Gripmas Carol 2008

Awesome. Chris Rice puts on a grade A contest every year. If you want more info about the Gripmas Carol, let me know and I'll be happy to email you everything I know about how to get invovled and compete:D

Anyway, I did poorly in the contest thanks to my weaker than the rest of the crowd grip. After the contest during the fun, I shined :) I was very very close to doing a full Dinnie Stone lift with 744lbs(the actual Dinnie stones are 733 I hear). I just didn't lock out. If I were to have lifted them, that may have made me the lightest one to lift that weight in that manner. Stew Rosendaul did the full lift. Of course, I had no belt and no shoes, he did. So I think I win in the crazy department.

I went for a KH SSP #3 heart after the comp, I finished it off with decent ease, but a heart wasn't in the cards at that time. I snatched the beast both hands and did some 32kg pressing. Neither was too difficult.

I also managed to finish off a long-time goal that I had forgotten until recently. Long before Rider was actually doing it, I had the idea to scroll a horseshoe. As in twisting the legs all the way around. Rider did it first and it took watching him do it for me to decide to do it finally. So Chris, thanks! It's just a super-easy 5/16x3/4" hand forged shoe that looks to be around the size of a St. Croix #1 or #2. Those legs got short quick!!! I could've crushed it down into Chris's paperclip style piece, but I kind of liked how it looked so I just left it.


Bottom line, as always, I just need to get stronger.

The Iron

This is an article by Henry Rollins that explains very well just what it is that keeps many of us motivated in what it is we do.

Squats again...

Had a squat session for the first time in 3 weeks:

Back Squat
135x10
225x3
275x2(that is my old max for 2 reps)
275x1(dropped the 2nd rep)
245x3(dropped the 4th rep)
235x4
235x3

I've decided that to get to BWx100, I'll need to make my BW feel like nothing. To do THAT I need to up my squat. My max was only 90lbs over my goal weight for 100 reps. I thought about it like that for the first time and then considered all the guys who have gone for, or were capable of BWx100. The guy who inspired me was John Allen, whose squat is well above 500 and did 218x98, Tom Platz' squat was over 800 raw, Kurt Angle had a 500+ squat(never heard max #'s), and so on. Perhaps a minimum of a 400lb squat would be sufficient? Perhaps only 2xBW or 370? I don't know, I'll cross that road when I come to it but I will be working mainly at increasing my squat with the occasional 10x10 or 4x25 sets thrown in. Also, my lower back is tight and that is holding me back from deadlifting seriously currently and that is a problem for me. I think it's an issue where my lower back is much stronger than the muscles around it. To remedy this, I will do several things with the #1 thing being squats and increasing my max. I also plan to rarely pull from the floor, instead I will work off platforms and work deficiet deads. Suitcase deadlifts, FW's, power cleans, axle deadlifts, heavy rows(my row is pathetic), LOTS AND LOTS OF DIRECT CORE WORK, and plenty of rest. Of course, my 50kg KB will have a nice place in this program too as I am almost literally a hair from a full snatch righty.

Onto the rest of the work:

2 cleans with my 50kg KB each arm(I can only do these inside at the moment with concrete floors, dropping it is not an option so I am forced to quit early with KB cleans, presses and swings.)

Sumo Deadlifts
315xa bunch, I didn't really count how many but it was between 10 and 20, certainly more than 10 and definitely not 20. Easy weight, but my back still likes to remind me that my back is tight with anything approaching heavy weight in a full deadlift. So I have to keep it light or risk back pain/injury

What I have been up to lately...

I haven't posted in awhile so I figured I would add what I have been up to lately. For the most part I have been hammering my DO bending.



Pictured are some recent attempts, iso pieces and bends. There is a 3/8x7.5" bar that I put a good wobble in until my LH finger felt irritated and painful. I could've finished that one I think. The two bolts taped together are 2 6" G5's and I'd definitely put them harder than a Huge Shiny as of my last attempt at that piece. I could be wrong, they are both easy G5's too. We'll see later on this year. The big ass bend in the lower left is 3/8x8.25 done unbraced. That was difficult! The two short bolts are a 6" FNL JH Edgin and 6.5" easy Triangle Edgin, then the smallest of the group is the 5/16x5.5" 304 stainless piece. The thick silver bolt is a 3/8x7" G2 that I got stuck at a recent visit to Don Larkin's gym. The stainless in the top left is a crazy hard piece of 303 stainless at 7" sent to me by Tim Iacobucci. This has the stiffest spring of any stainless I have ever felt and I've attempted some crazy stainless. That piece is stuck at just under 2 1/8" and even a fresh, full power hit only flexes it. Gotta work on that one. And finally, the cue de gra, the black bolt in the center is a 5/16x8" Grade 8 bolt. TOUGH MOTHER FUCKER. At 7" one of these bad boys calibrates at 665-695lbs. Every time I've hit that bolt fresh it has moved thankfully, but only a few times. Definitely a fantastic iso piece. I will be finishing some of these pieces soon enough starting with that 6.5" Edgin in a few weeks.