[Ben Edwards]

To all past and current USAWA members. This post is aimed at all of you, not just Eric. But I’m singling him out because my brother and cousin were really impressed by him.

It’s like I told Joe (brother). Everyone has their “thing.” Mine is hand strength. Sometimes I’m at the bottom of the heap when it’s not a hand strength contest. Other times, if the events suit my strengths, I’m near the top.

I’m pleased that I got out of my comfort zone and did the Strongman Challenge because there is no “winning” when you are always assured of the outcome, with no struggle. And sometimes having the lowest total is actually winning. Not being facetious at all. Showing up and putting forth as much effort as safely possible, being kind to others, talking with people and getting to know them better, and soaking up the atmosphere is about as close to nirvana as I will probably get.

Eric, you are truly a class act man. Thanks for posting that video. I enjoyed it and my family all watched it at least once. My brother Joe and cousin “Little” Kenny were impressed that you took the time in between some of your big lifts to ask me how my lifting was going. That might not jump out at you since it’s how you genuinely ARE (thoughtful of others and congratulatory when others succeed or at least give something a shot, even if it’s an eventual “fail” or “no lift”) – but they’ve both been around many types of strong guys (cousin was a very strong track and field athlete, TKD black belt, etc…and brother Joe was a Navy guy who has been around SEALs more than once…he’s not a SEAL for the record) and they understand that as great as the USAWA contests are – with the camaraderie and sincere desire to help others set PRs and have fun – they are unusual in the strength world to some degree.

This is NOT how all strength contests go. Not all athletes – especially the stronger ones, because let’s face it…the stronger you are, the more focused (usually) you are on hitting a preset goal total or following a comp gameplan, etc – are willing or want to (and that’s no dig on anyone who doesn’t want to, you are at the contest for YOU…not someone else, I get that) help out a fellow competitor. Especially one that’s not as experienced or as strong.

I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t know with your strength comp record. But it’s good to stand outside yourself sometimes and try to remember what it’s like for others at contests that are not at your high strength level. Seemingly little things can make a lifelong difference in that person’s life and the way they perceive strong people in general and strength contests in particular.

So this post might seem a bit over the top or dramatic on my part. But it’s definitely been on my mind to say it.

All the USAWA contests I’ve gone to over the years – since 2002 – I have been treated like family. I have had guys loan me equipment. When doing so (and they knew this) would mean that I would place above them in whatever event they were loaning me the weight belt (for example) for.

I’ve learned a lot about good sportsmanship in USAWA contests. I was brought up right to begin with. Taught to treat others with respect. But I was not an athletic kid or adult. Still don’t consider myself to be what most would term “athletic”…although we all have our strengths. So I had to learn about sporting etiquette like most guys do these days. Through the Internet and mostly from competing in various contests over the years.

The first strength contest I did was the 2002 USAWA Super Grip Challenge. I bring it up because I think it was Kevin Fulton (don’t remember for sure, so if someone remembers specifically saying that to me, please let me know it was you) who told me (after I thanked him for being so patient and nice to me when I was a total beginner and asking a bunch of newbie questions throughout his contest) that {paraphrasing}

In strength sports, one year you’re on top of the heap. The next year you might be injured and the beginner you were rude to is now totaling more than you. And, since you were rude to that beignner last year, he mistakenly thinks that’s the standard that other beginners should be treated by – and he perpetuates a vicious cycle of adversarial relationships throughout his sporting and sometimes even personal life.

And for me this rings very true in the grip contests. Most of the guys in grip comps are great. Much like USAWA. Occasionally, I’d run into a guy who went out of their way to be rude or disrespectful. And more than once, usually a few years later, that same guy who once treated me like pond scum was coming to me with questions about how they could improve their gripper strength or steel bending or card tearing or vertical bar performance.

And guess what. It would’ve been much easier (and I’ll admit that I have acted childishly a few times, but later tried to make things better in most cases) for me to say – “I’m not helping you. You treated me like crap. So enjoy the downward slide and now you’re doomed to watch me get stronger than you ever were or will be.” That’s the easier path. I didn’t take that path many times though. My wife Carrie has heard me talk about guys who I was helping (via phone, Internet, instant messaging, etc.) with their grip and bending training over the years. The last few years, with strange regularity, there have been more and more guys that I have invested large amounts of time and psychic energy in to help their training. Then, after they succeeded or hit their goals, they suddenly “forgot” that I had helped them and didn’t even have the decency to say “hey, thanks for spending so much of your time helping me, idiot.” Don’t get me wrong though. The bulk of guys were very thankful. I try to remind myself of that when I get the frequent e-mail plea for help with such and such training. I turn 99% of these requests down now due to time and energy vampires. Sad but true.

And most important of all – I have gained so many great lifelong friends. Just wanted to thank all of you that I have met and become friends with (or even just acquaintances) over the years.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

It’s funny because at work there is a color filter (supposed to filter out “questionable” NSFW sites and content) that reacted to Thom’s shirtless photo by not letting me view the USAWA home page until it wasn’t the most recent photo and story. During one particular upgrade that happened while the Olympic weightlifting was in full force, I wasn’t able to look up any weightlifting results because the words “snatch” and “clean and jerk” were deemed to be NSFW – which of course I thought was comical.

For the record though, I am very impressed with Thom because I know that sucks watching dietary intake. He’s done a great job with everything else on his plate too.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Dave,

I wanted to add that I was very impressed and glad to see a story like that. All too often people talk about the bad side of law enforcement. When all around them – on an everyday basis – good people in law enforcement are quietly treating people with respect and keeping things safe. It’s the bad seeds who get the press most of the time and it hurts the entire LEO/Corrections community.

-Ben

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

I will compete in the Dino Challenge regardless of the rules. It doesn’t matter to anything but my ego whether I lift 45lbs or 300lbs.

I did the Floor Press this morning and remembered not to arch. That was hard because arching just feels natural – more so on the floor press for me at least. Set the bar height where the bottom of the bar was at 15″ again.

Only got 223lbs this morning. 242lbs went up a few inches and I couldn’t push through it. So my estimate of losing about 25lbs without arching was spot on for me.

I can’t wait to see what some of you strong bench guys do on this event. It’ll be neat to see some big lifts. A bodybuilder-type acquaintance of mine (Cory) texted me last night and said he heard I was experimenting with the floor press. A buddy of mine in Harrisonville told him about it. So I asked Cory what he was capable of because he is not only hugely muscled and shredded – but very strong. He has a phenomenal untrained grip. I met him back in 2005 and he floored me with how easily he did some pretty significant benchmark grip feats like one hand pinching 5 tens with both hands like it was nothing. Hubbed a 45lb plate on his first try. And I think he pulled 180lbs on the Rolling Thunder that day – the first time touching one. Anyway, Cory said he routinely bench pressed back when he was in his late 20s and early 30s (I’d guess he’s early 40s now) before injuring his shoulders like most benchers eventually do. He is also a guy that although I’ve only seen him in person once years ago – struck me as a guy with a phenomenal memory for numbers and a guy who never exaggerates personal strength levels. He said he had floor pressed (a spotter placed the bar in his hands – while his elbows were flat on the floor)485lbs back in the early 90s at a bodyweight around 242lbs. That’s a stunning level of strength in my opinion. His best touch and go bench press at the time was 425lbs – according to him. Who knows, maybe that is a pretty doable lift for a 400lb bencher but it sure sounds nuts to me.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

[b]I would like to know what would be a good height? Is 15″ acceptable (to bottom of bar) for most? I would like everyone to try that height and give me your feedback. Al

This is the exact height (coincidentally) that I used the other day to establish a Floor Press baseline. I barely got 250lbs for a single. Missed it on the first attempt. But I used an arch so I think it will shave about 25lbs off that weight lifting it strictly. My best guess is that my bench press for a single is probably only 225lbs these days. Partly due to injury and mostly due to not training it. Although I did spend a few weeks recently benching very light – hoping to rehab my shoulder slowly – with the result that my shoulder never got over being constantly tender. So I stopped benching yet again. Only mentioning my estimated full range max for those that are interested in the difference between the standard lift and the Floor Press version at this height. Some might get a lot more carryover on the raised height.

One lifter that reads my blog e-mailed me and said that he must get a lot of poundage out of the stretch reflex on a touch and go bench press compared to the result of his Floor Press experiment. He pushed 45lbs less (on the same height setup I used) on the Floor Press than his full range bench press. I thought that was an interesting result and wanted to share it.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

[b]Hope you guys can appreciate a lil’ science talk. Nothing wrong with training the muscle between the ears, too, eh?

Dan

I appreciate the science talk Dan! My wife Carrie and I still remember you and your dogs fondly from the Super Grip Challenge days. I hope your input on the Hack Floor Press means you’ll be competing in the Dino Challenge because it would be good to see you again.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

[b]Quote from KCSTRONGMAN on November 28, 2012, 14:38[/b] Maybe even, instead of taking it off blocks, take it out of a rack or get a lift off. Then lower it until your elbows are on the floor. Press it on a press command. ET

I think this makes the most sense.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

I can say that these rules are absolutely brutal. Set up my bar this morning at 4am. Bar was touching my chest, no arch, etc. I was barely able to push over 100lbs less than I did with the setup I used the other day. Because my arms had no leverage at all in that position. So this will be interesting to see how the rest of you guys fare with these rules. It might mean I don’t have enough chest depth to match my arm length.

I tried using a wide grip and my shoulder can’t handle even 95lbs so I had to go the much narrower route and try to “lever” the bar up with wrists and arms bent backwards a bit.

Don’t take this as a complaint by the way. Just stating my experience so others might benefit from it and do the homework to figure out what works for them.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Wow, thanks Al! That is very strict and good to know so I can be aware of what the rules require.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Thanks Chad!

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

I put the Olympic bar up on cement blocks. The is at the height where if I lie down and grip the bar my elbows are off the ground a little over an inch. But my upper arms are touching the ground. Figure this will be close enough to the position at the contest not to spend any more time thinking about it.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Thanks for that description Thom! Explained it very clearly. Might see some of you guys there.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Congrats to you guys on the Dinnie Stones lifts! I have been reading on the Ironmind forum and have not “defended” you because frankly there is no point in doing so there. You guys are solid, respectful, strong, deserving guys. So it makes me mad to see you getting harassed about the reps. Not bringing it up here to stir the pot. I no longer post on the Ironmind forum though (since August)but I feel the need to explain a bit here why I’m not on there defending some honorable men.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Totally agree with this Scott. I work with a guy who tells me he gets 10lbs at least out of wrist wraps and more if he’s nursing injuries.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

[Ben Edwards]

Got cut off because I’m typing on my phone.

I also told Al that for me it’s also about appearances. How does it look to an observer?

I trust the lifters here who say the knee sleeves don’t give them a poundage edge. But they give the appearance of being an outside aid to the lifter. When you’re not wearing them nobody can comment that you might be getting 10 to 20lbs more by wearing them.

https://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/

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