Rob W. Vigeant won Strong-arm Tactics 2004 today in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, with his cousin, Rob F. Vigeant, coming in second. Shane Larson was third, Jedd Johnson was fourth, and Jeff Peterson was fifth overall. Drawing almost two dozen competitors, from five states, promoter Brian Carlton couldn't help but be pleased with the way things went. Carlton has been working for a couple of years to develop grip competitions and this event built on his success with Feats of Hands 2003. The events included a maximum effort on grippers that had been rank ordered in terms of difficulty, a two-hand plate pinch grip, a maximum lift on the Rolling Thunder, and a maximum effort on nail bending. Rob W. Vigeant won the gripper event, and gave a No. 4 Captains of Crush gripper a try, but couldn't close it. Jeff Bissonnette and Rob W. Vigeant tied for first on the two-hand plate pinch grip, at 195 pounds. Shane Larson won the Rolling Thunder, with a lift of 215 pounds, and Rob F. Vigeant won the nail bending, by bending an IronMind Blue nail cut down to 4 inches.

Leonid Zhabotinsky, 1964 and 1968 Olympic gold medalist in the superheavyweight class, has been invited to the Arnold Expo, weightlifting meet director Megan Tornstrom confirmed today. Tornstrom, who along with Mark Cannella brought weightlifting to the Arnold Expo, is committed to "grow the sport," and to help put some of her ideas into action, she will be running for a seat on the USA Weightlifting Board of Directors later this year. Explaining that she wants to bring "more international flair" to weightlifting events in the US, Tornstrom said, "We hope to recapture the excitement of the sixties."

Grip contest organizer Brian Carlton is all set to unleash some of the strongest hands around at Strong-arm Tactics 2004 this weekend in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota. Carlton said, "It looks like we'll have nearly 25 competitors and some very good ones at that. This contest, thus far, represents grip talent from four different states and one of the competitors has previously bent a 4.5" IronMind Blue nail in competition. It's possible that we may see a Red nail bent. Also competing are two of only three people who have ever farmer's walked with Inch replicas, along with several certified COCs (Captains of Crush). I expect the Rolling Thunder event to produce some big poundages as well, as we've got some really big boys with really big hands coming out to this contest. Best of all though, is that it will be great fun and a day well spent!" For contest details please contact: Brian L. Carlton at carlt005@umn.edu .

Gavin Holle helped ignite tremendous interest in bending when he destroyed an IronMind Red Nail last summer, and the field appears poised for some tremendous performances in the near future. Although bending has always been of great interest to practitioners such as John Brookfield in the US and English grip man David Horne, until recently, it enjoyed only fairly limited popularity. Following in Gavin Holle's footsteps, Craig Holle, Jay Holle and Pat Povilaitis have all succeeded in officially bending an IronMind Red Nail recently, and the field appears poised for even more activity in the future. The Holle brothers, whose performances on grippers are staggering, are quietly producing equally-stunning achievements in terms of bending. Just as other benders have been quick to adopt the style used by Gavin Holle to great benefit, you might find it useful to emulate two Holle house rules for making a legitimate bend. "We only allow one continuous attempt at a nail, no pauses for a rest and a limit of about 40 seconds," said Nathan Holle. Give this a try and enjoy the boost it gives your own bending.

Just released, "the 2004 edition of the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper continues the IronMind tradition of continually working to improve the appearance, precision and durability of this world-renown gripper. Even when our progress is subtle, we seize every opportunity to improve our grippers, so we have always said that our latest grippers are also our best grippers." An object of passion for many, Captains of Crush grippers are the benchmark for grip enthusiasts around the world, and outstanding performances on them have been formally recognized since 1991, when IronMind began certifying people who closed the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper under official conditions. Richard Sorin was the first man certified as closing the No. 3, and he is also the first person who will receive the 2004 edition of this icon of the grip(per) world.)

Want to see how the very popular and very powerful World's Strongest Man winner Svend "Viking Power" Karlsen trains? Here's your chance. Producer Colin Bryce says this training film covers "Svend's eight day training cycle. The film itself is split into two sections: Equipment training, which includes farmers walk in six inches of snow, 500-kg tyre flips, an attempt at the Apollon's Axle World Record, 8 x 180-kg stone lifts in under 30 seconds....plus many more secret exercises that Svend has developed for success." Next, it's into the gym to "watch Svend front squat an amazing 4 x 270-kg, deadlift an outrageous 3 x 370-kg . . . again he shows you all of the exercises he deems necessary for real strength training. Also, Svend takes you into his kitchen and explains the most important diet/supplements that you should be taking. To top it off, the film contains footage of his log World Record and more competition footage from the last few years." The finished product will approximately one hour in length; pricing and ordering details will be available shortly.

IRONMAN magazine's inaugural fitness expo is scheduled for February 20 - 22 in Pasadena, California, and among the special attractions, World's Strongest Man (WSM) competitors Mark Philippi, Odd Haugen and Jesse Marunde will be giving a demonstration. Philippi has competed at the World's Strongest Man six times, and after the incomparable Bill Kazmaier retired from strongman competition, it was Philippi who reopened the door for Americans with his world-class performances beginning in 1997. Odd Haugen, has also competed at the WSM contest, is the promoter of the famed Beauty and the Beast strongman contest, and is the defending US National IronMind® Rolling Thunder® champion. Jesse Marunde, another WSM competitor, catapulted to fame in the strength world when he closed a No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper as a mere teenager - the first ever to do this - and he has gone on to become one of the most popular competitors at strongman competitions across the US. Philippi, the head strength coach at UNLV, said, "This gives everyone in southern California an opportunity to see the guys they've seen on TV, and they're going to say, �Wow - they really do lift those things.' The people of southern California will be able to see strongman - see that it's unique and exciting. I think they will really enjoy it." For full details on the IRONMAN Fitness Expo check their official web site at: http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/detailfp.php?lcid=120 and http://www.thefitexpo.com/#pgm .

On February 12th John Brookfield is planning to bend 100 yards of 5/8 - inch diameter steel bar in his hometown of Pinehurst, North Carolina in a record attempt that will be filmed by Fox TV. Brookfield, the second man in the world to close the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper, has long been the benchmark bender, a guy who can bend pieces of steel in his bare hands that some people couldn't move with pliers and a vise. Along with his tremendous maximum bending strength, Brookfield sets himself apart from the field with his endurance, which will be showcased in this upcoming record attempt: Brookfield plans to bend fifteen 20-foot lengths of 5/8 - inch diameter steel bar, with each length rolled up tightly enough to fit into a small suitcase. Brookfield said that his target time for this feat of strength is fifteen minutes, which will be an average of one minute per bar.

Pat Povilaitis, who has been harassing the IronMind Red Nail for some time, recently switched over to the bending style made famous by Gavin Holle, and the results have been impressive. For over ten years the IronMind Red Nail has been the standard for a world-class short bend and Povilaitis, who wanted to do it under official conditions, has succeeded in bending this tough piece of steel in front of an impartial witness chosen by IronMind Enterprises, Inc. Also recently demonstrating his mastery of this piece of steel that was first bent by John Brookfield was Steve McGranahan, who bent four IronMind Red Nails in quick succession.

While performances on the No. 3 and No. 4 Captains of Crush grippers in recent years have reflected the ever-climbing standards in the grip world, crushing grip is not the only thing on the rise. Wade Gillingham, perhaps best known for manhandling a Blob (the sawed-off end of a cast York 100-pound dumbbell), kicked off his weekend by pinch gripping three 35-pound plates: Although Gillingham didn't photograph or video the impromptu performance, it was done in front of witnesses, the plates are said to be full weight, only chalk was used, and there was no center pin holding the plates together. Gillingham reported that he did a full deadlift with his right hand and then held the weight "for a couple of seconds." Similarly off the scales, Terry Todd recently told me that Mark Henry, the first man in the world to clean and press a replica of the Thomas Inch dumbbell, has snatched the dumbbell in training. What's next? Is somebody going to close the No. 4 Captains of Crush gripper with two fingers?

Last year's contest had over 250 competitors and Bill Collins knows he can't say for sure who will be there this weekend, but you can expect a lot of top pullers to make it to Reno Reunion VI, with big-name arm wrestlers such as John Brzenk and Eric Woelfel among those expected to show up. Whether you plan to compete or just enjoy watching some top quality arm wrestling, be at the Sands Regency Casino Hotel in downtown Reno for all the action this Saturday afternoon, starting at 2:00 p.m. In addition to the top pulling, Bill is introducing a World's Strongest Hands event, which will give everyone a chance to lay down their most serious squeeze for additional fun and prizes, in an event that is open to everyone ($5.00 entry fee). And if you want to get certified on a No. 3 or No. 4 Captains of Crush gripper, here's a chance to mash one under official conditions.

As Brian Carlton explained it, Jeff Bissonnette was contacted by the St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press because they had heard about Brian's Feats With Hands grip contest last summer and wanted to learn more about the grip thing. Brian figured that with all this media attention, not to mention all the strong-handed Minnesotans wandering around, what better way to spend a winter afternoon than squeezing the daylights out of a variety of things, so he set up a new grip contest: Strong-Arm Tactics, which is set to run on January 31st in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota. Cutting to the chase, this grip contest will feature closing gripper, pinch gripping plates, the IronMind Rolling Thunder and bending the IronMind nails - three attempts in each event. For contest details and to register, please contact: Brian L. Carlton at carlt005@umn.edu .

2001 World's Strong Man winner Svend Karlsen has drawn a bead on the strongman event at the 2004 Arnold Expo, declaring that he'd "rather win the Arnold than World's Strongest Man" again. "It's the only thing I haven't won," Karlsen said, adding that he likes the fact that the strongman contest at the Arnold is built around basic events and "not so much running around." Karlsen, a tremendous force on the professional strongman circuit, will be competing in what is now officially the final event in the 2003 IFSA Super Series, along with top ranking IFSA Super Series athletes Mariusz Pudzianowski, Zydrunas Savickas, Hugo Girard, Raimonds Bergmanis and 2003 IFSA-USA national champion Steve Kirit. It is expected that four additional athletes will be invited to compete in what has become a top drawer strongman event with the biggest purse going: US$50,000 plus a Hummer to the winner of the 2004 contest. In keeping with its high profile, the final strongman event will be broadcast live from the Arnold on pay-per-view (March 6th), just in case you can't make it there in person.