2018 July - Ontario Armlifting Open - Eric Roussin

[Eric Roussin]

On July 14th I hosted the Ontario Armlifting Open, which consisted of five events: the Rolling Thunder, the Silver Bullet, the Hub, the Blockbuster Pinch Block, and the Little Big Horn. I thought this mix of events would make for a decent contest, as various aspects of grip strength would be tested.

I knew hosting a grip contest in mid-summer could be a bit risky. Many people’s summer weekend schedules are quite full, and I’m no exception. When I noticed a couple of months ago that I didn’t have anything planned for July 14th, I sent out a few feelers to some of the competitors who regularly compete in my contests. A few said that the date wasn’t good for them, but just enough people said they’d be able to attend for me to be interested in organizing the contest. In the end, there were 12 competitors, spread out over the different weight classes. Not bad.

On the morning of the contest, Big Joe Sullivan was the first to arrive. The lone American competitor made excellent time and only had to wait about a minute at the border. Before long, other competitors began trickling in, and for the first time ever at one of my contests, everyone who had confirmed their attendance showed up on time and ready for action! Competitors included Keith Steffensen, Mathieu Charbonneau, Dan Fleming, and Matt Smith in the 80 kg class, me, Rick Blanchard, and first-time competitor Jean-Philippe Poitras in the 100 kg class, and Joe, Nick Carignan, Justin Major, and Jeff King in the 100+ kg class. Natasha Batt was the sole female competitor, in this, her second grip contest.

Before the contest got underway, I asked if anyone wanted to attempt the Crushed-to-Dust Challenge (which involves lifting 90 kg with the Rolling Thunder, 20 kg with the Hub, and closing a CoC #2 gripper using a credit card set). Interested athletes could attempt the challenge before or after the contest. Joe opted to make his attempt at the conclusion of the contest, but three guys wanted to try it before the contest: Jeff King, Rick Blanchard, and Justin Major. Among these three, Justin was the only one to successfully accomplish all three feats. The paperwork has been submitted to IronMind and everything should be declared official this week.

First up in the contest was the Rolling Thunder. Though this is one of my pet events, I didn’t feel like I had been able to peak for this particular contest. Since late April, I’ve competed in the Philadelphia Vise Grip Viking Armlifting contest, the Ontario Provincial Armwrestling Championships, the North American Grip Sport Championships, and the Canadian National Armwrestling Championships just two weeks ago. Because I also try to lean out during the summer months, this whole combination made it impossible to come in at peak form for this particular contest. Though I felt rested, I didn’t feel as though I had been able to put in enough training. Nevertheless, I still managed to lift about 220 – which is good, but just a bit less than I can normally get up. Justin lifted 227 with ease. I then suggested he try to go for the Canadian record, which I set in 2015 with a contest lift of 242. He went for 243 and got some air, but couldn’t get it all the way up. It’s just a matter of time before he gets it. There were lots of good RT performances, with five competitors lifting 176 lbs or more. This was the first time Dan had lifted the RT (at least in a contest setting), and he managed a bodyweight lift with it!

Next up was the Silver Bullet. All IronMind grippers were available. Any successful hold with a particular gripper earned more points than a hold of any duration done with an easier gripper. Four competitors managed successful holds with the CoC #3.5. I was happy to have held the SB with the 3.5 for just shy of 10 seconds, which was a contest PR for me. Justin had the best showing, almost holding it for 15 seconds.

The third event was the Hub. A whopping 10 of the 12 competitors managed lifts of more than 20 kg (the requirement for the CTD Challenge). Dan got the top result, with a lift of more than 71 lbs. I nailed 58 lbs on my second attempt: it felt so nice that I decided to go for 66 lbs on my third attempt. For whatever reason, 66 lbs continues to elude me. I’ve had several successful lifts of around 64 or 65 in previous contests, but I think this was the third time I failed at 66. One day!

Many competitors seemed to be evenly matched on the Pinch Block. Only 2 kg separated the first and fifth place performances. The top five lifts were north of 77 lbs. Most of us liked to use a lot of chalk, but not Justin, who would wipe all of the chalk off for each of his attempts.

After the first four events, Justin was leading in the overall standings, with me in second, Dan in third, Nick in fourth, and Joe in fifth. The Little Big Horn was one of my better events, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to lift more than Justin to the point where I could make up the point difference resulting from the percentage-based scoring. Dan, Joe, and I knew that we had the ability to lift over 200 lbs, as we had all done in before (either in a contest or in training). I managed the top lift with just shy of 203 lbs, but this is only because Joe ran out of attempts. Though the results don’t show it, he was the strongest with the Little Big Horn yesterday. He also managed to climb a spot in the overall standings. It’s interesting to note, that of the twelve competitors, Joe is the only one to have four successful lifts in every event. To me this is an indication that his final result could have been even higher. I'm happy to say that I pushed Natasha to go for 100 lbs on her final attempt on the LBH. She easily lifted 83 lbs on her third attempt. I convinced her that she had nothing to lose in going for 100. She went for it and pulled it off! Only a handful of women have lifted more.

In the end, Dan won the 80 kg class, I won the 100 kg class, and Justin was tops in the 100+ kg class. I managed to just edge out Justin in the overall standings following the Little Big Horn. At just 21 years of age and seemingly unlimited potential for grip sport, I question how many more times I’ll be able to outperform him…

Big Joe got around to his attempt on the CTD Challenge after the regular contest wrapped up. The Hub and gripper were no problem, but at this point in the day, he was no longer able to get 90 kg all the way up with the Rolling Thunder. Note that he lifted 91.6 kg during the contest. He has the strength: he’ll just need to wait until next time. Maybe he’ll be able to do it when I host the Cross-Canada Grip Sport Challenge on September 8th. Everyone is welcome to attend!

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Eric Roussin said:

On July 14th I hosted the Ontario Armlifting Open, which consisted of five events: the Rolling Thunder, the Silver Bullet, the Hub, the Blockbuster Pinch Block, and the Little Big Horn. I thought this mix of events would make for a decent contest, as various aspects of grip strength would be tested.

I knew hosting a grip contest in mid-summer could be a bit risky. Many people’s summer weekend schedules are quite full, and I’m no exception. When I noticed a couple of months ago that I didn’t have anything planned for July 14th, I sent out a few feelers to some of the competitors who regularly compete in my contests. A few said that the date wasn’t good for them, but just enough people said they’d be able to attend for me to be interested in organizing the contest. In the end, there were 12 competitors, spread out over the different weight classes. Not bad.

On the morning of the contest, Big Joe Sullivan was the first to arrive. The lone American competitor made excellent time and only had to wait about a minute at the border. Before long, other competitors began trickling in, and for the first time ever at one of my contests, everyone who had confirmed their attendance showed up on time and ready for action! Competitors included Keith Steffensen, Mathieu Charbonneau, Dan Fleming, and Matt Smith in the 80 kg class, me, Rick Blanchard, and first-time competitor Jean-Philippe Poitras in the 100 kg class, and Joe, Nick Carignan, Justin Major, and Jeff King in the 100+ kg class. Natasha Batt was the sole female competitor, in this, her second grip contest.

Before the contest got underway, I asked if anyone wanted to attempt the Crushed-to-Dust Challenge (which involves lifting 90 kg with the Rolling Thunder, 20 kg with the Hub, and closing a CoC #2 gripper using a credit card set). Interested athletes could attempt the challenge before or after the contest. Joe opted to make his attempt at the conclusion of the contest, but three guys wanted to try it before the contest: Jeff King, Rick Blanchard, and Justin Major. Among these three, Justin was the only one to successfully accomplish all three feats. The paperwork has been submitted to IronMind and everything should be declared official this week.

First up in the contest was the Rolling Thunder. Though this is one of my pet events, I didn’t feel like I had been able to peak for this particular contest. Since late April, I’ve competed in the Philadelphia Vise Grip Viking Armlifting contest, the Ontario Provincial Armwrestling Championships, the North American Grip Sport Championships, and the Canadian National Armwrestling Championships just two weeks ago. Because I also try to lean out during the summer months, this whole combination made it impossible to come in at peak form for this particular contest. Though I felt rested, I didn’t feel as though I had been able to put in enough training. Nevertheless, I still managed to lift about 220 – which is good, but just a bit less than I can normally get up. Justin lifted 227 with ease. I then suggested he try to go for the Canadian record, which I set in 2015 with a contest lift of 242. He went for 243 and got some air, but couldn’t get it all the way up. It’s just a matter of time before he gets it. There were lots of good RT performances, with five competitors lifting 176 lbs or more. This was the first time Dan had lifted the RT (at least in a contest setting), and he managed a bodyweight lift with it!

Next up was the Silver Bullet. All IronMind grippers were available. Any successful hold with a particular gripper earned more points than a hold of any duration done with an easier gripper. Four competitors managed successful holds with the CoC #3.5. I was happy to have held the SB with the 3.5 for just shy of 10 seconds, which was a contest PR for me. Justin had the best showing, almost holding it for 15 seconds.

The third event was the Hub. A whopping 10 of the 12 competitors managed lifts of more than 20 kg (the requirement for the CTD Challenge). Dan got the top result, with a lift of more than 71 lbs. I nailed 58 lbs on my second attempt: it felt so nice that I decided to go for 66 lbs on my third attempt. For whatever reason, 66 lbs continues to elude me. I’ve had several successful lifts of around 64 or 65 in previous contests, but I think this was the third time I failed at 66. One day!

Many competitors seemed to be evenly matched on the Pinch Block. Only 2 kg separated the first and fifth place performances. The top five lifts were north of 77 lbs. Most of us liked to use a lot of chalk, but not Justin, who would wipe all of the chalk off for each of his attempts.

After the first four events, Justin was leading in the overall standings, with me in second, Dan in third, Nick in fourth, and Joe in fifth. The Little Big Horn was one of my better events, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to lift more than Justin to the point where I could make up the point difference resulting from the percentage-based scoring. Dan, Joe, and I knew that we had the ability to lift over 200 lbs, as we had all done in before (either in a contest or in training). I managed the top lift with just shy of 203 lbs, but this is only because Joe ran out of attempts. Though the results don’t show it, he was the strongest with the Little Big Horn yesterday. He also managed to climb a spot in the overall standings. It’s interesting to note, that of the twelve competitors, Joe is the only one to have four successful lifts in every event. To me this is an indication that his final result could have been even higher. I'm happy to say that I pushed Natasha to go for 100 lbs on her final attempt on the LBH. She easily lifted 83 lbs on her third attempt. I convinced her that she had nothing to lose in going for 100. She went for it and pulled it off! Only a handful of women have lifted more.

In the end, Dan won the 80 kg class, I won the 100 kg class, and Justin was tops in the 100+ kg class. I managed to just edge out Justin in the overall standings following the Little Big Horn. At just 21 years of age and seemingly unlimited potential for grip sport, I question how many more times I’ll be able to outperform him…

Big Joe got around to his attempt on the CTD Challenge after the regular contest wrapped up. The Hub and gripper were no problem, but at this point in the day, he was no longer able to get 90 kg all the way up with the Rolling Thunder. Note that he lifted 91.6 kg during the contest. He has the strength: he’ll just need to wait until next time. Maybe he’ll be able to do it when I host the Cross-Canada Grip Sport Challenge on September 8th. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Awesome write up Eric! I had such a good time! And thank you for the kind words! As always, you are  a class act! See you in September! Congratulations on your win brother!!!  Also , beautiful trophy! I think the incentive to win a medal or a trophy for the top 3 and overall  would attract more to grip. It’s a nice commemoration and a sentimental piece of your achievement one can look back on and say.... “yea , I did that”! 

Joe

Edited July 16, 2018 by Guest

[riccardomagni]

On 7/15/2018 at 7:54 PM, Eric Roussin said:

On July 14th I hosted the Ontario Armlifting Open, which consisted of five events: the Rolling Thunder, the Silver Bullet, the Hub, the Blockbuster Pinch Block, and the Little Big Horn. I thought this mix of events would make for a decent contest, as various aspects of grip strength would be tested.

I knew hosting a grip contest in mid-summer could be a bit risky. Many people’s summer weekend schedules are quite full, and I’m no exception. When I noticed a couple of months ago that I didn’t have anything planned for July 14th, I sent out a few feelers to some of the competitors who regularly compete in my contests. A few said that the date wasn’t good for them, but just enough people said they’d be able to attend for me to be interested in organizing the contest. In the end, there were 12 competitors, spread out over the different weight classes. Not bad.

On the morning of the contest, Big Joe Sullivan was the first to arrive. The lone American competitor made excellent time and only had to wait about a minute at the border. Before long, other competitors began trickling in, and for the first time ever at one of my contests, everyone who had confirmed their attendance showed up on time and ready for action! Competitors included Keith Steffensen, Mathieu Charbonneau, Dan Fleming, and Matt Smith in the 80 kg class, me, Rick Blanchard, and first-time competitor Jean-Philippe Poitras in the 100 kg class, and Joe, Nick Carignan, Justin Major, and Jeff King in the 100+ kg class. Natasha Batt was the sole female competitor, in this, her second grip contest.

Before the contest got underway, I asked if anyone wanted to attempt the Crushed-to-Dust Challenge (which involves lifting 90 kg with the Rolling Thunder, 20 kg with the Hub, and closing a CoC #2 gripper using a credit card set). Interested athletes could attempt the challenge before or after the contest. Joe opted to make his attempt at the conclusion of the contest, but three guys wanted to try it before the contest: Jeff King, Rick Blanchard, and Justin Major. Among these three, Justin was the only one to successfully accomplish all three feats. The paperwork has been submitted to IronMind and everything should be declared official this week.

First up in the contest was the Rolling Thunder. Though this is one of my pet events, I didn’t feel like I had been able to peak for this particular contest. Since late April, I’ve competed in the Philadelphia Vise Grip Viking Armlifting contest, the Ontario Provincial Armwrestling Championships, the North American Grip Sport Championships, and the Canadian National Armwrestling Championships just two weeks ago. Because I also try to lean out during the summer months, this whole combination made it impossible to come in at peak form for this particular contest. Though I felt rested, I didn’t feel as though I had been able to put in enough training. Nevertheless, I still managed to lift about 220 – which is good, but just a bit less than I can normally get up. Justin lifted 227 with ease. I then suggested he try to go for the Canadian record, which I set in 2015 with a contest lift of 242. He went for 243 and got some air, but couldn’t get it all the way up. It’s just a matter of time before he gets it. There were lots of good RT performances, with five competitors lifting 176 lbs or more. This was the first time Dan had lifted the RT (at least in a contest setting), and he managed a bodyweight lift with it!

Next up was the Silver Bullet. All IronMind grippers were available. Any successful hold with a particular gripper earned more points than a hold of any duration done with an easier gripper. Four competitors managed successful holds with the CoC #3.5. I was happy to have held the SB with the 3.5 for just shy of 10 seconds, which was a contest PR for me. Justin had the best showing, almost holding it for 15 seconds.

The third event was the Hub. A whopping 10 of the 12 competitors managed lifts of more than 20 kg (the requirement for the CTD Challenge). Dan got the top result, with a lift of more than 71 lbs. I nailed 58 lbs on my second attempt: it felt so nice that I decided to go for 66 lbs on my third attempt. For whatever reason, 66 lbs continues to elude me. I’ve had several successful lifts of around 64 or 65 in previous contests, but I think this was the third time I failed at 66. One day!

Many competitors seemed to be evenly matched on the Pinch Block. Only 2 kg separated the first and fifth place performances. The top five lifts were north of 77 lbs. Most of us liked to use a lot of chalk, but not Justin, who would wipe all of the chalk off for each of his attempts.

After the first four events, Justin was leading in the overall standings, with me in second, Dan in third, Nick in fourth, and Joe in fifth. The Little Big Horn was one of my better events, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to lift more than Justin to the point where I could make up the point difference resulting from the percentage-based scoring. Dan, Joe, and I knew that we had the ability to lift over 200 lbs, as we had all done in before (either in a contest or in training). I managed the top lift with just shy of 203 lbs, but this is only because Joe ran out of attempts. Though the results don’t show it, he was the strongest with the Little Big Horn yesterday. He also managed to climb a spot in the overall standings. It’s interesting to note, that of the twelve competitors, Joe is the only one to have four successful lifts in every event. To me this is an indication that his final result could have been even higher. I'm happy to say that I pushed Natasha to go for 100 lbs on her final attempt on the LBH. She easily lifted 83 lbs on her third attempt. I convinced her that she had nothing to lose in going for 100. She went for it and pulled it off! Only a handful of women have lifted more.

In the end, Dan won the 80 kg class, I won the 100 kg class, and Justin was tops in the 100+ kg class. I managed to just edge out Justin in the overall standings following the Little Big Horn. At just 21 years of age and seemingly unlimited potential for grip sport, I question how many more times I’ll be able to outperform him…

Big Joe got around to his attempt on the CTD Challenge after the regular contest wrapped up. The Hub and gripper were no problem, but at this point in the day, he was no longer able to get 90 kg all the way up with the Rolling Thunder. Note that he lifted 91.6 kg during the contest. He has the strength: he’ll just need to wait until next time. Maybe he’ll be able to do it when I host the Cross-Canada Grip Sport Challenge on September 8th. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Eric, 

Thanks for hosting the first Armlifting USA contest not in the USA!!

Great performance, especially at a reduced bodyweight. 

Every single person got on the Leaderboards at least once.  Such a high level contest!  Great job!!