Metroflex Mayhem Grip Contest 3, Ft Worth TX

This last weekend I was in the great state of Texas for the third annual Metroflex Mayhem Grip Contest hosted by Paul Knight.

The contest was 4 events; two hand pinch on the adjustable europinch apparatus, grippers from a parallel set position, overhand axle deadlift on a 2″ bar, and a 39 item medley.

21 competitors showed up the morning of the 15th to have fun and test their might.

Paul separated the contestants in to 2 classes, an open class and a pro class.

How it went down

First I was surprised on the texture difference between my pinch set up and Paul’s. My euro is super slick, chalk is not really taking yet. That is fairly normal considering how long I have had it and few people lift with it at my gym.

The texture difference was a big advantage for me. I was planning on opening with 180, and moving up to a top pinch of 210 (which would be a PR from my training) instead I opened with 202, missed 217 by a few inches (dropped it) picked up 211, and shot for 222. I got 222 off the floor but couldn’t hang on to it.

For my next competition I will take more conservative jumps until I am very comfortable predicting my pinch. Paul hit 222, and Ross Love hit an impressive 231. This pinch was over body weight and puts me #30 on the top 50 pinch lifts list on gripboard. I will exceed 100kg on my next opportunity.

I was in 4th place after pinch.

Grippers

I opened up with a 156 grand master. It was easy. My next attempt I closed a 166 lbs Mash Monster 2 replica. For my third attempt I closed a 172 3.5 down to a fraction of an inch. Joe called it a miss “by a piece of paper.” I realized I had allowed the gripper to slide down slightly as I set it. My forth attempt was a 171 3.5, which I missed by a single mm.

After the gripper block I was somewhat annoyed. I grabbed the same 172 3.5 and closed it. Lesson learned, don’t ever rush a set.

I was in 2nd place after grippers.Paul opened with a 192 #4 close, and followed with a 197 #4 close. Very impressive!

Axle

Axle has been a strength of mine for the most part, even though my hands are not very large.

I opened with 381, which felt very smooth and easy.

Next I jumped to 407, which was too aggressive and dropped it before I reached my hip.

I dropped down to 394 and stood up with it. I tend to allow my shoulders to stay forward during my axle DLs and pinching, and I was not called with a good lift due to the position. I was unable to get a solid lift on 394 again.

I was back to 4th position.

Ryan Johnson pulled an impressive 400 opener with the axle which jumped him to 3rd place. Paul pulled 381.

The Medley

Going in to the Medley the position for top 5 was Paul, Ross, Ryan, Me, Eric. I knew this was going to be a tough event and the top 4 slots could change easily from there.

The medley was made up of the following items

• 1. 25lb chrome dumbbell half by the face
• 2. 25lb Blob
• 3. 40lb Blob
• 4. 42.5lb Blob
• 5. 45lb Blob
• 6. 47.5lb Blob
• 7. 50lb Legacy Blob
• 8. Blob50
• 9. 50lb York Fatman Blob
• 10. & 11. 2x50lb York Blobs (Double lift)
• 12. Ironmind Red Nail
• 13. 60lb hub lift
• 14. 45lb hub
• 15. 25lb hub
• 16. 15lb hub on Ironmind Hub
• 17. 100lb 1″ v-bar
• 18. 225lb 2″ v-bar
• 19. 275lb 2″ v-bar
• 20. half of a 100lb hex
• 21. 2 hand 100lb hex dumbbell from the top
• 22. half of a 120lb hex
• 23. Fatman clone
• 24. 15kg kettle bell from the bottom
• 25. Metroflex inch
• 26. 80lb globe dumbbell
• 27. Railroad track
• 28. & 29. 2 x inch dumbbells (double lift)
• 30. 200lb Ironmind Rolling Thunder
• 31. 150lb 2.5″ Crusher
• 32. 65lb 2 3/4″ revolving handle
• 33. 2 x 25′s plate pinch
• 34. 2 x 35′s plate pinch
• 35. 2 x 45′s plate pinch
• 36. 75lb wooden pinch block lift
• 37. 15lb Ironmind pinch block lift
• 38. & 39. 2 sets of 3 x 25′s plate pinch (double lift)

Here is my run through the medley

I have never put my hand on an inch, attempted a double blob lift, or even thought to try the double pinch on the block weight. I was very happy to lift the metroflex inch, hit that double blob lift, and by my overall ease moving through the medley.

One little note- the board pinch with the loading pinch. It seriously gave everyone grief. Much harder than I thought it would be!

The red nail DU was my first heavy DU bend in a while. It felt like warm taffy.

The medley sorted us out at Paul Knight First Place, Ross Love Second Place, Me in third, Ryan Johnson in forth, and Eric Milfeld in fifth.

Let me talk about Ryan Johnson for a minute.

Ryan is the man holding the chalk bucket in the medley. Notice he is cheering me on the whole time. Ryan was ahead of me by 6 points, meaning I only needed one item to tie him and two to pass him. With that said, he was giving me positive feedback the whole time.

That was a classy move, and a the spirit of a TRUE COMPETITOR! Ryan really demonstrated what the sport of Grip is about. Its not about beating any one, it’s about doing your best on game day. Ryan I really appreciated it man. I will be seeing you again in Sept for Show of Hands.

I met a lot of people during the day. I did not get to talk to as many as I would have liked to. I was in my head all day. The people I did chat with where friendly and motivated.

Special thanks to Frankie for driving my ass down to Ft Worth, and then sitting there all day. I know how much you love watching people lift weights off the floor, and how excited you get by grip training. It was appreciated to have you come out and support me brother.

Thanks Paul Knight for having me out to play. Paul is easily one of the strongest crush grippers in the world. Paul’s back to back #4 closes were epic.

Paul Knight took the gold with a powerful crush grip and dominating performance in the medley

Thanks Eric Milfeld for calibrating all those grippers! The contest had something like 50 grippers to choose from and each one of them was measured by Eric. It is not exactly a fast process to do that.

Thanks Joe Musslewhite for judging the contest. Joe was on his feet for over 8 hours calling events. He was fair and impartial and encouraging to all contestants.

Thank you to all the sponsors who gave us some pretty awesome prizes. I won a Thomas Inch training handle, custom made by Cody Musslewhite. It is exceptionally crafted. I will be investing a lot of time with it in the future.

My next contest will be Michigan Grip IX in Three Rivers Michigan on the 16th of April. Events will be grippers, 2″ V bar, hammer medley, blob loading medley, and overhand axle. I will be able to compete against Dave Thornton and possibly Andrew Durniat who are both World Class grip athletes.

Are you looking to get involved in grip? Start here with my DVD Industrial Strength Grip, built for beginners to educate you on the many ways to train the hands.

For all of you out there, I say go out and compete in something. You will feel better afterward.

Looking for something to play in? Why not come out to the Movement Minneapolis Grip Decathlon on 14 May 2011? This is a great contest for both novice and elite grip athletes. Looking forward to seeing you there.