Tommy Kono, Mr. Everything in weightlifting, said his new book will be out early next year.


Tommy Kono shares his enormous lifting knowledge with the help of carefully-selected photos. This was at a seminar hosted by Bill Kutzer, at California State University - Sacramento, the center of the universe for Northern California weightlifting in recent years thanks to Bill's leadership. Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

With a working title of Championship Weightlifting, Tommy said his forthcoming book is intended for coaches and elite lifters - if you're aiming at the World Championships and Olympics, then this is the book you want.

Not afraid to express his views, Tommy Kono would like to see American weightlifters resume positions on the medal stand at the world's leading competitions and the more people who take advantage of his example and his thoughts on the subject of weightlifting, the better chances become of turning this dream into reality.

Strongman fans around the world wait each year for the World's Strongest Man show to air and this year's contest, which is about to be shown, should be especially interesting.


"Watch WSM!" These might not be Vasyl Virastiuk's exact words, but we're confident that they capture the correct sentiment. Check local listings for exact program dates and times. Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo (Paradise Island, Bahamas).

Along with the top professional strongmen in the lineup, format changes in this year's World's Strongest Man contest will be sure to catch your eye, and in addition to the proven classics, strongman event maestro Jamie Reeves unveiled some things this year that will be sure to get your attention.

You've been waiting for this, so go ahead now and enjoy it: World's Strongest Man 2004!

In a much anticipated announcement, TWI and World Class Events have reached an agreement to re-launch the Super Series, beginning with the 2005 Arnold Expo, and the new contests will "become part of the qualifying vehicle for The World's Strongest Man from 2005 onwards."


UNLV strength coach Mark Philippi, the face of strength, on his way to winning the Hummer Deadlift at the 2004 Arnold strongman contest (Columbus, Ohio). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

This new alliance brings together the three most potent names and events on the professional strongman circuit: the World's Strongest Man contest, the Super Series, and the Arnold, and it represents a landmark coalition in the sport.

Graham Fry, TWI Director of Programming and Production said, "For the first time there will be a structured calendar of events leading up to The World's Strongest Man in the Autumn of 2005. This is good news for the sport of strongman and TWI are delighted to be part of it."

World Class Events founder, Ulf Bengtsson, who has built up the Super Series concept in recent years, expressed his pleasure in the freshly-minted partnership with TWI and the Arnold: "This is a move forward for the strongman sport and will bring it the attention that it deserves."

Already seen as one of the absolute top strongman contests in the world, the 2005 Arnold strongman event was started by Terry Todd, Ph.D. as a truly heavy test of strength, and it has been immensely popular among both the competitors and the fans; and Jim Lorimer, Director of the Arnold Classic Weekend, left no doubt about his satisfaction with this new alliance: "Arnold and I are very happy that our contest will serve as the kickoff event in the newly-created World's Strongest Man Super Series on ESPN."

For contest details and information on tickets, please check the official Arnold Expo web site:

http://www.arnoldexpo.com/.

Once again, grip expert John Brookfield brings his creativity and knowledge to the table: This month, John introduces a favorite of arm wrestlers, the table curl, but catering to the grip strength enthusiast, John has a special twist.

Learn from the master - read John Brookfield's latest grip tip, put it to the test, and your reward will be a stronger grip.

Click on the John Brookfield Grip Tip icon on the IronMind home page or follow this link:

/GripTips/griptip.html

Happy grip training!

The Chinese Weightlifting Federation confirmed today that Coach Chen Wenbin and Athens gold medalists Shi Zhiyong and Zhang Guozheng have accepted the invitation to lift at the 2005 Arnold Expo, giving very special meaning the slogan, "The road to Beijing begins here."


62-kg Shi Zhiyong (China) pulls himself under this 172.5-kg clean, on his way to a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics (Athens, Greece). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.


69-kg Zhang Guozheng (China) recovers with this huge 160-kg snatch, paving the way to his gold medal at the 2004 Olympics (Athens, Greece). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

The Columbus Weightlifting Club, the force behind bringing weightlifting to the Arnold Expo, has described next year's event by saying, "The road to Beijing begins here," and what better way to celebrate this than by hosting an all-star delegation from the Chinese Weightlifting Federation? Thus, on behalf of Jim Lorimer and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, IronMind's Randall Strossen extended an invitation to the Chinese Weightlifting Federation to attend the weightlifting competition at the 2005 Arnold Expo.

"We are deeply honored to welcome Coach Chen Wenbin and Athens gold medalists Shi Zhiyong and Zhang Guozheng to the 2005 Arnold Expo, and without the complete and immediate support of Jim Lorimer and Governor Schwarzenegger, this would never have been possible. This is a great day for the sport of weightlifting and is a first step toward the 2008 Olympics," Strossen said.

With special thanks to the Megan Tornstrom, Mark Cannella, and Dan Bell for getting weightlifting on the program at the Arnold Expo, everyone lucky enough to be in Columbus, Ohio next March 4-6 for the 2005 Arnold Expo will be able to see two of the world's best weightlifters - Olympic champions Shi Zhiyong and Zhang Guozheng.

See you there!

Recently, a crew from the Today show filmed John Brookfield for two days, and the resulting show is set to air on December 28th.


John Brookfield, a cornerstone of the current interest in grip strength and bending, relaxes at the 2004 AOBS dinner (Saddle Brook, New Jersey). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

John Brookfield first appeared on the Today show shortly after his book Mastery of Hand Strength came out in 1995, and in this latest program, viewers will have a chance to get a little better sense of John as a person, as well as be dazzled by some of his feats of strength.

IronMind is proud to have been closely associated with John Brookfield since 1990, and we credit John with being one of the trailblazers most responsible for the current interest in grip and lower arm strength. Mastery of Hand Strength, has been inhaled by grip strength fans around the world, and countless people have been inspired by John's example and benefited from his direct help.

Shane Hamman, coming off a pair of American records at the Olympics, says he might be retiring from weightlifting, but even if that happens, the big man has big plans.


USA Weightlifting cover guy Shane Hamman hits the bottom with with this 237.5-kg clean and jerk at the 2004 Olympics - the biggest clean and jerk ever by an American, and Hamman made it look light (Athens, Greece). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Shane Hamman is one of the few people who have successfully crossed over from powerlifting to [Olympic-style] weightlifting. The 8-time national champion holds all three American records in the superheavyweight class, and his 237.5-kg clean and jerk at the Athens Olympics will be remembered not just for the fact that it was an American record, but also for how easily Hamman handled the weight.

The two-time Olympian said he might be retiring from competition, but he even if this happens, he will stay involved with the sport as he and Dragomir Cioroslan plan to open a 24-Hour Fitness facility, with platforms for Olympic-lifting, in the Oklahoma City area. Hamman is also an in demand speaker, looking at about 50 talks next year, as he regularly addresses school and church groups.

Asked about his transition from powerlifting to weightlifting, Hamman said that he was attracted to the sport immediately when he saw his first contest - the professionalism, the athlete squaring off against the bar alone, and the possibility of competing in the Olympics were big draws.

Hamman has been recruited to compete in strongman contests, including the 2005 Arnold, but he says he's not interested, since it isn't something he trains for. Currently, Hamman still includes some weightlifting movements in his workouts, but he is also doing things as diverse as running, and has trimmed down to the neighborhood of 330 pounds.

For everyone who's been following the past IronMind Suitcase Challenges put on by Rick Fowler, here's Rick's latest report.

Be forewarned, though, once you read this, you'll want to start training for the next contest:

http://www.usaplnationals.com/2004riversEdge/riversEdgeSuitcase.html

Congratulations to Taylor Wilson, Kevin Bussi and Jeff Cagle, who have just been certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper - a landmark achievement in the world of hand strength.

Taylor is 20-year old college student who's passionate about powerlifting; Kevin Bussi is 18 and he is quick to thank his grandfather, because Kevin started grip training in order to beat his grandfather at arm wrestling; Jeff Cagle trains on "powerlifting type workouts" and said he's "completely fired up about grip."

Each of these guys deserves a hearty congratulations - legitimately closing a No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper is a great accomplishment that is widely recognized in the strength world, and their names have been added to the official list of guys certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper: /Main/captainswhosnew.html

Way to go, guys!

Congratulations to 18-year old Justin Newsome who won the IronMind Suitcase Challenge over the weekend.

Rick Fowler has just posted a full report of this year's edition of this popular event, so if you weren't there, here's your chance to follow the action: http://www.usaplnationals.com/2004SteelCityOpens/suitcases.html.

Hats off to Steve Belanger for hosting his great Grip Gathering in southern California this weekend - a terrific group of guys showed up and there were some very impressive feats of strength performed on grippers, nails and various other implements of destruction.


Turning the Belanger driveway into a gym, Zach Passman cranks on a kettlebell under the watchful eye of Brett Jones, one of Pavel Tsatsouline's instructors. Multi-talented, both Zach and Brett are on the Red Nail Roster. Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Not wasting any time in terms of taking care of business, Kevin Bussi smacked a No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper shut for me, so he's on his way to getting certified - way to go Kevin. That was just one of many impressive feats of strength performed in Steve's driveway and garage, but the most important thing was that a bunch of guys had gotten together to test their strength, talk with each other, encourage great efforts and to have a good time.

It was my pleasure to be able to come down for a couple of hours and from some of the things I saw, all I can say is that the grip world is going to see some rocking feats of strength next year.

Many thanks to Steve and his family - you put on a great party!

Terry Todd, Ph.D. said today that he would like to have ten competitors at the 2005 Arnold Strongman contest, and that so far, seven men have been invited.


Vasyl Virastiuk (Ukraine) powers through the Fingal's Fingers at the 2004 World Muscle Power Championships (Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Dr. Todd explained that this year's winner, Zydrunas Savickas, and runner-up, Svend Karlsen, are automatically invited back, and that traditionally, the Arnold Strongman also invites the World's Strongest Man winner, the IPF superheavyweight champion, and the US national strongman champion, so Vasyl Virastiuk, Brian Siders and Van Hatfield, respectively, have been invited to the 2005 Arnold Strongman contest. In addition, Dr. Todd said, Magnus Samuelsson and Hugo Girard have been invited, given their proven abilities and top rankings in the strongman world.

The Arnold Strongman contest quickly established itself as a tremendous event, and we expect the 2005 edition to be the best yet. For contest details, ticket information and everything else you need to know about the 2005 Arnold Expo, be sure to check their official website: http://www.arnoldexpo.com/.

C.J. Murphy is hosting a grip contest on February 5th in Everett, Massachusetts, so all you grip guys in that area will have a chance to get together and have some fun.

The events are one-inch bar vertical deadlift, grippers, Rolling Thunder, three-inch barbell deadlift and one-hand pinch grip.

Please call C.J. Murphy, Total Performance, Sports, at (617) 387-5998 for details.

With strongman evolving rapidly in the last few years, substantial organizational changes are underway in the sport, and IFSA Holdings has just released a statement regarding its 2005 calendar.

"In an effort to launch an exciting new era in the Strongman sport globally, IFSA Strongman is currently finalising a vastly improved events calendar for the 2005 season. The 2005 top events will include IFSA World Strongman, IFSA World Strongman Nation and IFSA World Strongman Under 105kg; a full pyramid of national, sub-continental and continental championships leading to these title events; as well as a number of established events such as Arnold's Classic, The World's Strongest Man.

To implement this calendar, IFSA Strongman is in currently in negotiations with a number of parties, including ExpoCit� from Qu�bec for staging the 2005 IFSA World Strongman as was reported in IronMind earlier. IFSA Strongman recognizes the historical contribution of Qu�bec to strength sports, and the vast experience of ExpoCit� for organising similar events, but to date no final agreement has been reached, and any details regarding the agreement are still speculative.

Throughout the next three months IFSA Strongman will communicate news regarding the 2005 calendar as well as other exciting developments of the sport that we believe would put the Strongman Sport in the place that has long deserved but until now has not had the resources to deliver.

IFSA Strongman is the world governing body, elite athlete manager and rights holder of the Strongman sport worldwide."

IronMind has just received clarification of the IFSA-imposed suspension of Mariusz Pudzianowski. The official IFSA statement follows.

"IFSA Strongman (worldwide governing body for the Strongman sport) has confirmed that one of its athletes has tested positive for a banned substance and as such breached its health policy.

The athlete is twice world champion Marius Pudzianowski from Poland, who recognized the breach and dismissed his right to have a B sample confirming the initial conclusion.

Pudzianowski tested positive in the World's Strongest Man 2004 competition, which took place in October in the Bahamas. An initial communication was sent to the athlete together with a provisional suspension on the 8th of November 2004. Pudzianowski acceptance of the result led to an official notification sent on the 20th of November 2004 informing him of a 12 month suspension which could be revised subject to the athlete taking part in a rehabilitation course.

As a result of this suspension Marius Pudzianowski is disqualified from the World's Strongest Man 2004 competition and his results voided including all prize money, ranking points and associated recognition.

'The doping tests are being conducted to make sure that the sport which is followed by a large number of young fans and families, remains clean and sets the example for the young generation.' Said Ali Gursoy, IFSA spokesperson.

'While IFSA allows several products which may be banned from other disciplines, the federation is particularly strict on substances that can affect the well being of its athletes. The banned substances list is updated regularly and all are parties given access to this information.'

'This is the first case IFSA have encountered and obviously whilst making everybody extremely sad the federation had to take action for the interest and integrity of the sport and all the parties involved in the discipline,' continued Ali Gursoy.

'Marius Pudzianowski is a great name in the sport and his contribution both from a personal and professional perspective has been widely recognized. He is a leading figure among fans, media, national and international governing bodies. However he breached the rules and accepted it, so the world governing body had no other choice but to suspend him from competing at any official or unofficial IFSA sanctioned competition for the next 12 months.'

The Federation's policy to support athletes in difficulty enables IFSA to offer to revise the suspension period if the athlete undertakes and successfully completes a rehabilitation scheme led by their own medical team."

We just heard the rumor that Andrei Chemerkin was going to be competing in the 2005 Arnold Strongman contest.


Russia's Andrei Chemerkin put away this magnificent 262.5-kg world record clean and jerk at the 1997 World Weightlifting Championships (Chiang Mai, Thailand). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

For the record, this is not true.

Andrei Chemerkin, whose credentials include a gold medal in weightlifting at the 1996 Olympics, continued the great Russian tradition of producing the world's top superheavyweight lifters. Chermerkin is retired from the sport and when he was originally billed as being on the start list at an earlier Arnold Strongman contest, he told me that he had never even heard of the event, let alone said he was coming. Chemerkin said the idea of him competing in strongman events was "crazy," not because he didn't enjoy or respect strongman contests, but because his discipline is so different and because he is retired.

In a case of d�j� vu again, Andrei Chemerkin, speaking from his home yesterday, told me that he is not competing in the 2005 Arnold Strongman contest, although this time he knew what it was and he said that he had been approached about participating.

Retired as a weightlifter, Andrei Chemerkin left the sport as a world record holder, Olympic champion and world champion, although to many of us who watched it happen, his most remarkable effort led to none of those honors, but it will never be forgotten: At the 2000 Olympics, in a bid to win the gold medal, Andrei Chemerkin called for a 272.5-kg clean and jerk. He not only really went for the 600+ pound lift, but he actually came close to racking the weight.

Coming off an impressive victory yesterday at the Swedish Grand Prix, Magnus Samuelsson said that win, along with his strong performance at this year's World's Strongest Man contest, means that he will continue competing.


Magnus Samuelsson puts the spectacular Jamie Reeves-designed squat apparatus to the test at the 2004 World's Strongest Man contest (Paradise Island, Bahamas), which will be on TV soon - check your local listings for details. Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Magnus Samuelsson was a competitive arm wrestler before he got into strongman, and besides being a top competitor, he is also very popular. Winning four of the seven events yesterday, Samuelsson said that it all still came down to the final event, the deadlift, because Zydrunas Savickas was right behind him. Rather than using a strongman variation, the deadlift event used an Eleiko bar and plates, and three attempts were allowed: Samuelsson's 330-kg third attempt was good enough for fourth place in the event and first overall.

Sweden's own World's Strongest Man winner, Magnus Samuelsson, capitalized on his home field advantage today as he won the prestigious Super Series event, the Swedish Grand Prix.

The top five finishers were:

1. Magnus Samuelsson
2. Zydrunas Savickas
3. Svend Karlsen
4. Vasyl Virastiuk
5. Karl Gillingham

Super Series president Ulf Bengtsson said that "these are turbulent times" in strongman, but that this event "was a fantastic competition. Our interest is in being part of the good things in this sport, and that is our reason for existing," Bengtsson said.

Jim Davis, the man who many of us credit with making huge contributions to the development of strongman in the US, suffered a heart attack, but he has been released from the hospital.


Jim Davis (right) with Gil Engler of Children's Miracle Network (St. Louis, Missouri). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Jim Davis came into strongman when it was still struggling to establish itself in the US, and along with putting on some of the top contests of the day, he raised very substantial amounts of money for the Children's Miracle Network. In 2001, not even a week and half after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., Jim Davis went ahead and put on his contest - it would have been easy to pull the plug, but the show went on and many of the world's top strongmen met the challenge, got on planes and came to Jim's contest.

Jim's out of the hospital, and we pray for his quick and complete recovery.

In the tradition of another heavy Odd Haugen-inspired strongman contest, the 2005 ASA-FitExpo Strongman Challenge won't disappoint anyone who thinks footraces are for track.


Phil Pfister pounds the pavement with a couple of heavy ones at the 2004 Battle of Muscle Beach (Venice, California). Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Here is the tentative list of six events, spread over two days. On Saturday, February 19, Odd is planning:

1. IronMind Apollon's Axle for maximum weight
2. Giant Farmer's Walk with 400+ pounds in each hand ("we will take it to another level")
3. a medley consisting of a 600-pound front carry (Zercher style), followed by the power stairs with a 500-pound implement very similar to what was used at the 2004 Battle of Muscle Beach.

Now that everyone is warmed up, the second day will see:

1. Deadlift with a 1200 pound tire on an apparatus, for reps
2. 1,000-pound Yoke carried for 50 feet
3. Stones, carried and loaded (five stones, ranging from 308 to 385 pounds)

The 2005 FitExpo is scheduled for February 18 � 20 in Pasadena, California.