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2017 August - Anaheim Visegrip Viking - Eric Roussin


Eric Roussin

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Back home from another of Odd Haugen’s fun Visegrip Viking armlifting contests. I had already competed in his Chicago events in 2015 and 2016, as well as in the Los Angeles event in 2014. In my experience, the California contests seem to attract the most athletes. I think there were 15 to 17 people competing in this weekend’s contest: three in the lightweight class (200 lbs and under), ten or twelve in the heavyweight class (over 200 lbs), and two women. Most already had some experience in grip contests and/or the implements, but there were a few strongmen competitors who already decided to give grip a try.

It was nice to see familiar faces like Riccardo Magni, Martins Licis, Jon Eklund, and John Machnik. It was also cool to finally meet guys like Bryan Hunsaker, Carl Myerscough, Michael Thomas, and John Call (“jujimufu”) in person for the first time.

I had a bit of extra stress over the weekend because I was competing in both the grip contest and an armwrestling tournament. They were happening at opposite ends of the fit expo, so I was constantly running back and forth between the events. Luckily, the armwrestling tournament director understood my situation and allowed me to have some of my matches out of turn so that I wouldn’t miss any of the grip events.

The grip contest consisted of five events: the Rolling Thunder, Apollon’s Axle, and the Silver Bullet on Saturday, and the Hub and Pinch Block on Sunday (all IronMind equipment). I knew going in that I’d perform better on Day 1, as two of the three events were thick bar and this is my specialty. I performed pretty much as I expected with the RT, lifting 220 lbs (failing at 231). The top RT lifts were made by Odd and 6’10” Carl (242 lbs).

Immediately following the Rolling Thunder event I ran over to the armwrestling tournament for a couple of matches. There was only one other competitor in my class that I expected could give me a match. We ended up pulling each other twice – once in the quarter-finals and once in the finals. Unfortunately, both matches were wars. My arm was extremely pumped and I was hoping for as long a break as possible before the axle event got underway. Luckily, I managed to get about 20 minutes of rest – just enough that my lifting would not be (or minimally be) impacted. I successfully lifted 396 lbs and almost locked out 418. Carl won the axle event with a lift of 462 lbs.

In the third grip event, I held the Silver Bullet for 28 or 29 seconds. John Machnik won this event with a hold of 33 seconds. None of my results from Day 1 were contest PRs, but I was pleased given my erratic training schedule over the past several weeks. I was actually in the lead in the overall standings at the end of Day 1, but I knew it would be difficult for me to maintain this standing through Day 2. It turns out I was right…

Day 2 got underway with the Hub. I’m okay with the Hub – usually lifting around 60 lbs in contests. But I happened to be competing with lots of guys who were great at the Hub. I successfully lifted 54 lbs, and then I lifted 59 lbs, but the lift was disqualified because my pinky was not touching the base at the start of the lift. I was a bit disappointed with my performance in this event, but I was by no means gutted. My contest coach and buddy Riccardo won this event, locking out 69 lbs.

In the Pinch Block, once again I discovered that I was competing with guys who were great at one-hand pinch events. I lifted 72 lbs, which I felt was decent, but many competitors went on to lift much more. In the end, it was a battle between, John, Carl, Jon, and Martins, with John Machnik coming out on top. He lifted 97 lbs! He then went for a world record attempt of 105, but it was not to be…

In the end, I won the lightweight class, but my standing in the overall dropped quite a few spots. John Machnik was the big winner. After a relatively slow start on the Day 1, he had a fantastic Day 2. But I think I was most impressed by Riccardo Magni. He continues to improve, and does not seem to have any bad events. He’s proof that putting in the time and effort to train intelligently for the events will lead to results. Well done!

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58 minutes ago, Eric Roussin said:

Back home from another of Odd Haugen’s fun Visegrip Viking armlifting contests. I had already competed in his Chicago events in 2015 and 2016, as well as in the Los Angeles event in 2014. In my experience, the California contests seem to attract the most athletes. I think there were 15 to 17 people competing in this weekend’s contest: three in the lightweight class (200 lbs and under), ten or twelve in the heavyweight class (over 200 lbs), and two women. Most already had some experience in grip contests and/or the implements, but there were a few strongmen competitors who already decided to give grip a try.

It was nice to see familiar faces like Riccardo Magni, Martins Licis, Jon Eklund, and John Machnik. It was also cool to finally meet guys like Bryan Hunsaker, Carl Myerscough, Michael Thomas, and John Call (“jujimufu”) in person for the first time.

I had a bit of extra stress over the weekend because I was competing in both the grip contest and an armwrestling tournament. They were happening at opposite ends of the fit expo, so I was constantly running back and forth between the events. Luckily, the armwrestling tournament director understood my situation and allowed me to have some of my matches out of turn so that I wouldn’t miss any of the grip events.

The grip contest consisted of five events: the Rolling Thunder, Apollon’s Axle, and the Silver Bullet on Saturday, and the Hub and Pinch Block on Sunday (all IronMind equipment). I knew going in that I’d perform better on Day 1, as two of the three events were thick bar and this is my specialty. I performed pretty much as I expected with the RT, lifting 220 lbs (failing at 231). The top RT lifts were made by Odd and 6’10” Carl (242 lbs).

Immediately following the Rolling Thunder event I ran over to the armwrestling tournament for a couple of matches. There was only one other competitor in my class that I expected could give me a match. We ended up pulling each other twice – once in the quarter-finals and once in the finals. Unfortunately, both matches were wars. My arm was extremely pumped and I was hoping for as long a break as possible before the axle event got underway. Luckily, I managed to get about 20 minutes of rest – just enough that my lifting would not be (or minimally be) impacted. I successfully lifted 396 lbs and almost locked out 418. Carl won the axle event with a lift of 462 lbs.

In the third grip event, I held the Silver Bullet for 28 or 29 seconds. John Machnik won this event with a hold of 33 seconds. None of my results from Day 1 were contest PRs, but I was pleased given my erratic training schedule over the past several weeks. I was actually in the lead in the overall standings at the end of Day 1, but I knew it would be difficult for me to maintain this standing through Day 2. It turns out I was right…

Day 2 got underway with the Hub. I’m okay with the Hub – usually lifting around 60 lbs in contests. But I happened to be competing with lots of guys who were great at the Hub. I successfully lifted 54 lbs, and then I lifted 59 lbs, but the lift was disqualified because my pinky was not touching the base at the start of the lift. I was a bit disappointed with my performance in this event, but I was by no means gutted. My contest coach and buddy Riccardo won this event, locking out 69 lbs.

In the Pinch Block, once again I discovered that I was competing with guys who were great at one-hand pinch events. I lifted 72 lbs, which I felt was decent, but many competitors went on to lift much more. In the end, it was a battle between, John, Carl, Jon, and Martins, with John Machnik coming out on top. He lifted 97 lbs! He then went for a world record attempt of 105, but it was not to be…

In the end, I won the lightweight class, but my standing in the overall dropped quite a few spots. John Machnik was the big winner. After a relatively slow start on the Day 1, he had a fantastic Day 2. But I think I was most impressed by Riccardo Magni. He continues to improve, and does not seem to have any bad events. He’s proof that putting in the time and effort to train intelligently for the events will lead to results. Well done!

Eric, you put on an incredible display of strength - it was amazing to watch. Congrats again on your grip and arm wrestling victories and glad to have met you. 

 

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Thanks! It was great meeting you too, Michael. Good luck in your King Kong training!

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Congratulations Eric! Even more impressive that you successfully competed in two different sports simultaneously!

 

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Eric, 

Thanks for the kind words.  I very much appreciate it. 

I will do my write up this weekend.

Riccardo 

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Eric, gotta say it, again: you are impressive!  Back-and-forth to pull, and still putting up world-class numbers.  I didn't see a single weakness, and even as a light guy, you excel at the thick-bar stuff.  All-around one of the best competitors out there man, and great to meet you!

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