Tar Heel Competitor athlete interviews

[anson]

Feb 4 is fast approaching, it's time to get to know the Tar Heel Hands of Steel competitors! First up is Jonathan Creason, more to come soon!

AC:

So why a grip competition in North Carolina?

Why not? I just felt like it was time to bring exposure to it down this way.

AC:

What advice would you have for a beginner wanting to forge a grip capable of all kinds of crazy strength feats?

Learn the basics and master them, work hard, and keep making progress.

AC:

If John Brookfield and Matt Furey got into a fight, who would win?

Depends. At the waist or at chin level, what kind of wraps are being used?

AC:

What’s the most overlooked aspect of grip training that we all could benefit from?

Wrist strength and supporting strength.

AC:

You’ve competed in the Global Grip Challenge since its inception, what would you say to someone who’s considering entering a grip strength competition?

Work hard and be well rounded.

AC:

Why train grip? You can’t even see those tiny muscles in the mirror!

Oh yeah you can, chicks dig my freakish forearms! It’s all about completing the chain.

AC:

How important are hand dexterity drills such as shot rotation and bar twirling?

Very important, I just got to start doing them again.

AC:

Who’s the hottest vixen on the internet?

Dave Morton! Ever seen him in that dress?

AC:

How can we get more women interested in training grip?

I don’t know a good answer. It’s going to be kind of like getting past the myth of them getting buff and beefy from strength training. Those that are involved now will be the leaders, just like Sorin, Brookfield, Horne, and others were for us guys.

AC:

Other than grip, what kind of training do you do? Ever worked out till you puke?

It varies a lot. I continually try to get stronger while improving my conditioning. I try to incorporate methods from powerlifting, Olympic lifting, strongman, and Crossfit into my workouts.

AC:

If you were trapped on a jungle tundra and could only have one grip toy, what would it be?

A big ol’ axe. That way I could cut down a tree for a fire and sharpen one of the limbs into a spear. Then I would run naked intervals through the woods chasing wild hogs. During my rest periods I would lever the axe and do pull-ups on tree limbs. I would totally rock on Survivor!

[anson]

Time to hear from Scott George!

AC:

Scott, what does your current training program look like?

I am sporting some tendinitis in my right elbow, so right now only leg work. I am hoping to be back working hand strength by the end of the year.

AC:

You certed on the IM #3 with the credit card set rule and the Grip Board Mash Monster level 1 gripper in the same week, which was harder?

The CC cert was harder because of the time required to check width, also wider closer are tougher with 7.5” hands.

AC:

Dennis Rogers picks a fight with the entire crew of the Muppets, who wins?

Beaker finishes him off with a test tube over the head.

AC:

Any lessons learned from competing in the Global Grip Challenge?

There are a bunch of great guys out there helping each other out. Also the GGC was an overall learning experience, never competed before then.

AC:

What’s the most common mistake made by newcomers to grip training?

Over training, It’s why I am injured now, stupid rookie.

AC:

Tell us about your recent climbing trip with Chris Rice.

What a great experience! Chris is a machine when it comes to climbing or any other grip sport. I felt like a over cooked spaghetti noodle after the first day and he was just warming up. The summit was one of the nicest view I have ever seen. I want to go again.

AC:

How many #s will you pull on the V bar in 2006?

Oh I hate to speculate on this one, but I would be very happy to tie what I did at GGC.

AC:

Who’s the hottest babe on the planet?

Dangerous question, my wife!!!

AC:

What’s your least favorite grip exercise? Most favorite?

LEVERING. It hurts and I stink up the place. I really like everything else.

AC:

Is it true that your daughters are bending steel?

Yep, and they love it. I cut up some coat hangers and let them go at it. The excitement the have after completing a bend

[anson]

Here's what Chris Rice had to say.

AC:

When did you get started in the Iron Game?

Chris - I started lifting in 1959 at age 11. I got a steel 110# set for Christmas that year and I’ve been at it ever since. It’s sure changed over the years; when I started everybody thought it would make you muscle bound and there was almost no information on how to train that an 11 year old in a small town could find. I just lifted them, usually for hours at a time. I wanted to get big so badly but had no clue how to do it. John McCallum in Strength and Health said to do 20 rep squats so I did sets of 30 or 40 or more because I only had a hundred pounds. Some times I think all the information we have about training today holds us back, kids are stronger now than we were but we were a lot tougher and longer lasting then.

AC:

Blondes or redheads?

Chris – I remember this redhead form Australia in Saigon one time that could – whoa, wait a minute, this is PG13 right – better stop right there.

AC:

I had the chance to talk with you at the GGC about rock climbing, tell us what you’ve climbed, how the grip training we do carries over, what you’re climbing now, etc.

Chris – I can’t remember why I wanted to rock climb, just one of those things but it sort of became who and what I was for years. I started in 1983 and was pretty much self taught at first. I’d been climbing about 3 months when I loaded up and went out west, hoping to find partners to climb with. I climbed Devils Tower with people from Switzerland , Stettners and Keiners routes on Longs Peak with a guy from Texas, and got stormed off the Grand Teton with two guys from Georgia. I’ve been lucky enough to have climbed in most of the climbing areas here in the United States. I climbed Denali in Alaska in 1990 – that was my first big mountain. In 1993, I went to Ecuador and tried Cotapoxi and had to come down because my partner got attitude sickness at about the 19,000’ level, almost to the summit. In 1996 I went to Nepal and climbed Lobuje East and Imse Tse, two 20,000’ peaks in the Khumbu region near Mt Everest. My oldest son went with me on that one. Climbing was also a family sport for us, my wife still climbs 5.10 in her 50’s and two of my sons still climb sometimes. The wife and I want to do a couple 14,000’ peaks in Colorado this summer. Climbing is what got me into grip training. I found a book called Power Forearms by Health for Life not long after I started climbing. It was basically a bodybuilder forearm routine but may have turned out to be the best thing I could have ever found. It helped balance all the climbing I did and no doubt saved me many injuries from uneven development. I believe to this day that all newcomers to grip training should do several months of it or something like it before specializing. I don’t think much of our grip training carries over that directly to rock climbing – it doesn’t hurt of course but there are better ways to develop pure climbing strength that most grip people don’t do very often. The overall grip training certainly sets you up for quick climbing specific strength gains when you start specific training though.

AC:

What injuries have you sustained and how have you overcome them?

Chris – Wow, where to start. First, I’ve never had a major injury caused by my weight lifting, just a lot of overuse stuff and some small tears etc. I was a sort of sickly little kid, with rheumatic fever at age 5 which is supposed to have messed up my heart – whatever, it still beats. At age 15, I was in a pretty heinous car wreck, crushing the right side of my chest, breaking my jaw into a few pieces, messing up my back and neck a bit and turning me black from the hips down. I lost 40 pounds and was in bed with my jaw wired shut and a head like a melon for six weeks that time. A couple separated shoulders, a few more wrecks, a couple knee surgeries, broke my back falling down the steps one time, a bulging disk from that one is starting to give me a fair bit of trouble right now. I overcame them the way anyone one does, I guess, I just went on with my life. I kept lifting and climbing, I learned Tai Chi and Ashtanga Yoga, and I learned how to rehab things that were hurt. Ashtanga Yoga has fixed a few things for me that weights couldn’t. And I learned the value of balanced strength around your joints and working all your muscles, not just a few. I’ve had partial tendon tears in the middle and ring fingers of both hands from climbing and tore the whole back off my right hand falling out of a hand jam. I am getting a bit of arthritis in my hands now and a couple joints are deteriorating some. Man, I’ve never listed them out like this before – sounds much worse than it is really – I’m actually pretty healthy. Just a little bother at times.

AC:

If you were gay and had to choose between Steve Gardner or Clay Edgin, who would it be?

Chris – Well, I’ve always wanted to try a long legged English lad – er lass – so……

AC:

How did the 60 by 60 challenge come about? What are you working on now?

I don’t do well without a carrot dangling in front of me to chase – so some kind of competition or event coming up really helps me to stay motivated and training hard.

I started Masters Olympic Lifting competitions at age 53 because I was losing what I call my ‘athletic ability” or the ability to be explosive and jump and run. That has turned out to be a lot of fun and I’ve been fairly successful with it. After doing that and then getting into the grip stuff more, I decided this year not to limit my goals to just a few yearly competitions but to make a set of goals that I can work on over a period of time whenever I choose. I just made up this list of things to try that should keep me going for a while. I want to accomplish 60 various feats of fitness and strength by the time I turn 60 years old so I have about 2 ½ years yet to do them. I doubt I’ll get them all of course, but the pursuit will keep me motivated. The list is somewhat ambitious and changes over time as I come up with new things to try. I don’t really train for each thing, I just decide some night to try one of them when I’m feeling good and see how that goes. Some of them though, I’m afraid I’ll have to specialize for and I don’t really like doing that.

AC:

When Hollywood makes a major motion picture about the grip subculture, who’ll be cast to play the part of Tommy Heslep?

Chris – Danny DeVito

AC:

What has helped you stay competitive into maturity?

Chris – I like the way you put that – “into maturity”. Maybe it’s people asking me when I plan to grow up because of the things I do? I’ve never understood that question. I think I’ve done all the things I should have done – served my country, graduated from college, raised my family – sent three sons to college - retired from my career – provided for my and my wife’s old age. I now have time to train, travel, climb, play with the grandkids, and compete a little in strength sports like Olympic lifting and grip. I like pitting myself against others, especially younger people – it’s fun and once in a while I do OK at it. I was too busy working most of my life to do as much of these things as I would have liked; I’m fortunate enough to have retired young and with good health. I enjoy working out just to work out but it’s all the things fitness, strength and good health allow me to do outside the gym that’s really important.

AC:

Liquor or beer?

Chris – Beer

AC:

Lessons learned from the GGC?

Chris – Start “low” and don’t bomb an event. I knew better but just screwed up – I had done the 12# sledge left handed in warm-ups easily but still should have started lower and got that first lift in, I didn’t and learned from it, I hope. I had it all written down; I should have stuck to the plan. I also found I need to relax better, I spent so many hours worked up that my CNS was absolutely fried by the end; I get way too nervous before and during competitions; I always have so I need to work on that. The biggest lesson though is to just go and do it – I was nervous of course about competing against all those young guys. It turned out pretty well and I made a bunch of new friends. So go compete; I hate hearing guys on the board say, I’ll go when I get stronger or when I think I can win; go now, you’ll not regret it. Whatever your excuse is, it’s just that, an excuse.

AC:

What’s the biggest mistake made by newcomers to the sport?

Chris – Not working the whole body and thinking they can sit on their butt in front of a computer screen squeezing a gripper and have a world class grip. You seldom find world class grip strength on a puny little untrained body. The biggest mistake I see is not developing a base or foundation of overall forearm, wrist and hand strength before starting on the highly specialized routines - that result is injuries almost every time. Grip training is different than training for most strength sports, - in general, grip isn’t scary, painful, or exhausting like a heavy Clean and Jerk or squat, etc. and you don’t get much feedback to tell you to slow down or back off when you should. There are too many people getting hurt now.

AC:

Do you do any dexterity/hand health stuff?

Chris – I don’t do as much as I should of course. I really like my rice bucket for therapy and hand health. I don’t just open and close my hand but I move everything every way possible, I like rice better that way than sand; it allows more movement. I have some 2” steel balls I keep in the freezer and use them when I get real sore – the cold hurts but helps. As long as I train in a bunch of different directions and don’t just do one thing, I seem to be OK for the most part.

AC:

How have your strength goals changed over the years?

Chris – For the first time period in my life, I’m actually weight training just to get stronger. I’ve always trained to help me do better in my other sports, which were usually pretty endurance oriented. I’ve lost a bit of my big muscle group strength from my peak but the hand strength seems to be doing OK. One of the biggest changes to my training is that I need to do a lot more movement skills- when you are young you run, jump, tumble, and play sports often. At my age, most people don’t play enough to move easily and smoothly – I’ve had to work on that lately, adding in things like sprints, jumping, a little tumbling, gymnastic rings and KettleBells to keep things fun. I do a lot of things just to feel good now, something I never felt necessary before. It’s more about heath now than ever before.

AC:

Thanks Chris!

[anson]

Time to hear from Tommy Heslep!

AC:

Hey Tommy, you’re one of only a few men to have certified on the IM #4 gripper and the IM Red Nail, all at a sub 200lb bodyweight, how’s you do it?

At first they both looked like they would never happen “4” me. I never let my 170lb. frame be a factor. Never give up!

AC:

Strangest place you’ve ever closed a gripper?

Maybe the toilet?

AC:

Coffee or herb tea?

I don’t like either one of them.

AC:

What does your current grip training workout look like?

Not a whole lot right now. I’m try’n to get my Magic & Strength show on the road.

AC:

How are you feeling going into the 2006 Tar Heel Hands of Steel?

I feel ok .I’m not as strong as I would like to be though.

AC:

What’s your recipe for staying injury free?

Always warm up yer tendons & muscles.& work yer extensors & finger walking with a sledge hammer.

AC:

What kind of full body workouts are you doing now?

I just got back to doing the regular routine of weight train’n. I have tendon sprains in my arms.

AC:

My wife keeps telling me that scrubbing dishes will build a powerful grip, is this true?

She is right! It will build endurance & strength & you get to soak yer hands in some hot water at the same time.

AC:

How have your strongman shows been coming along?

It’s going ok right now but I hope to do it full time in a couple of months .”Tommy & His Coat of Many Colors

Magic & Strength Show.”

AC:

What would you tell a newbie wanting to forge the ultimate grip?

Get all the books & videos that you can & all the info that you can. Train smart & hard & never give up or set limits.

AC:

Weirdest place you’ve ever bent a nail?

Well it wasn’t weird but I bent a Red nail at the Grand Canyon,along with a 1/2in. bar.That was fun.

AC:

Some gripsters are reluctant to compete because they think they’re not strong enough, any thought on this?

Don’t worry about yer strength level. Just come out & have fun & learn from the others.

AC:

Toughest grip feat you’ve ever done?

Opening a bottle of water after a grip workout. Maybe a raw potatoe? I’ll bring some with me to the contest. Or rip’n a deck of cards with oven mitts on, that was hard.

AC:

You’ve pretty much done it all grip wise, isn’t it time to think about retirement and let some of us poor fellas have a shot at winning a grip competition?

As of right now I’m going to keep on going. I know I can continue to get stronger.

AC:

2006 goals?

To be the best Christian I can be. Jesus died “4” me, the least I can do is live my life “4” him. & to be the best ever at grip contests.