Hello DIESELS!!

I hope you have all had a fantastic fourth of July. I also hope you got the chance to spend time with family and also to get a good training session in.

This week’s challenge is inspired by my buddy, Mike Rojas from Strong 101 Gym!

Mike won one of the weekly challenges a few weeks back, in the One Hand Dumbbell Snatch. When he received his shirt, he immediately threw it on and did some Grip Training, and this is what he did…

Two Hands Pinch Holds for Time

Two Hand Pinch Holds are great for developing thumb strength, full hand strength, and for endurance. Just look at how Mike had to focus in so that he could get a good time. He said he got to 1 minute, 14 seconds – BAD ASS!

Requirements for this lift:

1. Must be two 45′s or two 20-kg plates with smooth sides

2. Plates must be positioned smooth-sides-out

3. Must use a double overhand (pronated grip)

4. Must lift the plates together off the floor with both hands and hold for time without touching the plates against your body

5. Your time begins when the plates leave the floor and ends when one or both plates slip out of the hands

6. Video requirements:

• Title: DieselCrew.com – Grip Strength Challenge – Two Hand Pinch Hold
• Description: http://www.dieselcrew.com Grip Strength
• Tags: grip strength, thumb strength, pinch grip training

7. Upload you video to YouTube and send me the link by 8 PM on Friday, July 8th, please!

8. Have fun. Try multiple attempts. Send in your best, even if you give it go multiple times per week!

Here is a video demonstration of the Two Hand Pinch Hold for Time:

Send me your submissions, DIESELS!

Jedd

This week’s challenge was the Two Hands Pinch and it was a Wild Card Qualifier for Nationals and a good group of dudes threw their hat in the ring! Check them out below.

PITT – 130

PITT’s only done this a couple of times and his plates look pretty damn slick. His best lift was 130, but this exercise is going to be great for him for developing thumb strength, stability and resistance to injury for his action in the wrestling ring!

Kevin Greto – 140

Kevin Greto seems a mild-mannered Gripster. However, I think you are going to see him Hulk up on the adjustable plates when it comes to the World’s Strongest Hands Series 2011.

Carlos Rodriguez – 140

Carlos has been hitting his Grip Training consistently and seeing improvements gradually. With a tighter fitting pipe, I think he would have had an even better performance. I’ve gotta give it to him though – he sacrificed his pull-up bar in order to Pinch – that’s what I’m talkin’ about BROTHER!!! Also, because the heavier end of the bar was in the back, that makes the lift harder as well.

Darrin Shallman – 146.4

Darrin continues to submit for just about every single challenge. Dude is a freak. I think with some training on the implements he has a future of success in competitions. I believe he is well under the 82.5-kg weight limit for the World’s Strongest Hands Series, so if he can make it to a comp locale, I think he could be a contender. Keep it up tough guy!

Mike Turpin – 148.5

Check out Mike’s video, as he brings some of the showman aspect in this weeks Grip Challenge Submission. Mike is a tall dude with good sized hands. I think he could Pinch over 200 on the Pinch Device with a few months of training, especially with the crew he trains with – a bunch of good strong guys.

Paul Tompkins -158.5

Paul is one fire-under-the-ass away from becoming a serious force to be reckoned with in Grip.

Jason Steeves – 177

Jason has been packing on some muscle evidently. Also, he has been posting a seemingly endless array of PR’s on The Grip Authority Facebook Group. He has increased his Two Hands Pinch and several types of One Hand Pinch, especially with Blobs/Block Weights using the Seriously Strong Thumbs program I devised. Keep up the good work, man!

Josh McIntyre – 181

Josh’s number of 181 took the title this week and so he qualifies for North American Grip Championships in July. Many competitors put 15 to 20 pounds on their Two Hand Pinch just by using the Euro-Pinch Device, and another 5 to 10 once they find the right width, so it is going to be exciting watching Josh go for a big number, if he can make it to Nationals.

Congrats to Josh for qualifying and great job to all who tested themselves in this week’s challenge.

Next week will be Grippers. I am expecting that a lot more people would submit videos, as Grippers a re a much more popular aspect of the sport. The video should be up by Monday.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. Check out one of our sponsors for Grip Sport Nationals, Oxygen 4 Energy – click the banner below:

Remember when you were a kid and you played Uno?

You always looked forward to drawing a Wild card so that you could change the color of the cards to what you had so you could really screw over the dude sitting next to you.

Well, now, you have the chance to not only get the figurative Wild Card in the sport of Grip, but essentially the Draw Four Wild Card, the most evil and powerful card in the deck that not only lets you change the color being played but also makes the next dude pick up four cards to add to his hand, the perfect play when that guy’s about ready to go out.

This week’s Grip Strength Challenge will allow someone to potentially qualify for Nationals and compete with the best in the nation. What is great about that is that it will give someone the chance to qualify who might have had an off-day in a contest, or even become qualified when no contests have been held near their area.

In fact, the next three weeks in the Grip Strength challenge will be Wild Card weeks! So you have an outstanding chance to qualify over the course of the next 4 weeks from the comfort of your own home, something that has never been possible before.

Two Hands Pinch

This week’s lift is the Two Hands Pinch. Now, normally in Grip Contests, an adjustable apparatus is used for this event, but in this case it will not be required. Instead you can just use normal plates with a pipe or bar running through them.

Also, in normal Grip Contests, the weights are all weighed using a certified scale. This will not be necessary, instead we will go by the number stated on the plates.

The pipe running through the plates and any collars that are added should be weighed, however – that is important. You must weigh them on a scale on video or else you can not count them.

For more specifics on how this lift is done for this week’s challenge, please watch the video below.

Two Hands Pinch

Some other requirements for this week’s challenge…

• A metal or PVC pipe can be used

• A double overhand pinch grip must be used
• Plates Must Be Smooth-Sides-Out
• The plates have to be lifted to lockout or very, very close to it (I WILL be watching closely)
• The implement must be controlled on the way down. If it slips out, it is no good.
• Unlimited attempts. Go for the biggest lift you can
• The weights must be added evenly on both sides of the pipe. In other words, if you add a 25 on the front, you have to add a 25 on the back as well. Front loading the implement makes it much, much easier.
• If there are any rules I have forgotten and you violate the spirit of the lift, it will not count. I reserve the right to disqualify a lift if it is in violation

That is about it. Other than that, make sure you match your video with the required information for the Title, Description, and Tags.

• Title: DieselCrew.com Grip Strength Challenge – Two Hands Pinch
• Description: http://www.dieselcrew.com Grip Strength Training
• Tags: grip strength, hand strength, grip training, wrist strength, pinch grip

Looking forward to the submissions and I hope you are able to qualify for Nationals. If so, see you there!

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. Get on the Strongman Training DVD Early Bird List. Put your name and email in the box below.

Sick, Hard Hub Plate

Hello Diesels!

It is time to vote for the winner of the Grip Strength Challenge – hub lifting a 25-lb plate.
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This past Monday, an area news station, WETM in Elmira / Corning, NY, came to my garage gym here in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and they ran the story on Thursday night.

Below is the video clip. In it I talk about my competitive history in Baseball, Strongman and Grip, I talk about what is included in a Grip Contest, as well as the backgrounds of some of the competitors – after all, Grip Sport isn’t just a bunch of hulkish 300+ pound monsters…