What would be great for an informal intro comp to people who aren't lifters?

[Vinnie]

I am going to an informal college reunion where it will be 52-53 year old men and women, and maybe their kids (teens and up).  They asked me to do a sort of demo/mini-comp.

My thoughts: bring a few grippers of course, some very easy nails perhaps, a few decks of the cheapo cards and maybe some mavs, and a couple of novelty lifts where even the big players don't do much more than 50 or 100, like coin lifts, stub lifts, finnish ball maybe.  Then I can bring two 25s, a few 10s, and some smaller plates, like 100 total, and not need them all.

Thoughts?  Probably won't be very formal, people may just pick and choose.  I will destroy them all lol.

But want it to be fun.

[AdamTGlass]

Vinnie I love that you’re doing this. To keep it fun and all in one gym bag - bring a coc 1 and have crush for reps. Bring a hub (25 lb, 10 lb, 5 lb and 2 more 2.5 lb) show overhand claw grip start with pin plus 25 and go up last man standing. Third event have them curl the 25 lb plate for reps. Easy to transport - easy to execute…nothing outrageous but also you’ll get some questions. I would make no it more complex. If you want to demo a card tear it’s always a crowd pleaser as everyone there has held a pack of cards. Up date us once you pull off this evening 

[Vinnie]

On 4/12/2022 at 1:29 AM, AdamTGlass said:

Vinnie I love that you’re doing this. To keep it fun and all in one gym bag - bring a coc 1 and have crush for reps. Bring a hub (25 lb, 10 lb, 5 lb and 2 more 2.5 lb) show overhand claw grip start with pin plus 25 and go up last man standing. Third event have them curl the 25 lb plate for reps. Easy to transport - easy to execute…nothing outrageous but also you’ll get some questions. I would make no it more complex. If you want to demo a card tear it’s always a crowd pleaser as everyone there has held a pack of cards. Up date us once you pull off this evening 

Thanks!

You are optimistic about some of the weights, like 25 pound plate curl!  If I can even do that, I will be the only one lol.  Think 50+ soccer moms.  And slightly stronger than that dads.  I will be the Adam Glass or Tanner Merkle of this comp lol.

But yes, I will update how it goes.  

[Blacksmith513]

i dont know if you do any levering, but you should bring a sledge! Even an 8lbs sledge would impress most people. 

[Climber028]

Tips tester 1 rep max, just kidding. I definitely am a fan of most of what Adam said especially using a light gripper for reps instead of trying to do anything super hard since then everybody gets a good chance. I would also use the plates you already would have for some plate pinching a few 10s or even two 25s is pretty hard for normal people, also fairly safe. Definitely sledgehammer since there's so many feats all in one relatively light implement, just don't try to make people attempt a face lever. 

[Vinnie]

Sledge!  I can't believe I didn't think of that.  I have a 6 and an 8 I could bring, and people can even "choke up" if the 6 is too hard.  Ha ha pinch two 25s or a "few" 10s, and Adam with the plate curls of 25 or repping the COC 1 (young men in my office who try my 1.5 I keep lying around never get it for even 1 rep, so I don't think a mixed older group will be repping the 1).  We forget we are gripsters.  Sure you and I can do that, but in a random coed group of 52-53 year olds and their teens, I'm pretty sure most can't (well, maybe 3 10s).  But yeah, I was thinking I'd bring 2 25s, 4 10s, 2 5s, 2 2.5s and a loading pin, plus whatever small implements easily fit (don't necessarily have to use a coin or inch pinch just because it is there).  I would bring an easier gripper than COC 1 for reps, but Adam, the reps idea is right, going for max the first time you try a gripper is silly.  And @Blacksmith513, sledge adds some flavor yes.

How about the Inch?  lolol

Still gotta get me one of those ...

Edited April 15, 2022 by Vinnie

[Vinnie]

3 hours ago, Blacksmith513 said:

i dont know if you do any levering 

I can face lever 12, hold 8 or 10 steady behind me (not sure what that is called), and maybe 6 in front of me (not 8, but I can do a front coin lift with 8 as long as I don't have to hold it steady too long).

So nothing remarkable, but probably enough to "impress" in that no one there will be doing as much.

[Blacksmith513]

42 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

I can face lever 12, hold 8 or 10 steady behind me (not sure what that is called), and maybe 6 in front of me (not 8, but I can do a front coin lift with 8 as long as I don't have to hold it steady too long).

So nothing remarkable, but probably enough to "impress" in that no one there will be doing as much.

It impresses people. Especially my mother and grandma. Gotta make sure their hearts are healthy by lowering sledgehammers and splitting mauls to my nose.
 

Those are pretty good numbers in my opinion.  

[Blacksmith513]

1 hour ago, Vinnie said:

Sledge!  I can't believe I didn't think of that.  I have a 6 and an 8 I could bring, and people can even "choke up" if the 6 is too hard.  Ha ha pinch two 25s or a "few" 10s, and Adam with the plate curls of 25 or repping the COC 1 (young men in my office who try my 1.5 I keep lying around never get it for even 1 rep, so I don't think a mixed older group will be repping the 1).  We forget we are gripsters.  Sure you and I can do that, but in a random coed group of 52-53 year olds and their teens, I'm pretty sure most can't (well, maybe 3 10s).  But yeah, I was thinking I'd bring 2 25s, 4 10s, 2 5s, 2 2.5s and a loading pin, plus whatever small implements easily fit (don't necessarily have to use a coin or inch pinch just because it is there).  I would bring an easier gripper than COC 1 for reps, but Adam, the reps idea is right, going for max the first time you try a gripper is silly.  And @Blacksmith513, sledge adds some flavor yes.

How about the Inch?  lolol

Still gotta get me one of those ...

Just do it. Plan a nice weekend getaway and pick it up at the foundry. What are you 5 hours away probably. Actually they are closed on weekends. The guy in charge of deliveries is a silly old miserable f$&””&. But don’t let him bother you. 

[Climber028]

You'd be surprised, I've had a lot of people pinch two 25s who don't know anything about grip, and most people could do two or three 10s without issue, four or five is where it would get tough for the untrained. 

[Blacksmith513]

I’ll tell you this

 

my bro in law office worker bent a 60d spiral but it took 3 sessions over three nights. The 2nd one he bent easy. 
 

my Austrian cousin in law, computer guy but was in Austrian army and worked out a little. Bent it pretty easy. My Marine cousin helicopter pilot bent a 60d spiral pretty easy but was shocked how hard it was. He then bent a 60d nail which is significantly harder.  I wish I got them to try levering, I don’t think they could. But I bet my Marine cousin could put up some decent numbers with grip tools. 
 

it’s interesting to see what people can do. Some untrained people can just do certain things easily. Sledgehammers and bending 60d nails came easy to me, grippers I still suck at. My bro is 6ft2 270lbs. Been working construction his whole life. He’s afraid to even try a gripper.

[climber511]

I've always been surprised  - both positively and negatively - on what non grip or non lifters in general end up being able to do.  I've handed grippers to lots of rock climbers who can do nothing at all with them .... but then pinch 2 35# plates like a toy or farmers walk a couple 100# plates with a rim lift like nothing.  Construction workers and mechanics are generally fairly versatile with grip - and "office workers" can surprise the heck out of you sometimes (but not often).  The demographic certainly will make a difference.  I think it sounds like a fun day for a lot of people if you keep it where they can be successful on some items.

[Roch Climber]

On 4/15/2022 at 11:17 PM, climber511 said:

I've always been surprised  - both positively and negatively - on what non grip or non lifters in general end up being able to do.  I've handed grippers to lots of rock climbers who can do nothing at all with them .... but then pinch 2 35# plates like a toy or farmers walk a couple 100# plates with a rim lift like nothing.  Construction workers and mechanics are generally fairly versatile with grip - and "office workers" can surprise the heck out of you sometimes (but not often).  The demographic certainly will make a difference.  I think it sounds like a fun day for a lot of people if you keep it where they can be successful on some items.

Funny, my experience testing my friends have been the opposite, they were naturally (from climbing) very strong at crush. My brother could close a 3 after like 1 month, I have an under 60kg friend which did 2 reps with a 2 first time he tried a gripper, they all score a good chunk above bw on a dynamo etc... Tho you need to teach the technique obviously or they can't even do a 1. But their pinch lift are pretty weak compared to gripsters. My understanding of that is that we do a crazy amount of volume on our finger flexors compared to our thumbs (tons of holds where you don't use thumb at all, and a lot of the time it's just for a little help and not a max strenght pull). The 2 type of guys which did well were tufa (almost) only climbers, by far the best at pinch is my friend which specialize in that, and fullcrimpeverything guys. Everyone did great on thick bar tho, I assume it's the closest to a climbing grip of the classic grip tools. 

For @Vinnie that sound like a fun time. I would say bring a dynamo ! Peope LOVE that stuff in my experience. I'm not a big fan of grippers to introduce new guys, especially a big crowd, it take a lot of time to explain the technique and can be frustrating if you get completly shut down. Dynamo is the same but everyone get a cool number and it's much easier to set up. 

I would bring a pinch, it require 0 technique, pretty much 0 chance of injury and you can have a lot of go before you are completly fried imo, which is great cause they will probably try in rapid fire mode when they fail. Also ton of near lift/slips etc.. makes for a good show. 

Thick bar would be great but it might be to heavy (deadlift wise) if they are not fit, coin lift probably really fun as well and great starter as it won't destroy them for the rest, hub probably to painfull ? I don't do bends yet but I assume it would be a great success ! Maybe bigger stuff than nails tho ? Might be easier to say bend that bar than to explain wrapping and stuff, also a bit more visual, go for flashy stuff (pan ? card deck are great for the relatable side as well, for the ones which won't get involved) ! Plate curl are easy to set up but very hard to progress with (like everyone will curl the 5kg and nobody will curl the 10 or something like that), also maybe a bit more injury prone, I prefer the sledge idea personnally. 

[Vinnie]

14 hours ago, Roch Climber said:

Dynamo is the same but everyone get a cool number and it's much easier to set up

Yes!  No one said that yet, and I hadn't thought of it, and I HAVE ONE!  Perfect idea.