Mark your calenders as Saturday, February 19, 2011 will be the first ever Novice only Grip Sport competition. Grip training and grip sport competitions are growing in popularity, but a newcomer to grip does not want his first competition to be against someone with Elite status.
This Novice only competition is geared to the gripster in their first year of grip competition. Veteran grip athletes will be on hand to help coach and instruct the new grip athletes throughout the day. Durniat Strength will be hosting an Open Grip Challenge later in the year.
Weight Classes will be in effect: Heavy Weight: >94kg (above 206.8 lbs.), Light Weight: <94kg (under 206.8 lbs.) and a Women’s Class.
Events will be:
1) Maximum Parallel Set Grippers
2) Maximum 2 Hands Pinch Deadlift– euro device
3) Maximum Double Overhand Axle Deadlift
4) Medley, a random selection of 25 objects to be deadlifted in 4 minutes time.
5) Wrist Roller from a tower
4 attempts will be allowed for the Grippers, 2 Hands Pinch and Axle Deadlift.
Prize packages will be awarded to the top 3 competitors of each class.
Sign up now. Here is the Entry Form
This is an exciting time for Durniat Strength. There is SOOO much happening right now it will take more than one post to cover it all.
First off, I would like to welcome certified personal trainer Josh McDonald to the Durniat Strength family. Josh comes originally from Rittman, Ohio with experience in the sprint events of track & field. His experience and expertise has already become a huge asset. A more detailed bio about Josh will be up soon.
Along the same lines, welcome to Brandon Gerber, a Dalton High School junior track star, who is working at Durniat Strength as an intern. Branden also a track sprinter has spent time here as a trainee and is looking to pursue a career in strength & conditioning. I can’t think of a better place to start. He is learning the details of the business as he continues to train for his upcoming spring season.
On the strength front, Grip Sport training is taking Wooster by storm. Because of this, Durniat Strength will be hosting a Novice only grip sport competition on Saturday, February 19, 2011. Start training your plate pinches, thick bar and crushing strength.
Events will include:
Parallel set gripper for max close
2 hands pinch device for max weight
Ironmind Axle Double Overhand Deadlift for max weight
Wrist roller event
20-25 odd object medley
Another great grip training aid is steel bending. Check out Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew’s
Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands
It’s the perfect way to start down the path to a stronger grip. The Novice only grip sport competition will be followed with a full open and novice competition in the late spring / early summer.
For more information about grip sport please check out the GripSport.org website. Jedd Johnson, Chris Rice, Rick Walker, Paul Knight, Aaron Corcoran, Brent Barbe and myself have been working overtime to establish this organization and are driving grip sport to the main stage.
Also on the competition front, Durniat Strength will be hosting a North American Highlander competition this summer. Highlander brings together the scottish highland games and strongman into one exciting competition. For those wondering, yes, kilts are worn.
Events look to include:
Light weight for distance
Weight over bar
Caber
Axle Clean + Press for reps (clean every rep) – 90 sec.
Farmers walk – 60ft. then backwards drag a sled 60ft.
Loading Medley – odd objects, field stones, atlas stones possible
Look for this event to take place in August 2011.
Entry forms for everything will be available soon and posted on the site.
With all the looking ahead I cannot help but look back at where I have come. More to come this next week, so stay tuned.
Five Reasons to Start Bending Nails
Hi, my name is Jedd Johnson. I am a CSCS through the NSCA, an RKC through Dragondoor, and am co-founder of DieselCrew.com. Our website is dedicated to exploring the development of strength and conditioning for all athletes in all sports.
Over the years, my favorite facet of strength training has been Grip Strength and I compete in several competitions every year. Grip Competitions involve Crushing, Pinching, Support lifting and other forms of hand and lower arm strength.
One of the coolest parts of the sport of Grip is Nail Bending. Bending nails, spikes, bolts, steel stock, drill rod, and other things is one of the most exciting and obsessive types of strength training you can do.
Up until now, Nail Bending might be one of the last things you would ever think of doing in your program, but there are actually a ton of benefits that you can get from Bending. Check these out…
1. Forearm size
Nothing has built my forearms over the years like Bending
Nail Bending involves a great deal of tension in the hands, wrists and forearms which leads to major forearm muscle development. Often, forearm work at the gym involves movements like wrist curls and other simple variations.
While wrist curls and similar classic forearm exercises bring about results, they pale in comparison to the bulk build by bending. The sustained tension of nail bending causes growth in both the flexor side of the forearm and the extensor side of the forearm, creating an impressive look of balance and control.
In short, your forearms will probably BLOW UP!
2. Mental and Physical Toughness
Bending nails, bolts and other items involves taking a perfectly good nail and twisting it into a shape that makes it completely useless for any of its normal industrial applications. You’re doing something that was never meant to be done, and to do this requires you to focus all of your strength and your mental power into the bend. A lack of commitment from either end of the spectrum will end up in your inability to finish up the bend.
In order to Bend Big Nails, you have to work hard and be mentally strong
When you become proficient in harnessing your mind’s and your body’s power in nail bending, imagine the results you will see in your other lifts or in the sport you play. You’ll be unstoppable compared to everyone else who has never truly tested themselves in the ways you have after taking on the challenge of bending.
3. Make an Impression!
Take Note: Nail bending is NOT some form of trickery or slight of hand like magic is.
However, it DOES bring about much the same reaction from a crowd.
Imagine talking about this new sort of strength training you are doing and when they ask you to show them, you bust out a nail, wrap it in a towel and bend it right before their eyes.
How awesome will that be?!?!
You could use this classic feat of strength of Bending to set yourself from everybody else at school, at the gym, or at your place of work. Instead of just blending in with the rest of the people, you will automatically be set apart from everybody else.
Instead of just somebody in the crowd, you’ll become the Strong Guy/Gal (Yes, ladies bend too!!!), or The Nail Bender.
Every time people see you, even if it’s only occasionally, you’ll be burned in their mind as somebody with a strong grip – nobody to mess with, that is for sure.
4. Get Your Name “Up in Lights”
Nail bending has been growing in popularity exponentially. In fact, you can now get certified for Serious Nail Bending.
The first widely known certification system for Bending was the IronMind Red Nail, a 7-inch long, 5/16-inch thick round piece of steel bar. This bar takes over 450-lbs of strength in order to bend.
Other sites have come on board with certifications of other pieces of steel stock, including Fat Bastard Barbell and Bender’s Battlefield. The numbers of people bending challenge bars steadily increases each day.
5. Fun
Isn’t one of the reasons you train in the first place to have fun? Well, the best thing about nail bending is that it is good pure fun. You are able to test yourself and see improvement in your technique and strength while seeing increases in confidence and mental edge.
You can crank up the music and go for a new personal best.
Over the course of time, all of the nails, bolts, and stock you bend can be saved for posterity. You can see how you progressed over the years.
One day, you’ll be able to tell your grand kids about when you first dominated the 60-penny nail or the grade-5 bolt. And maybe you can even log them onto one of the certification sites and show them the certifications you were able to acquire.
In short, nail bending is one of the most exciting parts of the sport of Grip Strength. For me, the physical and the mental benefits I have seen from nail bending are outstanding, not to mention the friendships I have made with some of the top nail benders in the United States and around the world. I
In fact, I love the challenge of Nail Bending so much I recently put together a DVD showing you everything you need to know in order to get started. This DVD contains info on Bending Techniques, Strength Building, and Hand Health so you can continue to bend and enjoy it for years to come.
This DVD is coming out next week. Look for an email or message from Andrew very soon because they are going to tell you when it is available.
Until then, all the best in your training, and get ready to bend some steel!!!
Jedd Johnson, CSCS, RKC
Red Nail Certified – 2007
The Diesel Crew
