Diesel Crew - Muscle Building, Athletic Development, Strength Training, Grip Strength

Strength and Conditioning for Elite Athletic Performance - Free Articles, Videos for Coaches, Fitness Professionals, Personal Trainers, Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists for All Sports

As Seen On
  • Home
  • Media
    • Video
    • Articles
    • Galleries
    • Interviews
    • GS Radio
    • Contact
  • Products
    • eBooks
    • Manuals
    • DVDs
    • Services
  • Team Diesel
    • Napalm’s Blog
    • Smiitty’s Blog
    • Spray Series
    • Testmonials
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Contact
  • Forum
  • Home
  • Media
    • Video
    • Articles
    • Galleries
    • Interviews
    • GS Radio
    • Contact
  • Products
    • eBooks
    • Manuals
    • DVDs
    • Services
  • Team Diesel
    • Napalm’s Blog
    • Smiitty’s Blog
    • Spray Series
    • Testmonials
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Contact
  • Forum

Posts Tagged ‘tearing’

Tales from the Grip – Stories of Grip and Feats of Strength

Friday, July 27th, 2012

Over a year ago, my buddy Josh McIntyre and I were emailing and he suggested a name for a series to be featured here on the site called Tales from the Grip. It was to be stories of training written by all of you and posted here on the site.

The title is of course a play on words of Tales from the Crypt, which if you have never seen, was a horror story series shown on HBO, I believe, about 20 years ago and probably longer. I am probably showing my age by referencing it…LOL.

Tales from the Grip – Fayette Fair, Dunbar PA – July 2012

Today, I am going to start the series off by telling you of my experiences doing my first ever professional Strongman Performances, at the Fayette Fairgrounds, which started last night (July 26th) and will continue on until Tuesday July 31. If you are in the area of Dunbar, PA, you should come check it out.

How it Came to Be

I received an email from John Beatty well over a year ago asking if I’d ever be interested in doing Strongman Performances with him or for him. John was the owner of Fat Bastard Barbell Company for several years before recently selling it to his friend Jerry when he got to busy to keep it going. If that doesn’t ring a bell, then you may remember seeing him on TV back in 2010 on America’s Got Talent when he gave the big “In Your Face” to Piers Morgan.

Here’s the video:

John is an accomplished Strength Athlete himself. He was a professional strongman competitor from 2000 to 2010, and has also competed in many powerlifting and Grip Sport competitions, while also bending some awesome high-level steel.

After the initial emails, I didn’t hear much from John for quite some time, so I didn’t think much of it, but then, late last year, I got a call from John and he told me that he could use me for some shows coming up in the summer. I thought it sounded like an awesome and fun opportunity and I immediately told him I would love to try it.

In the months to come, I picked John’s brain about how to even set up a Strongman show. Considering my bending experience was limited to contests where you generally wrap and try to bend as big of steel as possible in 5 minutes time, the idea of putting together an entire 30-minute program seemed very daunting.

I have watched performing strongmen like John Brookfield, Dennis Rogers, Pat Povilaitis, Dave Whitley and Mike Bruce a handful of times over the years, but they mainly had performed single feats as part of other strength endeavors. John Brookfield did some of his bending feats during a larger expo in conjunction with other acts. Dennis, Pat, Mike, and David had all done their feats at Mighty Mitts between events. All of them were awesome performances, but they were shorter in duration.

However, with John’s guidance and coaching, I began to see some light at the end of the tunnel. He and I talked several times over the last 6 months and he would always share some knowledge about how to set up shows, some of the staple feats he did, and how to tie feats together to make the show run well. I soon began developing confidence in myself to be able to put a variety of feats together that would be entertaining for the crowd to watch.

Building the Equipment

About 6 months ago, John sent me the plans for some of the equipment that he uses in his shows. One was a deadlift platform that kids can sit on and then you lift them up. Another was a finger lift platform where someone lays on a board and you lift them with one finger. And the last one was a Bed of Nails.

In hindsight, the right thing to do would have been to get right on it and buy the lumber and build all of the equipment so that I could train on it and get to know it.

Unfortunately, what I did was I put it off and never built anything until last weekend. I am no carpenter. In fact, I make a poor carpenter’s assistant, so I enlisted my Dad to help me put this stuff together. I figured it would take us maybe 4 hours on a Sunday morning to build it all.

No.

It took use two hole days of serious work to build just the kiddie deadlift platform and the bed of nails. It took me 4 hours just to pound all of the nails through the plywood for the bed of nails, so that was quite a wake-up call in itself. Nevertheless, with the help of my good old Dad, the two pieces got built and I even through some deck stain on the deadlift platform. John was impressed with the craftsmanship and said that mine looks better than his! I told him I wanted to make sure everything looked good since my show was going to be a reflection on him.

The Drive Down

Finally, the day to come to the fair arrived. I figured, again, that the drive would be about 4 hours. I dropped the baby off at the babysitter and turned on the GPS in order to get an estimate of how long it would take to get down here. I nearly laid an egg when it said 5.5 hours. I still had to go get the trailer and load everything on it in addition to packing everything up in the car…amazing.

Once loaded, I got out on the road. I have never pulled a trailer behind a vehicle on a 4-lane highway. Quite interesting! I was swerving a bit at first, but eventually got used to it. PennDot has construction projects going on, on just about every highway I drove on yesterday, including a section on Route 22 where the road is one lane and the barricades seem just about wide enough to afford like a foot of space on each side of the trailer. Lots of fun driving, I can assure you. Sweat was pouring down my brow into my eyes as I drove. Awesome.

The First Shows

It felt good to drive the Jeep onto the Fairgrounds and find my location for the shows. I was placed under a pavilion, which was a good thing because it was pouring buckets last night.

For the first day of the Fair, with such bad weather, the fair was nearly empty, but we got the two shows in that were scheduled. The small crowds were great to break the ice and get things rolling.

In the first show, John handled the PA system and narrated. He and I traded back and forth doing feats.

For the second show, I manned the PA and narrated and did 6 feats while John did 4. Everything went well, including my flaming hammer torch feat. Other feats that we did included the kiddie deadlift, phone book tearing, horseshoe bending, mace swinging, kettlebell juggling, and more. A rather diverse range of feats.

More to Come

As the rest of the shows progress, I will keep you posted. But I must say, I am pumped to be doing them.

I never thought I would ever get up on a stage and perform for a crowd. I always saw myself as more of the coach person who would help others enjoy the feats of strength by safely learning to do them themselves, but after just one day, I am excited to be given the opportunity to share what I know in this new way.

I really want to say thank you to John Beatty, “The Strongman,” for giving me this opportunity. Find out more about John here: John Beatty The Strongman.

Oh, and by the way, my favorite feat so far has been bending stuff while laying on the bed of nails. Surprisingly the pain from 600 nails digging into your butt and back fizzles away when the adrenaline rushes through the body.

If you are in the area, be sure to stop by. If not, keep coming by the site as I will be adding to this post as the shows go on.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Learn Everything You Need to Know about Gripper Training

Tags: bending, ripping, strongman feats, strongmanism, tearing
Posted in bending, card tearing, horseshoe bending, old strongman feats of strength, steel bending, strongman feats | 1 Comment »

Grip Strength for Earth – LIVE

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Hey everybody, the Grip Strength for Earth Tearing extravaganza went great. Thanks to everybody who tuned in.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the show, sign up for the Grip Strength newsletter below because I will be sending out links to download it either today (Sunday) or tomorrow.

Thanks everybody!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How to Bend Nails | How to Tear Cards | Feats of Grip Strength Explained | How to Build Your Own Equipment | How to Lift Atlas Stones | The Sh*t You’ve Never Seen | Sled Dragging for Athletes | The Road to the Record DVD

Tags: card tearing, grip strength, phone book tearing, ripping cards, ripping phone books, tearing, tearing phone books
Posted in card ripping, card tearing, feats, feats of strength, grip hand forearm training for sports, grip strength, how to improve grip strength, how to rip cards, how to tear cards, old strongman feats of strength, ripping cards, strongman feats, tearing cards | 5 Comments »

Steel Bending Contest Coming to Philadelphia

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

090613rb0118-1_2
Sonny Barry bending a 5/8″ x 43″ round steel bar at the 2009 Olde Time Strongman and Barbell dinner

STEEL BENDING CONTEST

Sonny Barry recently contacted me and asked me to help him get the word out about his contest he is holding in Philadelphia in January.

SEE THE DETAILS AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Tags: bending, bolt bending, feats of strength, grip strength, hand strength, nail bending, steel bending, strength feats, tearing, wrist strength
Posted in feats of strength bending, how to improve grip strength, old strongman feats of strength | Comments Off on Steel Bending Contest Coming to Philadelphia

Dan Cenidoza Bends the Red Nail

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

dan3
Dan Cenidoza squeezing a gripper at GGC 2005

If you’ve been around the Diesel site for the last few years then you have seen us mention our good buddy, Dan Cenidoza, from BeMoreTraining.com. I have competed against Dan in several strongman contests, and trained with him countless times.

After a lay-off of a few years, Dan recently got back into nail and bolt bending. He really worked hard on improving his technique and shortly after coming back he was murdering Grade 5 bolts and even managed to get through a Grade 8.
(more…)

Tags: feats of strength, grip training, hand strength, nail bending, off objects, ripping, tearing
Posted in feats of strength bending, how to improve grip strength | 3 Comments »

Grip Nationals

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

grip-strength-championships

Save this link!

If you have any questions regarding this year’s Diesel Grip Contest, please post them here in the comments section! As questions are asked, I will update this post, so make sure you ask about anything you are unclear about.

At the beginning of the year, I announed GGC’s date for August 29th, 2009.

Now that Chad’s excellent Grip contest is out of the way, it is time to prepare for Nationals.

The events are all the same as last year with one sizable change and a few minor changes.

1. Grippers
– Parallel set only – Credit Card set is out!!!!
– Tons of calibrated grippers will be used

2. Two Hands Pinch
– No changes here. Same as always. Multiple widths, depending on athlete preference.

3. Axle
– Double Overhand only
– Sumo is allowed.

4. Medley
– We will not do the mystery event this year. I know it was popular, but I feel it ended up too hard for the smaller handed individuals.
– All items will be announced.
– Some people may end up bringing things to use, but they will still be announced.
– Items will include Blob, Inch, Levering, Bending, Tearing, Loose Pinch, Block Weights, Rolling Thunder. Weights will be manageable for smaller handed individuals.

5. Weaver Stick (instead of bending)
– I want to include a wrist event
– I don’t want to include any bending
– Weaver Stick looks cool and is fairly easy to judge.
– It was a lot of fun at Gripmas

Entry fee is $50 and we are doing it at my house.

You must qualify for Nationals in one of three ways:

Qualification Chance 1: Athletes shall qualify for Nationals if they finish top 3 in a US Hand Strength sanctioned contest announced on the Gripboard between September 2008 and August 2009.

Qualification Chance 2: Athletes can also qualify for Nationals by completing 3 of the following feats during 2008-2009 competition:

    1″ Vertical Bar – 290
    2″ FBBC Vertical Bar – 200
    Gripper – IM #3 or equivalent (140#), or 150# choker close
    Reverse Bending – Grade 5×6″ bolt
    Axle Deadlift – 290
    Two Hands Pinch – 170
    One Hand Deadlift on Olympic / Powerlifting Bar – 225

Qualification Chance 3: Complete any one of the following Wild Card feats:

    Close #4 Gripper with parallel set or wider (choker included)
    Break US Record in Two Hands Pinch
    Break US Record in 1-inch Vertical Bar (LGC Standard or FBBC Standard)
    Break US Record in 2-inch Vertical Bar (FBBC Standard)

Sponsors

    PerthStrongman

I think that’s about it. Post below here, if you have questions.

How to Build Muscle | Muscle Building Workouts | How to Lose Fat | Six Pack Abs | Build Muscle, Muscle Gaining Workouts | Build Muscle Membership Site

Tags: feats of strength bending, grip strength, hand strength, tearing
Posted in feats of strength bending, how to improve grip strength, how to tear cards, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Tearing a Catalog

Friday, May 29th, 2009

You may have tried tearing a phonebook in the past, but have you ever tried tearing a catalog? They are way tougher to rip in half. Check out some catalog tearing in this video below.

All the best in your training,

-Jedd-

How to Build Muscle | Muscle Building Workouts | How to Lose Fat | Six Pack Abs | Build Muscle, Muscle Gaining Workouts | Build Muscle Membership Site

Tags: catalog tearing, phonebook tearing, ripping, tearing
Posted in how to improve grip strength | 2 Comments »

The Biggest Travesty in the Strength World
Steinborn Lift

Diesel Crew Newsletter


Get Diesel Blog Posts Emailed to You:

  



DIESEL DIRECTORY

Find EVERY Single Post Ever Written on DieselCrew.com.

Click Here: All DieselCrew.com Entries

Search DieselCrew.com

Upcoming Events

CONTEST: Grip Hogs Day, Wyalusing PA

Click Here


Motivation & Muscle Podcast

Featured Products

DC Grip Strength
how to train to lift the blob

bend steel, bend wrenches, roll frying pans




How to Bend Horseshoes








How to Bend Horseshoes
    How to Tear Phone Books
Card Tearing Ebook
     Bending Manual
Nail Bending DVD
Euro Pinch Two Hands Pinch Yraining
Nail Bending DVD
    build grip strength hand strength forearm strength
Diesel Strength Training Products

build strength strongman training information
Advanced Kettlebell Challenges Build Strength with Kettlebells
    improve strength conditioning recovery grip strength
home made strength training equipment
how to do strongman atlas stone training
Members Only
build grip strength and learn feats of strength

Stay Connected – Jedd

Friend me on Twitter!
Subscribe to my Youtube Videos!
Friend me on Facebook!
Check Out my Images on Flickr!
Join my Network on LinkedIn!
Check out my blog!

Training Center

FREE EBOOK - AWESOME

How to Build Muscle Articles

3 Insanely Effective Upper Body Warm-ups

Ultimate Lower Body Warm-up

Ultimate Pull-up Video

How to Shoulder Rehab

How to Bench Press

How to Squat

How to Deadlift

How to Train with Odd Objects

Top 7 Tips for Building Muscle

Massive Back Training

Massive Arm Training 1

Massive Arm Training 2

Massive Arm Training 3

Advanced Activation Techniques

Speed Training for Athletes

Perfect Workout for Travelers

Popular Videos

Shoulder Rehab Protocol

Ultimate Two Minute Warm-up

No More Knee Pain - Part 1

No More Knee Pain - Part 2

Advanced Pull-up Training 1

Advanced Pull-up Training 2

Improve Pressing Power 1

Improve Pressing Power 2

Popular Articles

Celebrity Fitness - Build Muscle

How to Build Muscle

Build Muscle Now with Ladders

19 Tips for Fixing Your Squat

Fix Your Squat - Part 2

Fixing the Shoulders

The Summer Six-Pack

Keys for the Hard Gainer

Improving Your Deadlift Grip

Top 5 Core Exercises

Media

Home Team Diesel
Media Resources
Products Forum

MUSCLE BUILDING / GAIN MUSCLE MASS / HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE:
Accelerated Muscular Development | How to Build Muscle | How to Bench Press Muscle Building Anatomy | Muscle Building Nutrition - Build Muscle Mass | Sled Dragging Workouts Strength Training - Muscle Building Workouts | Strength Training Powerlifting | Strength Training Workouts How to Lose Fat - Fat Loss | Kettlebell Training | Strength Training Workouts Injury Rehab - How to Rehab an Injury

CORE WORKOUTS / CORE TRAINING / SIX PACKS ABS:
Core Training Workouts | Core Workouts for Athletes

ATHLETIC STRENGTH TRAINING / STRENGTH WORKOUTS / BUILD STRENGTH:
Athletic Strength Training Train With Odd Objects Strength Training to Improve Athletic Performance | Core Workouts for Athletes | Strongman Training for Athletes Baseball Strength and Conditioning | Improve Speed Bag Training

GRIP STRENGTH / IMPROVE GRIP STRENGTH / GRIP TRAINING FOR ATHLETES:
Bending Grip Strength | How to Tear Cards | Grip Strength Blob Lifting | How to Improve Crushing Grip Strength Improve Grip Strength | Improve Crushing Grip Strength | Grip Strength Blob Lifting | Grip Strength Competition

OLD STRONGMAN / OLD TIME STRONGMAN / STRONGMAN FEATS OF STRENGTH:
Old Strongman Feats of Strength

DAILY MOTIVATION / INSPIRATION:
Daily Inspiration - Motivation

BUILD YOUR OWN GYM:
Create Your Own Garage Gym

Copyright © 2006 – 2009 The Diesel Crew, LLC. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

Cleantalk Pixel