Congratulations to Ron Wright, who has just been certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper.

Ron came close to being the first guy ever to certify on the IronMind® Red Nail™ and the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper on the same day, but while he successfully bent the IronMind® Red Nail™, he didn't quite touch the handles on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper. No matter, because he said he'd back, he was, and this time he gave the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper no mercy.

Recognizing Ron Wright's accomplishment, IronMind® is proud to certify him and add his name to the official list of guys certified on the benchmark No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper:

Congratulations, Ron!

Half a century old and going strong, Allen Fisher's famous forearm will be getting some exercise at the Birthday Bash Challenge held in honor of his birthday today.


The Fisher Forearm has been notching wins at the arm wrestling table for 25 years and today it turns 50. IronMind® | Randall Strossen photo.

Set for Riley's Sports Bar in San Diego today, there are open and amateur classes, awards, and a guaranteed good time. Even if you're not pulling, if you're in the neighborhood, drop by and see what a fifty-year old forearm can look like and just what it can do.

John Brookfield has performed on the Today show, at the Highland Games World Championships, the Iron Man Pro, and at hundreds of public venues, but no matter if you have seen all, some or none of these performances, everyone has the opportunity to learn from this longstanding leader of the grip community.

Between his books, MILO articles, and his Grip Tips, the wisdom and creativity John Brookfield brings to grip training is available to everyone. And while you might never match John's feats of strength, that's not the most important thing: Here's yet another exercise that will help you boost your strength, while you have a good time training, so hook up with John Brookfield's latest Grip Tip, live up to your potential, and be the best that you can be.

For the latest from John, follow the link above or go to the Training Articles link from the IronMind homepage.
 

The modern grip world started taking form in 1990 as two guys - Richard Sorin and John Brookfield - pushed the envelope in crushing, pinching, bending and tearing, and IronMind® turned a spotlight on their efforts . . . suddenly, what had been a little-known corner of the iron game gained traction and moved toward center stage.

Richard Sorin's feats with the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper and a beast of his discovery that he named "The Blob" defined the high water mark for gripsters of both those days and the ones to follow. Last year, Richard faced a new challenge, in the form of cancer, but he has battled his way back and IronMind® invited his son, Bert, to describe Richard's return to health and strength.

"After the surgery last April, Dad was in tough shape for a while. He lost 35 pounds and looked pretty beat up, I guess 10 hours on the table will do that to a guy. He waited the prescribed 6 weeks of not lifting anything heavier than an iron, which is torture for a man who has deadlifted over 500 lb. every year of his life since 1967 (17 years old . . . almost 40 years ago)! Well, we kept him away from his toys long enough, and he started easing into it again. He started with basic easier lifts, like Bench and Curls, but soon found he did a little too much too fast, Dad's engine has never been geared for half throttle while training! So we took a little set back, and he kept more hydrated, and rolled into it a little slower, allowing his body to heal. Never too old to learn new tricks!

"Within a few months he started to squat again, the 45-lb. bar was enough to almost shut him down the first day, but he vowed to squat a few sets everyday, moving up in weight incrementally, in true MILO form. Inside of two months he had squatted 400 lb. again, and Halloween Eve he squatted 510 lb. in a pair of jeans, something neither of us knew if we would ever see again . . . it was awesome! He followed it up with a 330 lb. raw bench and he now weighed 272 lb. and was feeling good. Seeing that intensity and an rebirth got me fired up for training again, as my workouts had been lackluster due to life stresses.

"As his body, mind and spirit got stronger everyday, he began to tinker with one of his original loves, his signature realm . . . grip. He began to hover the Blobs again, and started to PR with many of them in different ways . . . variable grips, fingers, positions etc. He then went back to a grip feat that we were introduced to a year or so ago at the AOBS Dinner, pinching the five 10-lb. plates. He was lucky enough to receive the actual plates that were at the dinner, big THANKS to 'Chuckie B' as he is known in the grip circles for sending these to us!

"He worked up to six 10-lb. plates, which we previously thought to be impossible. Then six plates with two fingers and a thumb last week! He went back to the five plates and started adding weight, two fingers etc. He had said for a while that he would love to do it, but did not know if one finger and a thumb was even possible for the five tens. Much like tackling the original Blob in the 1980s, he was sailing in uncharted territory, with no map, or predecessor to show a glimmer of hope to such a feat.

"Last night 1-23-06, after a tough workout, I was sitting in my desk at work, shutting down my computer, when I heard, 'Bert, Bert, Bert, Bert!' being bellowed from the area we know as 'Grip Island,' I dived across my desk, creating a mess I have yet to clean up, to see Dad standing proudly holding the five tens with a thumb and one fingers, as he has been doing for the past 10 seconds. WOW! We were all amazed and very congratulatory. He asked if I could get the camera, he had torn his hand on the last attempt, but thought that he may have one more good attempt in the Ol' Claw. I got into position, and snapped the picture you saw as he elevated the 50 lb. of iron in the most difficult of methods.

"I am really proud of dad, not for any specific grip strength feat, for that is far too circumstantial. I am proud of him for being a pioneer of grip strength, a proponent of life long strength, and having the courage to not go gentle into that good night and hang it up just because of some tough times. He has always pushed the envelope, and even after hearing him say that the one finger, 5 tens maybe his best grip feat to date, I am positive he is already dreaming of new, unconquered lands in the world of strength."

What's got a three-inch handle, 12-inch diameter ends, weighs a lot, and gets lifted with one hand?


Arron "Meatball" Provence hoists the massive dumbbell that you might see in action at the Arnold strongman competition. IronMind® | Richard Sorin photo.
 

Richard Sorin calls 16-year-old Arron "Meatball" Provence "a young grip star," but what might also catch your eye is the dumbbell that could be appearing in this year's Arnold strongman contest - made by Sorinex, the hollow globes can be loaded to boost its weight (114 pounds empty), and, as shown, plates can also be attached to the ends of the globe.

Looks like the Inch went on the SUPER SQUATS program.

Among the pre-dinner activities at the 2004 AOBS gathering was a bunch of hardcore grip guys testing themselves in a variety of ways, and one of the center stage performances was Richard Sorin attacking a pile of 10-pound plates with a variety of different pinch grips.


Richard Sorin, using a thumb and one finger, gives five 10-pound plates plenty of air time. IronMind® | Bert Sorin photo.
 

Those plates weren't the only thing Richard rattled, but who knew what was coming down the pike.

"After several months of skin-splitting practice, last night I did two full pulls (one held for over 10 seconds while we called Bert out of his office) with thumb and ONE finger with the same 5 plates you saw me and others try at the AOBS dinner," Richard Sorin told IronMind® today.

"I am very pleased and proud of doing this since for quite a while I doubted the possibility of making it at all."

Richard Sorin, the first man certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper, inspired countless other guys to attack grippers with a vengeance, but as well known as he was for his trail-blazing performances on the benchmark No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper, IronMind® has long pointed out that Richard Sorin's pinch gripping performances were just as otherworldly, and based on what Richard's been doing lately, for all he's already accomplished, it looks as if the best is yet to come.

He fills a doorway and charms the crowd - all the while, Phil Pfister, being a top strongman, proves that there are far fewer immovable objects on earth than most people would guess.


Phil Pfister on the Power Yoke at the 2004 Battle of Muscle Beach, where he gave 1335 pounds a ride. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.
 

Pfister competed in the first two Arnold strongman contests on less than two weeks' notice, and this year, it's the first time that he has had plenty of prep time for one of the heaviest and most visible contests on the strongman circuit.

Ever a crowd-pleaser, Pfister brought down the house at the inaugural Arnold strongman contest when there was a special event to see who could lift the replica Inch dumbbell the highest with one hand. While Mark Henry nearly cleaned the dumbbell, it was Pfister, combining strength with a sense of showmanship, who rang the bell: He lifted the Inch off the ground, knee-kicked it to his shoulder, and then he pressed it - producing near bedlam as the thousands of fans packing the Veteran's Memorial Hall became instant Pfister fans and nearly blew the roof of the building showing their appreciation of what he'd done.

Pfister, a firefighter from Charleston, West Virginia, has long been viewed as one of the Americans most likely to win the World's Strongest Man contest, and since he only competed in three contests last year, there is tremendous pent-up demand among strongman fans to see the Pfister perform at the Arnold in March.

Not content to win just one right-hand pro class at Reno Reunion VII last night, Kenny Hughes and John Brenzk doubled up and both won two classes.


They might not be nuclear, but the arms sported by Rick Vardell (left) and Robbie Topie (right) at Boomtown last night could pump up the arsenals of a lot of smaller countries. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

In the men's right-hand professional category, here are the top three.

154 pounds: 1) Rick Soliwada 2) Devin Bair 3) Luke Kindt
176 pounds: 1) Kenny Hughes 2) Anthony Dall'Antonia 3) Simon Berriochoa
198 pounds: 1) Kenny Hughes 2) Bryan Johnson 3) Jeremy Edwards
242 pounds: 1) John Brzenk 2) Robbie Topie 3) Rick Vardell
243 pounds: 1) John Brzenk 2) Bob Shaffer 3) Tom Nelson

And for the women's right-hand pro category, here are the top three.

143 pounds: 1) Judy Dodd 2) Jennifer Hoffert 3) Valerie Beach
144 pounds: 1) Lilia Khamidouling 2) Cynthia Yerby 3) Judy Dodd

Feeling lucky?


Devin Bair (left) and Simon Berriochoa (right), shown at the 2005 World Championships, will be at Reno Reunion VII, and then on their way to the Arnold. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

Then head to Boomtown Casino and Hotel this weekend for Reno Reunion VII, featuring some of the biggest names in arm wrestling - many of whom will be competing at the Arnold in March.

The Boomtown Casino and Hotel is located on Interstate 80 west of Reno, Nevada, and there are special room rates available if you would like to stay overnight. The novice and pros pull on Saturday, and the amateurs and masters step up to the table on Sunday.

With over $12,000 in cash and prizes on the line, you can expect to see many of the sport's top names at Boomtown, and Armworld Promotions head honcho Bill Collins predicted that the one and only John Brzenk will compete in four or five classes, saying, "Come get a piece of me . . . if you dare to try."

He won the World's Strongest Man contest twice, successfully made the transition to acting, and now, in a huge move in the strongman world, Jouko Ahola has become President of World Strongman Cup.


Back to the future: Two-time World's Strongest Man winner Jouko Ahola is the new President of the World Strongman Cup. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.
 

Martin Muhr, Manager of World Strongmancup, told IronMind® today, "We are on the way to the top . . . I will give the top guys a chance to compete and the best news is Jouko Ahola is now the new President of World Strongman Cup."

Ahola's new position gives further traction to World Strongman Cup, which firmly established itself in the strongman world last year.

Muhr said that World Strongman Cup is planning "eight competitions around the world" this year, and the first will be in Gran Canaria on April 6, with a start list of competitors that shows the drawing power of this strongman series:

Mariusz Pudzianowski
Raivis Vidzis
Tarmo Mitt
Ralf Ber
Franz Beil Glenn Ross
Michael Starov
Dominic Filiou
Magnus Samuelsson
Svend Karlsen
Dave Ostlund
Jesse Marunde
 

Reacting to the rumors circulating around the strongman world that he has resigned from IFSA, Douglas Edmunds, Ph.D. told IronMind®, "I haven't resigned from IFSA, although I have come close a couple of times."


Dr. Douglas Edmunds, who along with Jamie Reeves, Marcel Mostert and Ilkka Kinnunen - the group IronMind® dubbed "the four horsemen" - looks to the future of the sport that bears his fingerprint. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, PhD. photo.

Clearly dealing with the frustrations stemming from a field that has fragmented, Dr. Edmunds said, "Fragmentation: that is the real problem, and they all tell lies except us. Whenever you have fragmentation, it gets sleazy."

The man known as the godfather of strongman went on to say that "things are going well at the moment," and he is very enthusiastic about the upcoming IFSA 2005 competition highlights DVD which he says "will open up the markets."

"It's a universal truth," Dr. Edmunds said, "strongmen very quickly become old women," lamenting some of the growing pains the sport has experienced lately.

But don't think Dr. Edmunds is either a doomsdayer or has thrown in the towel on the sport which he helped develop and put on the map, as he is quick to point to the upcoming Arnold Strongman contest as sign of the great things going on in the strongman world right now.

"We have opened the gates to all the great guys . . . Everybody who is anybody has been invited.  Come and show us how good you are.'"

Finland has long been synonymous with strongman, and the upcoming Finland's Strongest Man and Finland's Strongest Woman competition will mark the 20-year anniversary, Ilkka Kinnunen said.

This year's contest begins on June 16, with the men's qualifiers, the women's qualifiers, and the women's finals, said Kinnunen, and the men's finals will follow the next day, June 17.

The contest location is Tuuri, and it will be televised by YLE Sport. The entry deadline is April 30 and for additional details, please contact: suomen.vahvinmies@dnainternet.net

"I've never been this strong in my whole physique before," 1998 World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Samuelsson told IronMind® today.


Magnus Samuelsson, shown competing at the 2004 World Muscle Power Championships (Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec), says he's off to a terrific start for 2006. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

"At times, my bench press was up a little, but then my deadlift was down, " Samuelsson said, but right now, the man known for having the world's strongest arms confessed to being "a bit happy," because considered in aggregate, he is the strongest he has ever been.

Magnus Samuelsson said his 2006 competitive season is going to be built around trying to qualify for theWorld's Strongest Man contest. In addition to that overall goal, he said that he will "definitely compete in some World's Strongest Man Super Series events, and will probably compete in some World Strongman Cup events as well."

The two-meter tall 147-kg strongman said that although his bodyweight remains about the same as last year, he is a bit leaner, which he attributes in part to a change in his diet which now includes "massive amounts of protein."

Columbus, Ohio - With everything from ballroom dancing to boxing, the Arnold is living up to its goal of getting bigger and better each year, and listening to the reports from the various chairpersons involved, no matter how wowed you were in 2005, you'd better get ready to hold onto your hat for 2006.


Jim Lorimer, the man who had the vision, the talent and the commitment to create the world's largest multi-sport fitness expo, known most simply as The Arnold. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

If you want an idea of what's coming up that's new this year, consider the Friday Night Fights, speed skating and hockey skills - just for starters.

If you're a strength fan, you already know that the Arnold has one of the world's most prestigious strongman contests and if you like surreal numbers, way-off-this-planet lifting from the WPO will have you have you screaming for more. Arm wrestling fans are in for something special as this year is going to see a convergence of most of the sport's bold face names. Weightlifting, first introduced in 2003 by the Columbus Weightlifting Club, continues to grow and this year their competition will be three days, and IronMind® is once again spearheading the weightlifting exhibition on the main stage that will feature four medalists from the Athens Olympics.

Steve Slater, the man who makes the molds for casting your own concrete stones, reported on the official start list for the 2006 Arnold Strongman, and it's an all-star field, so pick your favorite and start cheering now: Zydrunas Savickas, Vasyl Virastiuk, Mikhail Koklyaev, Phil Pfister, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Raimonds Bergmanis, Dominic Filiou, Brian Siders, Benedikt Magnusson and Glenn Ross.

Who's the best stone lifter in the US?

With Travis Ortmayer now on board to compete at the FitExpo Pro Strongman Challenge, Odd Haugen said that this will be, in effect, the US stone lifting championships. Ortmayer won the stone loading event at the 2005 IFSA World Championships against such leading names as Magnus Samuelsson and Phil Pfister, but in the upcoming contest, he will have to face Dave Ostlund and Jesse Marunde, not to mention Kevin Nee.

Not just six stones will be on the line, but the final one - The Tombstone - has never been lifted in competition, so if you're in Pasadena at the FitExpo next month, you have a good chance to see history made because Odd Haugen said, "I predict that to win the stones, you will have to lift all six, and it will be done in under 30 seconds."

IronMind® is extremely happy to announce that the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation has accepted the invitation to have Velichko Cholakov lift in the special exhibition on the main stage in the expo hall at this year's Arnold, and Stefan Botev will be coming as his coach.


Who is six-feet nine-inches tall and snatches over 200 kg? Velichko Cholakov. The Bulgarian star, along with Stefan Botev as his coach, will be participating in the invitational weightlifting exhibition on the main stage in the expo hall at this year's Arnold. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

Jim Lorimer said that he and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have always had a special affinity for weightlifting and are extremely pleased with the development of this invitational exhibition which began last year with an elite delegation from the Chinese Weightlifting Association. This year's invitational exhibition will once again feature Olympic medalists from the Chinese Weightlifting Association, and it has been expanded to also include Olympic medalists from Georgia and Bulgaria.

"This is an incredible opportunity for the weightlifting community and shows the commitment the Arnold has made to the sport," IronMind®'s Randall Strossen said.

The Arnold is the world's largest multi-sport expo, and this year's event, which runs March 3-5, is expected to draw well over 100,000 people. For full details, please check the Arnold Sports Festival's website. 

See you there!

Svend "Viking Power" Karlsen - one of the most recognizable faces and names in strongman - told IronMind today that "nobody has the right to own strongman," as he explained his plans for the 2006 season.


Pulling away on the Hummer Deadlift at the 2005 Arnold Strongman contest: Make the strongman events heavy and Svend Karlsen feels right at home. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

Commenting on attempts to monopolize the sport, Svend Karlsen made no bones about his preference for a free market system in strongman, saying, "Nobody has the right to own strongman. We should all be free to go to whichever contests we would like to." Karlsen also explained that he did see the value of establishing a unified annual competition calendar in strongman, so that there would not be schedule conflicts between the top events.

Karlsen said that so far he has invitations to compete in both World Strongman Cup events and World's Strongest Man Super Series events this year, but the only contests he is 100% committed to so far are World Strongman Cup. Karlsen was also quick to say how much he appreciated being invited to the 2006 Arnold Strongman contest, but that he will not be competing in it this year because he would like to give his body a chance to rest and so that he "can build a really strong base."

"This is my longest break from competition in ten years," Karlsen said, "I am weight training for the next eight weeks," the former World's Strongest Man winner said, "and then I will start doing events training as well."

In addition to his focus on the 2006 Norway's Strongest Man contest, Karlsen said he is working with Magnus Samuelsson to put on two Norway versus Sweden team-format meets, one in Norway and one in Sweden.

2004 Olympic gold medalist Georgi Asanidze (Georgia) is coming to the Arnold as part of the invitational weightlifting exhibition that began in 2005 and is being expanded this year thanks to the direct support of Jim Lorimer.


They might not say "cowboy up" in Georgia, but that's what they do: Instead of whining about his poor lockout, Georgi Asanidze (Georgia) snatched a world record 181 kg as an 85-kg lifter at the 2000 European Weightlifting Championships (Sofia, Bulgaria). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.

Georgi Asanidze - Olympic champion, world champion and European champion - is known around the weightlifting world as a tremendous snatcher who makes great lifts instead of big excuses, despite genuinely having lockout problems. Asanidze is part of the tremendous Georgian weightlifting legacy that includes three-time Olympic weightlifting champion Kakhi Kakhiashvili, their coach-extraordinaire Ivane Grikurovi, and rising star, Arsen Kasabiev.

If you have never seen world class weightlifting, you are in for a treat, and if you have, you need no further convincing: Georgi Asanidze at the Arnold, March 3-5 is a don't-miss event, so plan on joining IronMind® in welcoming him to Columbus, Ohio.

Please check the Arnold Sports Festival's website for full details. See you there!

Complementing its weightlifting competition, the 2005 Arnold introduced a new event, an invitational weightlifting exhibition featuring a star-studded delegation from the Chinese Weightlifting Association: coach Chen Wenbin and Olympic gold medalists Shi Zhiyong and Zhang Guozheng.


56-kg weightlifter Wu Meijin (China) celebrates his huge 165-kg clean and jerk at the 2004 Asian Weightlifting Championships (Almaty, Kazakhstan). Come see Wu Meijin, along with his teammate Le Maosheng, and their coach Liu Weiguo at the 2006 Arnold. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Befitting the stature of this delegation from China, its participation in the 2005 Arnold marked the first time weightlifting was featured on the main stage of the expo hall, where this distinguished team generated tremendous excitement.

This tradition is continuing in 2006 as the Arnold and IronMind® are proud to once again welcome a distinguished delegation from the Chinese Weightlifting Association: coach Liu Weiguo and 2004 Olympic silver medalists Wu Meijin and Le Maosheng.

Mark your calendars, make your travel arrangements and plan to be part of the world's largest multi-sport expo, the Arnold: March 3-5 in Columbus, Ohio. For full details, please check the official Arnold web site.  

The list of speakers at the 2006 North Carolina Strength Coaches Association Clinic includes John Brookfield and Steve Jeck, and John Brookfield is going to unveil what he describes as a revolutionary training system.

Put together by Wake Forest University strength and conditioning coach Ethan Reeve, this clinic also features Mike Burgener, Bud Charniga, Jack Reape, Steve Maxwell and Steve Cotter as speakers.

Although best known to most people for his grip strength and bending power, John Brookfield is also a master of conditioning work, and while we cannot report the details of what John is going to introduce in his presentation, we can tell you that it is a new system he developed for his own training and that he is now going to explain it to the public for the first time - if you are interested in a novel twist on developing sustained power, John's new system is going to be something you will want to try.

The 2006 North Carolina Strength Coaches Association Clinic is at Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) on January 14. For additional information, please contact John Fitz (910-279-5538) or Ethan Reeve (336-758-6406).

Whether you missed it a week ago or just want to see it again, the 2005 World's Strongest Man is being re-broadcast this weekend.

ESPN2 is the where you'll find it and the shows start at 2:00 pm and run, we hear, for the next six hours. Please confirm the exact times in your local listings.

IFSA Scandinavia's Ilkka Kinnunen told IronMind® today that the IFSA Strongman World Championships will be broadcast in Finland this Friday.

Kinnunen said that the contest "will be shown on Finnish National TV channel YLE2," this Friday (January 6), during "primetime, 19.30-20.30."

Alan Black, of Top of the World Films, said his documentary about Hugo Girard, titled Strongman, is having its "world broadcast premiere in Canada" on CBC Country Canada tonight.


Adding another feather to his cap, Hugo Girard, who is featured in the film Strongman, won the 2004 World Muscle Power Championships (Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Alan Black said that his film Strongman "is being promotoed as part of their new crop of exciting documentaries," and he hopes "it will open the door for much more programming of this nature."

Broadcast times are at 7 pm and 11 pm tonight, but please confirm this with your local listings.

With US$11,000 in cash and prizes and the top four finishers guaranteed an invitation to a World's Strongest Man Super Series event, there is a lot on the line at the 2006 FitExpo Pro Strongman Challenge.


Odd Haugen uses a split jerk to lift the specially-fit IronMind® Apollon's Axle™ at the 2005 Fit Expo Strongman contest (Pasadena, California). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Calling it the "toughest lineup ever in an all-American strongman contest," Haugen told IronMind® that the contest combines nearly all the top American professional strongmen with the very best of the guys coming out of the amateur ranks, "so you know they will be hungry," Haugen said. "It's going to be very competitive and very hard to get into the top four," Haugen added.

The total prize list of US$11,000 includes a US$3,000 Lifecycle plus US$2,500 cash for first place, Haugen said.

The FitExpo is February 17-19 in Pasadena, California.