest Grip Contest I've been to, it was one of the funnest with some of the coolest events. By the way, Zach and Bruno performed several topic-locking feats of strength after the contest, the footage of which will be formulated into a video very soon. If anything pops into my memory banks, I will let you all know. Also, if any of the other competitors remembers things better, add your comments, because I am dillusional right now. -Jedd- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikael Siversson Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 (edited) My second trip to the platform I could not even get it off the floor, my third trip I might have gotten it up high enough for a legal European lift. It felt like a sweaty-handed person had grabbed the thing and transferred their hand oils to the bar, and all the chalk I could muster would not allow me to get a solid grip. -Jedd- ← At one of the LGC competitions, Big Kalle could not be bothered washing his hands after the first event which was grippers. He holds the spring with his other hand when he is setting it. The spring has oil on it. Next event was the pinch. Needless to say we were all sliding all over the plates with our slippery hands after having had a good share of the oil left by Kalle's hands. After this competition it became mandatory to wash off any oil on the hands for those who were gripping the spring in the gripper event. Obviously very important to make sure the hands are free from oil in friction events like the v-bar and pinch. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. Gripper performance tend to suffer heavily if you first do any thick bar stuff. Edited February 6, 2005 by Mikael Siversson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakath Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Great report Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Horne Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Well done all. It sounds a barrel of fun! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Johnson Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 The Video is ready, guys. Aftermath Grip Feats of TPS Grip Assault. -Jedd- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underdawg Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Those are some pretty good numbers, especially considering the order of events. Nice pinch Jedd. Congrats to everyone who competed, especially those that broke PR's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamidon Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 DAMN!!!! Jedd nice work with the 45s.... people throwing around 25s like they are nothing... Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRUNO Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 The Video is ready, guys.Aftermath Grip Feats of TPS Grip Assault. -Jedd- ← The event was a blast and I look forward to it again next year. I met alot of my goals and left TPS a happy man. One thing that Jedd left out was the Strong one arm snatch show him and the Bullfrog put on. I think they worked up to about 200 with much speed showing on each lift. I think these guys could throw 135 through the roof if they wanted to. Thanks TPS for a great event. Love that video Jedd. I will be buying another 25 plate tomorow. Those three ladies are coming up! BRUNO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Johnson Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 Alas, it was only a measely 155 on the bar. Eli Keiner still is the man when it comes to one-arm snatches. Great job Bruno. -Jedd- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Cenidoza Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Nice job fellas! Congrats to everyone who competed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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