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Arnold Classic Survival Guide

Jim Smith — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:12:25 +0000

This weekend is the Arnold Classic and counting this year, I will have gone 6 out of the last 7 years. I love the atmosphere and it always triggers a spike in my training.

There’s something for everybody at the Arnold Classic. Let me paint a picture for you.

The Arnold take place in a HUGE convention center covering I don’t know how many blocks in the city of Columbus Ohio. The event started out as mainly a bodybuilding deal, but it has expanded over the years to include Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting, and Strongman contests as well as Martial Arts, Fitness and other competitions.

SEE THE REST OF THIS COOL POST AFTER THE JUMP

This year, they are also including their first ever Grip Contest on the main stage, called Mighty Mitts. I was lucky enough to get an invite and I am honored. I have been training hard and am geared up to get on the stage.

Now, here’s the deal. If you’re not prepared for the Arnold Classic weekend, you won’t maximize your experience, so here’s a few points to consider to get the most out of the Classic.

Take Water

It is extremely dry in the event center. They do sell water there, but it is like $8 a bottle, so pack your own and bring it with you.

Take Snacks

There’s very few places to eat outside the event center in the hallways, and it’s kind of expensive. There’s tons of free samples of hundreds of different supplements like shakes and bars and powders, but you can only handle so much of that stuff and some of it tastes like a pencil eraser during the SAT’s. So pack some good stuff to take in with you.

Bring Your Camera

There are lots of photo opportunities at the Arnold. There are Bodybuilders, MMA Fighters, Pro Powerlifters and Strongmen, Pro Wrestlers and dozens of Fitness chicks. They will often let you get a picture with them for free, but sometimes they do charge. Either way you’ll have photos that will last you a lifetime.

Wear Comfortable Cargo Pants

Get yourself a pair of loose fitting cargo pants with lots of pockets. This way you can easily carry your water, snacks and camera among other things. Make sure they are loose fitting and not a set of butt huggers. There are plenty of feats of strength to try in the event center, and you don’t want the seam in your ass to tear while trying to do them.

Bring a Back Pack

You may get the opportunity to get some free shirts and other swag while you’re at the Arnold. You’ll turn around and see some fitness model throwing them all over. Fight for the free shirt and stuff it into your pack. Aside from free stuff, you may want to buy shirts and stuff at the seemingly thousands of tables that are there, and the last thing you want to do is carry that stuff around in your hands all day. Now, if your back pack has the Care Bears on it, leave it at home. Some booths will hand out free plastic bags if you need them.

Try the Grip Gauntlet

Each year I have gone, the GNC booth holds the GNC Grip Gauntlet featuring IronMind Grippers, IronMind Rolling Thunder, and the Blob. If you lift the Blob, 207 on the Rolling Thunder, and close the #3 Gripper, you get a real nice gift certificate – I think it’s like $50 or $100! What’s a Blob? Check out this article = = > What is the Blob?

Bring a Towel

A lot of greasy sons-of-guns get their hands on the Blob over the course of the weekend. I mean THOUSANDS of people try this thing. The Blob is hard enough with the ultra-slick stove paint they put on it. It will just be harder if it is covered in hand sweat, so bring your towel to wipe it and the Rolling Thunder off before you make your attempt. A trip through the Gauntlet is worth just the opportunity to meet and shake hands with the Gillingham brothers.

Bring Some Cash, but Take a Deep Breath

You will have opportunities to buy a lot of cool stuff at the Arnold, so bring some cash or a credit card, but take it easy. Don’t just buy on impulse, because you could end up going off the deep end. If you are going with a friend, tell them to monitor your spending. Know what you want to look for, but set your limits.

Bring Your Diesel Shirt

When you walk through the event center, if you see me make sure to give me a holler, and wear your Diesel shirt so I can spot you easier.

Check out Mighty Mitts

Mighty Mitts will be taking place between events at the Arnold Strongman Competition on Friday Afternoon and Saturday evening. I will be competing with 10 of the top dudes in the world. Many, I have competed against in standard Grip competitions. Others, I have met before, but never competed against, and still others I have never met and never competed against. Some of these guys have tremendous Grips on them and have done awesome things Grip-related in the past, just never competed in standard contests before. With this event being all thick bar, it is going to be something to behold!

Wear Comfortable Shoes

You spend a lot of time on your feet at the Arnold and there is almost nowhere to sit down except on the floor, so make sure your shoes are comfortable or else your feet will be screaming by the end of the weekend.

Steal a Seat

It is a cut-throat process getting a chair in front of the stage. You basically have to swoop down immediately once someone stands up. This may mean if you are traveling in a group that you might get split up. The seat is worth it to give your feet a break, so steal your buddy’s seat if you have to.

Cell Phone on Vibrate

If you get split up from your crew, it’s very hard to meet back up, and it is so loud that it is almost impossible to hear a cell phone ring, so set the thing on vibrate and put it in your hip pocket so you will feel it.

Wallet in Hip Pocket

Not sure what the crime rates are at the Arnold Classic, but there are pick-pockets everywhere. it is slightly harder for someone to pick your pocket if you stick your pocket in your front hip pocket than your back pocket or leg pocket. Don’t stick it in a zipper pocket in your book bag. They are too easy to unzip by someone else while you walk and you will never know it. It’s a shame this tip even has to appear here, but it is a sad truth. Awareness is preparedness.

Alright, my friends, it’s just about time for me to hit the road and be on my way to Columbus, Ohio. If you have any more tips for the better of the order, then please leave a comment in the comment box below!

Thanks a ton and have a great weekend, especially if you are at the Arnold.

And if you see me and I don’t see you, yell, shout, hit me with a rock, poke my eye or something to get my attention. It’ll be nice to meet everybody.

Read about last year’s Arnold Classic = = > Arnold 2009

Arnold Classic Weekend Special on the Card Tearing eBook = = > 33% off on Card Tearing eBook Just $19.97!.

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Smooth Sides Out, Dan!

Jim Smith — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:25:05 +0000

Hey there everyone. Welcome to our Diesel strength blog.

Over the holidays, I found myself watching the movie Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

If you haven’t seen this classic, Jim Carey plays a detective who hunts down the criminal that kidnaps the Miami Dolphins’ mascot, Snowflake. The culprit ends up being a former kicker for the Dolphins, Ray Finkle, who is trying to extract revenge on Dan Marino, the long time Dolphins Quarterback.

The reason for revenge? Years before, Marino supposedly held a a snapped ball incorrectly, (didn’t hold it Laces Out) causing Finkle to miss a field goal in the closing seconds of Superbowl 17. This miss sends Finkle into madness, causing him to be committed to an institution from which he escapes and later changes his identity to a woman police chief.

If you haven’t seen this and don’t believe that this is a real movie, then check this out below. I cued it up so that it starts right where Ace investigates Finkle’s Room.

Dude, who the hell can think of that storyline? Sicko’s. Whoever it is, they probably wear the same Zubaz pants Marino has in the one poster…Keep them the hell out of my garage gym.

Laces Out, Dan!

While Laces Out is the way to go if you are planning to be the place holder in the game of American Football, you also better be strong enough to catch and control the ball when it’s coming your way. With that in mind, here are some ways you can train your grip using some plates you probably already own or are already at the gym where you train.

Only instead of Laces Out, we’ll be pinching Smooth-Sides-Out (SSO)!

Two 25’s: Smooth-Sides-Out

Grip training is important for all athletes in all sports where you have to catch, throw, or hold onto something. Grip training is important for getting stronger at other lifts in the gym and it’s important for building the hands and wrists up to protect against injury in sports that involve high degrees of contact or the possibility to fall and land hard on the ground, field or turf.

Everybody needs to hit their grip. Here are several Pinch Grip combinations you can try in your training or with your athletes, using just some of the plates you have laying around the gym.

Pinch – Thumb and fingers oppose one another

Plate Pinching is some of the most basic grip training that there is. It takes almost no time to set up and you don’t need to go buy any extra equipment in order to train the hands effectively.

Here is a progression model of Plate Pinches from easiest to hardest for you to try.

Two 25’s: Place two 25’s together SSO (as shown above). Grip them with the thumb on one side and the fingers on the other and lift them to lockout!

Five 10’s: Place five 10’s together and get to work. You really have to squeeze hard, or else the middle plates will slide out and splash all over the floor.

Two 35’s: Now the plates are getting taller and the lifts are getting more difficult.

Three 25’s: The plates are shorter again, but now they are getting wider.

Two 45’s: Now it is getting serious. If you can pinch two 45’s, then you are world class for narrow, loose pinch! Here’s a vid of the feat for ya. This is one where hand size won’t make that big of a difference if the plates are of normal size.

Six 10’s: You had better have some seriously large hands to do this one. That is one of the main reasons I am able to do this feat.

Three 35’s: I only know of one dude who has done this. They were European 33’s but still an amazing display of pinch power.

Three 45’s: Now you are in uncharted territory!

You can see from the videos and pictures that the smooth sides are out on each one. This is important to maintain the challenge and integrity of the lifts. If you point the lips outwards, you make the lifts way easier.

Want to combine pinching with other athletic movements? Let’s expand on the basic lifts a bit using Extension of the Movement, as Smitty highlights in the Chaos Manual.

Plate Pinch Cleans

Set up 3, 4, or 5, tens or maybe a pair of 25’s and clean them to your shoulder. If you are really looking for a challenge, clean them up, lower them with one hand and clean them again over and over.

Move the Mountain

Set up some pairs of 25’s, and combinations of tens at one end of the gym, hallway or wrestling area. Pinch each combination and carry them to a goal line about 20 feet away or so, depending on how much of a bad ass you feel like that day. Run back and pinch another set and run them down. Shoot for the best time. If you drop them before the goal line, you have to pick the dropped plates up and start over.

Plate Pinch Halos

Pinch three dimes and perform halos. This is a great combo warm-up for the grip, forearms, and for the shoulders.

The possibilities are endless. Plate pinching does not have to be limited to just lifting the plates and setting them down – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Because plate pinching is so easy to set up there is absolutely no reason to not include some form of it in your training so that you strengthen your thumbs, hands, fingers and wrists.

Now, I’m always interested in hearing more ways to train pinch, so if you’ve got something you are doing that is working for strengthening your pinch, please post it below in the comments.

By the way – two things to let you know about.

1. I took a big step forward on one of the things I have been working on today. Tomorrow should be another big step. This project is going to help a lot of people develop their grip strength and perform huge feats of strength.

2. I am off to Maine for an unbelievable ice fishing trip this weekend. If you have any questions for me, please be patient if I don’t get back with you right away.

I take my 30-day email assistance guarantee for my products like the Card Tearing eBook and Home Made Strength very seriously, but I am just not going to have any computers where I will be and I don’t know if my BlackBerry is going to get service out on this huge lake. I will get back with anybody that emails me as soon as I can on Monday when I fly back into town.

3. We have a Grip Training Session scheduled for January 23rd. There’s already 3 dudes planning on coming. I of course intend on recording it all as well as streaming it live for everyone to check out. If you have anything you’d like to see us try that will help you out in your training, please let us know so we can try to work it into the routine.

Well, that’s about it for now. I hope your workouts are going freakin’ awesome so far in this New Year.

If you’re working your way back into it. Don’t give up. You’ll be glad you stuck with it when you are lighter, stronger, and healthier in a few months. And with that…

All the best with your training,

-Jedd-Similar Posts:

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3 Ways to Use Towels for a Monster Grip

Jim Smith — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:23:14 +0000

Do you dedicate time to training your grip?

If you are not including Grip Strength training in your program in a variety of forms, you’re are making a mistake and holding yourself or your athletes back.

Not training the grip specifically will lead to weak hands and that will lead to slipped tackles, dropped passes, missed rebounds and missed deadlifts, among other things.

You need to train your grip regularly, in some way. One way to do that is by dedicating time to performing specialized grip movements such as plate pinches, thick wrist roller lifts, and gripper training.

These forms of grip training are great and will certainly lead to a strong set of wrists, hands, fingers, and thumbs.

However, there are draw backs to doing specialized grip lifts. One of the main draw backs is that many coaches and athletes do not have much specialized grip equipment, due to their cost. Unless you know how to make your own strength training equipment, this difficulty can be a hard one to overcome.

Another thing about performing specialized grip training movements is that it can eat up precious time. When time is limited, it can be tough to work the grip stuff in without sacrificing the other core components that should be in your program for building strength, power and speed.

Because everyone’s time is limited, it is important to work toward making grip a part of the other lifts you do during the workout. When you combine grip with your full body training, this is called integration.

I would like to point to an implement that you most likely already have and that you can use in order to incorporate grip integrations into your routine. This item is cheap, resilient, and versatile, and it works great in combination with your kettlebells.

Towels for Grip Training

Towels are great for building grip strength. Because they can be folded and molded into so many different positions, towels can be used in conjunction with other implements you are probably already using. This enables to train your grip not isolation, but rather integration: the entire body is being worked but the grip remains one of the limiting factors in the movement.

Here are 3 ways to use towels in your training to emphasize the grip component of a given lift.

Wrapping

Towels can be wrapped around the handle of a kettlebell or barbell, instantly making the lift more difficult and putting an increased emphasis on grip strength for that lift. Kettlebells, barbells, and dumbbells are great for incorporating the wrapping method with towels.

Towel Wrapped Around a Handle

Wrapping the towel causes the handle to increase in size, making it tougher to hold onto. With the towel in this position, the main type of grip strength being trained is support grip, stressing the fingers the most.

Looping

The towel can also be looped around an implement, changing the way the grip is oriented during the movement. While still stressing the fingers, there is also an angle change for the wrist.

Towel Looped Around Kettlebell Handle

Depending on the thickness of the towel, you can end up with a variety of material sizes. For instance, if using a relatively new, and high quality towel, the gripping area can become very thick. Smaller towels will be thinner in your grip.

Also, if using a very short towel with the looping technique, you can end up with a very small gripping surface. This can result in a very challenging lift, isolating two or three fingers, and bringing about the need to squeeze the towel extremely hard.

Draping

The draping method is a little bit different. While the other two implements change the size, form and rigidity of the gripping surface, the draping method’s purpose is elimination of friction. By covering the gripping surface with a towel, the slickness of the implement is increased dramatically.

I dare you to try these quick grip lifts out. The Kettlebell in the pictures above is 95-pounder and it is pretty freakin’ tough to perform swings using these towel wrapping techniques. Make sure when you do them you are standing far away from any mirrors. The last thing you want to do is start out the New Year with 7 years of bad luck.

Speaking of the New Year, I will be coming out with something very soon that is going to help you accomplish all of your GRIP GOALS in 2010.

I’m tired of hearing people tell me that they are spinning their wheels in the gym and not getting anywhere, so I developed something that I think is going to make a huge difference.

I can’t tell you exactly what it is right now – I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet – but let’s just say that it is BIG.

I will have more information for you soon enough. I have been working on it all Christmas weekend and am putting the finishing touches on it.

Check back this week for the big announcement.

In the mean time, all the best in your training,

-Jedd-

More Grip Training posts here: How to Improve Grip StrengthSimilar Posts:

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No Live Stream Today

Jim Smith — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:04:58 +0000

Diesels,

Several of the Gripaholics that were going to be here today had to cancel out, so there is no live stream today, but we are in the process of scheduling more group training sessions soon, so please stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is a quick video of the last time we got together when Mike Rinderle lifted the 50-lb Blob for his first time and when I had a go at number 4 gripper, coming pretty close to finishing it off.

If you don’t know what the Blob is, here is a post that will tell you all about it: The 50-lb York Blob.

I wanted to let you all know a few of the things I have going on…

This week I will have guest posts popping up all over the internet. I sent a guest post over to my buddy Joe Hashey on Grip Training Pitfalls for Strength Coaches and Athletes. Believe it or not, the way you train grip for athletics is different from the way you train for doing feats of strength and for competing in grip contests. I’ll go over that for you at Joe’s site, Synergy-Athletics.com.

Also, I am working on a guest post for the Art of Manliness on Feats of Strength that build huge amounts of muscle. If you go to that board at all, look for that coming up soon.

I have plenty of other stuff in the works as well. I shot a ton of video yesterday, have lots of other stuff that I am sitting on, and have a whole sheet full of stuff that I haven’t even done yet. It’ll all be coming your way in time.

Also, some time this week, I am going for the Mash Monster Gripper Level 3 Certification. I was supposed to do that during today’s live stream, but won’t be able to now, at least not with a group of dudes cheering me on. I will have to go at this one solo! Wish me luck.

Diesels, with Thanksgiving coming up, I may not be posting much this week. I am lucky and have a huge family and have tons of Thanksgiving Festivities this coming week. While it gets in my way of doing website stuff, I am still very thankful to have so many people in my life that I love and that love me. I hope this coming week, you remember how lucky you are and tell your family how much you love them like I will be doing.

I also want to let everyone know something that happened within my family a couple weeks ago. My sister was heading to North Carolina for the weekend to visit one of our cousins. She was in the right hand lane of travel on a big highway and a giant tractor trailer was entering from a ramp beside her.

She could not get over to the left lane to let the truck enter, but the trucker did not yield. The giant truck smashed into my sisters little car, propelling it forward and spinning it around 180 degrees. The turck and my sister hit the brakes and now my sister’s car was actually facing the grill of the tractor trailer, being pushed backwards down the highway to a screeching halt.

To top this all off, once the two vehicles came to stop, the tractor trailer driver simply backed up a little bit and then drove off as if nothing had happened.

I guess the lesson learned here is on these on-ramps, you never know how the driver is going to act. Will they yield? Will they speed up? Will they get in front of you? Will they hit you? Who knows – so be prepare for anything and keep yourself safe. Move to the left when you can and get the heck out of the way!

Luckily, my sister and her boyfriend walked away from this mess without even a scratch on them, but they were very scared and shocked that the driver did not even have the decency to check and see if they were alright. It could have been a lot worse and because she got out of it unhurt, I am truly Thankful.

So I encourage each of you reading to count your blessings this week. If you have any stories you’d like to share with us here at the Diesel Community feel free.

All the best in your training this week. Remember, the show still goes on the week of Thanksgiving my friends!

-Jedd-

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39 Reps with the 50-lb Blob

Jim Smith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:41:41 +0000

Recently I set out to hit a big mark on repetitions with the 50-lb Blob. The video of this feat is below, but before we get to that I want to make sure that everyone knows exactly what I am talking about.

Blob Facts

Richard Sorin lifting the Blob

Origin of the Blob

The Blob was named by Richard Sorin, who is one of the modern pioneers of Grip training. Sorin had a 100-lb York Dumbbell that broke and instead of throwing it out, he decided to try to lift it by pinching it at the top. After much trying, he was finally able to lift this block weight, or broken dumbbell head, and began calling it the Blob. This test of strength would later gain popularity as awareness of Grip Training grew.

Why is the Blob so Challenging to Lift?

The Blob is more difficult to lift that a hex-shaped block weight because it flares out on the sides. Because of this flaring slope, your hand is positioned in a more open position, adding to the challenge.

What kind of Blobs are there?

There are many kinds of Blobs and it can be tough to sort them all out.

Fatman Blobs – These are the original style heads of York Dumbbells. They bulge out on both sides and are quite a bit tougher to lift than other Blobs. Richard Sorin is the first person I ever heard of who called the original Yorks by the name Fatman. In addition to having rounder sides, most of these Blobs are also 1 to 4 pounds heavy.

New Generation Blobs –This generation of dumbbell was designed slightly different from the original style. While the handle side bulge is similar to the original Fatman style, the non-handle side is flatter. This flatter thumb side makes this generation of Blob somewhat easier to lift. This style of dumbbell head was discontinued circa 2005. These Blobs are usually pretty close to 50 pounds.

Blob50 – Gordon Vizecky got a cast produced of one of the newer style Yorks in 2005 once York stopped making them. From time to time he gets more Blob50’s made at a foundry near his home in Minnesota. These Blobs vary in difficulty depending mostly on the texture. A rougher texture generally makes the Blob easier to lift. There is little data available to show how the weight of these Blobs vary.

Legacy Blobs – This is the most recent style of dumbbell produced by the York Barbell company. They have one side that is very straight making them very easy to lift when the thumb is placed on that side. Anecdotal evidence suggests that if they are lifted “backwards,” with the thumb on the rounder side, the challenge returns.

Fatman Clones – A fellow named Chris from the Baltimore area made a cast from a Fatman style Blob and produced replicas of the original style Blob. Chris sent me one of these gems and it is by far the heaviest and most difficult Blob of any design I have tried to lift. It is wide like a flatman, shoots out on both sides, and can annoy you like the hall monitor in High School. I love my clone and have another one on the way. Thanks Chris for going to all the trouble of producing these!!!

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

So, there you go.

There are many types of Blobs out there. As long as they are not of the Legacy variety, they are considered a legitimate challenge to lift and something to be proud of.

I got my first Blob from Rick Walker in 2003. Blessed with large hands and great thumb R.O.M., I was able to lift it and take a few steps with it the first time I saw it.

I always include plenty of Blob work in my training, because block weight training is so great for hand strength development, whether it’s Blob holds for time, Double Blob Farmer’s Walk, Blob Plus Weight, Blob by the Face, or Blob Lift for Reps.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I recently tried to go for as many full deadlifts with the Blob as possible. By full deadlift, I am talking about standing completely erect with the hips locked and the blob up near my waist area.

I set out for a goal of 40 Blob lifts in however much time that I needed to accomplish it. Unfortunately I lost count as I was lifting and only got 39, but what a tremendous workout. Man, was I pissed when I realized I miss-counted, though…

Here’s the video of my 39 reps in about 6 minutes.

Several things helped me get so many reps in about 6 minutes time:

Pre-chalking a large area – By heavily pre-chalking a large area of the blob before lifting it, I could shift my hand around on the blob and lift it from various positions once my thumb wiped spots of chalk off the paint.

Multiple reps without re-gripping – By using a touch-and-go approach, I was able to rep out 3 or more reps in the beginning when my hands were still fresh. I was able to sneak in more reps in less time this way and as a result hand fewer irritation in my thumb skin.

Tilting – It is way easier to get the reps in if you tilt the blob prior to lifting it. This puts more of the emphasis on the fingers and wrist while taking some off of the thumb, requiring more time to wear the thumbs out.

If you have any questions about Blob lifting, please let me know. You can do this my leaving a comment below. Don’t forget to check back, though! I always try to respond to comments!

All the best in your training,

-Jedd-Similar Posts:

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