Performance Tips on the Grab Ball and Finnish Ball

Today, I’ve got 2 very quick and information-packed new products for you.

These two 10-minute videos cover the lifting technique I use for the Grab Ball and the Finnish Ball, both of which are implements in this year’s King Kong of Grip.

They also give lifters a lot of trouble.

I’m trying to fix that, today.

By sharing this information, I’m probably gonna be providing some competitors that are going to be breathing down my neck in the standings the EXACT INFORMATION they need to over-take me.

But that’s a chance I’m willing to take in order to help people get better and improve the level of expertise across the sport.

For the next few days, the price of each of these videos, is just $9.99.

As soon as I get the Paypal receipt, your video access page, or pages, will be headed towards to your inbox.

Just click the buttons below to get them headed your way.

But before you do that, I’ve got an even better deal for you…

I’ll give you both of these videos 100% free if you join my site, TheGripAuthority.com, for 30 days, for $9.99.

For the price of just 1 of these products, when you join me at TGA, you’ll get both, the Grab Ball video AND the Finnish Ball video.

PLUS, you’ll get instant access to over 12 years of information on Grip Training, Grip Feats, Grip Sport, and Strongman training!

If in any way, you’re not happy with the TGA Membership, you can cancel at any time.

But I want you to try it out, so I’m making this special deal today.

In Summary, if you just want the videos, click the Add to Cart buttons below the video you’d like buy. Make your purchase and I’ll send you the page to view them as soon as I get the notification.

But, if you’d like to test drive TheGripAuthority.com for 30 days, then click the bottom button, and start exploring my expansive Grip Strength Instructional Site to your hearts content, PLUS, you’ll be able to tap into today’s new videos on the Grab Ball and Finnish Ball.

The choice is yours:

Grab Ball

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Finnish Ball

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Join TGA and Get BOTH VIDEOS for Free!

Thanks and all the best in your training.

NAPALM

Time to get caught up a little bit on This Week in Grip.

Incidentally, I created a Playlist for the Podcast, so if you’re new to the show, you can start right from the beginning and get caught up: This Week in Grip Complete Playlist

Episode 66 – Hand Shake Power & Rich Williams’ 560 Axle

Episode 67 – Joe Sullivan and the Cross Canada Grip Challenge

Episode 68 – Follow Up on Rich W & What’s the Deal with Plate Flipping?

Episode 69 – Jujimufu & Tom Visit

Episode 70 – What is the Inch Dumbbell???

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Jujimufu and Tom Train Grip Strength Training

Jujimufu and Tom Boyden visited PEAK Strength and Fitness last week and we helped them out with their grip technique. Especially on Grippers, technique is a major factor. This is evidenced by the fact that Juji was able to close a #3 gripper for the first time ever, after we covered gripper technique with him.

They took a bunch of footage and put out the first video last night. Check it out:

I can’t put enough emphasis on the importance of technique for Grippers. If you aren’t doing it right, you’re holding yourself back.

The absolute best resources for Gripper Training are below. Grab one today, and get ready to close bigger grippers almost instantly:

GRIPPER RESOURCES:

CRUSH: Total Gripper Domination
The Must-Have Gripper Video for ANYONE Serious about their Gripper Training

Operation: Gripper Certification
Training to certify on the #3 Gripper, guys? Then you need to watch this video with Paul Knight, one of the best gripper guys in the USA.

Cadenced Based Gripper Training
Want an 8-week program, designed to build your gripper strength the way you’d build your Bench, Squat or Deadlift? Then you need this!

The Push and Crush Workout
Want to spice things up in the weight room a little bit? Try combining your gripper work with your upper body training to break through plateaus –

Full Sweep Crush Builder Is it time to specialize on the credit card set for a while? This workout helps build your crush strength by intensely working on the longer gripper stroke.

This Week in Grip Podcast

This Week in Grip – Episode 60 – Grip Feats From July

This Week in Grip – Episode 59 – Northeastern Grip Challenge

This Week in Grip – Episode 58 – A Legend, Lifts & a Lighter

Get Started with Grip Training and Feats of Strength Today
Grab This DVD Set and Go Full Steam Ahead!

This Week in Grip 45 through 54

Sorry for skipping over these. I was so proud of Luke for winning NAGS this year, I forgot to post the rest of the catch-up episodes that I had missed. They are below:

This Week in Grip – Episode 45 – California’s Strongest Hands

This Week in Grip – Episode 46 – 2018 Canadian National Grip Championship

This Week in Grip – Episode 47

This Week in Grip – Episode 48 – 2018 First Quarter Feats

This Week in Grip – Episode 49 – 25th Anniversary Issue of MILO

This Week in Grip – Episode 50 – Jedd’s Training for Philly

This Week in Grip – Episode 51 – Do Swearing and Grip Training Go Hand in Hand?

This Week in Grip – Episode 52- Odd Haugen Strength Challenge

This Week in Grip – Episode 53 – Clay Edgin and APL World Championships

This Week in Grip – Episode 54 – Looking ahead to the NAGS Championship

Want to Get Started in Grip Sport?
Grab This DVD Set, TODAY:
Basics of Grip and Strongmanism

I am starting up a new list, devoted solely to communicating when the next sanctioned Grip Contests are taking place. I am contacted all the time by people wanting to know, and this will be the easiest way to keep everyone informed.

All you need to do is put your information in the boxes below and I will send you notifications when the next contests are scheduled, and when other important grip contest news becomes available.

Do you know anyone else who would like to stay up to date about upcoming competitions? If so, please share this post with them, and have them add their email in, as well.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

Start Your Grip Sport Career Right With
The Basics of Grip Training and Strongmanism

Here’s a write-up from 2018 North American Grip Sport Absolute Champion, Luke Raymond, 93kg weight class

Well to start I definitely did not think that I was going to win at the start of the day with Eric Roussin and fellow Canadians including Justin Major and Tom Bryson I was hoping to sneak into the top 3 overall.

To start the day I woke up at 4:15am super anxious for the contest which is normal if anyone knows me. My weight was somewhere near 205 but wasn’t too concerned whether i would be in the 93k or 105k class so i ate a small bowl of oatmeal and drank a creatine drink. I had a bunch of stuff I needed to load in my truck and planned on being at the gym early to help Jedd setup what he didn’t have done. After the 50 minute drive there it was 7:45 and only Jedd and Nigel were there. This was my first time meeting Nigel but following him on IG and FB I feel like I already knew him. After messing around with the two different scales we realized they were both about 1 lb over after checking them with the calibrated plates so we were both good for our respected weight classes. After getting everything settled in an people slowly coming in I relaized there must be something in the water in Canada that makes the people grow bigger because their smallest guy was over 6’ tall and the lightest Dan Fleming is a grip monster.

Chez had put together a list of the USA team for each event and after going through it, the lineup was set and knowing it was going to take some serious lifts to surpass the team from up north.

Event 1- Grippers– I hadn’t been able to train heavy grippers R handed due to injurying my R middle finger when chalking the hub in the Armlifting Contest in Philly (yeah quite the way to injure your finger); so I was unsure how I would do and I was hoping I could get 1-2 decent closes RH on the first two attempts and then if I had to go LH. First attempt I decided to go fairly high with a 155 and smashed it closed, immediate sharp pain in my finger but dissipated enough for me to try 160; close but no cigar. Next attempt I took LH and wasnt close and final attempt RH again no close. Finger held up enough to get me where I was hoping to end up.

Event 2- Euro Pinch – Last contest I was training and consistently pulling 227+ training but wasn’t able to reproduce those numbers in contest. This event I didnt even train Euro specifically instead training flask and IM blockbuster so I was unsure where I was going end up especially since tearing on my last flask session. Warming up I felt pretty good and was able to a few singles at 216 lbs on the warmup implement but is much more seasoned. After hitting my first two attempts at 203 and 208, Rob and I decided to jump up to 218 and both of us unsuccessful.

Event 3- 60mm Napalms Nightmare – thickbar has always been where I lag behind compared to the other elite 93k people and this was no different. I started light at 323 and took my next three attempts at 333, 338, and 348 all successful. The three thickbar giants from Canada still hadn’t even started; Eric, Justin, and Tom. I wasn’t paying full attention but I believe Tom finished around 380-390 and the Eric and Justin at 412. Justin was frustrated as he had pulled 430+ in training which is just unreal strength for both guys. I knew at this point I was close to the top 3, after figuring out the scoring I was indeed 3rd place behind Justin and Eric and felt I had a possibility of moving up based on the medley and wrist roller event.

Event 4- Medley – based on the items and the weights I was hoping to coming in at 53-56/60 but trying to determine the order to which I could maximize the points without fatiguing and failing on items I would normally lift is that planning part of the medley that makes it challenging. Knowing fatigued I wouldn’t be able to lift the 160lb crusher or the fatman blob those were the first two items I did. I was able to get everything I wanted except the 50lb inverted DB which I ended up with 55/60 which was the winning score wit the next highest being 51/60. After this event Eric and I were tied for first and Justin close behind.

Event 5- Wrist Roller – Ive had success with wrost roller events in the past and Jedd and I tried to figure out an appropriate weight that would lead to about a 40% success rate for the competitors and came up with 115lbs added to the sled. So 130lbs, 34’ and 60 secs was the course. As contestants went through the first competitor to finish was Nick Carigan (Canada) and then 3-4 more competitors coming in around 51-54 secs. Then in third place Justin Major sets a blazing fast pace with 39 secs with Eric and I still to go. In my head I now have to see how Eric does but also have to be able to stay within a few seconds of Justin to win the overall. Eric came up 2ft short of finishing and now I had to pick up my game as this was mine to win. No one else to help and all on me, I win or lose it’s all me. Prior to my attempt my anxiety was kicking in, heart rate was elevated, a little shortness of breath; so after chalking up I decided I would set a timer on my phone for 75 secs and when it said 60 I would start. As I am going I am focusing my eyes on the rope as it is winding on the wrist roller and nothing else, I could hear people yelling including Adam with the time but couldn’t decipher the words and the first time I looked up the sled was about 6’ from the line and I kept cranking on it until it crossed the line and looked at my phone which said 25 sec remaining so I had finished it in 35 secs and then In the excitement and couple yells I realized I had won my first overall contest and just happened to be NAGS.

Jedd had informed me that Brad Martin the gym owner had donated a prize for the overall winner and to find out it was a genuine replica of the 1988 Winged Eagle WWF Championship belt was truly badass.

It was a pleasure not only being in one of the closest grip contests but also competing with a bunch of new people that I had only ever seen on social media including; Nigel, Vinnie, Tom B (who made the trip from western Canada), Justin M, Nick C, and Bernie. Not to mention everyone that I had previously met an competed with. I look forward to many years to come and hopefully team USA can bring the team championship back!

This Week in Grip – Episodes 40 Through 44

This Week in Grip-Episode 40 – CA Strongest Hands, 2018 Predictions & Goals

This Week in Grip – Episode 41 – Feats and Pizzles

This Week in Grip – Episode 42 – Finnish Nationals and a New Product Review

This Week In Grip – Episode 43 – Hands-on Grip Games

This Week in Grip – BONUS SHOW! Episode 44 – Dubai Trip #2

This Week in Grip

This Week in Grip is the (nearly) weekly podcast show that Allen Heineck, Riccardo Magni, and I do on YouTube. In This Week in Grip, we discuss the latest things going on in the sport of grip, as well as feats of grip strength that we see posted on-line, grip training topics, grip q&a’s, oldtime strongman feats, grip certifications, grip world records, and much, much more.

Please be sure to subscribe to the channel and click the bell for notifications on your mobile device. Also, if there’s any commentary or questions you’d like to put forth, please do so in the comments section under the video, and we will do our best to cover and answer them in the upcoming shows.

Specifically, we are wondering what you feel are the Top Feats of Grip Strength that you saw go down in 2018. Please post your thoughts!

Episode 37

Episode 38

Episode 39

Will “Greasing the Groove” Help Me Close Bigger Grippers

I got a question on my YouTube Channel about Greasing the Groove for Grippers, and I answered it in a recent video.

Mainly, the writer wants to know if the commonly known “Greasing the Groove” method, which is often used for Pull-ups, Push-ups, and other strength maneuvers, can work to help increase crushing strength with Grippers.

Additional Resources:

Jedd Johnson’s Top Videos in 2017

For several years now, I’ve put together a list of my top videos of the year, based on number of views.

This isn’t always a “fair” comparison, because some videos have been up for a lot longer time than others.

This year, I’m including any videos I uploaded during December of 2016 in the countdown.

It’s interesting to see the topics that register into thee Top 20 every year.

One thing is clear, Fat Gripz are a very popular video topic on my channel. Part of that may have to do with the fact that I post those videos on Fat Gripz’s Facebook page, as well, so there’s more visibility. But there’s absolutely no doubt about it that there’s more awareness of Fat Gripz out there than there is Inch Dumbbell, Blob, and other much more common topics that I put up videos about.

Without further ado, here is the countdown, starting with number 20.

20. Warning: HARD Shoulder and Upper Back Training Method – 560

Although my biggest interest is Grip Strength, I also love all other forms of training and sometimes I put together some absolutely vicious combinations. Here’s one of them that I did this year for bigger shoulders and upper back.

19. Inch Hand-to-Hand Transfer – My First Time Ever – Right to Left – 590

Transferring the Inch Dumbbell from one hand to another is a feat that only a “handful” of people have done. I know that Adam Glass and Andrew Durniat have pulled it off, but can’t remember who else (if you know of anyone, please let me know). In 2018, I’d like to manage passing it from right to left and back to the right, or vice versa, as I don’t think anyone else has done that.

18. IronMind Stacker Training – 30lbs | Joe Sullivan – 601

Shortly after the New Year, Joe Sullivan came down for a training session. He brought several of his cool griplements, including the IronMind Stacker, that I don’t think I ad ever seen before.

17. A Version of Shrugs You’ve Never Done Before – 641

I tried these once this year, and instantly enjoyed them. Aside from their ability to build up the yoke, they also promote stability throughout the shoulder as well as the core.

16. This Week in Grip – Episode 2 – 1/22/17 – 660

This year, I finally was able to do two things I’ve wanted to do for a while: (1) Resurrect my old Grip Strength show/podcast, and (2) Bring more exposure to the great things going on in Grip Sport. Both became a reality when friend and log-time member of The Grip Authority, Allen Heineck. Also, later on this year, we brought Riccardo Magni aboard, as well, after having him on as a guest.

15. How to Build Grip Strength: Beginner Thick Bar Training | Awake and Alive – 669

I got invited to do a guest blog post this year – the first one I’ve done in a while, and all the videos from that post registered in this year’s Top 20.

14. Arm Wrestling Bench Curls – 675

There’s no denying the popularity of arm wrestling. I only put up a couple arm wrestling videos all year long, but they ended up in the countdown, and I didn’t even push them that hard.

13. How to Build Grip Strength: Beginner Grip Training with Modified Pullups | Awake and Alive – 701

Here’s another one from that guest post I mentioned before.

12. First Time Trying Pinch Pull-ups – 722

This was from the near beginning of the year. I think people were shocked that I was able to do these, but honestly, I think anyone could do these on this tool, as it rotates forward and takes a lot of pressure off the thumbs. I think the feat is over-rated, myself.

11. Jedd Johnson #4 Silver Bullet World Record 15.32 Seconds – 801

This is one I was definitely proud of. Hard to believe it has been almost ayear already since this record went down.

10. What’s Better? Gripper Negatives, or Holds? 972

This is a common question I get, and sometimes people are surprised by the answer I give.

9. How to Train for Grip Strength: Beginner Gripper Training Information | Awake and Alive – 1091

Look at that, another one from the guest post I did. Maybe I should do more of these?

8. Heavy Sledgehammer Levers | Joe Sullivan – 1100

Joe Sullivan is on a tear with sledgehammers. This is nothing compared to where he’s at now.

7. How to Train for Grip Strength: Plate Pinch for Beginner Grip Training | Awake and Alive – 1159

Let’s go over some plate pinching basics, brotherrrr!

6. This Week in Grip – Episode 1 – 1.15.17 – 1185

Here’s the very first episode of This Week in Grip, in case you’ve never heard it. Be sure to check it out.

5. How to Train for Grip Strength: Beginner Grip Training with Hammers | Awake and Alive

Now it’s time to build some serious wrist strength! Get your hammers out and start using them.

4. Training for Thicker Wrists and Forearms | Cooking with Napalm – 1317

In this video, I cover some tips on building bigger forearms.

3. First Time Ever – Double Old School York 45’s Pinch – 3840

Probably the highlight of my training year, I was finally able to perform the Double Old School York 45lb Plate Pinch.

2. Will Grip Training Build Big Forearms? – 4996

I get this question all the time, and took some time to answer it last year for my YouTube Clan.

1. Should I Get Regular Fat Gripz or Extremes? – 7202

Fat Gripz are so popular! I always seem to get a lot of views on videos about Fat Gripz. I’m thinking of doing more videos on Fat Gripz, showing training tips, some of my favorite drills, etc, because I think a LOT more people have access to Fat Gripz than other thick bar handles. Hopefully, if I do this, it will help bring more people into Grip Sport.

The Countdown is OVER, brotherrrr. Stay tuned for more videos coming your way soon.

Also, if there’s anything you’d like to see me cover on my YouTube Channel in 2018, please feel free to leave a comment below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

This Week in Grip

Still playing catch-up on the episodes of This Week in Grip that I’m behind on.

This Week in Grip – Episode 30

This Week in Grip – Episode 31 – Part 1

This Week in Grip – Episode 31 – Part 2

This Week in Grip – Episode 32 – Part A

This Week in Grip – Episode 32 – Part B

I hope you enjoy them.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

I am really behind on posting episodes of This Week in Grip, the podcast show where Allen Heineck and I cover the latest in the grip world, including Grip Sport, Oldtime Strongman Training and Feats of Grip Strength, as well as other topics closely related to Grip Training.

We also recently added Riccardo Magni to our regular TWIG Team.

Below, you’ll find episodes 27, 28 and 29. I hope you enjoy them. Be sure to subscribe and don’t be afraid to share your favorite episodes with your friends.

This Week in Grip – Episode 27

This Week in Grip – Episode 28

This Week in Grip – Episode 29

I’ll have more episodes of This Week in Grip posted here soon. I don’t want to overload you with TOO MUCH of a great thing.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

This Week in Grip

This Week in Grip – Episode 22 – 7/3/17

Want to Lever Bigger Hammers?
This Workout Shows You How to
Get it Done!

This week, Allen Heineck and Jedd Johnson begin the process of catching up from the last 2 weeks. Plus, we interview a mystery guest. Can you guess who it is, before he comes on?

Want to Learn to Tear Decks of Cards?
Get the Best Resource on the Plant

This Week in Grip

This week, Allen Heineck and Jedd Johnson discuss what went down at the North American Grip Sport Championship, also known as Grip Nationals.

Feedback on this episode: “Great episode guys! couldn’t make it to nationals, but felt like I was there with Jedd’s recount.” – Tom Scibelli

Want to Compete in Grip?
Start Out By Getting Your Crush Grip Right
With the CRUSH DVD:

2017 North American Grip Sport Championship

Grippers Right and Left Hands

Two Hands Pinch

Axle Deadlift

NAGS Championship Medley Runs

Aaron Corcorran Medley Run

Tanner Merkle Medley Run

Jedd Johnson Medley Run

Gil Goodman Medley Run

Post Contest Feating – Sahlaney Bell Combo Lifts

Jedd Johnson 180/172 Sahlaney Bell Attempt

Tanner Merkley 180/172 Sahlaney Bell Attempt

Jedd Johnson – First Try at 180/172 Sahlaney Bells

Eric Roussin 180/172 Sahlaney Bell Lift

Post Contest Feating – 180lb Sahlaney Bell + Fatman Blob

Jedd Johnson – 180lb Sahlaney Bell + Fatman Blob

Tanner Merkle – 180lb Sahlaney Bell + Fatman Blob

Jedd Johnson – 180lb Sahlaney Bell + Fatman Blob

This Week in Grip

This is a SPECIAL edition of the show today – episode 18, the day before a SPECIAL holiday here in the United States and around the world – Memorial Day, and the week before the North American Grip Sport Championship – Allen and I are ready to serve YOU and cover the LATEST in This Week in Grip!

How to Lift the Inch Dumbbell

Since January of this year, I’ve been teaming up with Allen Heineck, one of my long-time members of TheGripAuthority.com & Team Napalm on a (near) weekly podcast on GRIP, called This Week in Grip.

I’m a bit behind in posting those episodes, so I want to go ahead and get caught back up right now.

This Week in Grip – Episode 11

This Week in Grip – Episode 12

This Week in Grip – Episode 13

This Week in Grip – Episode 14

This Week in Grip is getting a lot of good, positive feedback. I really appreciate it!

As much as I’d like to continue adding in the videos for each feat, I literally just can not do it anymore, because it has been taking so very long.

My plan right now is to keep peppering in a few stills of some of the stuff that’s harder to envision, and some of the key moments from the week, and especially highlighting other gripsters around the world.

Please keep on using the hashtag #ThisWeekInGrip on your social media posts so Allen and I can continue to find the feats we miss, and connect with more and more gripsters that are out there!

All the best in your training.

Jedd

With Chris Rice stepping down, the NAGS Committee is now looking for another member.

If you would be interested in joining the committee for NAGS, please contact us and tell us how you meet the requirements and why you’d like to be involved. Requirements we consider important include:

* being passionate about Grip Sport
* minimum 2 years involved in Grip
* competed in at least 1 NAGS sanctioned contest
* organized or assisted closely with at least 1 contest
* able to commit to weekly discussions and projects, sometimes up to 2 hours or more
* must have email access

We look forward to hearing from you. Please send a message to [email protected] if you are interested by 4/21/17.

Thank you!

This video talks about the most important factors in preventing skin tears when pinching: what you’re lifting, the edge of what you’re pinching, the placement you use with your thumb. The video also will help you make some modifications so that you experience fewer tears.

For additional resources and information on reducing skin tears when training pinch grip, check out the links below:

Skin Tear Prevention Article

Get Your Napalm Pinch Device

Two Hands Pinch Training DVD

Two Hands Pinch Workshop

All the best in your Pinch Grip Training.

Jedd

(originally posted Jan 31, 2010)

If you do any amount of pinching, especially one-hand loose plate pinching (like lifting 6 tens with one hand), block weight pinching (like lifting the blob plus weight), or the Two Hands Pinch with the European Adjustable Pinch Device, you’ve probably had thumb tears before.

If you have had a thumb tear, then you know how hard it can be to continue training through it. The stinging can keep you from squeezing as hard as you can, the blood makes the plates slippery, and if you keep going, the rip keeps getting bigger and bigger.

If the tear is shallow, then you may be able to train again the next day or at least in the next workout, but if the chunk goes down deep, it may be a week before you’re able to hit a good hard workout with that thumb again.
READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

This Week in Grip – Episode 7

My friend owns a cool little company, and one of the things they do is produce these adhesive decals that can be placed on building windows, car windows, table tops, and even cornhole boards.

I’ve teamed up with him to make a few decals, as well, and right now they are all Grip-based.

I think they’re going to be awesome decorations for your car, your work station, storage devices, tool boxes, hard hats, etc, and they will make good conversation pieces and help spread the word about our little sport and hobby of Grip.

You can order yours here: Grippin’ Window Decals

Here are the three current designs, with a little explanation about how I came up with each one:

My Gripper’s Bigger Than Yours

Nothing wrong with a little bragging and smack-talk, every once in a while.

I took the massive arm crushing the gripper from the “Crushin’ Grippers Like It’s My Job” shirt, and re-purposed it for this one.

Are you the king of grippers in your crew? Then you need this shirt to brag about your Grip Glory.

How Man Inches Can You Handle?

A little edgy, this one was thought up by my old artwork guy from years ago.

We became good friends and used to talk all the time, even when we weren’t working on artwork projects, but I haven’t heard a peep out of him since July of 2012.

Fearing the worst, this one is kind of in memory to Rory Hickman.

Pinchin’ Ain’t Easy

Back in the late 1990’s, it was the “Attitude Era” in the WWF, and both the characters and the storylines were edgier back then.

There was a wrestler called the Godfather who was essentially a pimp, and brought prostitutes to the ring. One of his catch-phrases were, “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy.”

I borrowed that from him and massaged it a fit the theme of Grip, but the little dude is still a Pimp when it comes to Plate Pinching.

Again, these decals are supposed to be fun ways to get our sport out there a little bit more. I hope you choose to support this effort by making a purchase today. You can get yours here => Diesel Grippin’ Window Decals.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

My grip training workouts are always changing, whether it be the main feats I’m emphasizing, the main events I’m training for contests, or the supplemental drills I’m doing to bring up individual aspects of Grip.

But, one thing that has been consistent over the last couple of years is my favorite way to finish my grip workouts: Grip Rushes.

Grip Rushes are 60-second blocks of as many reps as possible of a certain lift. By going for as many reps as possible, it enables you to train some very high volume, plus it brings about a level of conditioning, which is very important for Medley Training.

I really like using Block Weights and Thick Bar devices, because pulling them to lockout makes the quads, hamstrings, glutes and lower back really burn at the end of the 60-second period.

Recently, I tried a couple of new types of Grip Rushes.

Grip Rush: Blobzilla for Reps

Blobzilla, the half 125lb York Legacy Dumbbell Head, is starting to feel easier, so I’ve begun using it for Grip Rushes. My short term goal is 3 full lifts per hand during the 60-second period. You’ll see here, I get a couple full lifts, a partial or two, and then try a Cheat and Hold at the end.

I think by doing this, I will eventually be able to lift Blobzilla at will, and even begin adding significant weight this year as well.

Grip Rush: Blob Hula Training

I also recently gave Blob Hulas a try with my Winter Blob, a Blob I left outside for an entire winter trying to make it super rough, but when I brought it back in, it had actually become very, very smooth. Hulas are a great way to get more time under tension with your Blob, plus they force you to maintain your grip without setting it perfectly on the Blob each time you make a revolution.

If you’re stuck making only 1 rep on your Blob Deadlift, more time under tension might be what you need, so be sure to give this a try sometime soon, and let me know how it worked out for you.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Grippers – Are You Wasting Your Time?

In many of my videos and DVD’s, I have said that Gripper Training is a waste of time.

This is a statement that catches many people by surprise when they hear me say it, since I do Gripper Training on a regular basis.

After about the 50th time getting asked what I mean by this, I decided to put together a quick video to explain.

Why Grippers are a Waste of Time

Want the BEST Grip Training Methods for MMA?
Then You Want Grip Training for MMA Athletes:

As you can see, sometimes Grippers ARE a Waste of Your Time.

Naturally, if your objective is to close big grippers just for the sake of closing big grippers, then you NEED to train grippers, and you need to train them the right way.

If you want to maximize your Gripper Training, then you need these resources:

CRUSH – Total Gripper Domination: The Video Encyclopedia of Gripper Training Technique and Crushing Strength Development. If your gripper technique is lacking, there’s no drill that will help you get to your ultimate gripper goal. This video will make sure you’re doing everything right.

Cadence Based Training: This is an 8-week Gripper Training program that works by helping you strengthen the entire range of motion of the gripper sweep. The drills in the CBT program will help you strengthen your set, improve your sweep, and ensure that you’re strong enough to finish off your goal gripper.

My hope is that the information in this post will help you get the best results from your training, and maximize your training time as well as possible.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

Man what an awesome time last week, DIESELS.

As you know, on Thursday, I help the Basics of Grip and Strongmanism seminar.

Here’s a pic, with Dr. Jim Wagner on the left, me, and Chris Fritz on the right.

I got this message posted on my wall on Facebook, after the event:

“I got to spend the day at a seminar with the grip legend himself,
Jedd Johnson. I learned more in 5 hours than I did in the last
five years. It was an awesome day and Jedd is one of the nicest
guys you could meet! I’ll be seeing you again Brother, hopefully
at the next contest!”
Chris Fritz

Here’s how the day’s content rolled out:

9:00AM Start, meet and greet

Warm-up
General to specific
– General Full Body: Mobility / Activation / Light Stretching
– Move to Weights
– Move to Specific
Magic Formula for Success

Grippers
Technique
– Placement
– Gripper Angle
– Wrist Angle
– Tension
– Set to Close
– Skin Stretch
– Hit
– Thumb Strike
– Roll the Dice
High Impact Drills
Other Considerations

Pinching
Technique
Chalking Considerations
Plate Pinching
Block Weights
Odd Objects
Euro Pinch
High Impact Drills

Thick Bar and other Open Hand Training
What is Open Hand Training? Is Thick Bar “Support Grip”
Support Specificity
Technique
High Impact Drills

Intro to Feats
Tension
Beginner Conditioning

Card Tearing

Steel Bending

Programming
Individual Based
Setting up YOUR Program
Formulating Workouts – Think Energy Economy
Specificity of Grip Training

Injury Prevention & Recovery Methods

2:00 / 2:30PM Close

Man, I’ll tell you what, I absolutely love talking GRIP with people.

As an added bonus, before we called it a day, Dr. Jim Wagner got out his Hawk Grips, a special set of soft tissue massaging devices, and worked on us a little bit.

We got EVERYTHING on film, and I’ve already begun editing the footage, and will be making it available on DVD.

If you want to be the first to add this information to your library, add your information to the box below:

It will be ready as absolutely fast as I can get through all 5 hours!

In the meantime, Make it a Great Week.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. Sign up for notification as soon as this seminar becomes available.

My shirt guy and I re-worked an old tee shirt design just in time for Halloween.

There’s a special price on these, just $15 plus shipping.

Youth sizes are available – be sure to grab one for your youngster(s) at home. Each shirt is made of a mesh material, as well.

Youth sizes are available!

Get your order in today and they will be shipped out as soon as possible.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

This past Saturday, Doc and I spoke with Andrew Durniat on Grip Strength Radio.

Right click on the link and save: Interview with Andrew Durniat

You can also listen to the show on ITunes. When you do, make sure to rate it and subscribe for future shows.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Last week, Doc and I posted the latest episode of Grip Strength Radio. You can Download it Here

Main topics from last week’s show:

• What has been going on since the last show (December)
• Info on my Thoracic Outlet Syndrome condition
• Mighty Mitts 2013
• Grip Sport Nationals
• Recent Media Coverage for Grip Sport

Regarding the last topic, the Recent Media Coverage for Grip Sport, some of you may not realize the awesome press that our sport has received recently.

Wall Street Journal Article on Grip Sport: First off, there was a full-length feature article on the Grip Sport National Championship in the Wall Street Journal recently. Ben Keisling reported and wrote the article. He interviewed several grip athletes as well as myself prior to the competition and then also attended the contest as well.

Here is where you can read the Wall Street Journal write-up on the NAGS Championship.

EliteFTS: Also, Nic Bronkall put together a great post of his experience at Grip Nationals on the EliteFTS Website <=Check it out. Next Episode: Be sure to stay tuned for the next episode of Grip Strength Radio. Doc and I will be talking with Eric Milfeld. Eric, in case you don’t know, challenged himself to unheard of levels, cutting nearly 40-lbs of bodyweight in less than 2 months, in order to compete in a much lighter weight class. In doing so, he set several new world records in his weight class, and we can’t wait to talk with him in detail about it. If you have anything you’d be interested in us discussing with Eric, please leave a comment below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

I am working on some awesome things that we will be soon announcing. In fact, these are some of the biggest things I have ever worked on.

Working on these projects has been taking up a lot of my time recently, so I have not had the chances to sit down and write as much as I like.

However, I have had the time to do some more equipment reviews. Below are some videos I did on some of the excellent grip training equipment from Rogue Fitness.

Take note, Rogue is always expanding their equipment selection, so this is not all that they offer, but I must say I like the way they are going because some of this equipment is similar to the training we have been doing at Diesel Crew for years.

Rogue Fitness Equipment Review 1 – Straps, Carabiners, Grandfather Clock

I am about two degrees short of being a horder. It is probably best to call me a disorganized pack rat. For years, I had a couple of sets of straps in my gym that I use for attaching to things when carabiners didn’t fit, such as Rolling Thunder handles onto my pull-up bar. I lost those things so many times it isn’t even funny. Rogue has developed their own special system that accommodates for this, as shown above. Also, their grandfather clock is just like the vertical bar handles we trained with for years back in the mid-2000’s. This type of hand positioning gives you a great added variety to your grip training.

The handles I am referring to are in the Diesel Video below. We used to do a lot of brainstorming back in the day on equipment that we could sell, but because we had no way to mass-produce stuff, we never acted on any of our ideas. It is good to see them being put out there for the masses to enjoy. I think other companies have produced similar handles as well.

Rogue Fitness Equipment Review 2 – Dog Bone, Globe

Look, I am going to say it right now – I love both of these pieces of equipment. My right wrist was pretty messed up when I was doing these and each rep felt like my hand was going to pop off, but the combination of coolness and challenge level with these two implements is awesome. The open hand positioning combined with gross forearm recruitment is intense with these two implements.

Also, if you own Advanced Forearm Training for Baseball, you’ll see the resemblance between the Globe and the Orb Pull-ups in my manual. Rogue was using their heads though and made the Globe light-weight while still being large and challenging to hold.

In the past, I have used my 95-lb Kettlebell. What a pain in the ass neck that is to hang – especially when you can’t find your rigging straps like I referenced above.

I hope Mike Rankin from Drexel sees this video, as I put in a reference to the Spider Monkey, just for his benefit.

Rogue Fitness Equipment Review 3 – Cannon Balls, Pinch Block, Bipolar Training

In the video above I show some of the other gear using some basic and more advanced drills. In the video above, I tried to give you some out-of-the-box ways to use this gear, instead of just the same old lift-it-up-and-hold-it types of lifts. The Rogue gear allows you to do a lot of different things with it, and if you use your head you can probably come up with some of your own creative ways to torture yourself.

Well, I hope this info has been helpful both as a way to familiarize yourself with some of Rogue’s catalog as well as some ways you can train your grip that are different from the same old conventional means.

Any questions, leave a comment below, otherwise, you can check out the rest of Rogue’s catalog here: Rogue Fitness.

Jedd

P.S. I have been asked by some to do equipment reviews of other equipment, and I am reaching out to the companies to see if they will work with me. Feel free to leave a comment below if there is anything you’d like me to look into for you.

P.P.S. I also have a very cool new piece of equipment from Sorinex that I am extremely excited about. I will hopefully get that video up next week, so make sure to sign up for updates through my newsletter below:

As you all know, I compete in as many Grip Strength Competitions as my schedule allows.

I am a competitor and I love testing myself.

David Horne, a Grip Legend and Pioneer, from Stafford, England, is promoting the World’s Strongest Hands Series, which is a series of four legs of competition. There is a winner each leg and there will be an overall winner as well.

With this post, I am hoping to put some information out there to increase awareness of this competition, and hopefully to bring in new competitors.

This series is an EXCELLENT way for you to break into Grip competition. I would like nothing more than to have a dozen new Grip Competitors come to my facility for the next leg and see how this stuff works.

This past weekend, I had two new Grip Competitors sign up and compete at Leg 2, EJ Livesey and Mike Pachulski. Both of these guys are from The Grip Authority and loved the competition. Both off them wrote me emails immediately upon getting home after the event about how much they enjoyed themselves.

I know so many more people would love to try a Grip Comp, and with only 3 events to train and a minimal entry fee of $15, there is very little time or monetary risk involved. So, what I would like to do is go over some information about the WSH Series, and extend an invite for all to come try it out.

Here are the events:

Two Hands Pinch

World Record, BABY!

You’ve all seen my videos of both training for the pinch, and my World Record lift last December. I have loved this lift since I first tried it back in 2003. Pinching is my favorite Grip Discipline and thus I train it the most. Those two factors are probably why I have been near the top of the Pinch list for the last 5 years…

Wrist Developer

Wrist Developer

The Wrist Developer is a steel apparatus that is used to test wrist and forearm strength. Although it does not isolate those two aspects, they are the limiting factors. The spring can be moved up and down the bars using the variety of notches, making it very good for gradually increasing the difficulty. Wrist Strength has held me back for years, so I am taking this one very seriously. After all, you can’t maximize your hand strength without a solid, stable and strong wrist.

Vulcan Gripper

Vulcan Gripper

The Vulcan Gripper was designed to replicate the sweep of the old Iron Man Grippers which came out in the 1950’s I believe. The Vulcan also has the two bars with notches so that the spring can be moved around in order to modify the resistance. Crush is also something that holds me back in my placings at Grip contests. What I love about the Vulcan is that there is no knurling, so I can train it almost every day without my skin being in agony. This has always been the thing that has kept me from really ramping up the volume – sore skin.

I don’t feel that irritating skin pain with this Gripper, and what’s great is that the design of this Gripper is close enough to the Captains of Crush and Beef Builder Grippers, that one can train on the Vulcan and still ahve good carryover and results on the torsion spring counterparts. For instance, My best Gripper close in the last two years with a parallel set has been a 179-lb rated gripper. At GGC after working with the Vulcan consistently for 4 or 5 weeks, I closed a 182-lb rated gripper!

Now, to buy all of this equipment from David Horne is going to cost you, especially since it is coming from Europe. So what I am going to do below is offer up suggestions on how you can train for the competition without having the equipment and still be prepared for the platform on “game day.”

Training for the Two Hands Pinch

Two Hands Pinch Apparatus

The easiest way to prepare for this event is with a pair of 35’s or 45-lb plates placed together smooth-sides-out with a pipe run through the center hole. Plates are then added to the pipe to increase the weight.

You will probably want to put spin collars or some other type of spacer between the pinching plates and the loading plates, because otherwise your fingers will hit the loading plates and disturb your grip on the apparatus.

The actual Two Hands Pinch set-up is adjustable for different hand sizes. The outside gripping plates are made of steel and the internal plates are made out of rubber. This is not a complex set-up at all to replicate. You simply need to get two pieces of steel plating cut into the shape of a circle and get a center hole put directly into the center of the plates. This is where you will run the pipe through in order to add more weight.

For the rubber inserts, you can go to WalMart or KMart and get rubber anti-fatigue matting and cut them up into the circle shape with the holes cut out of the center.

You would not believe how much difference a few millimeters makes on this lift. Too thin and you put too much stress on your fingers, causing them to bend when you lift. Too thick, and the thing wants to pop out of your hand on every pull. Just right and it feels like your hands are suction cups, ready to defy gravity, brother!

Training for the Wrist Developer

The purpose of the Wrist Developer is to test wrist and forearm strength. When hitting an attempt on this device, you actually involve the entire upper body and I even feel it in the glutes on a max attempt.

Reverse Style Bending

Because of the large amount of muscles and joints involved in this movement, I can’t just point to one individual movement in order to prepare for this event. I think reverse style bending is one way to start. This way you get that extended effort feeling of the near-isometric action that accompanies an attempt on the WD. The WD’s handles are a bit longer than most short bends however, so that has to be taken into consideration.

Pulling the Mace Down

Another movement that is somewhat similar to the WD is Mace Swinging, especially the pull back to the order position. The short-coming there is that Mace Swinging is done rapidly with a great deal of concentric movement and the WD is a high-tension, short movement. The feeling can probably be better replicated by using a lighter mace, a sledgehammer, or other leverage tool, covering the same distance with similar joint angles.

The bottom line is the WD is a tough one to replicate without the actual equipment. Going in without touching the apparatus in training, I would suggest to prepare for the contest using a variety of different forearm, wrist and elbow strengthening movements, varying the load in order to increase the tension, while also working isometrics and near-isometrics, because that is essentially what you are doing with the Wrist Developer.

Training for the Vulcan Gripper

If you’ve got skills as a welder, you can probably design a mock-up of the device. I do not have those skills, so I have never been able to go that route. However, like I said before, the C.O.C. grippers and other options for torsion spring grippers are nearly identical.

Vulcan Block Set

The important detail to keep in mind for Gripper training, especially for the WSH Series is the set. For these competitions, in order to make sure everyone closes the handles together from a legal position, a 20-mm block has to be slid between the handles prior to closing. This prevents a deep cheat set from counting as a legal close. If you don’t have a Vulcan, just train the block set with your COC’s or whatever types of Grippers you own.

COC Block Set

However, using a block set of this nature requires more energy and coordination in order to close the gripper. You’ve got to train this set in your workouts in order to be ready for it on competition day. Just setting it to parallel and then pausing before closing it is not good enough. You’ve got to feel what it’s like to fumble around with your off-hand while holding the gripper at parallel or greater isometrically. It’s quite different.

Vulcan Death Gripper

Incidentally, Death Grip has come out with a version of the Vulcan Gripper made by Death Grip Brand Hand and Wrist Strengtheners that I can put you in contact with. Just hit me with an email and I will send you the information. There is no website at this point.

Upcoming Contests

As I said earlier on, my purpose of this post is to increase the awareness of Grip Sport itself and encourage people to try out a competition. If you are in the New England, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia area (is there a word for all these states???), you are in driving range for the competition here at my place. When I have people coming in from the outer reaches of this territory, I start the contests an hour later to give people a better chance of getting here safely. However, if you are nowhere near any of these places, Legs for the WSH Series are taking place all over the nation.

Here are the names of the promoters and the cities they are holding contests, in case you would like to try out a competition.

• Eric Milfeld – DFW, Texas
• Aaron Corcorran – Tucson, Arizona
• Adam Glass – Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Dave Thornton – Three Rivers, Michigan
• Chris Rice – Crooksville, Ohio
• Andrew Durniat – Wooster Ohio

If these areas are closer to you than my place, I can put you in contact with them in order to get signed up for an event or possibly to even arrange a training session with the equipment. Getting this equipment in your hands so you know how it feels and compares with your work-around equipment is half the battle.

The Dates of the next two legs are:

• Leg 3 – Saturday 16 October, 2010
• Leg 4 – Saturday 13 November, 2010

I hope to continue to bring you even more information that you can use to your advantage. I love the sport and hope to help it grow. Any help you can give me is appreciated.

Jedd

P.S. If you’d like to see these events in action, I loaded them all to my YouTube Channel. Just go to my channel and the first one will play, then it will give you a link to follow at the end to get the next video. There are 6 videos and they are all about 3 minutes apiece or so => Grip Contest Footage

Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball | 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

As you all know, I compete in as many Grip Strength Competitions as my schedule allows.
I am a competitor and I love testing myself.
David Horne, a Grip Legend and Pioneer, from Stafford, England, is promoting the World’s Strongest Hands Series, which is a series of four legs of competition. There is a winner each leg and there will be an overall winner as well.
With this post, I am hoping to put some information out there to increase awareness of this competition, and hopefully to bring in new competitors.
This series is an EXCELLENT way for you to break into Grip competition. I would like nothing more than to have a dozen new Grip Competitors come to my facility for the next leg and see how this stuff works.
This past weekend, I had two new Grip Competitors sign up and compete at Leg 2, EJ Livesey and Mike Pachulski. Both of these guys are from The Grip Authority and loved the competition. Both off them wrote me emails immediately upon getting home after the event about how much they enjoyed themselves.
I know so many more people would love to try a Grip Comp, and with only 3 events to train and a minimal entry fee of $15, there is very little time or monetary risk involved. So, what I would like to do is go over some information about the WSH Series, and extend an invite for all to come try it out.
Here are the events:

Two Hands Pinch

World Record, BABY!
You’ve all seen my videos of both training for the pinch, and my World Record lift last December. I have loved this lift since I first tried it back in 2003. Pinching is my favorite Grip Discipline and thus I train it the most. Those two factors are probably why I have been near the top of the Pinch list for the last 5 years…

Wrist Developer

Wrist Developer
The Wrist Developer is a steel apparatus that is used to test wrist and forearm strength. Although it does not isolate those two aspects, they are the limiting factors. The spring can be moved up and down the bars using the variety of notches, making it very good for gradually increasing the difficulty. Wrist Strength has held me back for years, so I am taking this one very seriously. After all, you can’t maximize your hand strength without a solid, stable and strong wrist.

Vulcan Gripper

Vulcan Gripper
The Vulcan Gripper was designed to replicate the sweep of the old Iron Man Grippers which came out in the 1950’s I believe. The Vulcan also has the two bars with notches so that the spring can be moved around in order to modify the resistance. Crush is also something that holds me back in my placings at Grip contests. What I love about the Vulcan is that there is no knurling, so I can train it almost every day without my skin being in agony. This has always been the thing that has kept me from really ramping up the volume – sore skin.
I don’t feel that irritating skin pain with this Gripper, and what’s great is that the design of this Gripper is close enough to the Captains of Crush and Beef Builder Grippers, that one can train on the Vulcan and still ahve good carryover and results on the torsion spring counterparts. For instance, My best Gripper close in the last two years with a parallel set has been a 179-lb rated gripper. At GGC after working with the Vulcan consistently for 4 or 5 weeks, I closed a 182-lb rated gripper!

Now, to buy all of this equipment from David Horne is going to cost you, especially since it is coming from Europe. So what I am going to do below is offer up suggestions on how you can train for the competition without having the equipment and still be prepared for the platform on “game day.”

Training for the Two Hands Pinch

Two Hands Pinch Apparatus
The easiest way to prepare for this event is with a pair of 35’s or 45-lb plates placed together smooth-sides-out with a pipe run through the center hole. Plates are then added to the pipe to increase the weight.
You will probably want to put spin collars or some other type of spacer between the pinching plates and the loading plates, because otherwise your fingers will hit the loading plates and disturb your grip on the apparatus.
The actual Two Hands Pinch set-up is adjustable for different hand sizes. The outside gripping plates are made of steel and the internal plates are made out of rubber. This is not a complex set-up at all to replicate. You simply need to get two pieces of steel plating cut into the shape of a circle and get a center hole put directly into the center of the plates. This is where you will run the pipe through in order to add more weight.
For the rubber inserts, you can go to WalMart or KMart and get rubber anti-fatigue matting and cut them up into the circle shape with the holes cut out of the center.
You would not believe how much difference a few millimeters makes on this lift. Too thin and you put too much stress on your fingers, causing them to bend when you lift. Too thick, and the thing wants to pop out of your hand on every pull. Just right and it feels like your hands are suction cups, ready to defy gravity, brother!

Training for the Wrist Developer

The purpose of the Wrist Developer is to test wrist and forearm strength. When hitting an attempt on this device, you actually involve the entire upper body and I even feel it in the glutes on a max attempt.

Reverse Style Bending
Because of the large amount of muscles and joints involved in this movement, I can’t just point to one individual movement in order to prepare for this event. I think reverse style bending is one way to start. This way you get that extended effort feeling of the near-isometric action that accompanies an attempt on the WD. The WD’s handles are a bit longer than most short bends however, so that has to be taken into consideration.

Pulling the Mace Down
Another movement that is somewhat similar to the WD is Mace Swinging, especially the pull back to the order position. The short-coming there is that Mace Swinging is done rapidly with a great deal of concentric movement and the WD is a high-tension, short movement. The feeling can probably be better replicated by using a lighter mace, a sledgehammer, or other leverage tool, covering the same distance with similar joint angles.
The bottom line is the WD is a tough one to replicate without the actual equipment. Going in without touching the apparatus in training, I would suggest to prepare for the contest using a variety of different forearm, wrist and elbow strengthening movements, varying the load in order to increase the tension, while also working isometrics and near-isometrics, because that is essentially what you are doing with the Wrist Developer.

Training for the Vulcan Gripper

If you’ve got skills as a welder, you can probably design a mock-up of the device. I do not have those skills, so I have never been able to go that route. However, like I said before, the C.O.C. grippers and other options for torsion spring grippers are nearly identical.

Vulcan Block Set
The important detail to keep in mind for Gripper training, especially for the WSH Series is the set. For these competitions, in order to make sure everyone closes the handles together from a legal position, a 20-mm block has to be slid between the handles prior to closing. This prevents a deep cheat set from counting as a legal close. If you don’t have a Vulcan, just train the block set with your COC’s or whatever types of Grippers you own.

COC Block Set
However, using a block set of this nature requires more energy and coordination in order to close the gripper. You’ve got to train this set in your workouts in order to be ready for it on competition day. Just setting it to parallel and then pausing before closing it is not good enough. You’ve got to feel what it’s like to fumble around with your off-hand while holding the gripper at parallel or greater isometrically. It’s quite different.

Vulcan Death Gripper
Incidentally, Death Grip has come out with a version of the Vulcan Gripper made by Death Grip Brand Hand and Wrist Strengtheners that I can put you in contact with. Just hit me with an email and I will send you the information. There is no website at this point.

Upcoming Contests

As I said earlier on, my purpose of this post is to increase the awareness of Grip Sport itself and encourage people to try out a competition. If you are in the New England, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia area (is there a word for all these states???), you are in driving range for the competition here at my place. When I have people coming in from the outer reaches of this territory, I start the contests an hour later to give people a better chance of getting here safely. However, if you are nowhere near any of these places, Legs for the WSH Series are taking place all over the nation.
Here are the names of the promoters and the cities they are holding contests, in case you would like to try out a competition.

• Eric Milfeld – DFW, Texas
• Aaron Corcorran – Tucson, Arizona
• Adam Glass – Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Dave Thornton – Three Rivers, Michigan
• Chris Rice – Crooksville, Ohio
• Andrew Durniat – Wooster Ohio

If these areas are closer to you than my place, I can put you in contact with them in order to get signed up for an event or possibly to even arrange a training session with the equipment. Getting this equipment in your hands so you know how it feels and compares with your work-around equipment is half the battle.

The Dates of the next two legs are:

• Leg 3 – Saturday 16 October, 2010
• Leg 4 – Saturday 13 November, 2010

I hope to continue to bring you even more information that you can use to your advantage. I love the sport and hope to help it grow. Any help you can give me is appreciated.
Jedd
P.S. If you’d like to see these events in action, I loaded them all to my YouTube Channel. Just go to my channel and the first one will play, then it will give you a link to follow at the end to get the next video. There are 6 videos and they are all about 3 minutes apiece or so => Grip Contest Footage

Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball | 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

This past Friday I got a call on my cell phone around 9 PM. It was Rick Walker, who has written many of the articles we have in our strength and conditioning articles section.
CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Bat speed, long ball power, and bat control are three aspects of batting over which you can have better command with increased forearm strength.

In order to train your forearms to turn them into bat thrashing and ball flattening power generators, you’ve got to hit them from a variety of angles.

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

Do you dedicate time to training your grip?

If you are not including Grip Strength training in your program in a variety of forms, you’re are making a mistake and holding yourself or your athletes back.

Not training the grip specifically will lead to weak hands and that will lead to slipped tackles, dropped passes, missed rebounds and missed deadlifts, among other things.

You need to train your grip regularly, in some way. One way to do that is by dedicating time to performing specialized grip movements such as plate pinches, thick wrist roller lifts, and gripper training.

(more…)