2016 July - The Battle in the Capital - Grip Edition - Eric Roussin

[Eric Roussin]

8 men descended on the nation’s capital on July 9th to vie for grip strength glory. Among the competitors, were two first-timers: armwrestlers Chris LaFlair from upstate New York, and armwrestler Maxime Robinson from Quebec. The rest of the field included me, Philippe Tremblay, Keith Steffensen, Sylvain Desjarlais, Simon-Pierre Desjarlais (two-time Canadian national champion), and up and coming grip superstar Dan Fleming (who weighed in at under 180 lbs).  Everyone was ready for a full day of competition.

This was not a NAGS-sanctioned contest because a last-man standing format was used and the weights were taken at face value. I chose to go with this format because it allows the event to run more quickly and much less work is required by the contest director (me). So the contest was run like Odd Haugen runs his FitExpo contests. Competitors have a minute to complete the lift, and are free to make as many attempts as they want within this minute. Switching hands is permitted. Many competitors indicated they preferred this contest format. I was happy with how things went, even though the lifts won’t be counted for records purposes.
 
Here’s a summary of what happened in each of the 8 events:

Saxon Bar

Chris LaFlair did very well with the Saxon Bar, lifting 195 lbs. Not bad for a first time competitor! I also hit a PR with a lift of 215 lbs. Though I could have attempted 225 lbs, I opted to save my strength for the next events – I knew it was going to be a long day!

3” Axle

Chris and I had the top lifts with the 3” axle as well. I was very happy with my lift of 285 lbs, which was equivalent to 140% of my body weight. My goal is to eventually lift 150% of my weight on this lift. As with the Saxon Bar, I decided not to attempt the next weight (295 lbs), but looking back I sort of wish I would have.

MoonTop

Though he didn’t lift the most weight, I feel first-time competitor Maxime Robinson had the most impressive performance on this device. He said the implement just felt nice for his hand.

Sorinex Anvil Trainer

Several of the competitors had done some training with the Little Big Horn, but few had previously felt the Sorinex Anvil Trainer. You can get a better grip on the Anvil Trainer because of the texture, but somehow the feeling of isn’t quite the same as with the LBH. Nevertheless, good numbers were put up by all.

Tips Tester MKII

Excellent numbers were hit with the Tips Tester, with 5 competitors lifting 250 lbs or more! Both Dan Fleming and I got air with 310 lbs, but neither of us could lift it to the required height of 7.5”. Gil Goodman’s record is safe for now!  Among the lighter weight competitors, Sylvain Desjarlais lifted 170% of his body weight!

Dynamometer

Dan and I tied on this event with 202 lbs of pressure when it was contested at the Canadian National Championships in February. Dan had been doing a lot of gripper training over the past four months, and he was confident that he would register more on the dynamometer. He was right, as he managed a crush of 227 lbs! Sylvain also had a great result with 196 lbs, at a bodyweight of 155 lbs. I was happy to set a PR with 212 lbs.

Stub

Not surprisingly, the climbers all did well in this event. Among the field of competitors, there didn’t appear to be correlation between results on the stub and hand size or body weight.

8-lb Bomb

I like this event, but I don’t feel it really compares with any others. Open hand strength is required, and a lot of pressure is put on the middle finger. Chris had a great result, especially considering this was his first time using the device. I was happy to set a PR with a lift of 148 lbs.

All in all, many PRs were achieved, and the competition was close – particularly in the 74 kg class. So close that the class placings were different from the overall placings, with Sylvain and Philippe switching positions. The variety of events kept things interesting and the contest format helped ensure things moved quickly. Everyone’s looking forward to King Kong!

[anwnate]

Holy heck...sounds like it was a great time man!  

Sweet write up!  Thanks.

Getting up there to battle with you is on my bucket list.