Ben Edwards
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Congrats Chad! Impressive Ben!!
Thanks, John! It was nice to meet you and a pleasure to see you do some big lifting! I really wanted to channel some of my mojo on the middle fingers deadlift for the index fingers deadlift…didn’t turn out that way though.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Geez Ben, I can’t believe I missed that! It has now been corrected in the blog.
I’m feeling really bad now, especially since that slip up and about forgetting you during the awards presentation after the grip meet!
Thanks, Al! It probably sounds petty to point out 5 pounds difference. But that extra 5 pounds hurt even more, lol. Don’t feel bad about the slip up, I had a great time and am frankly impressed it doesn’t happen more often in comps I’ve been to over the years.
If it makes you feel better, remember that I misloaded (Chad caught it right away) on the FIRST EVENT of the contest Saturday – haha! So I have no room to criticize anyone about details.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
I’ll be there!
Great! Look forward to seeing you there again, Chad.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Thanks for the heads-up on those, Lance! I’ve heard of both series, but didn’t know they were on Netflix right now. I’ll be watching them this weekend if I do things right.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
It’ll be good to see you again, Denny! Hope you can make it out.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Nice to see you on the forum, Jeff! Would love to meet you at a USAWA contest in the future. Good luck on the healing, buddy. I have been there (Judo throws, etc.) and it takes some time to heal. I healed pretty fast when I was 25. Not so much at 42 though, lol.
Always enjoy reading John McKean’s writing!
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Dang, Al! I want to know the secret too! I don’t even drink, but I can sure BUY some drinks for you. 😉
ET, maybe you should give overloads a try? Use two hands to lift a heavier weight (go conservative, like 5 to 10 pounds more at first) than what you can do with one hand and then “hold” the weight at lockout until it either drops out of your hands or ride it back to the ground before it rips out of your hand. I did a short stint of these with 1″ vbar about 11 years ago and it helped me hit some huge numbers that year.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
I am a savant when it comes to the vertical bar done with “standard” grip contest rules (not USAWA rules). There is much more technique involved on the vertical bar done with non-USAWA rules. I think there is a bit of carryover, but realistically, it would be better to just always train USAWA rules if that is the only vertical bar rules you will ever do. I just mentioned the standard grip contest rules vertical bar in case you are ever interested in competing in a non-USAWA grip contest. They both have pros and cons, of course.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Is there a trick to the V-bar, or do I just suck at it?
You just suck at it…
Just kidding! Do you have an issue with stopping the rotation of the bar when you lift it? Or does the bar just seem to be glued to the floor at a weight you feel like you should be able to lift?
If stopping the rotation is a problem, you need to start in a “fully pronated” grip. This is what I refer to it as. No supination whatsoever.
If the bar just feels glued to the floor, that is more of a problem with just getting more grip strength.
One “tip” that might help is to try a different method of gripping the bar than what you’re currently doing. If you currently actively try to crush the bar when you grip it – try the opposite in your next workout. I don’t actively crush the bar at all. I rely on friction to keep the bar as glued to my palm as possible. I am sure that in reality I AM actually crushing the bar. But when I actively try to crush the bar my numbers suffer immediately. I do the same thing for Axle pulls – only “cup” the bar in a Kung Fu grip and don’t even focus at all on crushing the bar. Just “holding” the bar.
Does this make sense?
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Ben,
With the new strict pinch Grip added weight plates MUST be on tight, and with the rule not allowing fingers to touch added plates or the pin. small plates will only be used if the lifter is lifting 20 pounds. After that the lifter would have to move up plate size to do more weight. We made sure the rules specified that plates must be on tight for this reason.Al, I understand what you’re saying here. I agree with the rule update for the strict pinch grip.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
The obvious thing I forgot to say in my above post was that pinch grip with extreme front hang did not test my pinch grip strength at all. Jason Payne said the same thing. Neither of us felt it in any way was testing pinch grip that day. It felt like more of a finger ledge deadlift to me.
I saw your remark that you were going to feature both pinch grip styles in next year’s grip champs. I would like to respectfully say – “Ewwwww!”
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
There were several people who were shooting for 300lbs (me included) with the extreme front hang allowance. Whereas, my max pinch with symmetrical loading would be around 150-160lbs.
I think the only controversial thing that happened at the contest was that the extreme front hang group (those of us using the two 10 pound plates and a ton of heavy front hang) was shut down and switched over to the more moderate front hang group that was using the two 45s and smaller plates for front hang.
In hindsight, all competitors (in my opinion) should’ve used the same setup if able to. I understand that some of the beginners and/or very light bodyweight competitors might have had to use the two 10 pound plates due to not being able to pinch the two 45 pound plates together.
Here’s an idea – maybe there should be a rule that the smallest weight plates used are 25 pound plates. And if that is too heavy, THEN the two 10 pound plates could be used. If the competitor uses the two 10 pound plates and adds enough weight to go over 50 pounds total – they are automatically moved up to the two 25 pound plates on their next attempt. Same for the two 35 pound plates.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Looks like a fun list of events, Eric! I am not 100% sure I can attend, but the minute I find out I’ll let you know and register/pay/etc. The Kennedy Lift looks like something that won’t wreck my back since I can get the weight under me instead of out front.
I am undergoing testing (MRI, etc…) for my left shoulder to finally repair it this year. Not sure when I am going to get it done, so that is the big stumbling block. Because if my work approves it and it happens to be right before the contest – I’ll have to jump on it. Because it’s been 9 years at this point. And I want to be able to not only military press again (!) but be able to put my daughter up on my shoulders without feeling like my left shoulder is going to come unhinged.
Well, I just hashed it out in my head a bit and I could technically do the events with very light token weights and use one hand if it comes to that. Thor’s Hammer would still be fine since my right shoulder is my “good” one and I won’t be getting it repaired for a few years. It is nowhere near as bad as the left one. Could do a one hand Hack Press with my right arm. One hand straddle Kennedy Lift. And a one hand Dumbbell to Shoulder. Okay, I’ve talked myself into it!
- This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Ben Edwards.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
I will admit that the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title “Clark Lift” was a lift that was paused (for the judge’s “benefit”) for at least 5 seconds longer than any other certified judge on the planet would require it to be held (haha). My first experience with the “long pause” was at a Clark’s Record Day in 2009. Vertical bar pulls with long pauses are NOT COOL, lol. I pulled 315lbs lefty (no hook) but thought I was going to pass out by the time the down signal was called. Al and Thom were there that day too and hit some great lifts.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Ben Edwards.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
Al, I completely understand your feelings regarding the pinch event with front hang. I used front hang to stay competitive with the group, but it is not something I was familiar with in any other grip contest I’ve been to over the years.
I was at two of the Super Grips and got to witness Matt Graham’s phenomenal pinch strength. I also saw him snatch the blob with ease. It was ridiculous and words can’t really do it justice.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." -Mike Tyson
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