Closing capitan of crush no 4 RGC 201 lb .at 139 lb of bodyweight.

[C8Myotome]

22 minutes ago, Fist of Fury said:

That's true, I've ordered some guitars from Italy several times and it takes forever, don't know what's up with their postal service to be honest.

I don't care how long time it takes, it can take months or years. Doesn't matter in my opinion.

I have ordered Ducati motorcycle parts directly from the factory in Italy years ago and it took MONTHS to receive them. From what I learned at the time, I believe most if not all people take a full vacation from working over summer, and I'm not sure if their summer lines up with how it does in the USA or not. But I did spend an entire summer with a broken Ducati because of how long it took for them to come back from vacation. This was like 10+ years ago.

[Blacksmith513]

20 minutes ago, C8Myotome said:

I have ordered Ducati motorcycle parts directly from the factory in Italy years ago and it took MONTHS to receive them. From what I learned at the time, I believe most if not all people take a full vacation from working over summer, and I'm not sure if their summer lines up with how it does in the USA or not. But I did spend an entire summer with a broken Ducati because of how long it took for them to come back from vacation. This was like 10+ years ago.

Its different in Europe. I dated a girl who works for a company based in Germany...  Her boss was shocked that people only take a week off.

She has unlimited vacation time. I literally don't understand how that works.  I respect the more laidback approach but as a business owner... Stuff needs to get done, regardless if your tired or not.. Earth keeps spinning.  

Thats all i got to say...

[Hubgeezer]

1 hour ago, PHATMUSCLE COACHING said:

Hi Mike.

British Grip Championships 2007. Say hello to the lovely wife from me, too. 

Well Gentlemen and Ladies, this all I needed as proof that Phatmuscle Coaching is the Real Deal. Very few people would know this. It was the only time in my life that I visited the UK…

And my Wife IS lovely.

[C8Myotome]

16 minutes ago, Hubgeezer said:

Well Gentlemen and Ladies, this all I needed as proof that Phatmuscle Coaching is the Real Deal. Very few people would know this. It was the only time in my life that I visited the UK…

And my Wife IS lovely.

I don't have any doubts on Sam being a legit coach or not. However I don't believe him and Tiziano have ever met in person as they live in different countries, so he would have never seen Tiz grip in person either. But like everyone's said all this stuff will or won't be verified by future certs & the rate & return 4 & so on, so all we can do is wait.

[C8Myotome]

On 11/16/2022 at 5:12 AM, Tiziano Becchio said:

 

 

 

In the mean time could we get an answer as to why the spring leg of the 4 is taped in this picture? Surely it is not there for no reason..? What's the reason?

[Cannon]

37 minutes ago, C8Myotome said:

In the mean time could we get an answer as to why the spring leg of the 4 is taped in this picture? Surely it is not there for no reason..? What's the reason?

Not to speak for him, but I see this kind of thing a lot with Rate and Return. It's a common way people use to identify "their" grippers because remember the 201 is borrowed and does not belong to Tiziano. People commonly use tape, zip ties, etc. I've also seen wire, string, and even nail polish. Also I commonly see people have marked just one handle because they plan on positioning the gripper a certain way and it's a quick visual identifier. Maybe there is a different reason Tiziano can clarify, but it's a pretty common practice all the same. I was not personally curious about that tape it's so common.  

[Chez]

On 11/18/2022 at 9:07 AM, Vinnie said:

@ChezChez, you are a number 4 closer, what do you think?  Am I being too skeptical?

I am skeptical as well vin. The timeline is insane and he came out of no where so I am curious if it can be proven 

[Alawadhi]

10 hours ago, Tiziano Becchio said:

hello guys, I haven't read everything, but I think we have reached a limit, we doubt the cannon evaluations.

people should be sent to his house as he closes on the 4th not even the inquisitions but what are we in 1600?

for what for a girpper no i really can't do it what binladen? What if someone comes to my house from afar and you find out I haven't closed it, have you saved the world? maybe done 10000 km but finally say, see Tiziano doesn't close it

or if he closes it in place we can go back to living, but do you only have this stuff in your head?

sincerely with all respect because I have it, after this stuff I think it makes no sense to prove anything to you, the people scattered around the world who certified me know what I'm worth. to the few of you that I am interested in changing your mind, I will contact you.

to all the others, on the other hand, I advise to do things with just cause but not to make a disease out of it.

and I was polite because honestly your attitude hurt me a lot.

Ok. déjà vu...

[jchapman]

 @Cannonhas made some very good points and seems to have this under control.  Personally, I would like to see an MM3 cert to know that someone is very, very strong on grippers, but as Matt points out that will take time.  I think what they are setting up is a very good compromise.

[climber511]

I joined the GB I think in 2003 – I was in my mid fifties at the time.  Back then the “standard” feats of strength were MUCH smaller – closing a #3 was a seriously big deal.  I remember posting what I was able to do – and to be kind – the board showed a lot of doubt (a lot).  “No one your age can do all that stuff” - (remember the things I was saying were nothing compared to this but still “for the time” not so bad.)  It wasn’t exactly a sh.. show like this but I was called out more than once.  Fortunately for me Doc and Nick were two GB regulars and I was able to get with them and do things in front of them.  I also signed up for and went to one of Jedd’s early contests (won the Diesel Award there).  After that I didn’t hear anymore doubters.   So I know how Tiziano feels and what he’s going through.  But I’ve also lived through quite a few bogus claims over the years that turned out to be fake.  If World Class or even pretty darn good claims are not scrutinized very very closely – then nothing any of us do can mean anything.  I think asking for positive proof is no more than fair.  Sam (I think his coach is Sam?) knows all this - I believe he went thru this on the board way back in the day – and he had to provide “proof” – and now while he came across a little over the top in this thread – he is very strong – and proven.  So I will take a wait and see attitude on this – but over the years my level of proof has become competition results in front of respected people who we all know from either the GB or other well recognized strength athletes.  I know it’s inconvenient but the level of proof needs to match the level of the claim being made.   Just my two cents.

 

[Hubgeezer]

7 hours ago, PHATMUSCLE COACHING said:

Hi Mike.

British Grip Championships 2007. Say hello to the lovely wife from me, too. 

I had no idea until this morning that my wife follows you on Instagram. 
 

Wife: “Oh, Phatmuscle Coaching? That’s  Sam! I follow him on Instagram.”

The things you learn from The Gripboard…

[bruce1337]

Redacted

Edited November 22, 2022 by bruce1337

[Florian Kellersmann]

On 11/21/2022 at 2:24 PM, PHATMUSCLE COACHING said:

The old timers on this board know who I am , I am basically the UK version of Jedd for grip coaching

 

Would my word be good enough if I send Tiziano a gripper I can't close (I a able to do around a 3.5 right now), and he opened it and slams it on video. 

Hi Sam, how is it going buddy?

It would be cool if you could help out to prove the strength of you client. You have the credibility in my book. 

I also think that feat is so impressive (since this skinny guy is much stronger than his coach and my long time grip buddy Sam  ), that it has to be proved without any doubt. 

Keep up the good work! 

 

[Paul Savage]

On 11/18/2022 at 12:09 AM, slazbob said:

No offense, but a grip coach is only for beginner’s who are not aware of the internet or simply cannot put together a workout plan on their own. Besides that, grip isn’t really going much further than we have seen/been. This is it….you either do all the major feats or you never get there. No major new ideas, no major new stars. 
but, if you indeed helped him with this ….you must have something different we have never seen before. Genetic freaks, or heavily sauced close no.4’s - he is neither, agree?

Sam will no doubt properly correct you on this but this is really far off reality bud.

[slazbob]

14 hours ago, Paul Savage said:

Sam will no doubt properly correct you on this but this is really far off reality bud.

Well, you’re a coach so I don’t blame you for this. 

[AdamTGlass]

2 hours ago, slazbob said:

Well, you’re a coach so I don’t blame you for this. 

Slazblob when you say “no major new stars” how are you defining this? Every week on instagram guys are loading lifts that 10 years ago would have received similar treatment to this post- the community is growing and especially since Covid - the expansion of Brian Shaw / Larry W/ Juji / D Larrat on YouTube Grip has had many really great lifters come in. On the last few years we have seen the bar rise - feats considered world class by the old heads would be a good starting point now - lift the 173 inch - lift a 50 blob close a 3 etc. I’m wondering if you are judging From activity here on the board or do you have a different thing you are looking at? I would encourage you to look over the King Kong results and the Armlifting super series results from the recent quarter and ask yourself if that particular statement reflects what’s happening in grip. If you haven’t looked in to it, it’s worth the time bro 

[AdamTGlass]

And to @Tiziano Becchiowell done. Sam told me about you a few months back and truly your crushing strength is absolutely remarkable. 

[C8Myotome]

Speaking of "new stars" there was a 17 year old on /r/griptraining yesterday that posted himself closing a 3.5 for a double. He's from Brazil. I told him to come check this site out.

With grip becoming more popular due to social media/competitions and use of the internet in general, people like this are going to continue seemingly pop out of nowhere...but still, every at-home training video should just be taken with a grain of salt, because anyone with some effort could take the handles off a 4 and put it on a trainer, just saying that it's possible, and that to control for that a training video should just be considered a training video.

You could say the same thing about my training videos and I would take no offense or feel owed that people believe my word. I train alone and have never closed a heavy gripper in front of another human before other than just a 3 for that reason. That's why a training video is just a training video...trying to set a record at home without any regulations in place means that's as serious as it can be taken, which is just keeping things fair for everybody.

I still think there is a chance that Tiziano could be legit, he was asking me how much he would have to file a gripper to make it 200 so there is evidence the ratings do matter, despite the oddness of the vegetarian thing which is what made me the most skeptical, but just to be fair to everyone that measures stated above are being taken so that people have reason to believe it, and aren't getting duped via blind faith. I will be *that much more* amazed if it is actually true, but it is important to be skeptical just so that when these things actually do end up being real, they are that more significant and can no longer be doubted. I know that I have upset him by speaking out about skeptical, I just want to preserve the integrity of strength feats before I automatically believe something cause someone told me to. In competitions there's calibrated plates, witnesses, etc etc...when it's someone alone at home with a video posted on the internet that nobody knows in person, I think it is perfectly reasonable to require real proof before confirming that what we are seeing is the real deal.

[slazbob]

57 minutes ago, AdamTGlass said:

Slazblob when you say “no major new stars” how are you defining this? Every week on instagram guys are loading lifts that 10 years ago would have received similar treatment to this post- the community is growing and especially since Covid - the expansion of Brian Shaw / Larry W/ Juji / D Larrat on YouTube Grip has had many really great lifters come in. On the last few years we have seen the bar rise - feats considered world class by the old heads would be a good starting point now - lift the 173 inch - lift a 50 blob close a 3 etc. I’m wondering if you are judging From activity here on the board or do you have a different thing you are looking at? I would encourage you to look over the King Kong results and the Armlifting super series results from the recent quarter and ask yourself if that particular statement reflects what’s happening in grip. If you haven’t looked in to it, it’s worth the time bro 

Adam- 

I’m definitely going by what I see here. What I meant was-thinking out loud…that there isn’t anyone I’ve seen that is smashing anything…we’re all kinda in the same pond, nothing sticks out. Carl, of course is a star by all standards and he’s in a different pond. I miss Juha too..lifting the inch with gloves on…always fun to watch his stuff. I can find tons of inch lifts, not very many millennium lifts- not many around of the dumbbells of course, but still a very top level to this day.
All great feats going on, don’t get me wrong…and yes, new lifters coming in and being at levels that were once considered world class as starting points is crazy to think about. But, a lot of them probably get noticed by someone who knows they are gifted, like Bader finding Khaled. He’s the kind of guy Iron Mind always joked about back in the day: “the mysterious flooring contractor who can close the no.3 without ever seeing one that people swear exist…but we have our doubts.”   And more people are getting closer to the no.4 ccs certification but look how long it’s been…the 3.5 is also a short list, but limits are pooling every athlete closer, not further from anyone else.

Burke, Senold, Ivan, Shaw, Cody, Laine, Juha, Andrew, Jedd, yourself, etc… all stars new and old, but all very capable and balanced with each other. Some stronger on different things than the other, but that’s where you look to go.
I was pointing out that coaching grip wasn’t making a difference in anything other than for beginners who wanted quick results and be upto speed on technical training. But you can only hold a gripper a few ways…you can only pinch a few ways and only grab a thick handle a couple ways…depending on how you like your thumb position. It has very few fundamentals. 
so, you can get that all here.

Just being cheap…if it’s helpful, do it…let the planning and cycling to them and just worry about the work. Maybe I can use one   

[Hubgeezer]

Slaz,

My son is, was, an Elite, Powerlifter. He had a coach when he was competing, and now that he doesn’t compete, he still takes it seriously and has a remote coach 2000 miles away who he pays, who he has never met.

Perhaps my son is smarter than both you AND me.

[PHATMUSCLE COACHING]

Regarding a coach, most of my income comes from people who want a better grip for their sport. 3 of the Giants Live regulars get grip programming for strongman specifically from me. The technical aspect here is adjusting volume etc to keep grip improving without taking away from their actual sport. This simply isn't guess work and this level, and this information can't really be found online as the program needs to be adjusted live.

 

I think it's important to remember that the biggest potential stars in "grip" do sports that pay. Even strongman pays these days. Looking at what Brian Shaw does, pretty much breaking every grip WR while barely focusing on it, is evidence that the bar is always being raised. Before Instagram etc a lot of strong dudes didn't even know about grip specific feats etc.

 

With my job, I get to work with many freaks. These guys weigh 300+ even 400+. Most can rep 2x45s plate pinch the moment I show them how to chalk plates. With people like this in grip, the bar is being raised all the time. I'd consider the inch,  2x45s and 30 reps on the #2 a minimum for an elite strongman in grip. A strongman of this level will likely still come bottom of the field in grip events. The standard if you see it from the inside,is insane I tell you. Insane. To keep up with it all and for "coach" to still be known for having a better grip than these guys takes daily training from me. And still,  I'm occasionally beaten by them when we meet up for fun sessions, Paul Smith wiped the floor with me on thumbless thick dumbbells. I make if my aim to match and then beat any grip feats Brian puts up, so far I've managed to do so with the exception of blobs. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by PHATMUSCLE COACHING
Spelling mistakes

[slazbob]

6 hours ago, Hubgeezer said:

Slaz,

My son is, was, an Elite, Powerlifter. He had a coach when he was competing, and now that he doesn’t compete, he still takes it seriously and has a remote coach 2000 miles away who he pays, who he has never met.

Perhaps my son is smarter than both you AND me.

Perhaps, Mike! 
Nothing against coaches- they are there to enforce fundamental aspects of their particular expertise. To inspire, motivate, and keep you on track. 
like golf- every tour player has one…too easy to ingrain a flaw with so many moving parts. 
a game where your instincts are wrong. But sometimes tinkering with a player’s swing can ruin them. 
grip has always been an instinct type of endeavor…you find out pretty quick when you’re in pain from too much volume, or you’re not making progress. But that also happens with a new training program and needs time to adapt to. 
in a world where there are Life Coaches, I guess I have to include grip as well.

 

[Blacksmith513]

4 hours ago, PHATMUSCLE COACHING said:

Regarding a coach, most of my income comes from people who want a better grip for their sport. 3 of the Giants Live regulars get grip programming for strongman specifically from me. The technical aspect here is adjusting volume etc to keep grip improving without taking away from their actual sport. This simply isn't guess work and this level, and this information can't really be found online as the program needs to be adjusted live.

 

I think it's important to remember that the biggest potential stars in "grip" do sports that pay. Even strongman pays these days. Looking at what Brian Shaw does, pretty much breaking every grip WR while barely focusing on it, is evidence that the bar is always being raised. Before Instagram etc a lot of strong dudes didn't even know about grip specific feats etc.

 

With my job, I get to work with many freaks. These guys weigh 300+ even 400+. Most can rep 2x45s plate pinch the moment I show them how to chalk plates. With people like this in grip, the bar is being raised all the time. I'd consider the inch,  2x45s and 30 reps on the #2 a minimum for an elite strongman in grip. A strongman of this level will likely still come bottom of the field in grip events. The standard if you see it from the inside,is insane I tell you. Insane. To keep up with it all and for "coach" to still be known for having a better grip than these guys takes daily training from me. And still,  I'm occasionally beaten by them when we meet up for fun sessions, Paul Smith wiped the floor with me on thumbless thick dumbbells. I make if my aim to match and then beat any grip feats Brian puts up, so far I've managed to do so with the exception of blobs. 

Then you have your work cut out with guys like me. 5ft9 or 10 and 175lbs..

Really, i've been a stubborn fool my whole, taught myself guitar, didn't pay attention in school, and always had the mindset anything I need to know I'll learn/teach myself..  Don't be ignorant.  There are people that know better, been there done that, screwed up 100000 times to get to where they are. 

Like I said, I've learned so much with a coach these past 4 months. Obviously I won't have one forever, but he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Its an investment, not only am I getting stronger but I've learned a lot.

Its great to have someone to talk to when I have questions, no matter how stupid they are i am not afraid to ask them.  Its not necessary but it will help if you have a coach if there is something you are passionate about. If you have mouths to feed and money is tight, might not be the best idea.. But if you can swing it, its well worth it.. Even for just a few months. 

Remember you are paying for what they know and thats thousands of hours in the gym, competing in contests and as a coach.

[climber511]

Learn from the mistakes of others - you can't live long enough to make them all yourself LOL

[Blacksmith513]

1 minute ago, climber511 said:

Learn from the mistakes of others - you can't live long enough to make them all yourself LOL

That’s one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard.