Let Competition Bring the Best Out of You

There is this dude over in Finland that I have been watching on-line since at least 2009, and maybe since 2008. I know that makes me sound like a crazy stalker type, but I don’t care. This guy is the ONE GUY who I try to watch all of his videos, because he is ALWAYS doing something that is a world class grip feat. It’s Juha Harju, the King Kong of Grip.

At the end of 2013, Juha started something called the Grip Monsters Challenge and it involved several different lifts. Each challenge lift had a rankings list. And what was awesome was it was not just Grip Feats, but other stuff as well, such as a Military Bench Press and a Strict Curl.

I LOVE COMPETITION, so as soon as I found out about them, I started submitting videos. While I also love winning, I didn’t win any of them, I just kept on hitting the lifts trying to push my numbers up.

In a way, this was no different from how I have always trained from the beginning. I have always thrived on training in a group and pushing one another, trying to out-lift one another, and even hitting more reps than one another.

In my opinion, competition is one of the best ways for you to break through plateaus and keep them from happening in the first place.

When you know you are going to be tested by someone else, it makes you work a little bit harder, get out of your comfort zone, and in the end you are almost always stronger, and better, because of it.

Do I always win? Hell no.

Do I get better because of the competition? Hell yeah.

Don’t be afraid to compete. The beauty of the Grip Monsters Challenge is you don’t have to go anywhere but the gym. You don’t have to get up on a stage or platform, and you don’t need to do a lift in front of anyone, aside from the people at the gym.

So, here are the videos of my best efforts in the first set of challenge lifts for the Grip Monsters Challenge:

Strict Curl

Top 7 Standings:

1. Juha Harju 20 reps
2. Stephen Ruby 19reps
3. Gabriele Ferdinandi 18 reps
4. Alexander Kirillov 17reps
4. Egor Golubev 17reps
5. Matti Heiskanen 16reps
6. David Horne 15 reps
7. Jedd Johnson 12 reps

Military Bench Press

I was really surprised more people did not try this one, since the Bench Press seems to be the most popular lift in the world. It does get much harder with the feet up in the air though. Don’t let anyone tell you picking your feet up doesn’t make the chest and triceps work harder, that is for sure.

Full Standings

1. Allan “Bench Monster” Jokinen 36 reps
2. Viktor Hlestov 25
3. Wayne Mealy jr. 24
4. Vano Sukhashvili 22
5. Matti Heiskanen 18
6. David Horne 17
7. Juha Harju 16
8. Jedd Johnson 14
8. Petri Partanen 14
9. Luke Raymond 13
10. Tom Scibelli 7
11. Travis Shaffer 6

IronMind #2.5 for Reps (20-mm Block)

I was shocked I came in 3rd here. To be perfectly honest, the #2.5 I used only rated 123-lbs, so it is lighter, but I also think I was just plain on when I got my 27 reps. I haven’t gotten past 20 in my other attempts since that day.

Top 9 Standings:

1. Juha Harju 31reps
2. Vano Sukhashvili 30 reps
3. Jedd Johnson 27 reps
4. Joshua Odell 17 reps
5. Serg Sankov 13 reps
6. Jon Vance 12 reps
6. David Wigren 12 toistoa.
7. Thomas Scibelli 10 toistoa
8. Juha Piironen 6 toistoa
8. J.Henze 6 toistoa
9. Luke Raymond 4 toistoa

2x15kg/2x35lb or 3x10kg/3x25lb Plate Pinch Hold for Time

This is the one that pissed me off. I was at like 30 seconds for the longest time. Then Luke scraped all the hammertone paint off and I was finally able to get a decent grip. Holding onto these things for the better part of a minute blows my mind. Awesome job to many different guys who accomplished this.

Top 10 Standings:

1. Juha Harju 2x15kg 95sec
2. Kody Burns 2x15kg 93sec
3. Grip monsta p. 2x15kg 74sec
4. Matti Heiskanen 2x15kg 73sec
5. Matti Harju 2x15kg 70sec
6. Pinch Master J 2×15 69sec
7. Jedd Johnson 2x15kg 55sec
8. Riku Karu 2x15kg 44sec
8. Juha Piironen 2x15kg 44sec
9. Vano Sukhashvili 3x10kg 42sec
10. Pasi Mehtälä 2x15kg 33sec

The period for submitting videos for these lifts has now gone by. As you can see, I didn’t win any of these challenges, BUT, I improved a great deal over the course of a month or two, just by putting focus on the lifts. You can do the same thing too. You don’t have to take part in a challenge on-line to do it either. If you are stagnant in your regular lifts, then do some different ones and get some progress going again.

A couple other challenges were added part way through and are live until January 11th, the Double Overhand Thumbless Deadlift and the 50-lb Blob to 50-cm. My back has been very achey, so I have not deadlifted heavy, but I did give the Blob50 to 50cm a try and am currently in 1st place.

Double OverHand ThumbLess DeadLift

Current Standings:
1. Juha Harju 230kg
2. Juha Piironen 200kg
3. Tatu Karhu 190kg
3. Mike Rinderle 190kg
4. J.Henze 183.5kg
4. John Wojciechowski 183.5kg
5. Juha Lehtimäki 170kg
6. David Miitti 161kg
7. Pyry Harju 45kg (13 years bw 37kg)

50-lb Blob to 50cm

I was pleasantly surprised to see this challenge listed.

Current Standings:

1.Jedd Johnson 15 reps
2.Juha Harju 14 reps
3.Nathaniel Brous 6 reps
4.Juha Piironen 3 reps

Will Juha be able to pull ahead of me? We shall see.

Also, Juha took a vote and has 4 other challenges that he will be maintaining lists for through the end of February. Check them out…

COC#3.5 Silver Bullet Timehold (2.5kg)

Tricep Dips with Extra Weight 1RM (bw+kg=total kg)

Ironmind Hub Lift 1 RM

Euro Pinch 80kg (As many reps as possible in 90sec)

2x20kg Plates Time Hold Left & Right Total Time

Like I said, I LOVE competition. Love it. I will be attempting as many of these challenges as I can fit in. It’s always fun to see your name in a standings list, even if it as the very bottom.

I hope to see many of you submitting videos for these challenges as well. Push yourself – You never know where you will end up!

All the best in your training,

Jedd

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The True Test of a Strong Man: Stone Lifting
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The Purest Test of Strength

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Last week’s Grip Strength Challenge for the Wild Card Spot at Nationals was the Medley. What’s a Medley, you might ask?

Medley
from Wictionary.com

medley (plural medleys)
1. (now rare, archaic) Combat, fighting; a battle. [from 14th c.]
2. A collection or mixture of miscellaneous things. [from 17th c.]

As you can see from the definitions above, the Medley is like Grip Strength Combat, testing a variety of disciplines and finding the most well-rounded Gripster.

In order to find the most well rounded Grip Athlete, last week, the Medley was used. Below is the list of feats to be attempted in the medley and the point value for each feat:

Smooth Sides Out Pinch
2-25’s – 1 point
2-35’s – 1 point
2-45’s – 2 points

Hex DB Lift
30 – 1 point
40 – 1 point
50 – 2 points

8-lb Sledge 30″ Handle
Nose Lever – 1 point
Slim Lever – 1 point
Deadlift with coin – 2 points

Grippers with Blocks
1 – 1 point
2 – 1 point
3 – 2 points

Hubs
25 – 1 point
35 – 1 point
45 – 2 points
(You can add weight to a lighter plate to get the heavier plate

Towel Pull-ups
1 rep – 1 point
2 reps – 2 points
3 reps – 3 points

BW or Heavier Straddle Deadlift
1 rep – 1 points
2 reps – 2 points
3 reps – 3 points

The key to winning a medley is being well-rounded so that you can perform a variety of feats and challenges covering all disciplines. You never know what will be in a medley at an actual competition. It is also important to use your time wisely and not leave points “on the table.” One of the biggest errors is to not attempt easy lifts. Also, if you are a One Armed Bandit and can only lift things with your strong hand, you will tire out, so you have to be good with both hands.

Here are the submissions:

Mike Turpin

10 Points

Mike sent in the most humorous submission yet again this week. Bastard. I now have to use my compressed air to blow the snot out of my keyboard from those plate curls at the end. Comic genius.

Mike got the #1, Nose Lever, 25’s Pinch, 30 and 40 Hexes, 25 and 35 Hub and all three Towel Pullups! Great job. Keep working that wide pinch and your grippers and you are going to do well brother.

Scott Goguen

12 Points

Scott got the 25’s Pinch, 35’s Pinch, the 30 and 40 Hex, the 25 Hub, Nose Lever, all three Towel Pull-ups and all three BW One Hand Deads. I did not count the BB Gripper because it had to be a #1 for this challenge. First submission all year and he did a fine job!

Scott, on that Slim Lever, don’t leave any part of the handle hanging outside your hand. It makes it way harder! Looking forward to more submissions – great intensity!

Paul Tompkins

13 Points

Paul did great, getting the #1, Slim Lever, Nose Lever, 25’s, and 35’s pinch, 30, 40 and 50 Hex Lift, and the 25, 35, and 45 Hubs. Not sure if you got the #2. it looked close but I didn’t hear a click so i could not pass it. Still, a fantastic showing. Great job!

Jason Steeves – WINNER!

14 Points

Jason got the #1, #2 and came close on the #3 but I could not tell for sure so I did not pass it. He got the Slim Lever, Nose Lever, and pinched the 25’s and 35’s. He was able to lift the 30 and 40 Hex and hub the 25, 35, and 45. Plus he got all three Towel Pull-ups. Great job brother. You are qualified for Nationals. It’s time to make flight plans and get your passport ready!

This week’s feet will be a One Hand Deadlift, and I hope to have the video ready and posted on the site by tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great submissions. Looking forward to hundreds more.

Jedd

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