2005 November - California Iron Grip - Hubgeezer

[Hubgeezer]

Boy, don't all chime in at once guys! Okay, I will give a report.

This contest was a Kevin Meskew production. Kevin has a real job, but he also owns a small gym, and produces several grip contests each year. He is involved in power lifting contests in Southern California, sometimes producing Strongman contests at Venice Beach, and was a competitive power lifter in his weight class in the 1980s.

There were 6 competitors Saturday: Supermagnamon, Dan Harrison (formerly Meat Loaf of the Gripboard), Handgripperman (Kevin Bussi), Fatboy ( I will call him Bill), Bill's friend Adam, and Hubgeezer.

Harrison, Handgripperman, and Hubgeezer were all Kevin Meskew contest veterans, as was Fatboy. I don't think that Supermagnamon (also known as Ronnie Castro) or Adam had ever been in a grip contest before. Fatboy was in a contest in Northridge in 2004, and he was actually there for the Strict Curl competition, then entered the grip contest, which was after the other was over. I don't believe he had ever touched any of the implements before in his life. He is a former power lifter, but is involved with grip stuff now that he has caught the bug. Adam may be close to a decade younger than Bill, who is around 30 and mentors him. Ronnie is a very strong young man, as he comes from a power lifting background. Harrison is really into Strongman these days, and hopes to get his pro card the weekend after next.

Kevin Meskew scores the events in the same manner as the Olympic Decathlon: a system of "points". His are adapted from Dale Harder's Strength Tables to award given achievements given points, ranging from 1 point to 1000 points per event. In general, 500 points is respectable, 600 is very good, 700 may be World Class, and 900 is about as much as someone is going to get, as 1000 is higher than most current world records. Closing a #3 is 660 points. 192.5 pounds in the Rolling Thunder gets you 600 points, and 247.5 pounds gets you 800 points. Closing a #2 is 400 points. To get 1000 points in grippers, you would have to close the #4 for 4 reps. Got the picture? I am getting this information from Dale Harder's book, "Sports Comparisons...You Can Compare Apples to Oranges", Second Edition, 2005.

The events and a few comments:

1. Grippers. The individual competitor chose which IM gripper he would attempt to hold a quarter between the ends of the handle for time. Meskew timed the hold with a stopwatch, and once the quarter fell out of the handles, the watch stopped.

Bussi and Harrison were the only #3 holders, and Bussi was the runaway winner on this event. We will see when the official results are posted, but I believe he had over 900 points and held it over 30 seconds. I don't think any feat in the contest topped that one. In March, Clay Edgin held the same #3 for 25.8 seconds, only it was a thicker poker chip. That, gentlemen, is very impressive!

I personally did horribly on this, and doubt if I had 500 points. I was impressed by Bill, who outpointed me on this, and in March of 2004, could only close the #1 for 2 reps. That's all I remember on that one.

The contestants had two attempts on this event.

2. IronMind Hub Lift. I have created a persona named Hubgeezer. Hubgeezer is a one dimensional character, and Hubgeezer does not care about any events other than the Hub lift. Hubgeezer holds the competitive record in contests, Hubgeezer is listed in one of Dale Harder's books as a world record holder, and Hubgeezer is undefeated in competition. Since July, I had severe pain in my right middle finger, only while doing the Hub. My lifts dropped from 70 on June 28 at Dale Harder's house, to 40 on November 7 in my garage. I stopped altogether, and a few days before the contest did 57 1/2 with no pain. I hoped to just use my left hand and do around 55 to win.

So, I did 40 left hand easy. My second attempt was 50 left hand easy. Went to 57 1/2, and the left hand failed, so switched to right and it went up easy, but after it was over the tendon felt like it was ON FIRE. I tried 62 1/2, but could only break ground with it, for my fourth and last attempt. This event, like 4 of the 6 events, had a four attempt rising bar format.

Meanwhile, Kevin Bussi also took 57 1/2 for his third attempt, and easily lifted 57 1/2, and had it won based on lower body weight whether he lifted more or not. He successfully lifted 62 1/2 using the Meat Ball Hub Grab Technique, as opposed to the "Claw Technique" I use. There are some on this board who have even whined about the claw method, as if to say fingertips only method is more pure. Nope, I don't buy it, and seeing as "Hubgeezer" is my invention, if I am not complaining, then no one should be. Kevin did 40 1/2 on the Hub in March of 2005, so that is an impressive improvement. Kevin Meskew may be using Dale's "old" hub points chart, as his revised one would give that lift 625 points. His old tables would have given it 733 points. He toned the Hub points down when he revised the book in 2005.

I don't think anyone else did 50 on this device.

3. Rolling Thunder. I kept good notes on this one. Bill went out in the 140s, Harrison had an easy 157, but could not quite hold 167 long enough for the down signal. Adam barely legally got 157.

Bussi, Ronnie, and I were truthfully evenly matched on this event. It came down to who was having a better day and who could make the better weight selections that worked best for them. We all did 182; my notes said that Ronnie "barely" got it, that for me it was "medium", and for Bussi "easy". Ronnie was not able to move beyond that level, and I did 192, barely. Meanwhile, Kevin went from 182 on his second attempt to 197 on his third. He had it, but it was not enough for the Judge's down signal. He did not make it legally on the 4th attempt, so Kevin took second and I won it. Afterwards, Kevin came up and successfully lifted the 197. I got up and did it in what a few people said looked easy, but I guarantee you, it was not.

So, officially, I believe it was Hubgeezer 192, Bussi 182, and Castro 182(higher body weight than Kevin).

4. Wrist Roller. This is a homemade contraption standing over 6 feet high, a chain dangling from a thick bar (close to 3 inches) attached to a weight stack on the floor of 75 pounds. You are rolling this brutal sucker around 5 feet up for time with a stopwatch clocking you. I have very few notes on this one, as I did so horribly on it in March 2005, I really didn't like to think about it. Back then, I rolled it up in 14.16 seconds, Zach Passman did it in 5.41 seconds, and Clay Edgin in 6.97 seconds. Well, I broke 10 seconds, and we got 2 attempts on this one. Everyone had done it twice, except me, and I asked what place I was in for that event, and they said "4th". What the heck, I would try it again. To my surprise, I won. I think it was 7.7 something.

This time, at the suggestion of Dan Harrison, I pulled the bar towards me (pulling) instead of moving the bar away from me (pushing). I think that is what made the difference. Either that, or the purchase of the Formulator. I think it is mainly pulling instead of pushing, and not the Formulator.

Sorry, I don't have anyone else's figures on this one.

5. Plate Pinch. Maximum weight for two hands, 4 attempts, rising bar. The plates, in the words of Clay Edgin 8 months ago, had "nice deep spiral grooves in the plates from the machining process". They were 2 1/2 inches, and Kevin Bussi thought they were easier than the Euro-Device.

Kevin easily won with 190. Ronnie and Dan both had 175. I had 160 (I jumped to 175 and failed at that), Adam had 150, and Bill went out at 130.

6. Apollon's Axle. This was done double overhand, and there were 4 attempts for each competitor. Bill and Meat both did 244, but jumped too high for their next lifts. Kevin's back has been bothering him from doing Good Mornings, and he may have a bad disc. He did 289, as did Adam. Adam had one more lift, and could not do 294. I won with 309, for me a PR. Ronnie also did 309, I think, but it went to me by virtue of bodyweight. Ronnie had 324 up 100%, held it, let it down under control, but he had not gotten the "down" signal. He was not able to repeat it. Ronnie is a strong guy and a MUCH better Axle puller than I. He can deadlift 650, and I can barely do half that. He should have won it.

After the competition, a few of the guys played with weights. Dan Harrison deadlifted 680 pounds for a personal best. He is a strong young man.

Bussi won overall with 3900 plus points.

I was second with 3500 something, and Dan Harrsion was roughly 30 points behind me. I think Adam was 4th, Ronnie 5th, and Bill 6th.

Hopefully, next time, we can have a few more competitors. A few of the events were competitive, so we had a little fun and drama to make it interesting.

Thank you to Bill and Adam for bringing a contigent of fans from Lancaster. They were polite and respectful. Maybe some of the pictures and video they took can end up on this board. Thank you Kevin Meskew, and thanks to all of the guys who competed. You are a good group.

Mike Corlett "MIKE"