DIESELS!

I am knee deep in preparing for the World’s Strongest Hands 2012 Contest, taking place here in Wyalusing PA tomorrow, August, 18, 2012. So, I want to tell you about that as well as several other things taking place…

1. Worlds Strongest Hands 2012

This is taking place tomorrow right here in Wyalusing, PA, in Bradford County, which is in the northeastern portion of Pennsylvania. There is no “entry deadline” so even if this is the first time you ever heard of World’s Strongest Hands, you can feel free to show up. Just let me know you are coming with a comment below or an email.

If you’d like to see more specific information on the contest, then make sure to check out this post. This is a great contest to try out if you have been wanting to do a Grip Competition for a while. Even if you are a complete newbie to Grip, come to the comp and learn as you go. There is NO BETTER WAY to learn about Grip Sport than competing.

2. Vulcan V2 Grippers, Springs, Thumb Screws

I have a modest inventory of Vulcan V2 Grippers, Orange Springs, and Thumb Screws in inventory. They literally just arrived yesterday afternoon and I immediately packaged all of the reserved equipment into flat rate boxes and shipped them out to the future owners.

If you are looking for an all-purpose gripper, this is the one that I recommend. The Vulcan V2 varies in strength from below a #1 Captains of Crush to above a #4 Captains of Crush, without having to own a dozen grippers in order to have the variety. Plus it takes up virtually no space in your gym and can be hung on a wall hook or placed inside a drawer for safe keeping.

Thumb Screws are a tool that some folks are not familiar with. These are attachments to train dynamic pinching which go right on the ends of the handles of the Vulcan V2 and also accommodate regular torsion spring grippers like those from IronMind as well.

The V2 comes with its own Black Spring, which is the standard strength spring, but if you plan on using the Vulcan to train further below the #1 Captains of Crush level, or if you have training partners or clients who are just starting out with crush grip training, then the Orange Spring is a good choice.

To order a Vulcan V2 Gripper and/or the accessories, click the banner below.

3. Injuries – Yuck

On Tuesday of this week, I woke up with appreciable pain in my right big toe. It felt like the combination of stepping on a stone inside your sandal and kicking someone in the shin with a bare foot. On Wednesday, it was even worse, so I went to the doctor. We got some X-rays done and I am waiting on the results, but I also talked to the doctor about my left knee as well.

In early 2008 I was playing in an adult basketball league and after one of the games, we stopped at Subway from some grub and when I stepped out of the truck I nearly collapsed. I had to have my buddy help me walk into Subway. It was crazy. My knee was still all messed up the next morning, so I played around with my leg while seated at my work desk and with a combination of manual force and leg isometric flexion, I heard this loud CRACK! It was as if my tibia had dislocated somehow and through the manipulation I was able to pop it back in. Since then, it has felt bad off and on, but not always, more of a come and go type of thing.

So, while I was at the doctor this week, I had him check my knee out, and he was amazed at how swollen it was. He proceeded to take 40 cc’s of fluid out of my knee. I got a picture of the syringe with this yellow piss-colored fluid in it, but for some reason my phone did not save the pic, so I can’t show it to you. Unfortunately, the doc showed me that swimming around inside all that fluid is also little shreds of what he thinks might be torn meniscus tissue, so time will tell what happens there. My toe is feeling better and so is my knee, but I can tell already that the swelling is coming back, so stay tuned.

4. Slim Lever Progress

I am continuing to train for the Slim Lever about once a week and have been seeing very good progress. Below is the latest video I shot of some near misses.

The pressure on my knee when in position for this lift gives me no pain whatsoever, that I can recall, so that is good.

5. Assessment and Exercise

Lastly, my friend, Rick Kaselj, with whom I released Fixing Elbow Pain back in April, put out Assessment and Exercise this week. This program builds off his previous release Muscle Imbalances Revealed for the Lower Body. This installment in the series takes a look at the assessment techniques you can use to identify imbalances with your personal training clients and athletes. Everyone has imbalances, but some are more severe than others. This program can help you distinguish between the varying degrees of movement issues your clients might have and then show you how to address them. If this sounds like something that can benefit you in your work, be sure to check it out, because Rick joined up with a group of people with experience along these lines. Right now it is priced at just $37, but today is the last day of the introductory sale, so don’t wait too long if you want to get the program at the biggest discount.

6. Chain Breaking Technique

The latest video feature to be added to TheGripAuthority.com is Chain Breaking. I am rendering the video right now as I type this post, so within an hour it will be loaded to the site. My Feat-aholics at TGA wanted to know the technique I was using for chain breaking during my Strongman Shows last month. So I filmed everything and showed them exactly the equipment they needed in order to break chains the way I did it. Like I told the crowds at my shows, this feat gets the show started with a “BANG!”

Special thanks to the T-Rex, Jeff Bankens, for showing me the set-up he uses, which I modified slightly in order to use more equipment I already have in my collection, and having to buy and build less new gear. If you want to learn Chain Breaking as well as many other feats of strength and grip training secrets, join up at TheGripAuthority.com today for just $7.

That is about all of the updates I have right now. Once tomorrow’s contest is out of the way, and now that the other trips are wrapped up for the most part, it should get back to business as usual around here. So make sure to stay tuned and if you haven’t already, join my newsletter for future updates and new things coming your way.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!

I hope you had a fantastic weekend and had the opportunity to spend time with your family. I stayed away from September 11th shows as much as possible and went to dinner with my family and folks and watched my daughter DIESELFY meat loaf and mashed potatoes.

Here is a write-up of Saturday’s Grip Strength Contest, World’s Strongest Hands Leg 2 (of 3).

Incidentally, if you want to come to Leg 3, it will take place on October 8, 2011. All I need is an email or comment here so I know you are coming.

Also, before I get into the events, I just want to recognize the people that came for this leg – ALL OF THEM – because we have recently had a tremendous amount of flooding and rain damage to our roads and most of the guys had to deal with pretty significant detouring and longer drive times. It was a good thing I pushed the contest back until NOON or else most of the competitors would have been very late.

Vulcan Gripper

As is standard in many Grip Contests, the event that measures Crushing Grip Strength was first. This is done because of its dynamic nature and normally Gripper performance is reduced after doing other lifts.

The way the Vulcan Gripper event is tested, is that you set the handles down with the free hand and then you must slide a block between the handles to show that you have a legal depth, and then you attempt to crush the handles together. While at Leg 1, the set depth was 20-mm, at Leg 2, the depth was 30-mm. Leg 3 will be 20-mm again.

I was very happy to get Level 17 on my last attempt. I got Level 16 fairly easy on my first attempt but then missed 17 on my second and third attempt. John Eaton, who was going after me in the order, closed 17 on his third attempt after I had already missed it twice so I had to muster a little extra Crushing Power for my fourth and last attempt and managed to get it. This tied me for first at my leg, but put me in a multi-way tie for third across the board, as there are many locations competing on the same exact events all over the world.

Here are the Top 10 for the Vulcan Gripper for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)

1 Paul Knight – L19 Dipped black – 1pt
2 David Horne – L18 Dipped black – 2.5pt
2 Juha Harju – L18 Dipped black – 2.5pt
4 Pete Kerr – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 Jouni Pakarinen – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 Ivan Beritashvili – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 David Thornton – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 Jedd Johnson – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 John Eaton – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
10 Danny Bramall – L16 Dipped black – 10pt

Two Hands Pinch

I believe September 10th 2011 was the worst day for Two Hands Pinch EVER in the United States and perhaps in other parts of the world as well. Many people across the globe bombed out in this event. I also recorded the lowest number since the first leg of Worlds Strongest Hands 2010, with 223-lbs. This is more than 40-lbs off my record. The plates felt like they had jelly smeared all over them.

The conditions were worse at Leg 2 than they were at Leg 1, when I forgot to bring out the dehumidifier. This time, I ran it from 5 PM the night before the contest and throughout the entire contest, but to no avail. I believe this is because we had 11 competitors DIESELfying in the garage all at the same time and the humidity level just over-powered my ACME 6969 Extra Power Diesel Powered Dehumidifier.

If anyone has any ideas on how to control humidity inside a partially underground garage, I am all ears.

My 223-lbs placed me 6th in this event which won my Leg, but was not even top spot in the US. Thornton grabbed that honor. My second, third and fourth attempts were all with 238-lbs which would have matched my best lift at Leg 2 and would have secured me second place again.

Here are the Top 10 for the Two Hands Pinch for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)

1 David Horne – 112.75k
2 David Thornton – 105.56k
3 Rob Russell – 105k
4 Timo Tuukkanen – 102k
5 Jedd Johnson – 101.51k
6 David Stiff – 100.44k
7 Brent Barbe – 98.78k
8 Paul Knight – 96.81k
9 Andrew Durniat – 95.83k
10 Matti Heiskanen – 95.5k

Grip Topz Stub Lift

The Stub Lift is one of the two narrow pinches that were contested at Leg 2. It resembles a small piece of round stock jutting out of a flat piece of steel. The measurements are roughly 1.25 inches long and 5/16h inches in diameter, if memory serves. The Grip Topz are all removable devices, interchangeable with a common loading pin.

Apparently on the Stub, less is more, meaning if you train it less, you will improve more because I have not been obsessing about this event that much at all. I have mostly been working the Half Penny and the Hub in my Grip Topz training, mainly because the Penny and the Stub seem to train nearly the same discipline, Key Pinch, and I find the Penny to be much harder. Despite the limited work I have been doing on the Stub, I was able to PR with a lift of 45+ pounds, which is nearly and 8-lb PR for me.

One of the competitors, Adam Spizman, ripped a block of skin about half the size of a dime off on the implement and I had to hit it with cleaning alcohol, so maybe that solution somehow improved the surface or something – not quite sure.

Here are the Top 10 for the Stub Lift for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)

1 David Horne – 22.55k
2 Adam T Glass – 21.84k
3 Jouni Pakarinen – 21.5k
4 Juha Harju – 21.25k
5 Jedd Johnson – 20.65k
6 David Thornton – 20.49k
7 Ivan Beritashvili – 20.27k
8 Daniel Reinard – 20.21k
9 Rob Russell – 19.64k
10 Matti Heiskanen – 19.5k

Grip Topz Half a Penny

Imagine going to the gumball machines after dominating the nearest Chinese Buffet and seeing a rusty quarter jutting out of the Gobstopper coin slot. You try to pull it out but you see the reason it is stuck is because some idiot tried stuffing two coins in there at the same time, so you try pinch it against your thumb and the inside of the middle Index Finger joint until your thumb pad cramps up so bad you want you to cry. This is what the Half a Penny Grip Topz lift feels like.

By the time this event rolled around, it felt like I had been training narrow pinch every day for a week. The Thenar Pad (Abductor pollicis brevis, Flexor pollicis brevis,
Opponens pollicis) on my right hand especially just plain felt fatigued. There was no pain, but I could tell that it felt thoroughly worked. I lifted 32.2 pounds, but that was actually more than a pound under my Leg 1 lift of 33.4 pounds, although the Penny was third last time and this time fourth. This put me way down the list, in 22nd position.

I still do not believe I have figured out the proper mechanics for this lift. I think there is a way to maximize performance on it by finding the proper joint angles of flexion at the wrist and elbow, as well as degree of shoulder packing, however, not many people have been posting videos of their lifts, so I have not been able to glean any technical improvements.

Here are the Top 10 for the Half Penny for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)

1 David Horne – 19.22k
2 Brent Barbe – 18.25k
3 Ivan Beritashvili – 17.82k
4 Adam T Glass – 17.66k
5 Jouni Pakarinen – 17.5k
6 Timo Tuukkanen – 17.25k
7 David Thornton – 17.09k
8 Danny Bramall – 16.99k
9 Daniel Reinard – 16.57k
10 Taneli Levo – 16.5k
…
22 Jedd Johnson – 14.61k

So, Leg 2 is in the books. I think in order to place well at this last leg and make a return to the Top 5 in the standings I will need to hit the following marks in the events for Leg 3…

Vulcan Gripper
I need at least a Level 18. If I can Nut Up and get Level 17 with a 30-mm set when my PR training is only a Level 16 close in training, then I should be able to DIESEL Up and get Level 18 for Leg 3.

Two Hands Pinch
My performance in this lift in Leg 1 and 2 has been just completely embarrassing. At Nationals, my opener was 247, which would have broken the record up until 2008. Now, I can’t even muster 240? Surface is so important in this lift. I am going to experiment with some surface-minimizing training techniques in order to be ready for a crappy surface at Leg 3. I am hoping for better conditions with the change of seasons and hopefully less rain immediately before the event.

Shallow Hub
I have hated hub work for the last 3 years, but am now growing to like it. I am actually looking forward to putting in some good solid training on this in the next few weeks. I need to get up over 50-lbs in order to place even remotely well.

Stub Lift
I think this is one event where I have actually figured out the proper technique on it and many others have not. Training this one can be a bitch though, because you either (1) make the lift and dominate it with ease, (2) it doesn’t even come off the ground or (3) you lift it a few inches and then it rips out of your hand, heating the skin up rapidly, which always scares me, making me fear a rip. Since you never know how quickly skin will repair itself, I am cautious about over training this one. My goal is a lift of 50-lbs on this one too. I truly think it is possible.

Some other goals I have starting this week:

1. Chiropractor appointment for my neck. I can not describe how tight my neck was the day of the contest. I slept wrong or something the night before and it was lit up. My normal Chiro is in Australia for two weeks, so I may visit an old High School buddy and at the same time try to recruit him as a possible training partner and new competitor.

2. Eye Doctor Appointment. Post contest on Saturday, I went after the Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift again and came very close to getting it three times. I may have gotten it once or twice, but I’d really like a good solid and controlled hold at the top. Anyway, after the third attempt, about 2 or 3 seconds after dropping them, I nearly passed out. I have brown-outed several times in my lift, but never like this. If John Eaton and Richard Bean were not there I would have gone down. It took me a good 5 minutes for the room to stop spinning and 35 minutes for my severe headache to go away, and I still have eye strain from it today. I was so off-kilter, it was as if I strained my eyes trying to regain balance. My legs were locked hard as I held onto both sides of my squat cage and I could not even turn myself around to sit in a chain. Eaton had to guide me to it. I need to check and make sure everything is okay behind my eyes.

3. Double Inch Dumbbell Domination by Leg 3. John Eaton left me his Inch Dumbbell to train on until Leg 3. Since Adam Glass has my second Inch Dumbbell, I plan on working very hard toward a hold at the top of a Double Inch Deadlift.

4. Fatman Blob Work. John also left me his Fatman Blob. I have a lot of feats to work on with this that I need to get in the books. “Mister Wild Card,” Daniel Reinard, will be making the trip to Pennsylvania, for Leg 3 and we will be having a Blob + Weight contest after the finish of the official events, so i will be incorporating the Fatman in my training.

5. Continue to Develop Eric Lloyd. I have a new training partner for the first time since building my gym and he loves the Grip stuff, so I am hoping he can continue to come once during the week for grip work and once on the weekend as well. It has been great having someone there during my workouts, and it was even better seeing some of the numbers he put up, PR’ing in many events.

Leg 3 will take place 10/8/11. Again, all are welcome and the entry fee is just $15. If you are interested in competing, please email me, contact me on Facebook, or leave a comment below.

Confirmed for Leg 3:

Michael Sheehan
Sean Kovacic
Jedd Johnson

All the best in your training,

Jedd

(more…)

Hello DIESELS!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend and had the opportunity to spend time with your family. I stayed away from September 11th shows as much as possible and went to dinner with my family and folks and watched my daughter DIESELFY meat loaf and mashed potatoes.
Here is a write-up of Saturday’s Grip Strength Contest, World’s Strongest Hands Leg 2 (of 3).

Incidentally, if you want to come to Leg 3, it will take place on October 8, 2011. All I need is an email or comment here so I know you are coming.

Also, before I get into the events, I just want to recognize the people that came for this leg – ALL OF THEM – because we have recently had a tremendous amount of flooding and rain damage to our roads and most of the guys had to deal with pretty significant detouring and longer drive times. It was a good thing I pushed the contest back until NOON or else most of the competitors would have been very late.

Vulcan Gripper

As is standard in many Grip Contests, the event that measures Crushing Grip Strength was first. This is done because of its dynamic nature and normally Gripper performance is reduced after doing other lifts.

The way the Vulcan Gripper event is tested, is that you set the handles down with the free hand and then you must slide a block between the handles to show that you have a legal depth, and then you attempt to crush the handles together. While at Leg 1, the set depth was 20-mm, at Leg 2, the depth was 30-mm. Leg 3 will be 20-mm again.

I was very happy to get Level 17 on my last attempt. I got Level 16 fairly easy on my first attempt but then missed 17 on my second and third attempt. John Eaton, who was going after me in the order, closed 17 on his third attempt after I had already missed it twice so I had to muster a little extra Crushing Power for my fourth and last attempt and managed to get it. This tied me for first at my leg, but put me in a multi-way tie for third across the board, as there are many locations competing on the same exact events all over the world.
Here are the Top 10 for the Vulcan Gripper for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)
1 Paul Knight – L19 Dipped black – 1pt
2 David Horne – L18 Dipped black – 2.5pt
2 Juha Harju – L18 Dipped black – 2.5pt
4 Pete Kerr – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 Jouni Pakarinen – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 Ivan Beritashvili – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 David Thornton – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 Jedd Johnson – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
4 John Eaton – L17 Dipped black – 6.5pt
10 Danny Bramall – L16 Dipped black – 10pt

Two Hands Pinch

I believe September 10th 2011 was the worst day for Two Hands Pinch EVER in the United States and perhaps in other parts of the world as well. Many people across the globe bombed out in this event. I also recorded the lowest number since the first leg of Worlds Strongest Hands 2010, with 223-lbs. This is more than 40-lbs off my record. The plates felt like they had jelly smeared all over them.
The conditions were worse at Leg 2 than they were at Leg 1, when I forgot to bring out the dehumidifier. This time, I ran it from 5 PM the night before the contest and throughout the entire contest, but to no avail. I believe this is because we had 11 competitors DIESELfying in the garage all at the same time and the humidity level just over-powered my ACME 6969 Extra Power Diesel Powered Dehumidifier.

If anyone has any ideas on how to control humidity inside a partially underground garage, I am all ears.
My 223-lbs placed me 6th in this event which won my Leg, but was not even top spot in the US. Thornton grabbed that honor. My second, third and fourth attempts were all with 238-lbs which would have matched my best lift at Leg 2 and would have secured me second place again.
Here are the Top 10 for the Two Hands Pinch for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)
1 David Horne – 112.75k
2 David Thornton – 105.56k
3 Rob Russell – 105k
4 Timo Tuukkanen – 102k
5 Jedd Johnson – 101.51k
6 David Stiff – 100.44k
7 Brent Barbe – 98.78k
8 Paul Knight – 96.81k
9 Andrew Durniat – 95.83k
10 Matti Heiskanen – 95.5k

Grip Topz Stub Lift

The Stub Lift is one of the two narrow pinches that were contested at Leg 2. It resembles a small piece of round stock jutting out of a flat piece of steel. The measurements are roughly 1.25 inches long and 5/16h inches in diameter, if memory serves. The Grip Topz are all removable devices, interchangeable with a common loading pin.

Apparently on the Stub, less is more, meaning if you train it less, you will improve more because I have not been obsessing about this event that much at all. I have mostly been working the Half Penny and the Hub in my Grip Topz training, mainly because the Penny and the Stub seem to train nearly the same discipline, Key Pinch, and I find the Penny to be much harder. Despite the limited work I have been doing on the Stub, I was able to PR with a lift of 45+ pounds, which is nearly and 8-lb PR for me.
One of the competitors, Adam Spizman, ripped a block of skin about half the size of a dime off on the implement and I had to hit it with cleaning alcohol, so maybe that solution somehow improved the surface or something – not quite sure.
Here are the Top 10 for the Stub Lift for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)
1 David Horne – 22.55k
2 Adam T Glass – 21.84k
3 Jouni Pakarinen – 21.5k
4 Juha Harju – 21.25k
5 Jedd Johnson – 20.65k
6 David Thornton – 20.49k
7 Ivan Beritashvili – 20.27k
8 Daniel Reinard – 20.21k
9 Rob Russell – 19.64k
10 Matti Heiskanen – 19.5k

Grip Topz Half a Penny

Imagine going to the gumball machines after dominating the nearest Chinese Buffet and seeing a rusty quarter jutting out of the Gobstopper coin slot. You try to pull it out but you see the reason it is stuck is because some idiot tried stuffing two coins in there at the same time, so you try pinch it against your thumb and the inside of the middle Index Finger joint until your thumb pad cramps up so bad you want you to cry. This is what the Half a Penny Grip Topz lift feels like.
By the time this event rolled around, it felt like I had been training narrow pinch every day for a week. The Thenar Pad (Abductor pollicis brevis, Flexor pollicis brevis,
Opponens pollicis) on my right hand especially just plain felt fatigued. There was no pain, but I could tell that it felt thoroughly worked. I lifted 32.2 pounds, but that was actually more than a pound under my Leg 1 lift of 33.4 pounds, although the Penny was third last time and this time fourth. This put me way down the list, in 22nd position.

I still do not believe I have figured out the proper mechanics for this lift. I think there is a way to maximize performance on it by finding the proper joint angles of flexion at the wrist and elbow, as well as degree of shoulder packing, however, not many people have been posting videos of their lifts, so I have not been able to glean any technical improvements.
Here are the Top 10 for the Half Penny for Leg 2
(Full Results are at the bottom of this post)
1 David Horne – 19.22k
2 Brent Barbe – 18.25k
3 Ivan Beritashvili – 17.82k
4 Adam T Glass – 17.66k
5 Jouni Pakarinen – 17.5k
6 Timo Tuukkanen – 17.25k
7 David Thornton – 17.09k
8 Danny Bramall – 16.99k
9 Daniel Reinard – 16.57k
10 Taneli Levo – 16.5k
…
22 Jedd Johnson – 14.61k
So, Leg 2 is in the books. I think in order to place well at this last leg and make a return to the Top 5 in the standings I will need to hit the following marks in the events for Leg 3…
Vulcan Gripper
I need at least a Level 18. If I can Nut Up and get Level 17 with a 30-mm set when my PR training is only a Level 16 close in training, then I should be able to DIESEL Up and get Level 18 for Leg 3.
Two Hands Pinch
My performance in this lift in Leg 1 and 2 has been just completely embarrassing. At Nationals, my opener was 247, which would have broken the record up until 2008. Now, I can’t even muster 240? Surface is so important in this lift. I am going to experiment with some surface-minimizing training techniques in order to be ready for a crappy surface at Leg 3. I am hoping for better conditions with the change of seasons and hopefully less rain immediately before the event.
Shallow Hub
I have hated hub work for the last 3 years, but am now growing to like it. I am actually looking forward to putting in some good solid training on this in the next few weeks. I need to get up over 50-lbs in order to place even remotely well.
Stub Lift
I think this is one event where I have actually figured out the proper technique on it and many others have not. Training this one can be a bitch though, because you either (1) make the lift and dominate it with ease, (2) it doesn’t even come off the ground or (3) you lift it a few inches and then it rips out of your hand, heating the skin up rapidly, which always scares me, making me fear a rip. Since you never know how quickly skin will repair itself, I am cautious about over training this one. My goal is a lift of 50-lbs on this one too. I truly think it is possible.
Some other goals I have starting this week:

1. Chiropractor appointment for my neck. I can not describe how tight my neck was the day of the contest. I slept wrong or something the night before and it was lit up. My normal Chiro is in Australia for two weeks, so I may visit an old High School buddy and at the same time try to recruit him as a possible training partner and new competitor.

2. Eye Doctor Appointment. Post contest on Saturday, I went after the Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift again and came very close to getting it three times. I may have gotten it once or twice, but I’d really like a good solid and controlled hold at the top. Anyway, after the third attempt, about 2 or 3 seconds after dropping them, I nearly passed out. I have brown-outed several times in my lift, but never like this. If John Eaton and Richard Bean were not there I would have gone down. It took me a good 5 minutes for the room to stop spinning and 35 minutes for my severe headache to go away, and I still have eye strain from it today. I was so off-kilter, it was as if I strained my eyes trying to regain balance. My legs were locked hard as I held onto both sides of my squat cage and I could not even turn myself around to sit in a chain. Eaton had to guide me to it. I need to check and make sure everything is okay behind my eyes.

3. Double Inch Dumbbell Domination by Leg 3. John Eaton left me his Inch Dumbbell to train on until Leg 3. Since Adam Glass has my second Inch Dumbbell, I plan on working very hard toward a hold at the top of a Double Inch Deadlift.
4. Fatman Blob Work. John also left me his Fatman Blob. I have a lot of feats to work on with this that I need to get in the books. “Mister Wild Card,” Daniel Reinard, will be making the trip to Pennsylvania, for Leg 3 and we will be having a Blob + Weight contest after the finish of the official events, so i will be incorporating the Fatman in my training.
5. Continue to Develop Eric Lloyd. I have a new training partner for the first time since building my gym and he loves the Grip stuff, so I am hoping he can continue to come once during the week for grip work and once on the weekend as well. It has been great having someone there during my workouts, and it was even better seeing some of the numbers he put up, PR’ing in many events.
Leg 3 will take place 10/8/11. Again, all are welcome and the entry fee is just $15. If you are interested in competing, please email me, contact me on Facebook, or leave a comment below.
Confirmed for Leg 3:
Michael Sheehan
Sean Kovacic
Jedd Johnson
All the best in your training,
Jedd

(more…)

Hello DIESELS!

I am writing a quick post because I have been working with David Horne, Grip Legend, on a project recently and it is all coming together, now!

I will be having a load of Vulcan Grippers sent to me next week!

If you are not familiar with the Vulcan Gripper, I will give you some information on it.

The Vulcan Gripper was designed by David Horne. It is a fully adjustable Gripper that can be set at strength levels ranging from around a Trainer / Number 1 Gripper from IronMind to way up above a #4.

There are a few adjustable grippers on the market, but this one is the preferred one by most serious Grip Strength practitioners because it replicates the force curve of a torsion spring gripper very well.

The Vulcan with a Torsion gripper on top – the handles match almost perfectly

For instance, the Ivanko Super Gripper and ViseGrip Gripper are adjustable, but their force curve does not match up to a torsion spring gripper. The Vulcan actually matches up very well.

There is another aspect of the Vulcan that I like in particular. The handles do not have any knurling. Because of this, you can do a LOT more volume in your training with it because your skin does not get pummeled by the knurling that is on most torsion spring gripper handles.

I was speaking with Paul Knight one time. Paul is a guy with one of the best Crushes in Grip Sport, and he said that the lack of knurling on the Vulcan actually made his knurled handle Gripper strength even better, and it makes perfect sense. Even with the lack of knurling, you still can get a good bite on the Vulcan handles, but when you go back to torsion grippers, you get even better bite!

The other advantage of the Vulcan, and this is perhaps the most important, is that you won’t need to buy so many Grippers in order to train a wide spectrum of strength levels. That can get pretty expensive, especially if you buy them one at a time. With shipping most grippers are about $30 apiece, so four of them bought separately is $120.

The Vulcan cost only $97, a substantial savings.

The Vulcans are being shipped to me next week. You can pre-order yours right now.

If you order by 8/6/11, you will get a free video showing how to train with the Vulcan Gripper for Complete Crush Grip Domination. This video will show you everything you need to know about adjusting the spring, getting a good set, progressing in crush strength, and how to set up your own program.

The Vulcan Gripper is also the gripper that is used in the World’s Strongest Hands Series, which starts up on August 13. With this contest becoming an annual endeavor, the Vulcan could potentially come a staple in many more competitions down the line.

The new Vulcan Gripper, the V2

The Vulcans that are coming are the new design, the V2, so if you are a Gripper Collector and already have a V1, you can add this one to your collection.

If you are wondering about whether the two versions function differently, they do not. The new Vulcan is simply laser-cut, so the look is a lot cleaner, but they both have the same smooth action and powder coat.

In fact, the V2’s are being used in the World’s Strongest Hands Series this year, along with the V1’s, so if you want to get in on the action, here is your chance!

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. If you need a lighter Spring, I have a small quantity of Orange Springs that are lighter than the standard issue Silver and Black spring. These are $19.99 plus shipping.