Hello Diesels!

In just a few short hours, CRUSH: Total Gripper Domination will be available.

But now is the time to discuss the winner of the Free DVD Essay Contest.

The rules were simple. Write an essay with 100-words or more describing why you should win a free copy of the CRUSH DVD.

There were many entries – 40, to be exact, and they included many names I recognized from past emails, purchases, Facebook, YouTube, and more, as well as many new names I have not seen before, which was cool. Thank you to all who participated. For such a small window of just 24 hours, I thought the response was pretty darn impressive!

Within the essays, I was impressed by the wide array of background each of you come from. From Martial Artists, to Strength Enthusiasts, to Teachers, it was AWESOME to see such the diversity.

Of course in a contest such as this, it is tough to decide on a winner and it would be the easy way out to just do a random drawing, but I said I was going to choose a winner, and that is what I am going to do.

As I had said previously, the winner would be the person who deserved it the most, and with so many deserving people, I decided to choose the person whose essay conveyed, in my eyes, the most passion in their essay.

With that in mind, my choice is Mike Watson. I chose Mike because when I read his essay about his love and drive for wrestling, it really resonated with me and I saw similarities with how I feel about the sport of Grip.

Below is his essay:

“First off I need help getting my grip power up for wrestling. I love wrestling more then anything, and nothing has been able to stop me from doing this sport, which I love. The key things you need in wrestling is: grip, neck strength, speed, technique and endurance. Each part is very important, grip is essential for performing moves and starting off in the match. I have wrestled in Japan for almost 3 years before I had to come back to the states. This sport means the world to me. It keeps me out of trouble, keeps my grades in check, keeps me fit and keeps me disciplined. People can talk about why they want it, but they don’t live and breathe something everyday. If you love something as much as I do, you would understand why I want help with my grip. Wrestling isn’t a sport, you don’t play wrestling. Wrestling is a lifestyle and you respect your opponent and yourself. It isn’t a game its life, and life isn’t something you play with. Thank you for your time to read this I hope I get this DVD would help me in my wrestling career in life.”

Mike, I thought your essay was great. Thanks for posting it and make sure to send me your address so I can get the DVD to you.

There were many other great submissions. Thanks again to everyone who posted.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

I am running a 24-hour contest to choose a winner of my new DVD, CRUSH: Total Gripper Domination.

You can enter the contest for free, and there is no purchase required.

All you have to do is write out an essay of 100 words or more telling me why you should win the free copy of the DVD and I will make a selection and announce the winner tomorrow, during Monday Night RAW.

This video will describe the process in more detail.

You must post your comment in the comment section below.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

Grippers are one of the most popular forms of Grip Strength Training.

I’d say that Grippers and Bending Steel get more people involved in Grip as a practice and as a sport than any other aspects.

This might be because the concept is so simple. You put the gripper in your hand and you close it.

And while the concept is simple, if you want to close upper level grippers, then you need to get serious about it and dedicate yourself to mastering them.

The problem is, people sometimes do things that seem to make sense at the time, but in the long run don’t do much toward helping them improve on Grippers.

If you like Gripper Training and want to get the most out of the time you put into it, then check out the free video I just made by clicking below.

Avoid all the mistakes that beginners make and learn from someone who has been in the trenches.

Top 10 Gripper Training Mistakes

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!

Earlier this week, I posted a video of myself doing my second ever Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift, and first one I was able to get on film. (Thanks to everyone who dropped a comment of congratulations!)

What I wanted to do was cover a few things that I have been doing to work towards developing the grip strength to do this feat after so many years of training on the Inch.

Sometimes when you work on something for years, you can get complacent, which I think I have been doing for a while, but by thinking outside the box and using some OUTLAW strategies, I am starting to see progress I am happy with.

I have really been wanting to do this feat for quite some time and last Winter I really started working my ass off to get it done. I implemented the following things on a routine basis to spend more time in the open hand position.

1. Nearly All Pull-ups on Rolling Thunders, Often with Weight Added

I generally do pull-ups every single week on my back days, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to work in more open-handed training.

Remember, the SAID principle, which is used in the Strength and Conditioning Field…

Specific
Adaptations
(to)
Imposed
Demands

What this means is your body will get better doing at what you throw at it. Since, the Inch Dumbbell is a thick bar implement, there is open hand grip strength cross-over from using RT’s for pull-ups.

Normally, I do pull-ups on RT’s in the rep-range of 8 to 12 reps, but I don’t have any of those video, so I posted this clip where I do a single with a 95-lb KB hanging from my waist.

2. Lots of Suitcase Inch Dumbbell Lifts

There are three main ways to pick up the Inch Dumbbell: Straddled with the wrist in neutral, Straddled with the wrist pronated, and Suitcase-style, positioned outside the feet. For me, Straddled + Neutral is the easiest way for me to lift the Inch, Straddled + Pronated lies in the middle and I historically STRUGGLE to even lift it.

Since a Farmer’s Walk with the Inch Dumbbell would require picking the dumbbells up in a Suitcase Position, I have been doing a lot of work lifting the Inch outside my body.

Here is a clip from video where I was just plain dominating the Suitcase Deadlift with the Inch Dumbbell.

3. Inch Dumbbell Hustle Lifts

The last thing I have been doing a lot of recently is what I call Hustles. I started doing these primarily because I wanted to develop the grip strength necessary to be able to lift the Inch in a hurry for medleys. I found very quickly that this method left my fingers and thumb MUCH more tired the next day, so I have continued doing them.

You might be asking yourself…

How Do I Apply This Information to My Training?

Most of you do not have an Inch Dumbbell Replica so you may be wondering how this can be applied to your training. Let me explain a few ways.

1. Try incorporating your goal implement or something very similar into other methods of your training. For instance, if your goal is to develop the hand strength to pinch two 45′s, you could try performing rows or shrugs while pinching something of a similar size (SAID Principle)

2. Try modifying the position from which you lift the implement. If you are working toward developing the grip strength to lift the Blob, then take note of how you usually set up to make your attempts. You can move the Blob outside of your body, like a Suitcase Deadlift, or you could change the distance you pull the implement, among other position changes.

3. Try working with a less-than-optimal set-up. Normally when I lift the Inch, I make sure to synch my grip in tight. By not doing this, it make the lift a small percentage more difficult. This can be applied to any grip strength feats, even Grippers. Don’t take the time to get the set perfect every time. Rush it a bit or even purposely leave a finger off…

These tactics have all seemed to work pretty well for me. They represent the great majority of work I have done to improve performance on the Inch.

If you want to build your own Loadable Thick Bar Handle, I can show you how to make one for about $7 or so. Just check out my On-line DVD, Home Made Strength II and I will show you how to build your own grip equipment. It will take you about 20 minutes to put together and you can be training on it this weekend.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!

This week’s Grip Strength Challenge was the Inverted Gripper Close for Reps! This is an interesting way to train with Grippers as it puts emphasis on the first two fingers in a different way from normal.

Here are the submissions. As I said I would be I was very strict with the judging and only counted the reps if I could easily tell the Gripper went between the handles for the legal set AND if I could easily tell the handles touched.

Rick Walker – 42 Reps

Rick potentially had a lot more closes that were completed, however, I only counted the ones that I felt were clearly touching. He managed the first place spot even while blaring what seems to be Bel Biv Devoe or some other crappy late 80′s / early 90′s Hip Hop garbage! Nice classic Diesel Shirt by the way!!!

Josh McIntyre – 37 Reps

Josh may have actually been up in the 70′s with his closes but they went so fast and his big meaty hands were so bulbous blocking the camera that I could not make out if the handles were indeed touching. Damn good speed brother!

Ben Edwards – 14 Reps with #2

Ben follows the same gripper loaning system I do – forgetting he has loaned stuff out completely! Ben got 14 reps (and maybe a couple more that were obscured with a #2 Gripper, plus he did them almost completely no-set style. Very impressive brother!

Paul Tompkins – 22 Reps

Paul provided a very clear video. Having his training partner film proved to be the ticket to getting clear closes. However, his rep total was just a little low to climb to the top of the ladder this week.

Mike Turpin – 11 Reps

Great work Mike. You had another good solid 4 or 5 reps in you if you would have utilized the thumb in the Gripper close.

Darrin Shallman – 10 Reps

Darrin sent me a submission and I accidentally left it out at first – my apologies, Darrin – I did not see your video when it came in. Darrin may have tied Mike – with a little closer video, I might have been able to clear one more rep. Either way, you have identified grippers as an opportunity and know what to work on. Thankfully, the Vulcan will not be done inverted during World’s Strongest Hands 2011.

Congratulations to Rick Walker for the win this week!

Sorry for the tough judging, but that is just how it has got to be. To remedy this we will most likely not do high rep stuff like this again to avoid controversy.

Jedd