Under the Spotlight - Grip Profile - Bill Piche

[anwnate]

Today's profile features...William Piche (Pih-Shay).

 

Bill's Grip journey began with weight lifting back in 1979.  From 1981-1993 he competed in powerlifting (ADFPA), and in 1989 managed a 3x bodyweight deadlift (bw 193lbs).  He is a recognized author of Drug-Free training, penning numerous articles for (but not limited to) Gainz, HardGainer, Hardtraining Newsletter, Master Trainer Newsletter, MILO, Monster Muscle, and Powerlifting USA.  He also contributed the Chapter "Powerlifting HIT" in the book, "Maximize Your Training," by Matt Brzycki.

 

Around 1999, Bill took over this very forum from "Solan" and named it "The GripPage," (later re-naming it "The GripBoard").  He has maintained and updated it, ever since.  He is also the architect of the RRBT and KTA gripper training programs.  Displeased with the variance in grippers, he created the MashMonster Gripper Certification Program (a truly fair measure of crush strength, in which all participants certify on the very same gripper).

 

Bill is the creator/owner of the bodybuilding and strength training site, "Cyberpump!."  He is also the author of the simplified bodyfat reduction program "Transform Your Physique." (BTW…all  the mentioned programs (and more) can be found at http://www.cyberpump.com/. )

 

In 2001, by certifying on the Ironmind #3 Gripper, he earned the rank of "Captain of Crush," thus joining the ranks which included early luminaries like Sorin, Brookfield, Samuelson, Snook, Horne, Gillingham(s), Weiner and Sexton. 

 

In 2004, he pinch-lifted  a pair of 45lb plates together (smooth side out), a feat only a few people had done at the time.  He was also one of the early gripsters to pinch lift a York Blob (half of a 100 York Dumbbell).

 

"Bill, in my opinion, is right up there with some of the most important people in all of Grip.  If this board doesn't exist, I most likely never get involved in the sport." - Jedd Johnson

 

This is high praise from our reigning North American Gripsport Champion.

 

Although Bill wears several hats, his most important role is as a husband and father.  Even so, he manages to keep the GripBoard moving forward and is still extremely accessible considering how busy he is.  He will go down as one of the most influential people in Gripsport History.  That said, let's turn the stage over to "Wannagrip"…

 

 

 

Left:  Iowa Strength coach Chris Doyle and I at my #3 cert in 2001.  I am now about 50lbs lighter and definitely not as fat in the face! LOL!

 

Right: With the most important people in my life at our favorite place on earth. (Disney Hollywood Studios)

 

 

7 questions to get to know Bill.

 

 

 

1.  What are your stats?  GripBoard Name, Age, height (inches/meters), weight (lbs/kgs), R/L dominant hand size (cm/in), country, city (or region…whatever you are comfortable with), married/single, kids, occupation ("international spy" is acceptable)

 

GripBoard Name: "Wannagrip" 

Age:   52

Height:   5' 9” (175cm)

Weight:  170lbs (77kg)    (I used to be about 215 to 220 during the time I was obsessed with grip.  This was also at the tail end of my competitive powerlifting as well.)

Hand:   Normal (not small, not large)

Location:  USA/Iowa - 30 years (I am originally from the upper peninsula of Michigan.)

Relationship Status:  Married   (Kim and I will be married for 30 years this June.)

Children:  Ryan and Amanda, who are 24 and 22, respectively.

Occupation:   My day job is designing autopilot systems for business jets and regional airliners.  I have been doing this for 30 years now. 

 

I went to school at Michigan Tech University where I graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.  I received my master’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1989 from Iowa State University. 

 

My job actually got me onto the early Internet where the early browsers did not even have image capability and were text only.   There was a startup at the time called GeoPages were anyone could have a free home page on the web.   At that time, Yahoo was just starting and everyone had “link” pages.  No one was providing any real content.  So, I decided to start the Cyberpump! web site and actually provide content rather than a bunch of links.  That was in 1995. 

 

The site took off and it was also the time period of what could be called “The HIT Wars” on the newsgroup misc.fitness.  Basically, the early version of what could be called a discussion forum.  Cyberpump! soon attracted a lot of traffic.  It was actually featured in GQ magazine and mentioned in US News.   Back then, you had to create a web site at the code level and program it yourself.   My engineering background helped me dive right in at that time and be the programmer for Cyberpump!.  

 

An interesting fact is that one of the guys who started programming a version of the first generation forum software got on my radar.  He was super talented and really a visionary too.  He programmed it by himself.  These first versions were freeware.  I literally hitched myself to this guy and the GripBoard has been hitched ever since software wise.  I am not sure how much his company is worth today but it is probably millions.  I continue to be the tech guy for the forum but I now have a lower level admin for the server in which the software resides.  His name is Len from Russia and we’ve been working as a team for many years now.  The GripBoard software runs on a dedicated server with a multi-core processor and two solid state hard drives.  It’s not by chance it is super-fast.

 

 

2.  Why did you start training grip (and how long is it now)?

 

I started training grip around 1999.  I learned about the COC’s from Brooks Kubik in an article on grip he wrote for the High Intensity Training Newsletter.  At first, the Ironmind #2 Gripper was a goal.  After I closed the #2, I thought I might have a shot at the #3.  At that time, there were not many COC’s(Captain of Crush).  It took a completely different approach for me to close a #3 and something like 2 years of specialization to do it.  Normal training did not work.   I would like to thank Steve Weiner (3Crusher) for all the back and forth early dialogue via email we had about closing the #3 gripper way back then.

 

 

3.  Before you die, what is your ULTIMATE grip goal/goals?

 

To be honest, I really don’t have any more grip goals.  Each time I met one of my goals, it literally took total focus and specialization to do them.  The one goal that eluded me was lifting an Inch Dumbbell.  In reality, due to the limitations of actually having an Inch Dumbbell, it is really not given it’s due (in my opinion) for how hard it is to lift it.

 

 

4. How do you currently structure your overall training/how do you incorporate your grip training?

 

My focus right now and moving forward is to lift for health and wellness and not hurt myself doing it.  I have abused my body enough lifting when I was younger that I am pretty much forced to do this now anyway.  So, I am running with it.  I am trying to maintain a very lean and fully developed physique.  My diet is very strict with respect to eating healthy as well. I eat mostly organic now too.  Grip training is just doing some fun stuff along with normal basic exercises.  My real goal now is to get to 90 years old and still be in the gym every day!

 

 

5. What hobbies (other than grip/bending/lifting) do you enjoy?

 

I enjoy the whole idea of training and eating for health.  I spend a significant time each week in food prep for the upcoming week.  Of course I work to run several web sites including Cyberpump! too.  That takes up a considerable amount of time in itself.

 

 

6.  Do you have a personal anecdote, topic or thoughts you'd like to include in your profile?

 

When it comes to training, “Keep an Open Mind” is a key element of continued progress (even if small progress as you age).  In addition, you cannot expect different results if you don’t make a quantifiable change by an action that is very much evident.  I am very proud of the collaborative GripBoard community and the great members we have from around the world!

 

 

7.  Who's Grip profile would you like to see?

 

Heath Sexton

 

 

 

A big thanks to Bill for all his continued work on this board and for this profile.  Heath  will be profiled in two weeks.  This series will return next Wednesday with James Retarides.

 

[Alawadhi]

Great write up Bill! Enjoyed what you wrote and learned more about you. Enjoy your site too and I didn't know you initially programmed it yourself! Great!

 

Sorry for my ignorance, but on a side note, I sometimes read your name as Bill and sometimes William. Is it the same? Bill short for William? If yes where did the B come from?

[anwnate]

3 minutes ago, Alawadhi said:

Great write up Bill! Enjoyed what you wrote and learned more about you. Enjoy your site too and I didn't know you initially programmed it yourself! Great!

 

Sorry for my ignorance, but on a side note, I sometimes read your name as Bill and sometimes William. Is it the same? Bill short for William? If yes where did the B come from?

English is a bit odd at times.  Here's a quick run down on common nicknames.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/24761/origins-10-nicknames

[MCrushetta]

Great to read this. I want to read more about what type of specialization and what you had to do to get from the 2 to 3. Thanks for sharing all this!

[Bill Piche]

5 minutes ago, MCrushetta said:

Great to read this. I want to read more about what type of specialization and what you had to do to get from the 2 to 3. Thanks for sharing all this!

See my signature.

[MCrushetta]

4 minutes ago, Wannagrip said:

See my signature.

I had read it. Wasn't looking for another tool or method, was just curious what you had to do. I'm just always interested in hearing about the many different ways people reach goals and how it happens for them.

[Bill Piche]

14 minutes ago, MCrushetta said:

I had read it. Wasn't looking for another tool or method, was just curious what you had to do. I'm just always interested in hearing about the many different ways people reach goals and how it happens for them.

This is exactly what I had to do -- I had to get radical to get my goals and think outside the box and created these programs for myself to get to my grip goals.  I applied the same high volume daily grip training for doing the 45lb plate pinch as well.  I had to really bust a hump to reach any of these goals and specialize one at a time. 

[IROC-Z]

Great write-up!  Huge thanks to Bill for running/maintaining this awesome website.

[Fist of Fury]

We have similar interests, grip training and electronics! 

[Jedd Johnson]

Awesome Bro.  Thanks for everything you do!

[tspinillo]

A true luminary of the sport.

 

[Bearcat 74]

5 hours ago, Jedd Johnson said:

Awesome Bro.  Thanks for everything you do!

 

Yep, Bill is the man!

[3Crusher]

Nice write up Bill.  Nate Brous made me aware of it.  I can't believe how many years have passed since we both started training hard on the grippers.  It has been about 17-18 years or so at this point.  Thanks for the kind words in your write up.  I would also like to see a write up on Heath Sexton as well. 

[austinslater]

Great read! Bill was always willing to lend advice over a decade ago when I got involved in grip training. Looking forwards to Heath's as well! Great series.

[burkhardmacht]

That was a really interesting read!! Thanks a lot for sharing those infos and for Your work for sure! BTW, getting at least 90 years old seems to be a truely wise goal - good to know that there are some people out there who also try to go the long way...

[Jeff Parker]

Nice write up Nate

Bill, very cool to see a fellow Disney fan!  My wife and I had our honeymoon in Disney and have been going back as much as possible since.  We are even season passholders this year.  We just booked our next trip for this summer, can't wait!

[KapMan]

Awesome write up. 

[Terry Conjugate Iron]

Thank you for this! Been here for a year and as it seems I'll be discovering gems for many more to come. 

And thanks to @Wannagrip for his passion and time spent on this community! 

[Vinnie]

I am glad that Terry is systematically browsing the entire 20-year-long gripboard saga and resurrecting all these gems that I never saw because I didn't survey the landscape so well when I arrived.  This post about Wannagrip, for example, took place a year before I discovered grip and I am pretty sure I never saw it.  It is great to see what the people on here look like, then and now, what they are like, etc.  I've "known" Bill for 5 years but had no idea what he did for a living, his grip history, what he looked like, or even that he was my size!  I always assume all you monsters are bigger than me ... Anyway, I had to comment, because this is not the first old post I have gotten a chance to read because Terry resurrected it from obscurity with a new comment.  Keep 'em coming, Terry, you read the internet so we don't have to lol ...

Congrats on the feature, Bill.  Six years later lol.  I am, truly, grateful that you run this board and it reminds me that I should re-up my membership that I let lapse a while back.  You really do a lot to keep the tiny sport lively, and it's only fair that those of us enjoying it should chip in.

Be well.

Vin

[Terry Conjugate Iron]

11 hours ago, Vinnie said:

I am glad that Terry is systematically browsing the entire 20-year-long gripboard saga and resurrecting all these gems that I never saw because I didn't survey the landscape so well when I arrived.  This post about Wannagrip, for example, took place a year before I discovered grip and I am pretty sure I never saw it.  It is great to see what the people on here look like, then and now, what they are like, etc.  I've "known" Bill for 5 years but had no idea what he did for a living, his grip history, what he looked like, or even that he was my size!  I always assume all you monsters are bigger than me ... Anyway, I had to comment, because this is not the first old post I have gotten a chance to read because Terry resurrected it from obscurity with a new comment.  Keep 'em coming, Terry, you read the internet so we don't have to lol ...

Congrats on the feature, Bill.  Six years later lol.  I am, truly, grateful that you run this board and it reminds me that I should re-up my membership that I let lapse a while back.  You really do a lot to keep the tiny sport lively, and it's only fair that those of us enjoying it should chip in.

Be well.

Vin

Definitely appreciate your words Vin! Man I'm obsessed with digging up the past in a good way haha.. My friends look up the latest smart phones, I use mine to read about Donald Dinnie and other 1800s and early 1900s strongmen. 

But this isn't about me. I've been reading posts on and off for a decade, at first I didn't even know what this was, it seemed a bit complicated lol. Then all these names started to come up regarding feats of grip strength. 

Believe it or not, I found out that Bill is Bill Piche after I sent him PayPal for the contribution! LOL!!! I was like... Hold on, I know I've seen that name many times. 

Bill is unique to say the least and as I'm getting older I aspire to be that influential in the strength game. Not sucking up, not kidding. 

Glad my curiosity sparked this conversation! 

[Bill Piche]

19 hours ago, Vinnie said:

I am glad that Terry is systematically browsing the entire 20-year-long gripboard saga and resurrecting all these gems that I never saw because I didn't survey the landscape so well when I arrived.  This post about Wannagrip, for example, took place a year before I discovered grip and I am pretty sure I never saw it.  It is great to see what the people on here look like, then and now, what they are like, etc.  I've "known" Bill for 5 years but had no idea what he did for a living, his grip history, what he looked like, or even that he was my size!  I always assume all you monsters are bigger than me ... Anyway, I had to comment, because this is not the first old post I have gotten a chance to read because Terry resurrected it from obscurity with a new comment.  Keep 'em coming, Terry, you read the internet so we don't have to lol ...

Congrats on the feature, Bill.  Six years later lol.  I am, truly, grateful that you run this board and it reminds me that I should re-up my membership that I let lapse a while back.  You really do a lot to keep the tiny sport lively, and it's only fair that those of us enjoying it should chip in.

Be well.

Vin

Thanks much Vinnie!

[Bill Piche]

19 hours ago, Terry Conjugate Iron said:

Thank you for this! Been here for a year and as it seems I'll be discovering gems for many more to come. 

And thanks to @Wannagrip for his passion and time spent on this community! 

Thanks Terry!