Allman Posted June 13, 2002 Share Posted June 13, 2002 As many will recall I posted last November about my contest on my pinch grip machine. The grip plate is polished stainless steel and is attached to a weight stack. That day I managed to lift 92.5 kg. I felt very happy pinching over 200 pounds for the first time. Others here on the Gripboard wanted to know how that compared to pinching plates. Well, I had a go on them to try to gain some respect for my pinching ability. The truth is I am not that good on those other surfaces and certainly cannot pinch 2 X 45 pound Olympic plates together although I have exceeded that amount pinching smaller 15kg plates. This year Nick McKinless posted that he was going to have a two hand pinch contest on 2 inch thick grip plate with skateboard tape on both sides. I made up several apparatus to that specification and my final pinch block used 2 1" X 4 " steel plates welded together. I welded bars to each end and attached skateboard tape to each side. This block weighs 25 kg. I brought that pinch block to the gym a few weeks ago and Nick and I had a casual contest using the apparatus. He went first and I followed. We surprised ourselves as the weight soon exceeded 125 kg and it still went up fairly easily for both of us. Nick succeeded with 140 kg that day and looked good for more. I struggled to lift 135 kg, needing 2 attempts. Last week I lifted on my own as Nick came to the gym at different times. Last Wednesday I managed to deadlift 137.5 kg. That felt good because it was the first time I exceeded 300 pounds. I didn't do any grip training since that effort and today, Thursday, I tried again and succeeded with 140kg and then 145 kg. The 145 is the block and 3 X 20 kg on each side. I got 150kg about 6 inches off the floor. It is amazing how much weight can be lifted with the pinch grip. The details of particular apparatus is important and the skateboard makes a big difference. Anyway, that 145 kg is about 319 pounds which makes me feel like I have finally proven that my pinch grip ability is satisfactory. Vince Basile, Sydney, Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeff Roark Posted June 13, 2002 Share Posted June 13, 2002 Holy smoke!!! Great job Vince! I am very interested in the two hand pinch thanks to Nick McKinless. Man your guys feats of pinching makes my little 176lbs sound like baby weight. This skateboard tape, how much of a difference do you think it makes Vince? I ask beacause I only use regular plates with a loading pin inserted for adding extra weight. Also since you are in Australia yo may have some info on Bruce Whites big pinch. I think I read where he did 270lbs at 145lbs of bodyweight. Did he do this on a similiar block with skateboard tape or was it on regular plates? Thanks Vince and good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Say Posted June 13, 2002 Share Posted June 13, 2002 Ooops! I thought you meant any kind of pinch lift! Well it would be a good lift for someone to do double bodyweight in a 2 hand pinch lift eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 13, 2002 Share Posted June 13, 2002 Vince I’ve tried one of Nick’s pinching blocks and I found that I could lift quite a bit more than I could manage on regular plates. I think my one handed lift was around 55kg and I consider my pinch to be OK. Your lifts are amazing! 145kg on that pinch block is a very ‘satisfactory’ pinch lift indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest StrongerthanArne Posted June 13, 2002 Share Posted June 13, 2002 Vince, could you perhaps send Wannagrip a picture of that big lift? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allman Posted June 13, 2002 Author Share Posted June 13, 2002 Nick has some information about Bruce White but I have never met Bruce or exchanged any mail, etc., with him. He lives on the opposite side of this huge nation-continent. I took a photo of Nick doing his 140 kg. I got my son to take a photo of my lift with 145 kg. He took one from the side and I held the lift and told him to shift to the front for another one! Must be the bodybuilder in me coming out! The skateboard tape makes a big difference. Apparently there are different grades but when I bought some I just asked for the tape and the grade is fine I suppose. When doing maximum lifts it is very tough on the web area near the thumb. Vince Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Make NO mistake - Mr. Basile has awesome pinching power. The skateboard tape does make a big difference. I have stood up ok with most of the top lifts on varied apparatus pinching wide 20kg plates and slimmer ones. I made the pinch blocks as a standard to test pinching grip on as all plates are different. There's no doubt that certain things can be done to obtain a better grip. Things like spitting on the hands, chalk and Vince's extreme washing of the hands for his pinch machine. That's why I liked the skateboard tape really. It acts as a type of knurling but it doesn't benefit much from any outside 'help' or assistance. Chalk is allowed of course but I only use it to give me abotu an extra 10% - if that. Bruce White has told me he did 110kg on his block and is shooting for much more. This gives you an idea of just how good Vince is. In my humble opinion, anything in the 120kg range and upwards is exceptional. Perhaps my only beef with the block is that it locks the thumb in hard and perhaps that, to some extent, takes the thumb out of the pinch. I think David Horne said this too to me about his block. In any case it would be nice to see what everyone else could do on the blocks in time. I am going to send one to Kevin Fulton soon so anyone there might like to give it a go. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Browne Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Allman, What is the length of the 1" x 4" pinch block? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allman Posted June 18, 2002 Author Share Posted June 18, 2002 I made up the pinch block to be 25 kg. The block is 400 mm long and 2 inches wide and 4 inches high. I put wide collars on each end and bars to add plates. All up, the width between the plates is at least 600 mm. That way you can stand up without having the plates touch the body. Vince Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersqueeze Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 Vince - Would you be willing to post a schematic drawing of the block you engineered and built? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allman Posted July 5, 2002 Author Share Posted July 5, 2002 I will post a couple of photos of the pinch block when the film is developed. I must get myself a digital camera soon! What I did was use mild steel bar that is 4 inches by 1 inch wide. You might be able to go to a steel company and get a block that is 4 inches X 2 inches thick. That way you won't have to weld them together. I also thought of using stainless steel but the cost would be 10 times as much. If you cut the blocks about 400 mm long they will weigh about 20 pounds each. So two of them together weigh about 40 pounds. What I did was weld collars on the ends and then attached bars to the collars with a bolt through them both. I used stainless steel for the collar and bars because they don't rust. I calculated how long the bars have to be to make the whole apparatus 25 kg. I used 1 1/8 inch bars because my gym plates have 29mm holes in them. I suppose someone could weld 2 inch pipe on each end and be able to use Olympic plates for additional weights. I was thinking about having an apparatus that avoids having to deadlift it. What happens is that limit lifts often fall out of the hands and either hit the legs or crash to the floor. A deadlift pinch requires one to hold onto the apparatus for some time. It might be possible to lift off a rack for higher weights and more safety. Nicks apparatus requires a chain to attach weights so you do not deadlift that because it is already some distance off the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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