Daniel Fleming Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) Right when I had heard that there was going to be another Southern Squeeze grip competition, I knew Id be going. When I told my sister that Id be going to Nashville to compete in grip sport, she immediately wanted to come. When she told me that, I convinced her to compete as well. At first she seemed nervous, but then she came around. She had only tried a few implements at my apartment previously and ended up setting PRs in grippers, 2h flask, and 1h tips tester! Im super proud of her not only for committing to the trip, but really for giving it her all when she was competing! This also ended up being the 2nd time I had ever flown anywhere, first time being to another grip contest. (NCGCII) Coming into this contest I had an idea of around where I wanted to lift on each implement. With 20mm block set, I had only previously closed my rgc154 ghp7 at home and nothing higher because my next gripper up is a 170. I was looking for a minimum of 155. Anything 160 and over Id be super happy about. With the 2h flask I was looking to pull at least 200. (depending on how the flask felt) On 1h tips tester my PR was 166.9lbs done at home, so I was looking to pull anywhere from 155 and up. Event 1: 20mm block set grippers My crush was feeling strong, In warm up, the grippers felt great. Then I made my way up to the rgc130's in warmup without too much trouble. I started with a rgc142 and it shut really quickly. It felt easy, but I didn't want to screw myself over by jumping too high in difficulty so I chose a rgc150 #3 next. That also shut rather fast. After feeling the 150, I knew I could make a bigger jump, so I chose a 160. It was a bit narrow so the set felt great and I managed to close it without giving me too much of a struggle. The next available grippers were 165 and 169. The 165 was a fat handled Monster Hunter level 5, and the 169 was a HG. I ended up choosing the 165 which I came millimeters from shutting. I had experiece with thick handled grippers, but not that thick. The handles felt weird in my hand when closing. Im super happy I hit 160, Im super motivated to train grippers even harder now! I just need to mention that Phil Khoshaba is easily one of the strongest -83kg competitors that Ive ever met! He was only weighing 172lbs that day and managed to blockset the 169 and get within millimeters of shutting a rgc174 ghp8 a couple of times. With his big hands he proved to be strong at every event and even bottoms up pressed a 40kg kettlebell for fun after the contest. Event 2: 2h Flask Compared to how the flask felt in Maryland, this flask was perfect! In warm ups 170lbs felt slippy, but after a few more pulls my skin was ready and it became easier. I decided my first attempt would be 180lbs which went up rather quickly. Just like grippers, I didnt want to make too big of a jump and regret it so I went to 192.9lbs. That went up. Gaining some confidence I made the leap to 201.1lbs which just didn't end up going up. Im not quite sure what went wrong. The flask felt great, my skin wasn't torn, it was just my luck. Im going to work on my 2hp technique some more and hopefully come back stronger! While still on pinching, it was amazing to see the king of pinch himself Kody Burns show up and end up pulling 100kg on a device he's rarely used. Kody was an all around great guy, he just really loves grip! Event 3: 1h Tips Tester We had the privilege of seeing Tim Fox set a new record on the device by pulling 187lbs. Not to mention making it look easy. On my end, in warm up ~130lbs felt good so I decided on starting at 143lbs. After that went up nicely, I cant quite remember where I jumped to next, but I think it was around 150lbs. After lifting that, I jumped to 157lbs. On my first attempt at 157, I made it about an inch from the crossbar. . . I knew I could do this, I just needed to lift it perfectly! On my next attempt, during the lift my fingers felt so good that I lifted it waist high. Overall Im happy with my results in this event. I just need to put more time into this device and really find the sweet spots on my fingers. Find out how and where to place them perfecty Event 4: Medley In the medley there were 12 items, out of the 12 I ended up lifting 10. Ideally to get 11, I think I would've had to have started with the 45lb plate hub in order to lift it, rather than attempting it later on. It was also really awesome having an anvil in the medley! I absolutely love anvil/horn lifts. Besides the 45 plate, I couldn't lift the inch, but that wasn't a shock to me. Its one of my goals for 2017, but I knew I wasn't at that level yet. The only person to lift the inch that day was Gil. Delmar and Kody destroyed the medley! Their only downfall was the inch! I can't forget to mention that the inch that was there was a steel 180lb version. Which Id assume is definitely harder. Kody ended up winning not only the middleweight division, but the overall contest. Phil who impressed me all day finished 2nd overall, with Tim Fox right behind him in 3rd. After the contest while I was messing around with different implements, Tim Fox put on a strong man show that included crazy stuff like breaking a baseball bat, having Jor-el jump from a ladder onto his stomach, smashing nails through wood, bending steel etc. After winning the heavyweight division and the Barrel Strength Award, he somehow mustered enough strength to perform all these feats! Hats off to him! Overall, this ended up being an amazing experience, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Thank you Gil and Maria for hosting an amazing contest that I'll always try to attend from now on! Edited January 17, 2017 by Daniel Fleming 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Great write up, Daniel! Congrats on your performance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squeezus Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Nice writeup, Dan. I'm so glad you and Christina were able to come down, and glad I got to spend time with you. Your energy was contagious and I definitely remember you murdered those grippers. Very explosive closes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acromegaman Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Dan's energy level was exciting to watch and I wish it was highly contagious so I could be a little more than just calm. Lol. Once again it was a pleasure meeting you and your sis Dan and I'm sure we'll meet up again 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Fleming Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 12 hours ago, bencrush said: Great write up, Daniel! Congrats on your performance. 2 hours ago, Squeezus said: Nice writeup, Dan. I'm so glad you and Christina were able to come down, and glad I got to spend time with you. Your energy was contagious and I definitely remember you murdered those grippers. Very explosive closes. 2 hours ago, acromegaman said: Dan's energy level was exciting to watch and I wish it was highly contagious so I could be a little more than just calm. Lol. Once again it was a pleasure meeting you and your sis Dan and I'm sure we'll meet up again 😁 Thanks a lot guys! I hope to run in to you guys at future grip contests! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccos1 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Your numbers were crazy and it was great watching you compete. Like Delmar said, a ton of energy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhbaker15 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) Great write up! Edited January 18, 2017 by dhbaker15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Sounds like a great day and experience. Congrats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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