Hand Strength Challenge at this Year's Nationals

[Eric Roussin]

A separate event that will be run in conjunction with this year's Canadian National Armwrestling Championships in Ottawa will be the Canadian National Hand Strength Challenge. This event will be held during the evening of Sunday, September 4th during the after party (in the same venue). This will be a medley-type competition, in which competitors will have approximately 5 minutes to lift, bend, tear, or crush as many different objects as possible of the 30-35 that will be on hand. There will be two different divisions, based on hand length (small - up to 7.75 inches, and large - over 7.75 inches). There will be nice awards for the top three competitors in each division. I'm also working on getting the head of the North American Grip Sport Organization to attend to officiate the event.

A variety of interesting objects and training tools will be part of the challenge, including an anvil, a phone book, the Thomas Inch Dumbbell, the Rolling Thunder, Captains of Crush Grippers, the Blob, etc... I suspect many people will be willing to pay the $20 entry fee just to try out some of these implements. I know many armwrestlers do specific grip training, so it will be fun to see what people can do in this type of event.

The event will be open to all Canadian residents.

Additional contest details will be posted as the date approaches, but if anyone has initial questions, please let me know.

[Deleted]

Nice!! Now I just need to find a strong hand.

[Will Sarty]

^^ or just some longer fingers lol....

[Ryan Charles]

Haha!!!!! Very nice Mr. Sarty LOL

[Bilal Kreidieh]

Nice...seems interesting enough.

[Jeff King]

I'm in!

[Nik Straub]

Very interesting Eric, my brother is already a certified #3 closer. On occasions he has been close with the 3.5

[Eric Roussin]

That's great! My crushing strength lags far behind my support, wrist, and pinch strength.

[Deleted]

Ya same here. I have trouble closing #1.

[Nik Straub]

what's your max pinch Eric? Are you able to pinch 2 45s? There is definitely technique involved with closing grippers.

[Eric Roussin]

I'm nowhere close to pinching 2 45s. I can pinch 5 10s. Some of my plates have a pretty slick finish, though, and they don't hold chalk very well. I'm looking into buying plates that are a bit better for pinching.

I've been able to do a 2 hand pinch with 200 lbs, using a 2X4.

[Nik Straub]

That's impressive Eric! The most I ever did was a 2 35s pinch. But slick plates make all the difference. Ironmind's blockbuster pinch block has a ridiculously slick surface, one would be lucky to haul 40lbs off the ground.

[Janet Riehle]

Howdy, just wondering if there would be a ladies division? I don't mind competing with the guys, but my single 50lb plate pinch is not even on the same scale as 5 10lb plates. lol

[Eric Roussin]

I hadn't given much thought to a women's division. If there isn't a separate division, at the very least the top female competitor will be recognized in some way.

[Bilal Kreidieh]

I've closed #1 and #2. Never tried #3. I have the heavy grips also, and I've closed the 250 lbs and almost closed the 300 lbs fully.