Saturday was the second part of the three part international grip series, pitting some of the best grip athletes in the world against each other.
Ryan Pitts from Strongergrip.com never misses a grip contest
For me, this was both a great contest to host and an extremely disappointing day personally.
Competitors in Minneapolis
This time I had only one women, only 2 for the 82.5 kg class, and 6 for the open class.
As a promoter, I’m not very happy with that. As a competitor I am curious why so few show up?
The events-
Grippers with the adjustable Vulcan hand gripper with 30mm block
Two hand pinch with the adjustable pinch apparatus
Stub lift with the griptopz
Coin lift with the griptopz
The numbers and positions (out of 93 competitors for leg II)
Grippers
Chris Mathison, Level 14 (11 way tie for 19th)
Adam Glass, Level 14 (11 way tie for 19th)
Matt Cannon, Level 11 (7 way tie for 40th)
Ryan Pitts, Level 9 (11 way tie for 48th)
Ryan Maier, Level 5 (4 way tie for 69th)
Joe Tebbe, Level 4 (3 way tie for 73rd)
Mike Nelson, Level 3 (6 way tie for 76rd
Brad Ellingson, 0 (did not post a number)
Two Hand Pinch
Chris Mathison 91.71 kg (15th place)
Matt Cannon 80.75 (32nd place)
Ryan Maier 78.48 (40th place)
Ryan Pitts 72.28 (49th place)
Joe Tebbe 65.61 (66th place)
Mike Nelson 57.74 (75th place)
Brad Ellingson 57.5 (78th place)
Adam Glass 0 (did not post a number)
Griptopz Stub
Adam Glass 21.84kg (2nd place)
Matt Cannon 18.96kg (12th place)
Joe Tebbe 15.39 (38th place)
Ryan Pitts 14.8 kg (2 way tie for 45th place)
Chris Mathison 14.8 kg (2 way tie for 45th place)
Ryan Maier 12.56kg (68th place)
Brad Ellingson 11.62kg (75th place)
Mike Nelson 9.99kg (86th place)
Griptopz Coin
Adam Glass 17.66 kg (4th place)
Matt Cannon 15.91 kg (15th place)
Ryan Pitts 13.03 kg (36th place)
Chris Mathison 12.26 kg (2 way tie for 47th place)
Joe Tebbe 10 kg (3 way tie for 72nd place)
Ryan Maier 10kg (3 way tie for 72nd place)
Mike T Nelson 8.24 kg (82nd place)
Brad Ellingson 7.71 kg (85th place)
Overall Score for leg II
Matt Cannon 18th place
Adam Glass 26th place
Chris Mathison 31st place
Ryan Pitts 46th place
Joe Tebbe 66th place
Ryan Maier 68th place
Mike Nelson 85th place
Brad Ellingson 86th place
Series placement (Leg I points + Leg II points) out of 112 competitors
Adam T Glass 5th place
Chris Mathison 20th place
Bob Sundin 31st place
Ryan Pitts 39th place
Matt Cannon 51st place
Joe Tebbe 58th place
Brad Ellingson 65th place
Mike Nelson 66th place
Austin Acree 85th place
David Dellanave 87th place
Nick Oswald 90th place
Dave Sandel 92nd place
Ryan Maier 99th place
What it feels like to bomb out on a lift-
fucking sucks.
I had my width set at 52mm, opener was supposed to be an easy 223. I missed it 4 times (rising bar means you can’t go down).
When we set up 58mm for Matt Cannon, I tired a lift on 227 and pulled it all the way to the top. Easy. I fucked up.
For a recap, I will invite my friend Captain Hindsight for a full debrief.
Captain Hindsight heroically flies in….
Hero of the modern age, Captain Hindsight is here to point out all mistakes
“You see how you scratched on the pinch? You shouldn’t have done that! Now you bumped down in the series and the best you can do is 3rd place. You see how you didn’t test your pinch width? You could have tried out multiple setting before the contest during warm ups to pick a better width. You see how you opened up so heavy? You shouldn’t do that! You could have opened lighter at 215, which you nailed as a warm up and would have been ok. Alright, I’m off to save another disaster!”
Thanks Captain Hindsight!
Lesson #1 more testing, more testing, more testing
Lesson #2 open safe, increase from there
Lesson #3 anything can happen in contest
What I am happy with
- Nearly all of the competitors in MN had PRs on game day.
- My griptopz numbers
- the fact the series is not over
Frustrated with
- this series Vulcan spring is a huge kick in the pills. I can set and close any of my 3.5 COC’s which are all in the 180 lbs range, level 14 or higher gives me all sorts of problems. The setting resistance on it is huge.
World’s Strongest Hands continues in October.
Leg 3 is scheduled for 8 Oct 2011. Show time at Movement Minneapolis will be 10 AM for warm ups, registration must be completed by 1045.
Events will be
Vulcan gripper 20 mm block set
Two hand pinch
Hub lift Griptopz
Stub lift Griptopz
Click here for scores from Leg 1 of the WSH 2011 series
Wondering what happened in the 2010 Worlds Strongest Hands series?
Here is WSH 2010 Leg 1, WSH 2010 Leg 3, and WSH 2010 Leg 4.
{ 14 comments }
Hey Adam, how difficult is it to host WSH? I’m going down to Terence’s gym next month and I wanna try and convince him that we NEED an SA leg of WSH. It seems difficult to convince people to put their egos aside and just compete. Your thoughts? By the way, good job on the 2nd leg despite the pinch setback. Hope you come back all guns blazin’in round 3!
For me, it is the distance that is off putting, since I’m about 3.5 hours away. It doesn’t help that my current numbers are near the bottom of the rankings either. So, it is a bit of a balancing act between my pride and the distance that is keeping me away. At the moment, the negatives outway the positives of coming. It also doesn’t help that most weekends I’ve been busy as well. If I lived in the twin cities, or heck, 45 miles south of them (which is where I went to college), I would be there for each leg.
Dave, Ryan Pitts drives 5+ hours and has done so for almost every contest we’ve had.
That said, it’s the people who live IN THE TWIN CITIES that won’t come out to compete who I have a great disdain for.
And not competing because you won’t be in the top is simply a mistake. Seeing your improvements in competition contest after contest is what it’s all about.
David,
You are right on. I cannot wait to get back to the Cities and come compete at Adam’s gym. I am stuck down here in NC for 6 more weeks. I didn’t realize how lucky I was before I moved down here, I promise I will not be one of those guys that lives in the cities and does not show up for comps. Mark my words.
See you soon Adam and David!
David,
5hrs one way! 10 hours round trip. But I love grip! That and it gives me some time to hang with good people and have fun. Competing is not about beating someone else, but improving yourself. I find it gives me a goal and some benchmarks to shoot for. But, if you improve and do better than those competing against, then you do beat them:)
I’m loving the chains! They are beastly! I made some handles that hook on and let me grip and rip the chains.
Bombing teaches you a valuable lesson that you are unlikely to repeat, it happened to me on the first leg. I tried to open with something that I thought I should nail, but realistically I should have been smarter and just got a safe one in the bag and moved on up from there.
Shit happens, you won’t make that mistake again and you can start work your ass off for a 3rd place position, which is better than last year so its still improvement!
Also, David Horne is on top form, the guy is monster strong right now, no offence to you Adam but I think he would still win even if you were on top form and no bombing… but next year, you might be in with a better chance!
BTW, I am looking forward to the big gathering in July next year, I am hoping I can meet up with you to go up and lift the dinnies!
Kris that point was not lost on me. Juha and Thornton and I have been close to each other for position, but David is still the man to beat. My best pinch still can’t touch him. he was a full kg over my best lifts on the griptopz. I didn’t expect a #1 finish this year. I wanted to be in the top 5, and it looks like I have a strong chance of doing that.
I think next years events have a fat bar and a V bar type top, you know what I’m better at than close pinching? Those two…
ALSO- well done on your improvements this year from last year. The light weight class is very competitive and you will continue to grow and improve in it.
Thanks Adam, I am working hard to try and move into the top 50 of the open class, thats where I’d like to be. There are some awesomely strong guys in the light weight class, but as far as I’m aware I’m still pretty light for the light weights at 68kg!
My bodyweight is creeping up slowly though, at roughly 1lb a month, and so is my strength
Anyway, next year I think you will definitely be challenging hard for #1 or #2, you work very hard to have no weakness and your pinch has improved dramatically over the last year!
You guys look a lot different from Grip & Rip 2.1. Well done on the competition.
Thanks Steve. We have a simple goal- look better/play better each year
Adam, I’m sorry you had to experience that and to handle it with class like you did is a good example for everyone. I cherish all my attempts and want to do my best to approach my current best possible lift, so I totally understand how bombing can happen, especially on a friction lift. I know you like numbers, so perhaps this can give you comfort. Lets’ s say you open at 200#, which is easy for you even if it is humid, etc. If your current, best-case scenario lift is ~250, you’ve gained 80% of your potential total on one easy lift. You still have three lifts to gather the last 20% of your potential total, and can take more risks from that point on as you have much less to lose. However, if you are trying to make up a lot of ground in a multi-legged comp like WSH, it may be worth risking a bombout in order to get an extra attempt near your limit, as a KG gained may move you up in your overall placings . It’s kind of like going for it on 4th down in football, sometimes you might want to risk a bombout if it enhances your chance of winning and you are willing to risk it.
Bob that is a correct thinking.
my plan next leg
first test my width before the contest. Second open at 215, which I haven’t missed in training in months and months at 48, 52, 54, or 58. From there 230-233, depending on how that feels I will have two more shots for 240-250.
I expect David to pull 248-255, and Jedd to hit 245-260 in this final leg. David Thornton was consistent both legs in the mid 230′s
Going back to the 20 mm block, I know I can secure a L17 close. I will likely open at 15, hit 17, and see what I can do with 18 this time.
My stub will not be anything less than 46, the hub is a toss up. I have days of 55-56 lbs, and days were 47 is HARD. I will be very safe with my opener on the hub.
This next leg is all about me meeting my own expectations.
I am also keeping in mind that nothing is over after this one, because November is the Decathlon, December is Gripmas, Jan is Metroflex Mayhem.
Feb is my first month off, unless they have the Viking Visegrip challenge in LA at the expo. If they do I will likely enter it. I realize I would be the smallest dude there, but I am a lot more comfortable with fat bar events now.
Nationals will be May 2012, and its going to Wooster OH at Durniats gym. We have been talking and this year will be a weekend long fitness gathering. Throwing games, grip contest, Strongman, ect. You are qualified for Nationals with your WR, I hope to see you there.
Oh, sorry to hear about your pinch bombing! It’s ass. I wish you better play at the last leg!