Ouxh

Why do I get the feeling that if I'm not more careful this could be me? Article

ROLLING THUNDER MAX

Lets see what the upcoming (week after next) ''SUPER GYM ROLLING THUNDER MAX" on Saturday, January 9 at 1:00am brings us. Big numbers we hope!!

BHSA and 2010

Grip events, inside and outside the BHSA calender, are looking good. With dates to be confirmed we already have Neil 'Twig' Belcher's ANGER comp in January (10th I think). I'm hoping to host a comp with the intention of raising the bar in the 2 hand pinch late Feb. I know that David Horne will hold something similar and then we have Mighty Mitts at the Arnold Sports Festival in early March.

That will be followed by April's annual Peter Horne memorial competition and then May's British Grip Championship's. Looking at the short list which takes us to more or less the middle of the year we have a little over one a month. David has a couple of promo events taking place at some of the bigger arm wrestling events and those will be followed in August by the 2010 European's being held in Madrid, Spain.

All of these are on this side of the pond (Atlantic) bar the Mighty Mitts. With the GGC, Chad Woodall event (if it happens again) and more in the US you can see that activity is high.

Go get to it!!

Grip events at the Arnold Classic

From Ironmind: Dr. Terry Todd has announced the events for the 2010 Arnold Strongman contest, confirmed some of the competitors and also described the grip events that are being added to the program. For the strongman contest, the Tire Deadlift and Manhood Stone will be unchanged. The Apollon’s Wheels will use a rising bar format with the weight increasing to from 166 to 206 kg, at which point it will be maximum reps in 90 seconds. The Circus Dumbbell will see a weight increase to 103 kg. The Timber Carry will be increased to approximately 450 kg, the ramp will be flat and straps can be used. Zydrunas Savickas, Derek Poundstone, Phil Pfister, Brian Siders, Brian Shaw and Travis Ortmayer have confirmed, Todd said, and Mariusz Pudzianowski has been invited. Mighty Mitts will be a new feature, featuring feats of grip strength. The events are: Jowett Anvil: deadlift the 163 lb. anvil by its horn Sorin’s Monster: deadlift a 500-lb. barbell with a 2-inch diameter handle Inch by Inch: walk for distance with an Inch replica dumbbell in each hand Mark Henry Bell: lift the 300-lb dumbbell with a 2.5-inch diameter handle out of its box Gama Club: lever an 80-pound Indian Club According to Todd’s press release, “The winner of each of these challenges will earn $1000 as well as lasting fame, and his name will be placed on a plaque at the Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports at the University of Texas.” Yes this does mean grip guys could enter and win $1000 a pop (£626). I really like the Henry dumbbell lift.

Magazines for Jan 2010

Super gym Iceland deadlift comp

Just to confuse the staticians and iron game historians the heaviest deadlift of the day was done by another Benadikt Magnússon and not Gemma's hubby. Write up and results are here (in Icelandic). The new Benny pulled 320-kilos.

New British single lift 2 hand pinch record

In spite of an awful bad back and what was a freezing cold day I finally managed to pull more than 115-kilos on the two hand pinch. Taking 106.7 as my opener and pulled it no sweat (NB all unscaled). I added 5-kilos (what I thought was 111.7) and again made it. I took my time and added another 5-kilos (taking weights off and adding heavier ones) to what on paper should have been 116.7-kilos or about 700 or so grammes more than the current world record (approx a pound). The lift was solid as a rock and I had time to give it the large, while holding the pin solidly against the bar required, to a nearby camera. I then emulated Jedd's recent WWE style tirade asking 'who's No 1??' and more. Ahh but the scales said 'not you, not yet'.

In spite of my weighing the weight 2 more times it came out at 115.5-kilos or 254.63lbs (first reading was as per 2 videos 115.8). Now that's a British single lift event record but a teeny weeny bit short of the WR. I checked the skin on my thumbs and felt good enough for another 4th and final attempt. So I asked for a 1/2-kilo disc to be added to each side taking the weight to 116.5-kilos or 256.83lbs but alas not enough steam. I managed a few inches but that was it. Dark video here (having loads of problems getting a lighter version up)

The two 2HP record videos

Courtesy of the Diesel Crew... sweet.

Chads effort

Jedds WR

Jedd even says in his report the record could fall this weekend.

Photo of Jedd and that world record

Seems happy...

New 2 hand pinch world record

Subject to the final results of this weekends event Jedd just posted this:

I just jumped onto Climber's computer to let everyone know that I just broke the pinch record.

256
and some change!!

Thanks to everyone who has supported me over the years. I could not do it without you guys.

Also, just before my round on the pinch at 54 mil, Chad Woodall also broke the record. He hit 255 and some change. It has been an awesome contest so far and Chad's outstanding lift pushed me even harder.

All the best everybody!

Headline of the week: Muscular Monkeys

More research into myostatin inhibitors is taking place with some interesting results: article

Benni deadlifting again

Gemma and Benni's Super Gym are holding their 'Super Gym Max Deadlift competition' the same day as our Whey Power Challenge (Saturday 19th December. I look down the list and there's Benni's name. Could he be going for some big numbers again? I do hope so.

The closer I get the harder it gets

And so it was today... man what a hard workout. With less than 14 days to go to the 19th December 2009 Whey Power Challenge today was one of, I think, my last 3 chest 'n back workouts. These are testing times. I was in half a mind not to do it today but rest and go tomorrow. But decided the spacing of the final two workouts would be too close together so went today.

I worked to 155-kilos/341lbs for 8 reps on the wide grip lat pulldowns, 127.5kg/280.5lbs for 6 reps on the low cable row and to 182.5-kilos for 4 singles on the mind fuck that is my heavy bench. Brutal.

GMV's Mr O preview

In their weekly newsletter this was the highlight

Click me

The mutha of all front squats

Best so far... close to 700 there.

Best bodybuilding cover of the year??

This one wins it for me.

Top 12 hardest training

Written with a bodybuilding slant (as admitted by the author) nevertheless it's a good read. He gives you his picks for the 12 hardest workers in the gym.

Clicky

America's Strongest Man event... some sense

Yes - a good result. The boo boo of having this event run the same damn weekend of the WSM finals has been changed. It's now been moved to the Mr O date of late September and so instead of sending their best overseas providing their not too worn out they can kick fellow Yank ass and compete for the title of America's Strongest Man.

More from Ironmind

World Weightlifting Championships 2009

There's a saying used in strength circles which goes something like 'somewhere there's a small Chinese girl squatting more than you'. Well roll on up to the World Championships cos there's a frigging bus load waiting!

Check out some Ironmind updates on how it went:

One

Two

Three

Your mind is your best ally

Those of you with any knowledge of sports psychology will know that in the simplest terms a positive mind is far more likely to help you succeed in your gym lifts than a negative one.

One of my habits when coaching others is to look into what 'hooks them'. I'll listen to conversations we have when not lifting, stories told and even to what is muttered by them when they are lifting big. Such things can be very telling in what makes a person tick and then, as I do, can be used to drive them harder when the time comes. I usually use it in two ways. One is max set / max weight time in training. A little dose, if you will, of a whispered comment and an extra rep is driven out of an exhausted body. The other time is in the psyching up portion pre a competition lift. Knowing what makes others tick, which while useful as a coach, means I also need to know what drives me as do you.

Now positive affirmations, words such as yes, power, success and so on and not at all limited to the usual gym phrases of 'hench dude!' or 'all you' when spotting but even open ended or non-negative comments. If 'you will fail' is full on negative and 'you will succeed' is full on positive then a neutral or open comment could be 'let's see what will happen'. Even a reply to 'how will you do?' such as 'I don't know... let's see' has something because it leaves a metaphorical door open for something successful to occur. Try to leave the BS of the world at the door. The boss, wife or whatever that is down on your ass. Fu*k them. They've never seen this you. Show them.

When talking to some new guys at Gymnation (the other gym I use) recently I said simple acts such as having a pre-written out workout, sets, reps and poundage included, will leave you with more opportunities to do well than an unplanned see how we go approach. It is because during the workout simply becoming knackered from the training will make it that much harder to recall the numbers from the previous workout. Having a simple number to aim for removes doubt and lessens the likelihood of failure. Look at the strongman event called 'the Hercules Hold'. Those that go last almost always do better than the earlier athletes. This is simply because the earlier guy acts as a pace setter and those that follow only have to do one second more. Just one second more. See how that phrase reads and sounds so simple. Unless you risk injury or death it is.

Another way I encourage guys to do their best is 'be in and of the moment'. I probably don't use those exact words (more 'now slag, now!!'). But the message is the same. For some the brutal onslaught to come, the pressure they will be under, can be daunting. They know that they might shake or feel nauseous and this can make them hold back. A reminder of what they are there for 'you want size don't ya!!' (or whatever) and a 'do this now, for this second, for this minute, then rest, grow and succeed'.

Most people hold themselves back from being what they can be. I've written before of the 'train with Arnold or Ronnie' lines people come out with. The usual guys BS thing where some wannabe will say 'if I trained with X' (chosen athlete they admire) 'I'd be all that and I'd train so hard'. I've even had it said about me - very nice but I replied 'why wait?'. Train like that NOW! The is no magic in Ronnie, Arnold and most certainly I have none. Do not wait for some golden moment, the sun, moon and stars in alignment, to train hardcore. Train as though that person is with you now. Perhaps imagine them in the corner giving you a thumbs up.

It has been said that the body does not care what it is asked to do. Sure we have nerves etc to protect ourselves but they all end at the brain. Separate the two and it'd do any old thing. Now add it back in and see what the body will do if you ask it. Don't have the man in the driving seat, your ID, sit there with cruise control or autopilot doing the job, drive that baby. Put the pedal down and see how fast it'll go.

Nuff - go do it.