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2018 February - California's Strongest Hands - Riccardo Magni


riccardomagni

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California's Strongest Hands 2018 @

Santa Cruz Strength

 

This was a fantastic contest, but where do I begin?

 

Let's start with my training.  It went very well, in part fueled by my desire to try to catch up to the very top guys in the sport.  I was able to maintain my weight loss and increase my strength.

 

Fast forward to the day before the contest: I drove 5 hours to SFO airport to pick up my new roommate for two days, Arto Joronen.  We then drove an hour and a half to the hotel, stopped by Santa Cruz Strength and eventually met Odd Haugen and Bill Weiss for dinner.  

 

Saturday morning arrived and Clay Edgin had transformed the gym into a beautiful setting for a contest.  There was a huge Armlifting USA banner set as a backdrop for the events along with a table set up with tshirts as well as prizes and giveaways.  Very visually appealing.  Clay is a veteran promoter and it really showed throughout the event.  40 people were competing.  Probably the second biggest contest in the USA ever outside of last year's SJ4.

 

All events were last man standing with unlimited attempts.  My goals were to set PRs in each event and finish in the top 5 overall.  The scoring was using the percentage based system which encourages athletes to really try their best.

 

Weigh in weight: 99.2kg (218.7#)

 

First event: Rolling Thunder

I did 80kg, 85kg, and 90kg. This equalled my PR at this bodyweight.  I missed 92.5kg.  This was a solid start as 90kg felt easier than it did in LA 2 months prior.

 

Second event: Ironmind Hub

My hub has not felt super in training.  Normally one of my best events, it has been down a bit.  I made 20kg, 25kg, 27.5kg, 30kg, and a new PR of 32.5kg.  I missed 35kg.  The 32.5kg (71.6#) was easy.  I was very happy with this result.

 

Third event: Napalm's Nightmare

I felt like I overtrained this event prior to Los Angeles.  I still did OK, making 181kg, 191kg, and missing 201kg.  Need more work on the top end here.  My PR in training is 195kg, so I was close, but not quite there…

 

Fourth event: Little Big Horn

I have never done this in a contest and never trained for it before.  My PR in training before this cycle was 71.55kg.  I hit 70kg, 75kg, 77.5kg, and 80kg.  I missed 82.5kg.  VERY good results here.

 

Fifth event: Silver Bullet

I have done the #4 in training several times, but I am inconsistent with it.  I have never done the #3.5 in a contest, so this was a good time to get an official contest PR with it.  My set was perfect and I held it for 12.84 seconds.  I was very happy with this, especially after all of the other events.

 

I won my weight class and got 4th overall.

 

Clay Edgin 471.5 points

Arto Joronen 470

Odd Haugen 441

Me                 440.5

John Machnik 415

 

These guys are so strong.  Highlights included Clay with a 23 second hold of the #4 SB, Odd with a 241kg Napalm's Nightmare pull, Arto with a dominant performance literally right off of an airplane, and John hitting several PRs including after the contest lifting the Inch, a Blob transfer, and pinching and passing two 45# plates 360 degrees.

 

As for me, I was very happy with my performance. I trained very hard and got good results.  I'm looking forward to my next contest at the ViseGrip Viking Challenge in Philadelphia at the end of April.  I hope to meet several of you there!!





 

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30 minutes ago, riccardomagni said:

California's Strongest Hands 2018 @

Santa Cruz Strength

 

This was a fantastic contest, but where do I begin?

 

Let's start with my training.  It went very well, in part fueled by my desire to try to catch up to the very top guys in the sport.  I was able to maintain my weight loss and increase my strength.

 

Fast forward to the day before the contest: I drove 5 hours to SFO airport to pick up my new roommate for two days, Arto Joronen.  We then drove an hour and a half to the hotel, stopped by Santa Cruz Strength and eventually met Odd Haugen and Bill Weiss for dinner.  

 

Saturday morning arrived and Clay Edgin had transformed the gym into a beautiful setting for a contest.  There was a huge Armlifting USA banner set as a backdrop for the events along with a table set up with tshirts as well as prizes and giveaways.  Very visually appealing.  Clay is a veteran promoter and it really showed throughout the event.  40 people were competing.  Probably the second biggest contest in the USA ever outside of last year's SJ4.

 

All events were last man standing with unlimited attempts.  My goals were to set PRs in each event and finish in the top 5 overall.  The scoring was using the percentage based system which encourages athletes to really try their best.

 

Weigh in weight: 99.2kg (218.7#)

 

First event: Rolling Thunder

I did 80kg, 85kg, and 90kg. This equalled my PR at this bodyweight.  I missed 92.5kg.  This was a solid start as 90kg felt easier than it did in LA 2 months prior.

 

Second event: Ironmind Hub

My hub has not felt super in training.  Normally one of my best events, it has been down a bit.  I made 20kg, 25kg, 27.5kg, 30kg, and a new PR of 32.5kg.  I missed 35kg.  The 32.5kg (71.6#) was easy.  I was very happy with this result.

 

Third event: Napalm's Nightmare

I felt like I overtrained this event prior to Los Angeles.  I still did OK, making 181kg, 191kg, and missing 201kg.  Need more work on the top end here.  My PR in training is 195kg, so I was close, but not quite there…

 

Fourth event: Little Big Horn

I have never done this in a contest and never trained for it before.  My PR in training before this cycle was 71.55kg.  I hit 70kg, 75kg, 77.5kg, and 80kg.  I missed 82.5kg.  VERY good results here.

 

Fifth event: Silver Bullet

I have done the #4 in training several times, but I am inconsistent with it.  I have never done the #3.5 in a contest, so this was a good time to get an official contest PR with it.  My set was perfect and I held it for 12.84 seconds.  I was very happy with this, especially after all of the other events.

 

I won my weight class and got 4th overall.

 

Clay Edgin 471.5 points

Arto Joronen 470

Odd Haugen 441

Me                 440.5

John Machnik 415

 

These guys are so strong.  Highlights included Clay with a 23 second hold of the #4 SB, Odd with a 241kg Napalm's Nightmare pull, Arto with a dominant performance literally right off of an airplane, and John hitting several PRs including after the contest lifting the Inch, a Blob transfer, and pinching and passing two 45# plates 360 degrees.

 

As for me, I was very happy with my performance. I trained very hard and got good results.  I'm looking forward to my next contest at the ViseGrip Viking Challenge in Philadelphia at the end of April.  I hope to meet several of you there!!





 

Great job Riccardo! Sounded like it was a big happening! Would have loved to have been there! Can’t wait to meet you at the Philly expo God willing and if the creek don’t rise! Congrats on winning your class and maintaining/exceeding strength levels with weight loss! Very hard to do! 

Joe Sullivan

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1 hour ago, riccardomagni said:

Let's start with my training.  It went very well, in part fueled by my desire to try to catch up to the very top guys in the sport.  I was able to maintain my weight loss and increase my strength.

I really enjoyed the live stream. You have leaned out a ton...somehow I just noticed this during the competition stream. Great work! 

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3 hours ago, Joseph Sullivan said:

Great job Riccardo! Sounded like it was a big happening! Would have loved to have been there! Can’t wait to meet you at the Philly expo God willing and if the creek don’t rise! Congrats on winning your class and maintaining/exceeding strength levels with weight loss! Very hard to do! 

Joe Sullivan

Thanks, Joe.  Looking forward to Philly as well.

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2 hours ago, Boulderbrew said:

I really enjoyed the live stream. You have leaned out a ton...somehow I just noticed this during the competition stream. Great work! 

Thanks, Tanner.  Yes, I have been working on my diet and cardio quite a lot...

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Damn...what a group at the top!  That's got to be some serious motivation.  Congrats on your strong numbers and PRs!  Sweet write up.  Thanks for taking the time to share it on the GB.

Hmmm. I'm 20 min from Philly.  Its a good bet I'll be saying hello. :)

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6 hours ago, anwnate said:

Damn...what a group at the top!  That's got to be some serious motivation.  Congrats on your strong numbers and PRs!  Sweet write up.  Thanks for taking the time to share it on the GB.

Hmmm. I'm 20 min from Philly.  Its a good bet I'll be saying hello. :)

It was a very high level contest.  Thanks for reading my write up.

Fantastic!!  It will be nice to meet you.

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4 hours ago, Hubgeezer said:

Am I missing something on Clay's Bullet Hold? Is that not a World Record, or was it a "used" Number 4?

Used gripper.

It was ridiculously impressive.

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