1998 World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Samuelsson has long been known for his ferociously strong grip, and when he ground the handles on a No. 4 Captains of Crush gripper this weekend, he proved the point again. Although he came into strongman from arm wrestling, Magnus Samuelsson is not a pure grip specialist, but rather a guy who trains his hand strength as part of his overall preparation for strongman contests. Nonetheless, Magnus has some of the strongest hands around, and early last year he was starting to draw a bead on the world-renown No. 4. "I was peaking up to World's Strongest Man (2003)," Magnus said, "but if you do too much, your hands get sore," so he backed off. Starting again after this period of rest, Magnus has really hit his stride, and he said that since Christmas he has been able to close the No. 4 on a good day, and on Saturday, when he was the official witness for Jim Gahnfelt (going for his certification on the No. 3), Magnus said he felt good and just wanted to give it try. Beginning with only a slight set, Magnus proceeded to grind the handles on the No. 4, explaining, "If I have a good day, I can crush it with some speed." Although he has never had a chance to try a Blob, Magnus admits that he has a pretty good pinch grip, and he is a former world-record holder on the Rolling Thunder, so don't think his hand strength is limited to stellar performances on grippers. Magnus was hoping to finish higher than his fourth place in WSM 2003 and is training hard with an eye on this year's contest. Want to see how one of the very top names on the international strongman circuit prepares? Then be sure to catch Magnus Samuelsson's new training DVD, which will be released in about two weeks. Full details on the new DVD will be available shortly.