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:

Weekly Diesel Grip Strength Challenge

Here are the submissions for this week’s Grip Strength Challenge – the Plate Pinch Hula.

This is a great drill for building thumb / pinch strength without expensive equipment, because you can use the plates you already have.

SCORING PROCESS

The way I scored this was with a Stop Watch, and once the hands separated, I hit start and the hit stop once the athlete reached a minute, so, the count may be slightly different from what the athlete counted, but not much. (more…)

Photo Courtesy Michelle Carns

In December 2009, I set a new World Record in the Two Hands Pinch Lift with 256.04 lbs after many years of trying. The picture above shows the record breaking lift.

This was one of the main focuses of my training for quite some time and finally breaking the record was a tremendous thrill for me.

For whatever reason, during my training for the Gripmas Carol, I felt more confident than I ever had been. My left thumb, which gave me trouble throughout much of 2009, for some reason felt better after Nationals, adding to my confidence.

One day, Smitty said to me, “Man could you imagine if you taped all of your workouts from now until December. You could have a complete documentary if you actually break the record.”

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

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. (more…)

History is Made – A New Record in the Two Hands Pinch

As you saw in one of the recent posts below, this past weekend I set a new world record in the Two Hands Pinch – 256 lbs.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP (more…)