Rolling Hills Grip Challenge - Vin's Report

[Vinnie]

Today I attended the Rolling Hills Grip Challenge in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a competition sanctioned by both grip sports and arm lifting.  That might even be what made me think to attend - it most certainly wasn't because they were doing the IM Hub.  I always hated the Hub.  The last time I did it was 2018, when I pulled 48 pounds.  Since then I've hubbed a few 45s because grip folk do that, but basically, I've been perfectly happy with no hub in my life for almost 5 years.  I made sure to cut to 176 pounds from my usual 180, so I could be 80kg for arm lifting as well as 83kg for grip sports.

So I left Ronkonkoma, Long Island Friday morning and picked Tim Butler up in New Jersey, we drove to LaGuardia, and we flew to Denver.  From there we rented a car and drove to Fort Collins, Colorado, which was about 40 miles from the comp.  Neither of us really trained for this comp, and we didn't expect much.  I was also a little worried, because someone told me that people with health issues (and even without) can have trouble acclimating to the altitude because of lower air pressure and oxygen.  I had heart failure and related issues less than two years ago, and was not sure how the air out here would affect me.

Not much!  At least the first two days have been fine, and I felt fine at the comp.  Two of my college classmates came to cheer me on (I didn't know either of them in college 35 years ago, but we've become friends recently in our alumni Facebook group).  They stayed almost 4 hours and said they may actually consider competing in a comp sometime.

Hats off to Above The Rest Training Systems, which had never held a grip contest before - with Steve Millard's guidance, they really pulled it off nicely.  19 competitors!  That was a big grip event.  Besides the four women, I was the lightest of all the men at 176 -- the next lightest was 205, and only four guys were in the combined under-100-kg weight class.  11 were over 100kg!  The format was last man standing with the rising bar, so competitors could take more than 4 attempts, but it still proceeded at a fair pace and ended well before dinnertime.

The events:

Saxon Bar.  My PR in competition is 189.  I may have lifted in the 190s somewhere, but I know I never hit 200.  This time, I got 170 solid, but could not lock out 180.  Not off to a great start, but I figured, I wasn't training, and I almost got 180, so it is not the end of the world.

Rolling Thunder: My PR in competition is 177.  I got 160 solid but 170, after the down call, I just missed -- I actually got to lockout and the judge said "down," but it was on its way down a millisecond before he said down and he and a second judge (I think correctly) ruled it no lift.  First two events, nothing special for me.  But fine for no training!

Hub.  Aye, there's the hub!  My PR in competition was 48 pounds.  That and a 200 RT lift will get you crushed to dust, but not much else.  I recalled that I had gotten 48 on my last attempt those years ago and had wanted to go higher, so I started at 50.  But 50 went up so easily!  And so did the next few lifts.  What the f?  69, 71, 74.something?!??!  Moi?  Like, most of the other lifters were already out.  I made a last attempt at 76ish and failed that, and my 74.whatever left me tied for second behind Jaland (who won the whole competition).  Because Steve Millard called out that the last few lifters were in top 25 all time hub lift territory, I checked the stats: as far as I can see, my 33.7 kg/74.x pound lift is 1st place for under 90kg in arm lifting and 2nd place for under 83kg in grip sports.  So, um, maybe I don't hate the hub.

Half Penny.  I actually texted Jerome Bloom about this one to ask if he had any pointers, and he didn't really, but he said good luck.  I decided that I wanted to get 30 pounds.  I made 30.2 easily and failed 31.5 as if it was glued to the ground.  Wow.  No one got close to 40.

Wrist Roll.  Everyone had to use the wrist roller to drag a sled with 400 pounds on it about 10 or 12 feet.  I'm awful at those.  I sometimes can't even finish them.  I got the worst time of all the male competitors: 58 seconds.  But that may be the first time I actually finished such an event, so that I could be rated for the time rather than being rated for the less-than-full distance.  And, thin air at altitude lol.

There were only two weight classes for men:  Big (under 220) and bigger (over 220).  So at 176, I was the smallest (the other three in my weight class were all over 200) and I did, indeed, come in last in the under 220 weight class.  Last to Steve Millard and Tim Butler and some young strong dude who just edged me out because he trounced me on the wrist event I barely finished.  No shame there, since the three of them were really strong, and they and I actually beat a bunch of the larger guys.  And I ended my longstanding animosity to the hub.  Very glad I attended.

It was great to meet everyone, and I hope to hit another comp soon in a city near you.

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Vinnie

[Eric Roussin]

Great write-up. Question: Was the hub contested freestyle or with IronMind rules? My results on this device vary significantly based on the rules.

[Vinnie]

25 minutes ago, Eric Roussin said:

Was the hub contested freestyle or with IronMind rules?

Neither.  Not freestyle, so the grip had to be IronMind (all fingertips touching - although you could still bend the thumb and rotate a little, but no doorknob).  It was to lockout, not to crossbar, so that would be IronMind.  And we had only 30 seconds to do the lift, not 60, but 30 is within 60 so that is good for IronMind also.  But the hub was chalky and was not wiped clean before each lift.  We weren't allowed (as far as I knew) to ADD chalk before our lifts, but there was some already on it that gradually came off as the lifts proceeded and was not supplemented to my knowledge.  It was Steve Millard's hub, which is the same one Michael Rogowski used for his world record in 83kg (but I don't know what their rules were).

[dubyagrip]

It was fun competing and hanging out with you and Tim.  Thanks for letting me try your grippers.  Safe travels, and I hope you come back sometime for one of Steve's events in Carbondale.

Edited March 26, 2023 by dubyagrip

[Stephen Ruby]

Nice write up congratulations to all who participated. Really nice job on the hub, sometimes the conditions are just nice for whatever reason but well done taking advantage of it and hitting a huge pr! 

[JasonD]

Good write up Vin! You deserve a medal for chaperoning Tim on this trip. 

[Hubgeezer]

On 3/26/2023 at 7:49 AM, Vinnie said:

  But the hub was chalky and was not wiped clean before each lift.  We weren't allowed (as far as I knew) to ADD chalk before our lifts, but there was some already on it that gradually came off as the lifts proceeded and was not supplemented to my knowledge.  

Hub, seasoning, etc.: June 30, 2013 at the Convention Center in San Jose/Santa Clara California, the Hub, like the previous year, was virtually "unseasoned". I know Mike Burke did not have a lot of experience on it, as was the case with Alexey, as they both pulled 64 lbs,, to my 69. It seemed like back then Dr. Strossen didn't seem to think that "seasoning" made a difference. It does. That is the only way that a 55% increase on your PR for the Hub with NO training can be explained. 

Vinnie, it was more Beamonesque than Bob Beamon's amazing leap in 1968. Imagine what you could have done with the Mexico City Altitude. 

[Vinnie]

2 hours ago, Hubgeezer said:

Hub, seasoning, etc.: June 30, 2013 at the Convention Center in San Jose/Santa Clara California, the Hub, like the previous year, was virtually "unseasoned". I know Mike Burke did not have a lot of experience on it, as was the case with Alexey, as they both pulled 64 lbs,, to my 69. It seemed like back then Dr. Strossen didn't seem to think that "seasoning" made a difference. It does. That is the only way that a 55% increase on your PR for the Hub with NO training can be explained. 

Vinnie, it was more Beamonesque than Bob Beamon's amazing leap in 1968. Imagine what you could have done with the Mexico City Altitude. 

Yeah, we all thought it was amazingly seasoned.  Although I do recall that when I got 48 in 2018, I actually got that easily on my fourth lift and did a couple of higher weights after that which of course didn’t count.  So really my PR (as opposed to comp PR) was probably 60 before.  Still, 74 is more than 20 per cent more with no training and yes, the seasoning probably explains a lot of it.  I also have learned the thumb bend variation that I didn’t use in 2018.