Larry Wheels lifts the Inch Dumbbell

[Bornintothe]

Larry Wheels is a pretty impressive dude by anyone’s reckoning, but this is up there. He’s training with Thor as he is planning to compete in Strongman. Towards the end of the session Thor breaks out the Inch. Larry picks it on the first try. Not even Thor got it on his first try. I’ve also seen him close the CoC #3 on his first try in another video. Closing in on a world class grip without really training it at all. Time stamp for the Inch lift is 37:30  

 

 

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, Bornintothe said:

Larry Wheels is a pretty impressive dude by anyone’s reckoning, but this is up there. He’s training with Thor as he is planning to compete in Strongman. Towards the end of the session Thor breaks out the Inch. Larry picks it on the first try. Not even Thor got it on his first try. I’ve also seen him close the CoC #3 on his first try in another video. Closing in on a world class grip without really training it at all. Time stamp for the Inch lift is 37:30  

 

 

He deadlifts over 900 pounds without straps, I believe . That alone is enough to have him close a number 3 and have a world class grip. The deadlift, especially without straps and with weight like that is absolutely training grip. Just not the specific implements we use. There are most likely dozens of guys out there that can do the same that are lifting these kinds of weights.

[Bornintothe]

17 minutes ago, Joseph Sullivan said:

He deadlifts over 900 pounds without straps, I believe . That alone is enough to have him close a number 3 and have a world class grip. The deadlift, especially without straps and with weight like that is absolutely training grip. Just not the specific implements we use. There are most likely dozens of guys out there that can do the same that are lifting these kinds of weights.

Fair enough! Did you mean to include lifting the Inch with those dozens of guys?

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Bornintothe said:

Fair enough! Did you mean to include lifting the Inch with those dozens of guys?

At that caliber of strength? Absolutely. They are out there man. Just haven’t had their hands on one.

[Alawadhi]

Anyone closing the #3 or lifting the Inch whether he trained before or not is mighty impressive. Thor's father is strong too. He lifted to big bell thumbless. But whats more impressive he got air under the inch. Wow. Anyone knows where that inch was purchased from? Also, Good to see Thor grip is strong now. Of course he won 4 major strongman comp this year. Arnold's, European Strongest man, World Strongest Man, and World Ultimate Strongman. That tells something. But Larry is really amazing. I think he will do really good in WSM this year. Any video on him closing the #3? I would love to see that.

Edit: Anyone knows the last bell size which no one lifted? Is it the Thor's 120+ KG bell?

Edited January 8, 2019 by Alawadhi

[Rick Walker]

John Wood spoke many years ago of members of a college basketball team (I believe it was college, possibly Michigan) casually lifting the inch dumbbell at practice one day. Just strolling up to it and hoisting it. It is safe to assume if they are playing D1 college basketball, most of them are in excess of 6'3" or taller with huge hands.

Look at Shaq's hand on a men's basketball. It looks like me holding a softball. When your thumb can overlap your fingers on a handle, there is a good chance grip will not be an issue.

I would love to see the statistics of NBA players versus the inch dumbbell or NFL linemen and tightends versus the inch. With no training, many of them would hoist it no sweat. Rob Vigeant Jr. lifted one at my grip contest in 2003 and had never touched one before then. He was nicknamed "Monkey Paws" or something similar for a reason after that contest. His hands are HUGE.

[Anemptybox]

1 hour ago, Alawadhi said:

Anyone knows the last bell size which no one lifted? Is it the Thor's 120+ KG bell?

Don't know the size of the handle but it seems to be 129 kg and Kirill Sarychev managed to lift it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bre7BVzBgVF/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet

[Alawadhi]

7 minutes ago, Anemptybox said:

Don't know the size of the handle but it seems to be 129 kg and Kirill Sarychev managed to lift it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bre7BVzBgVF/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet

Wow man just wow!

[Florian Kellersmann]

Wow, thats interesting! More Details About the DB please!

 

[Guest]

Yes, as Rich Walker states, hand size will make the inch Easier and not so much a grip feat if the hands can wrap around the handle. For someone with a huge hand they would need a larger diameter handle to match the difficulty for grip IMO.

[BigRedDoc]

2 hours ago, Alawadhi said:

 Any video on him closing the #3? I would love to see that.

This is the video. They start off with grippers, he closes the number 3 a little after 2 minutes in. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, BigRedDoc said:

This is the video. They start off with grippers, he closes the number 3 a little after 2 minutes in. 

I would have been surprised if he couldn’t close the number 3. I’d say a 700 pound deadlifter would most likely be able to, nevermind a 900+ pound lifter. He may even be able to close a 3.5 with that kind of strength pretty easy.

[Anthony C.]

 

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Tommy J. said:

Im in agreement that the NBA likely holds more unknown inch lifters than any other sport. Next in line i think would be the NFLers, the larger ones of course. Next, arm wrestling. Ive seen 5 different pullers lift it first try in person, on my inch, that just so happens to also be a super slick one.

Ken Blackman- also a former NFL’er

Gerome Loud

Casey Swift

Michael Bluth- his first lift was on Pauls inch, then he did it again on my slick one.

and Mark Neustch(spl)

and thats just the arm wrestlers who were curious enough to even try it..

oh and Allen Fisher got both bells up, then dropped it. But that was AFTER some super long hard fought matches at southern regionals that year. And hes well under 180.

 

I would say there are more people roaming the earth that can lift the inch first try than there are people who can walk up and close a #3. I for real believe that.. ive handed just as many people a #3 as i have offered people to try my inch. In person. And i have yet to see a first timer #3 close in person.

100% agree 

[BigRedDoc]

55 minutes ago, Joseph Sullivan said:

I would have been surprised if he couldn’t close the number 3. I’d say a 700 pound deadlifter would most likely be able to, nevermind a 900+ pound lifter. He may even be able to close a 3.5 with that kind of strength pretty easy.

I have read a lot that gripper strength will not carry over to deadlift strength as one is crushing grip and the other is support grip. Do you think there is a big carry over the other way between deadlift to grippers?

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, BigRedDoc said:

I have read a lot that gripper strength will not carry over to deadlift strength as one is crushing grip and the other is support grip. Do you think there is a big carry over the other way between deadlift to grippers?

I think deadlift with a regular Olympic diameter bar without straps carries over to grippers. 100%. I think doing grippers for the full range movement carries over to thick bar, somewhat, for me. Endurance. For the most part, grippers Carries over to Grip implements very little and too much gripper work will make you weaker on them in my own experience.

[Alawadhi]

2 hours ago, BigRedDoc said:

This is the video. They start off with grippers, he closes the number 3 a little after 2 minutes in. 

Just amazing thanks!

[Bornintothe]

2 hours ago, Tommy J. said:

I watched the whole vid. Impressive performance across the board by Larry. He looks a bit fumbly compared to Thor on some of the lifts.. but he will lock the technique down on the odd lifts in time. Also, im curious to see what Larry might pull on a deadlift under strongman rules where long straps and hitching are allowed. I think we might see Larry pull well over 1,000 with strongman rules.

also, not knocking the straps at all in strongman. It is my understanding that they are allowed because they encourage DO lifts so no nasty bicep tears happen in front of a large audience. Im also not apposed to the hitching. Its actually kind of fun to watch and makes it seem like we are almost watching what an oversized average talent normal guy might do on a deadlift. I dont know.. i think the lack of strict requirements are what more regular people want to see. Hints the veiws on WSM compared to top tier powerlifting meets. And to be honest, most watching couldnt tell the difference between a guy in a gym doing a no rules deadlift with a bunch of his buddies watching, and an official meet deadlift under strict rules anyways. 

I guess a better way for me to describe the appeal in the loose rules, is that strongman has more of a strength “roots” kind of homegrown feel. Example: “Just pick that up, and put that back down!” And then an “ooh aah” from the crowd. Obviously. The crap is heavy. And people can relate to the impossibleness of really big rocks. Or really big tree trunks being hoisted and pressed overhead. Or the weight of a car, etc.

As apposed to doctors exam kind of feel that PL meets have. Example:“okay now stand up with that. Okay now walk backwards. Okay now sit. Okay now stand up. Okay now walk forward. Okay now set that down slowly, no slamming! Good. You may go now.”

 

Anywho, i looked for the part where Thor failed at lifting the inch. Couldnt find it. Before Thor grabbed the inch, there appeared to be no chalk on the handle. And afterward there appeared to be an outlined thumb print of chalk on the handle from where he placed his thumb. Clearly Indicating no slipping. Did i miss or overlook the inch fail?..

I agree Tommy! I think more relaxed rules lends itself to more impressive weights and feats being done for the crowd. And the straps would cut down on biceps years theoretically, which is a big problem among the Strongman community. 

Thor doesn’t fail the Inch in this video. There is another vid on The YouTubez from a few years ago where Thor is attempting the Inch over and over and can’t seem to break it off the ground. I was referring to that one. I think it may have been at the Arnold a while back. 

 

Edit: Just saw someone else posted the vid of Thor. 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Bornintothe

[Rick Walker]

5 hours ago, Tommy J. said:

Im in agreement that the NBA likely holds more unknown inch lifters than any other sport. Next in line i think would be the NFLers, the larger ones of course. Next, arm wrestling. Ive seen 5 different pullers lift it first try in person, on my inch, that just so happens to also be a super slick one.

Ken Blackman- also a former NFL’er

Gerome Loud

Casey Swift

Michael Bluth- his first lift was on Pauls inch, then he did it again on my slick one.

and Mark Neustch(spl)

and thats just the arm wrestlers who were curious enough to even try it..

oh and Allen Fisher got both bells up, then dropped it. But that was AFTER some super long hard fought matches at southern regionals that year. And hes well under 180.

 

I would say there are more people roaming the earth that can lift the inch first try than there are people who can walk up and close a #3. I for real believe that.. ive handed just as many people a #3 as i have offered people to try my inch. In person. And i have yet to see a first timer #3 close in person.

This may be a form thing. Just grabbing a #3 and closing it is damn hard as there is technique that must be learned. Once setting the gripper is learned, the gains come fast and the #3 is typically shut by most who train for it. I managed a #2 for reps right out of the package with no idea how to really set a gripper and it took me less than a year to close the #3 at the Arnold Classic with Wade Gillingham as my witness. Of course, this was not under the new rules.

For those with big hands and strong wrists, lifting the inch is like lifting anything else. Walk up, grab it, lift it, set it down. No real technique needed to increase you chances at lifting it. It is like a pair of 200 pound dumbbells with regular handles. Strong dudes can grab them, hoist them up, and press away. Lesser men can't even break them off the ground.

[Anthony C.]

Since it's semi relevant, throwing this one in here too. This is former Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman almost no setting a 3 with crap technique and hand placement.

 

[Bornintothe]

1 hour ago, Anthony C. said:

Since it's semi relevant, throwing this one in here too. This is former Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman almost no setting a 3 with crap technique and hand placement.

 

I’ve seen this! 

[Bill Piche]

I am just waiting for Wheels to blow up a bodypart. Going waaaay too fast with way too many demos of strength for views on InstaGram and YouTube.  He won't stand the test of time by any means (my opinion). Consider this my prediction with a time stamp of 1/9/18

[Anthony C.]

1 hour ago, Tommy J. said:

Couple things of note here, this is not Ronnies first encounter with heavy tsg’s. He actually had an entire gripper line up at one time that another company (similar to heavy grips) used Ronnies name to push. And the funny part is, Ronnie actually trained with them. He was reportedly closing their 350 for reps, which was right on par with what an everage HG350 might be.

 

also, can anyone name who handed him the gripper? Hint: check the youtube channel.

Now that you mention it, I have heard of Ronnie Coleman grippers in the past. The man was ridiculously strong all around. Granted, he is paying for it with his body now, but he really was in a league of his own back in the day. And that is hilarious regarding PK, I had never noticed that!

9 minutes ago, Wannagrip said:

I am just waiting for Wheels to blow up a bodypart. Going waaaay too fast with way too many demos of strength for views on InstaGram and YouTube.  He won't stand the test of time by any means (my opinion). Consider this my prediction with a time stamp of 1/9/18

Agreed. He has also been open about his drug use and he is not taking it easy on his cycles, either.

[Fist of Fury]

31 minutes ago, Wannagrip said:

I am just waiting for Wheels to blow up a bodypart. Going waaaay too fast with way too many demos of strength for views on InstaGram and YouTube.  He won't stand the test of time by any means (my opinion). Consider this my prediction with a time stamp of 1/9/18

Well, if you're doing strongman at a high level it's almost a 100% guarantee you will tear something at some point. It doesn't matter who you are really.

[Bill Piche]

5 minutes ago, Fist of Fury said:

Well, if you're doing strongman at a high level it's almost a 100% guarantee you will tear something at some point. It doesn't matter who you are really.

I am not talking Strongman here.  That is just icing on the cake.  You must not have seen what Larry has been doing over the last year?