1stCoC Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 The ESPN people returned again yesterday for finishing their feature story about Rich and grip. they have been here twice and followed him AND grip to the Arnold's as well. They are staying an extra day to get more photos today.The ESPN magazine is supposed to have the full layout on the newsstands in about 3 weeks. The sports networks according to their representatives are really interested in "different" sports so this might be a good shot in the arm for grip . After a quick workout of incline pressing 315 for a total of 78 reps in 4 sets (many paused at chest)Rich did the photo shoot twisting apart a case of soda's one at a time and destroying two high end Louisville Slugger bats that were taped together as if they were made of balsa wood.They did the final shots outside with the sun setting over his shoulders and by then there was a small crowd and people in cars stopping to look.RS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 That's awesome. I'll definitely be buying that issue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Love Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I totally agree Scott... I wish I could compete against the Top Dogs each time out.. It would only motivate me and make me better. I honestly would not want it any other way even if that meant I could never win. Ross, if I remember right you've got a pretty huge hand. Would you still be interested in competing if two of the events at every 5 event grip contest were things like "place your hand in a pickle jar and close a trainer"? It's not that people don't want to compete against the best it's the fact that events like thickbar and wide pinch are things they will never be competitive at if they've got a 7.5" hand and you've got a 9" hand. Well if the event is physically impossible to perform then I guess I would not be interested.... But I find it funny that no one commented on my bench press correllation because to me they are essentially the same.. Ofcourse there are some events that cater to the bigger athlete.. That's life. Now ME personally... If I had 4" hands and was still able to perform an axle dead lift then yes I'd still perform the lift and compete.. That's just my nature I suppose.. I've never been one to make excuses for my short comings whether I could control them or not. Obviously bone growth being one of those uncontrollable things. I guess I have not been around the block long enough in the grip game to become bitter. But in my 2 competitions that I've done they seemed to be well rounded. I mean I won 3 of 4 events at Pauls Comp AND STILL LOST THE OVERALL lol.. So obviously the competition did not cater to me... And I was the largest guy there. So I don't completely understand everyones logic. I look at it as get better and better at the things you CAN control. Yes I'm new to grip but not new to strength.. I've been strong my whole life.. Just as there are a lot of guys with bigger hands and more body weight than me that are weak as kittens. So just generalizing big guys is unfair. It's not like I walked in off the farm and DL'ed 450lbs on a 2" axle... It's also a slap in the face to guys like Paul Knight, Andrew Durniat, etc.. Guys that are smaller but still manage huge numbers because of hard work and dedication to getting better. Which both guys have beaten me btw. Having said a lllll that I am an advocate of hand size divisions... Sure let's do it... In the meantime blaming things like hand size seems to be redundant... Height hurts me on the DL... My ROM is twice as long as yours thus having to hold onto the bar twice as long.. I guess I'll have to just get stronger. Ross here's the thing - I do compete against the top dogs almost every time out except for the Mighty Mitts guys that don't do regular grip comps - I've gone against them time after time after time and want to again - I'm looking forward to going head to head with you at Nationals. And I'm not bitter about being smaller or about having smaller hands (even if maybe I sound that way at times)- it's just that I truly believe that having only one division is killing the sport and stopping its growth. I'm like you in that not much stops me from stepping up - but we need to understand that most people don't view competition quite like that. I'm just sick and tired of great big guys not even being willing to admit to the problem. You at least seem to understand and have no problem saying - sure have another division. I've never wanted a division for everyone and I don't care if I end up too big for the lightweight or small hands class but this sport is dead if we don't do something along these lines. I hear ya Chris... I have not been in the sport long enough to have experienced all this and see it from every perspective. I have literally spent more time competing the last 8 weeks than I have training. I'm very ready to get back to practicing grip. I'll have 1 grip training day prior to Pauls Comp on April 2. That's it lol. I fully intend to do whatever I can to showcase the sport down here in SE Texas and do so in the most fair way possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubgeezer Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Richard's report above is about as much as we could hope for. I will definitely want to buy multiple copies of that issue to give to a few people. Sounds great! Just before I pushed "Add Reply", I see Josh Dale beat me to some of the same words he used. That's okay. Like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Main, definitely, definitely...when you are a grip enthusiast, there are not that many different things that get you excited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well here's something new Mike: Richard, I know we don't see eye to eye on many things grip and probably never will, but I just wanted to say thank you for discovering Rich, getting him excited about grip, and all of the hard work you've put in to promote grip to the point that our sport will be covered in a national magazine. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1stCoC Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Even better news, I just spoke with Mike Locondro from York barbell, They are putting on a day of strength (old York picnic style) for the Wounder Warriors program at York Barbell on May 21st. He is having a whole area for a grip throwdown , Induction of famed Slim the Hammer Man into the York hall of fame and people of ALL areas of strength are invited.He is stock piling phone books, nails and anything else that the grip guys might like. Great idea and still more "good" for the grip community. Throw in some support and see what you get back! Good for them, good for us!You can reach him at micondro@yorkbarbell.com I applaud his AND their efforts to bring back more good, old time strength and help our troops! RS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.