2017 July - 805 Summer Jam Armlifting Contest - Riccardo Magni -

[riccardomagni]

This was a great contest put on my good friend Odd Haugen.   It was hot outside,  but the air conditioning was on at The Training Hall.   I was on for that matter as well.  I felt like I competed very well; I had PR'S in three of the 5 events.

Unfortunately one mistake cost me the victory...

Enjoy the video...

 

Riccardo 

[Kluv#0]

Riccardo, great job on a wide array of grip events- shows your great grip balance!! That Saturn implement looked quite interesting, keep up the great work.

[AKJV1769]

Great job!

Also does anyone know where to get one of those Saturn's ring grip implements?

[riccardomagni]

Thanks everyone!  I try to work on everything so there are no glaring weaknesses.

It was a good contest! 

The Wagon Wheels overload the grip even more, like a rack pull.  I don't want to sound sarcastic,  but if you have major back injuries,  you should probably fix those before competing.  Having deadlifted 672# in a meet, I have no concerns about hurting my back.

The Saturn's Ring is a custom piece made by Sorinex for the Mighty Mitts contest years ago.  

They made me a custom piece to get ready for this contest.  It is the hardest grip implement that I have ever used.   You could call them and see if they are willing to make another one but be ready.   I tried to attach a picture of it but it failed.  It is much harder than it looks... 

 

[riccardomagni]

The Wheels overload the grip since you have a shorter range of motion, you can pull more.  Unless your grip gives out and then you can't hang on.  Here's an example: this morning I pulled 406# conventional using a regular bar standing on 4.75" blocks.   You can see it on my Instagram. 

 

Why did I miss 398# sumo in the contest on an axle with a much shorter pull?

My grip wasn't strong enough.   And I have no problem admitting that.

I'm not the expert, but I think that the old-time grip guys from the late 1800's and early 1900's were super strong men.  Saxon and Goernor come to mind immediately.  Sometimes I think that this sport is getting away from that and in my opinion,  that is a shame...

Edited July 14, 2017 by riccardomagni
Word spelled wrong

[Bryan Hunsaker]

@riccardomagni I tend to be of the same opinion, in that grip sport, as a whole, should promote lifts that also demonstrate strength.  I don't mean to belittle things that don't require full-body strength, like grippers, as example.  I think there is a place for those lifts - they require effort/training/respect.  But for the broader sport, my personal feeling is that people need to develop overall strength to legitimize it, and spur its growth.  For the sport to grow, it requires spectatorship and patronage, and both require performance above the mundane - I use "mundane" as a perception word for outsiders, watching us, who don't understand and don't care about things like RGC.  Spectators, in my experience, want to watch people lift an axle, not a stub.  Silver bullet is a favorite, but deep-set grippers are not.  People need an understandable showing, and so do sponsors. 

Also, to be truly competitive requires something more from competitors, and here is why: Sarychev shows up at a grip meet last year, not as a grip athlete, and destroys everyone at almost every event.  Why?  He is really, REALLY strong!  (does he have help, of course, but that's beside the point) He doesn't need to focus on pinching/grippers/rolling handles - he's just strong and can pick things up.  It is really as rudimentary as that.  I've been gripping seriously for just over a year, and I hold my own...I'm able to do that because I've lifted for my entire adult life, and moving weight is conducive to being strong, which is correlated to having a strong grip.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you really want to be great at grip, you also need to be strong. The really strong non-grip guys out there are all strong in their grip (maybe not expert, but strong), if for nothing else, as a side-effect of their other training.  Perhaps with rare exception, the guys that dominate across the board in NAGS have some baseline level of strength that is respectable.  They'll likely never pull 305kg like Riccardo, but a 400lb deadlift isn't a concern.  I think we'd be hard-pressed to think of an exception.  Look at the usual suspects of @Jedd Johnson @Eric Roussin @Squeezus @kodyburns Eirik, Juha (pick one), Andrew Durniat, and on, and on.  All strong.

But here's your wrench: Martins Licis walks into any NAGS contest, and probably wins without training the events.  Maybe a guy like Clay Edgin, does too.  Have you seen what they've done to the tips tester lately?!?  We all know what Odd is capable of.  Common thread - they're all really strong (and train together...coincidence?), but what's worse, they're also grip specialists.  Same goes for Roman and Tyukalov.  Strong guys, period.

Most, if not all of the strongest grip guys are strong, or really strong.  I think people need to realize this, couple it with the need for sponsors and spectators, and draw the natural conclusion that full-body strength is a critical pillar of grip sport.

Don't take offense if you aren't strong, but work on it.  I graduated high school at 175lbs, worked hard to get to 240 and walked onto a Division I football program, and grew to 300lbs, naturally, from there.  It is doable, and I've had every injury under the sun, back or otherwise, but I've kept pushing.  I'm not saying to gain a ton of weight or do what I did, but I am advocating getting stronger, fixing the back injury, working through the tendinitis, etc.  It is doable.  I've slipped disks, fractured my back, shattered bones, torn muscles - you can work through it, and get better.  I have awful shoulder impingement, and I work around it.  Find your fix or workaround, and turn a weakness into a strength.

Cheesy quote to finish: "No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training.  It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." Socrates

End of the day, I want to see growth of the sport, and I want to see people getting better, and I think this addresses both.

 

[riccardomagni]

I couldn't agree more.  

You may or may not know that in the beginning when I first met Odd, like in 2005, I was just a helper and then a referee in Odd's contests.   I was not a competitor. 

Guess why?  

I wasn't strong enough.   

 

[Kluv#0]

5 hours ago, Bryan Hunsaker said:

@riccardomagni I tend to be of the same opinion, in that grip sport, as a whole, should promote lifts that also demonstrate strength.  I don't mean to belittle things that don't require full-body strength, like grippers, as example.  I think there is a place for those lifts - they require effort/training/respect.  But for the broader sport, my personal feeling is that people need to develop overall strength to legitimize it, and spur its growth.  For the sport to grow, it requires spectatorship and patronage, and both require performance above the mundane - I use "mundane" as a perception word for outsiders, watching us, who don't understand and don't care about things like RGC.  Spectators, in my experience, want to watch people lift an axle, not a stub.  Silver bullet is a favorite, but deep-set grippers are not.  People need an understandable showing, and so do sponsors. 

Also, to be truly competitive requires something more from competitors, and here is why: Sarychev shows up at a grip meet last year, not as a grip athlete, and destroys everyone at almost every event.  Why?  He is really, REALLY strong!  (does he have help, of course, but that's beside the point) He doesn't need to focus on pinching/grippers/rolling handles - he's just strong and can pick things up.  It is really as rudimentary as that.  I've been gripping seriously for just over a year, and I hold my own...I'm able to do that because I've lifted for my entire adult life, and moving weight is conducive to being strong, which is correlated to having a strong grip.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you really want to be great at grip, you also need to be strong. The really strong non-grip guys out there are all strong in their grip (maybe not expert, but strong), if for nothing else, as a side-effect of their other training.  Perhaps with rare exception, the guys that dominate across the board in NAGS have some baseline level of strength that is respectable.  They'll likely never pull 305kg like Riccardo, but a 400lb deadlift isn't a concern.  I think we'd be hard-pressed to think of an exception.  Look at the usual suspects of @Jedd Johnson @Eric Roussin @Squeezus @kodyburns Eirik, Juha (pick one), Andrew Durniat, and on, and on.  All strong.

But here's your wrench: Martins Licis walks into any NAGS contest, and probably wins without training the events.  Maybe a guy like Clay Edgin, does too.  Have you seen what they've done to the tips tester lately?!?  We all know what Odd is capable of.  Common thread - they're all really strong (and train together...coincidence?), but what's worse, they're also grip specialists.  Same goes for Roman and Tyukalov.  Strong guys, period.

Most, if not all of the strongest grip guys are strong, or really strong.  I think people need to realize this, couple it with the need for sponsors and spectators, and draw the natural conclusion that full-body strength is a critical pillar of grip sport.

Don't take offense if you aren't strong, but work on it.  I graduated high school at 175lbs, worked hard to get to 240 and walked onto a Division I football program, and grew to 300lbs, naturally, from there.  It is doable, and I've had every injury under the sun, back or otherwise, but I've kept pushing.  I'm not saying to gain a ton of weight or do what I did, but I am advocating getting stronger, fixing the back injury, working through the tendinitis, etc.  It is doable.  I've slipped disks, fractured my back, shattered bones, torn muscles - you can work through it, and get better.  I have awful shoulder impingement, and I work around it.  Find your fix or workaround, and turn a weakness into a strength.

Cheesy quote to finish: "No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training.  It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." Socrates

End of the day, I want to see growth of the sport, and I want to see people getting better, and I think this addresses both.

 

Beauty of gripsport is there are many implements to choose from and excel at. Personally, I would trade my axle strength for the ability to be certified COC#3. Pure grip sport talent is the ability to do kick butt doing  a wide range of grip implements not just ones that cater to small-handed or large handed athletes. A man that is certified CoC#3 and red nail is freakin strong, period!

[riccardomagni]

I definitely like having lots of implements to choose from.  It certainly makes the activity never boring...