My friend owns a cool little company, and one of the things they do is produce these adhesive decals that can be placed on building windows, car windows, table tops, and even cornhole boards.

I’ve teamed up with him to make a few decals, as well, and right now they are all Grip-based.

I think they’re going to be awesome decorations for your car, your work station, storage devices, tool boxes, hard hats, etc, and they will make good conversation pieces and help spread the word about our little sport and hobby of Grip.

You can order yours here: Grippin’ Window Decals

Here are the three current designs, with a little explanation about how I came up with each one:

My Gripper’s Bigger Than Yours

Nothing wrong with a little bragging and smack-talk, every once in a while.

I took the massive arm crushing the gripper from the “Crushin’ Grippers Like It’s My Job” shirt, and re-purposed it for this one.

Are you the king of grippers in your crew? Then you need this shirt to brag about your Grip Glory.

 

 

 

 

 

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How Man Inches Can You Handle?

A little edgy, this one was thought up by my old artwork guy from years ago.

We became good friends and used to talk all the time, even when we weren’t working on artwork projects, but I haven’t heard a peep out of him since July of 2012.

Fearing the worst, this one is kind of in memory to Rory Hickman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pinchin’ Ain’t Easy

Back in the late 1990’s, it was the “Attitude Era” in the WWF, and both the characters and the storylines were edgier back then.

There was a wrestler called the Godfather who was essentially a pimp, and brought prostitutes to the ring. One of his catch-phrases were, “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy.”

I borrowed that from him and massaged it a fit the theme of Grip, but the little dude is still a Pimp when it comes to Plate Pinching.

 

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Again, these decals are supposed to be fun ways to get our sport out there a little bit more. I hope you choose to support this effort by making a purchase today. You can get yours here => Diesel Grippin’ Window Decals.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

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The official August of Arms period has come and gone, so I wanted to share with you my results.

First off, I’ll say that August was an absolute mess for me, as far as Arm Training goes.

A new contest, Living Legends, where big money was at stake, required a proper deload period, so I did no training for several days during the month.

I also hurt my right index finger early in the month, which made several exercises impossible without substantial pain, so I was relegated to repeating many exercises more times than I’d like.

On top of that, I couldn’t even train the Close-Grip Bench Press, one of the benchmark lifts of August of Arms.

All of this resulted in poorer overall performance than I have seen the last two years.

But hey, sometimes stuff happens and you have the make the most of what you can do and just move on.

August of Arms 2016 – Measurements

I failed to do pre-measurements of my biceps at the beginning of the month, so I do not know where I started the month (another mistake I made), although I do know that in March I measured my arms and both were right around 18.5 inches.

I ended this month at right around 19″ for both arms.

August of Arms 2016 – 135lb Barbell Curls – Max Reps

The first test was Barbell Curls with 135lbs for as many reps as possible.

I began the month with 7 reps on the 135lb Barbell Curl for Max Reps.

I was able to improve to 9 reps by month’s end. You’ll see the reps are much quicker at the end of the month, as technique improved, as well as strength.

August of Arms 2016 – 30lb French Press x 100 reps AFAP

This drill, while the lightest weight, is actually probably the hardest to get through, because the pump is pretty significant and the dynamic nature lights my triceps insertions up. I started the month off with a finish of 2:09.

By the end of the month, I saw a very decent improvement, completing all 100 reps in 1:50.

August of Arms 2016 – Poundstone Curls – Barbell x 100 reps AFAP

The next test was Poundstone Curls – curling an empty barbell for 100 reps as fast as possible without setting the barbell down.

To my surprise, without working the Poundstone Curl since last August or September, probably, I was able to get all the way to 100 reps without any breaks or pauses, motoring straight through in 2:00 flat. This was the fastest I’ve ever gotten this, according to my spotty records.

I was able to do the same thing at the end of the month, as well, shooting straight through all 100 reps in 1:38, just completely blowing away all the previous attempts I’ve ever taken.

The 4th test, which I didn’t do, was the Close Grip Bench Press. My pec insertions felt like they were on fire when I did a warm-up set of 225 at the beginning of the month, so I completely waived that off and didn’t do any Close Grip Press training during the month, although I did do some Dumbbell Crush Press throughout the month, which never hurt at all.

So, to wrap up, while I was disappointed in my arm measurement by the end of the month, it’s pretty hard to be upset with improvement across the board on the testing lifts.

There’s no doubt that August of Arms works, since all three years my performance measures went up and all three years I saw size improvements.

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Want Bigger Arms? THIS is Your Program

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I’ll also say that this is the best my arms have felt in a while. Last year, I did something to my left biceps and forearm doing a heavy set of Reverse EZ Bar Curls, either near the tail end of August or sometime in September, and that bothered me for a looooong time. As a result, I didn’t do much arm work during the end of 2015 and throughout 2016, because so many movements irritated those areas.

The biggest disappointment for me though, was the fact I missed so many days. Sure, some of them were for good reasons, like the off-time I took to re-energize for Living Legends, but there were still a few days where I just didn’t get the work in.

The first day I missed stung me really bad, and felt like an absolute heel. Then the deload took place, when I was trying to get my index finger healed up, and with each day of no arm training, the sting was a little less, a little less, a little less.

It reminded me of skipping leg days back in college. You do it 2 or 3 Fridays in a row, and it gets easier to do every single time.

I don’t like that feeling, and thankfully, once Living Legends was done, I was able to get back in the groove. By the end of the month, I felt like a steam engine train, ready to conquer every corner and hill in my path, and I feel I finished on a high note.

In fact, I’m feeling very motivated to keep the arm work going.

I REALLY want 20″ arms.

The plan going forward is to hit biceps twice a week, and triceps, once a week.

The plan is to hit biceps on Mondays and Saturdays. Triceps will be Thursday or Friday mornings, along with Back, depending on which day it falls on.

I’m going to continue to work on a combination of Biceps Strength, which heavier weights and lower reps, and Biceps Volume with lower weights, higher reps, often done in combinations of 2 or 3 exercises.

I think with that sort of set-up, I’ll have plenty of time to recover between each arm workout, so I’ll be able to attack Arms hard on each of those days.

I’ll also do my best to re-measure every 2 weeks and re-test on Poundstone and 135lb Barbell Curls the last week of each month. I’m gonna have to choose a different Triceps exercise or two for those tests, since the Close Grips are bothering my pec and the One Arm French Press were bothering my Triceps tendons.

Stay tuned for more intense arm training coming your way soon.

All the best.

Jedd

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Is WRIST PAIN Holding Back Your Arm Training?
FIX IT with This Program:

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EVENTS:

2.5″ Crusher – 4 Attempts for Max Lift – One Hand Tested

Anvil Hold for Time – 2 Attempts per Hand, time is combined

One Hand Pinch – 54mm – One Hand Tested

ENTRY FORM:

CLICK HERE

ENTRY FEE:

$35 for the Grip Contest;

WORLD SERIES OF GRIP

$5 for the World Series of Grip – Unlimited attempts to lift the Inch Dumbbell, Blob, 45lb Hub, #3 Gripper.

The Living Legends Grip Challenge took place on August 13, 2016.

I will not be posting the video footage from the comp, because there were professional videographers there who will be making a top-of-the-line DVD of the event, and I don’t want to take anything away from the promoter, Andrew Pantke, and video producer, Rich Cottrell, who sunk a lot of money into the video production.

I have, however, volunteered to coordinate the marketing of the DVD, and you can reserve your copy of the Contest Video once it comes out, by going here: Living Legends Grip Challenge DVD’s.

Again, this is to recuperate the investment for those dudes – I am not keeping the money.

Although I’m not posting the footage I took publicly, I did decide to put out some clips of the post-comp feats that went down and other memorable occasions. I will also be doing a special video for my YouTube channel talking about the trip.

To begin, I want to share this – this was the first chance I got to meet the great Juha Harju from Finland. I have been following Juha since 2009, and we have been very good friends via the internet since about 2013 or so.

It was my absolute pleasure to meet him and compete with hm, and I wanted to give him my own special welcoming message, to let him know that it was indeed the REAL Napalm Jedd Johnson who was there that day, and not the imposter troll who pretends to be me on YouTube.

“Napalm” Jedd Meets Juha “GripMonster” Harju

After the contest, the feating began. I’m talking about SECONDS after the contest was done, feat items started popping up all over the gym. It was PLAY TIME.

The first thing we attacked was the Old School York 45-lb Plates. Up until then, the only men I have ever heard of pinch-ifting Old School York 45-lb Plates were Richard Sorin, Chad Woodall, and myself.

Well, that list grew to nearly twice that size after Living Legends, because both Juha Harju and Gil Goodman completed the feat, and Aaron Corcorran came to within inches of a full lockout lift.

Juha Harju Pinches Old School York 45lb Plates

Gil Goodman Pinches Old School York 45lb Plates

Aaron Corcorran NEARLY Pinches Old School York 45’s

Next, it was time to mess around with the biggest prize of the contest – the Sahlaney Iron Inch Dumbbell. Weighing 173lbs and with gold-painted bells, it is easily the prettiest Inch Dumbbell, I’ve ever seen. First off, since I was unable to lock out the Old School York 45’s, I grabbed the Sahlaney Inch and did a combo lift along with Blobzilla, a half 130lb York Legacy.

Jedd Johnson Lifts Sahlaney Inch and Blobzilla

I believe I was the first lifter to pick the Sahlaney Inch to lockout, at least I didn’t see anyone else do it. Regardless, if I was the first, I wasn’t the only one to lift it for very long, because then Juha Harju attacked it.

Juha Harju Lifts the Sahlaney Iron Inch Dumbbell

I know that Gil Goodman also showed the Sahlaney Inch who was the boss, but I have not located the footage yet.

The next feat I got on film was Kody Burns, the man who took the title at Living Legends, and the prize Sahlaney Inch, manhandled the double 2x20kg Eleiko plate pinch and held them in authoritative fashion.

Kody Burns Pinches and Holds Double 2x20kg Eleikos

Diesels, I can not tell you enough how much it meant to me to meet and compete with Juha. To rise to the challenge and nearly win the event (I lost by only 2.5 points) was a bonus.

On top of all that, this event was special. This was EASILY the most talent I’ve ever competed against outside of Mighty Mitts on the Arnold Classic stage. This contest really meant something.

And, to top it all off, there was an entire other contest taking place at the very same time – the Open Division. Jason Gonzalez proved he is a true Rising Star in Grip Sport besting 5 other competitors on the day.

Diesels, the DVD of this event is something every single fan of Grip Sport needs to have. This was truly a piece of history you do not want to miss out on owning.

Again, go to this link to reserve your copy for the special low price, and it will be shipped directly to you as soon as it is available.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Training to Lift the Inch Dumbbell?
This Will Help You Get There:

August of Arms isn’t just about doing a bunch of volume in order to get the arms to swell up and get a bigger measurement. It’s also about building strength in addition to the size.

With that in mind, August of Arms has 4 separate testing exercises built into it based around performance.

So far, I have knocked out two of these. Unfortunately, I tried to do Bodyweight Close Grip Bench Press, and I couldn’t do it without pain. Something just wasn’t feeling right. But, I did take care of 2 out of the other 3: 135lb Barbell Curls for Max Reps and 30lb One Arm French Press for 100 reps, alternating as needed.

135lb Barbell Curls for Max Reps

30lb French Press – 100 Reps AFAP, Alternating Arms as Needed

The last test lift for me, Poundstone Curls, involves curling an empty 45lb Barbell for 100 reps as fast as possible. I haven’t tried this since last year at the end of August, so it’s gonna be interesting!

So, now the baselines are established, and it’s time to work my ass off throughout the rest of the month, to see increases in SIZE, STRENGTH, and ENDURANCE.

Stay tuned for more updates.

For more information on August of Arms, click the banner below.

All the best in your training,

Jedd