My contact information

Readers and friends please address your questions for me, directly to me. Please leave them here, on this blog.

I will not be on any forums or webpages in the future. I have a conflict of interest with these forums which are feeding tremendous amounts of piss poor training information to you. As someone who works to find only what works best, i have zero interest in prolonged opinion engagements with people who refuse to identify themselves. Most people are highly entertained talking about training, but have little to no experience with action in training. Specifically no experience with RESULTS and TRAINING. So, as you can see it is much faster to simply leave your questions right here, where i will see them. I will answer them in a timely manner, provided they require an answer from me.

We release our new DVD in the next 10 days.

I believe this DVD will be the most important product released in the fitness industry in 2010. This product will fill many trainers with fear, this hails a new era of information. All of the people who have tried to talk over your head, all the people who spread mis-information need to prepare themselves. We will equip you with the most important pieces of information you will need for your fitness goals.

WORKSHOP: Woodbury, MN

Grip N Rip is 6 February 2010. Slots are going fast- sign up now to save $100 dollars.

DVDS FOR SALE

I have a large number of DVDs for sale. I will post a link to the Ebay link which they will be sold on. Many of them are Kettlebell related material, so this will be your chance to save some dough if you're in to that stuff.

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Jedd Johnson: World Record Two Hands Pinch Lift 256.4 lbs

As you watch this, you need to understand. This is the heaviest two hands pinch lift done in competition, by a man who has chased this lift for several years now. Jedd secured the US Record earlier this year, and then set this last weekend.

Please take one minute and watch this. Jedd and I have been friends since 2005 and it moved me to see him achieve this goal. Jedd has worked so hard for it, years of pinching and pinching. I believe Jedd has mentioned capturing this title to me in every conversation we have had over the years- How he wanted to be the #1 man in the world for this lift. He is right now.

So my to Jedd Johnson, my friend, I salute you and your outstanding World Record lift!

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Programming with Bio-feedback part IV, questioning gripper training

BEFORE YOU ASK, test first. I am not interested in hypothetical debates, I will only answer back questions AFTER you have invested your own effort in to it. You cannot find truth merely through thoughts...There must be ACTION

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Spring steel name brand wrench vs. flesh and bone

Can your coach do this?

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15 Dec 09, what does testing look like?

Grip N Rip, Woodbury MN, 6 Feb 2010.

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A thick steel bar

23/64" X 6 5/8"

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Spring steel name brand wrench vs. flesh and bone

Can your coach do this?

Grip n Rip Workshop link ready to go

Brad has the link posted HERE. Half of the seats are taken, if you want to attend the best workshop in 2010, sign up now.

Almost out of time: take advantage of reduced rates for online coaching

Your chance to save over $250 is almost up. 3 days left and the holiday discount ends. Stop thinking about it- time to act now. Will 2010 be your best year?

How to make a heavy kettlebell

I proudly present: Programming with Bio-feedback part III

Please post your thoughts, questions, opinions, and comments.

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Cultivating Excellence, a daily investment

A significant part of my belief system is personal excellence. Being accountable to myself. Realistically, no one will ever hold me to a high standard, so I must. Accountable is a process involving standards, values, and measurements. Some times these elements converge to a Go/No Go situation; some times it is grayer.

The Chase

I believe a person must chase something they believe in. I believe there are few things worth believing in. Did your parents expect excellence from you, or did that say "do your best?" Those are two different standards. Did your teachers in school expect excellence or did they reward you for showing up? Does your boss lead you with excellence, or does he simply kick down workloads for you complete?

Our society does not reward excellence. In fact, more and more I see that society scorns those who do well...labels them over achievers and elitist. Why is that a bad thing? I take note of recent events in the media; the world takes more pleasure watching successful people fall rather then average people become extraordinary.

The one thing I truly own

With so little in the world to believe in, I must believe in myself. I must pursue Personal Excellence. My goal is to cultivate excellence within myself. I must grow it. I must nourish it daily, clean it, and take care of it. Excellence can shine as the sun, or become tarnished with misuse/under use. I can find no culture of excellence to lift me, so I must be vigilant of it. It may be one of the only things in the world which I truly can say I own.

Truth to one's self is more important than any other type of truth. Are you telling yourself the truth? Are you evaluating your situations in life honestly? Are you asking questions? What questions? Are you looking for things to improve? Or do you kid yourself and say "I'm just fine the way I am?"

What you could be

If you tell yourself this, pay attention. You're not fine the way you are. You're unacceptable...compared to what you COULD BE. You are a shadow. Inside every person is an expert. An expert at something. A Giant. You have a talent. Do you know what it is? Everyone possesses Talent, but few OWN their talent.

The truth is something you need to find out for yourself. Very few people can provide you with the truth. While many claim ownership over truth, no man owns it. No one can tell you what you should be doing with your life. If you look at your life and find yourself displeased it's time to for change. Excellence, Truth, and Change all work together. People change all the time, but not for the sake of truth or excellence. People work hard, but not to change themselves. Some people chase excellence but ignore truth and fail to change.

Question everything

Question everyone. Question everything you can. The only point of this document is to give you information to get you to ask yourself new questions. Nothing contained in this post can be considered true unless you personally inspect yourself, does it resonate with you? Or maybe I have just suffered too many head injuries and now I am cranky all the time…

Your Grip Tip of the week- leveraged curls. They work

Flipping gravity the bird

Finger lifting: dangerous, stupid, addictive, and entertaining...

My favorite- bending 23/64" (.357) X 6 3/4 CRS

I am rotating bending back in to my schedule, here is the first big DO bend I have done since September. Felt good. Compare to this same size bar, cut from the same piece of steel i did 6 months back-- completes the bend twice as fast with half the effort. Getting better is always fun.

Are you getting better? You could be...

My gift to you; a promise for your best year yet, 2010.

For the next 10 days I will offer my 6 month online training packag dscounted by 30%, that is a $240 dollar savings for you. I know a lot of you want coaching, and the economy sucks. So this is my offer, this is the absolute lowest price I will ever offer again.

So right now from 8 December to 18 December.

Pinching and nail bending

Had a great evening of pinch lifting (block weights, hub lifts, one and two hand pinch) plus bending of 60D and 70D nails.

Coaching- 5 Slots open 15 Dec 09 "Are you Ready?"

5 slots are open, contact me at Adamtglass@yahoo.com 3 and 6 month packages, serious inquiry only

Reverse bending instructions

A very simple style of bending, what seems to mess most people up is the starting hand position. I no longer recommend using an explosive start with this as it seems to promote wrist pain in most people. I grind it out with tougher bars, my objective is make every bend look easy. Hopefully this is useful to you in your training

Joys of pinch lifting

Shown above, pinching a 75lbs Anvil.

Pinch lifting is training the thumb. Thumbs are very unique to humans, an opposable digit which allows us mastery over all tools.

The great majority of people are limited in their hand strength by their thumb's range of movement and its strength- both Dynamic (moving) and Static (holding)

Pinch dead lifting is the most popular method of training the thumbs. Picking up block weights, blobs, plates, and odd objects allows you train your thumb in a variety of widths.

Basically there are only two different ways you make a given pinch deadlift harder- Make the given object heavier, or wider. In the grip world there are several markers of pinch excellence

Blobs

- Lifting the "blob" or half of a York 100lbs dumbbell. The blob is at the front of every grip athlete's mind, a huge rounded chunk of iron which has defied gravity against 99.9999% of the men who have tried to lift it. I currently believe the best two blob lifters in the world are Jedd Johnson of Diesel Crew and Wade Gillingham of Jackel's gym. Both mean have lifted the blob with extra weight, which is absolutely incredible. Jedd completed an amazing feat this year by farmer's walking two blobs in excess of 100 feet.

Pinching 45s

- Pinching 45s. Taking two 45lbs plates and turning flat side out -then pinch dead lifting them off the floor with one hand. Lifting 45's has been a goal of mine since I ever got the notion of grip training in to my head. I am closer then I have ever been to this task. I routinely lift a 45+35 plate with one hand. I believe the time of completion is near for this.

Hub Lifting

Hub lifting is pinching the center of a plate and lifting the plate while it stays horizontal to the floor. Most modern plates have a flat hub, so this feat is getting harder to train for. I was able to locate two plates while in St. Paul which have thick hubs. They are outstanding for hub lifting. The original feat was lifting a York brand hub. If you can find "CAP" brand plates they are great for this.

Block Weight Lifting

Very similar to blob lifting. The shape of the block is different then a blob. Usually a block is wider, but flatter which gives some advantage. I imagine a given blob is harder to lift compared to a block weight by weight. I own several 50+lbs block weights from various 100lbs hex head dumbbells and many people are very surprised I can lift them despite their wide slopes. I believe Jedd Johnson is the best block weight lifter in the world. He is shown here lifting a half of a 115lbs block, which has a VERY wide slope.

Two Hands Pinch Deadlifting

Two hands pinch deadlifting is one of my favorite grip exercises. I use a bar made by Ryan Pitts which allows me to move the pinching blocks from narrow to wide so I can use a variety of deadlifting stances. You can build a similar device with a heavy plank and some 2" bars. My current best in the two hands pinch is 236lbs to full lockout and pause. I pinch on 2" blocks. I am excited to test my grip on a Euro-pinch device to see where I stand among the best pinchers.

Ryan Pitts Grip N Rip information

We are excited to have Ryan come up, and he said he is not coming empty handed!

Check here for more information

screwing around this evening

Anvil weighs 75lbs, CAP brand 45 hub, #3 from Mitch

Grip N Rip page posted

Brad posted the Grip n Rip page today, drop in and take a look Here. Payment link goes up Friday. Half of the slots are already taken so act fast or miss out.

By Way of Explanation: guest post from Worlds Strongest Librarian Josh Hanagarne

I'm not short, he's really tall

Today i present a guest post from Josh Hanagarne, enjoy...


I hear these questions, or variants of them, nearly every day. Some are merely curious. Some are disdainful. Some are



Why strength?
Why “waste” your time with this stuff?
Why bend steel?
Why tear cards?
Why write it all down?
Why spend time in a gym?
Why do something that hurts?
Why grippers?
Why do something that means you have to ice your hands?
Why lift weights?
Why run?
Why mobility?
Why chase goals that nobody but you can appreciate?
Why spend money on more weight?
Why try?
Why challenge yourself?
Why read this blog?
Why kettlebells?
Why Mudvayne?
Why deadlift?
Why chase another pound?
Why do you want another rep?

I could say “because it makes me confident,” or, “because it helps me feel good.” The truth is both of those things and many more. But I usually only give one response.

Whenever I’m in the mood for a sound byte, I say, “Because it makes me happy.” If you’re reading this blog, you might be nodding right now.

If anyone argues with me beyond that point, I lose interest quickly. Someone who tries to convince me that the pursuit of strength and confidence is a waste of time doesn’t know me very well. And they could probably use a little of both themselves.

The Holidays?

When someone tells me "its the holidays" it means in my mind two specific isolated calender dates-Thanksgiving and Christmas. Amazingly many people tell me the "Holidays" is a time period starting somewhere after Halloween and ending some time in January. During this time they are stressed out, under slept, over fed, and surprisingly cranky-and I thought this was the happy time of year?

4 am shopping binges, Mall parking lots force fed with 2,000 more cars then they were built for, and absolutely insane Airports. That is what we have made "the Holidays" A time when people buy lots of shit at their local Best Buy to send off to people they call less then 5 times a year, and the only reason they do is their misguided belief systems will eat them alive in those wee hours of the night if they don't.

Count my ass out.

A very interesting phase during this time of year- Most people will come to a complete stop in their fitness pursuits. They will write off all the missed works to "its the Holidays..." and surprisingly many of us trainers say "Oh yeah, that's cool, See you in January"

Trainers, people paid to take care of the client. Nation wide they will agree to this. We will all collectively sit back and watch in horror as the nation shovels down cakes, pies, and cookies at alarming consumption rates. We will cringe at the stories of Dinner #1, #2, and #3 held at three relatives house, all attended in a 7 hour period. But will we ACT? nope

And of course New Years arrives. Swamped. Everyone who knows you deal in the fitness industry suddenly remembered they had your number. The surge is powerful come 5-20 January as commercial gyms swell 300% past their typical numbers. It started in a flash, and it ends just as quickly. By February the hordes will die off, by April it is 100% business as usual.

I have no Holiday wishes for you, dear reader...who ever is still out there. Most of you have already been sucked in with pumpkin pies and three turkey dinners. I have no awesome videos, pictures, or stories to share as we enter the center of the "Holidays"

All i have for you is this- Get off your fat ass and train this month, harder then you have all year. If the thought of "taking a break" comes to your mind, add ten sets. If you think "you've earned it" give yourself 20 more. Just another month on the calendar.

Now GO, Train Harder.