If you see a line at the GNC booth at the Arnold, one of the reasons is the GNC-Gillingham Grip Gauntlet: This highly-regarded challenge features a No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper, a 50-pound York Blob and an IronMind® Rolling Thunder® loaded to 212-1/2 pounds (total weight), and anyone who makes it the full distance earns some major bragging rights in the world of hand strength.


Wade Gillingham, a grandmaster of the Blob, takes it for a ride at the 2004 Arnold Expo. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

And since it's also a lot of fun, the GNC-Gillingham Grip Gauntlet draws people like a magnet.

Designed to tap the primary facets of grip strength (crushing, pinching and supporting), the GNC-Gillingham Grip Gauntlet uses the classic measures of excellence for each of these aspects of hand strength.

Even with all the takers last year, only one guy succeeded in running the whole gauntlet, Monte Brown - a former NFL linebacker who's now a professional wrestler. Oh, yes, Wade Gillingham casually walked through all three events a number of times over the long weekend.

If that's not enough of a draw, Dave Sandler, from Strength Pro, will have a computerized grip testing device available periodically, and Wade's big brother - two-time IPF world champion Brad Gillingham - will be on hand to help run the event.

For full information on the Arnold Fitness Weekend, please check the Arnold Fitness Weekend's official web site.

See you at the GNC booth.

No need to go all the way to Japan if you're a sumo fan: Los Angeles will be the site of of big sumo event next month.

On March 19, the Los Angeles Convention Center will be presenting a lineup that includes four US national champions and the Japanese national team. Teams from Bulgaria and Hungary will also be there, so it's no wonder that Matt Anderson says, "The Convention Center will be shaking - we only hope the San Andreas fault will hold up as well."

For complete information, please check the USA Sumo website.  

The latest edition of John Brookfield's "Grip Tip of the Month" and Steve Jeck's "From The Quarry" have just been posted, so be sure to take the time to read them and put their advice to use in your training.


"It ain't no garden hose." John Brookfield provided the halftime entertainment at this past weekend's IRONMAN Pro (held at the FitExpo), and one of the things the master traditional strongman did was wind up a steel bar that was 20-feet 6-inches long and 1/2-inch in diameter - which he then popped into a US Priority Mail box, to prove how tightly it was coiled. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

John's advice is devoured by everyone looking for world-class grip strength, and to benefit yourself just follow this link or click on the John Brookfield's Grip Tip of the Month icon on the IronMind home page.

Steve Jeck has long had very special status at IronMind® as the resident philosopher in MILO, and to mull over Steve's latest piece, either click on the Steve Jeck's From the Quarry icon on the IronMind home page or follow this link.

Read, enjoy, implement and benefit from John Brookfield's and Steve Jeck's latest contributions.

Some people stumbled across it while it was still in beta testing, but the new IFSA website has just gone live.

IFSA Strongman CEO Jussi Laurimaa said, "The site will have news, results, press releases/clippings etc., added on a weekly basis. The site will also have at all times the latest official IFSA policies, rankings and other important information from the world governing body of the Strongman sport posted on it."

 

Sitting in the pit at the IRONMAN Pro means that you are rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in bodybuilding - kind of unusual if you are used to covering weightlifting at the Olympics and the world championships in a handful of strength sports, but haven't been to a bodybuilding contest in about 15 years.


That's all Ronnie in the understated suit. You think this guy's not strong? Read on. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Sitting next to me was none other than Ronnie Coleman and two things were immediately obvious even to someone whose knowledge of competitive bodybuilding stops somewhere around Sergio, Arnold and Franco: First of all, Ronnie Coleman is not as big as everyone says he is - he is even bigger. Second, don't believe what you hear about him being very nice and friendly - he is extremely nice and friendly.

This unlikely set of circumstances will probably bring a smile to Bob Bollenbach's face because there was no holding me back: "Ronnie, have you have ever tried one of these" I asked, pulling out not just a No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper, but the exact 2004 No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper that Clay Edgin had not been able to fully close at the last year's AOBS dinner, but that he then dusted at Steve Belanger's Grip Gathering in December. Clay had closed the gripper again at the Fit Expo, and a couple of other guys - including strongman competitor Corey St. Clair and newly-certified Captain of Crush Jeff Cagle - had given it a shot.

Ronnie Coleman, even if you're not a bodybuilding fan, is a regular source of huge lifts and there are gushing stories about his strength, so I figured why not have him try this benchmark test of grip strength.

First attempt, no warm up, no chalk, no set - just grinding power - Ronnie clamped it down to a gap in the range of 1/4" to 3/8".

Really impressive, to say the least.

1997 World Weightlifting Champion Yoto Yotov, one of the most durable members of the Bulgarian national weightlifting team, will be competing again this year - although he will be representing Croatia.


Yoto Yotov sticks this 202.5-kg jerk to win the 76-kg category at the 1997 World Weightlifting Championships (Chiang Mai, Thailand). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Yotov, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 76-kg category, came back at the World Weightlifting Championships the next year to win the gold medals in the jerk and in the total, and his friendships with some American lifters stretch back to 1990, when he lifted in the Goodwill Games (Spokane,Washington).

A fit 35-year-old, Yotov said he is snatching 150 kg and cleaning and jerking 190 kg very consistently in training, at a bodyweight of about 83 kg, and that he expects to go down to the 77-kg category for this summer's Mediterranean Games.

Shedding more light on the sanctioning process for strongman contests, IFSA Strongman CEO Jussi Laurimaa explained that the strongman event at the FitExpo this weekend was "sanctioned by IFSA, the world governing body of the Strongman sport administered by IFSA Strongman. As the FitExpo is a national event, the sanctioning is done by IFSA's National Federation in the United States, American Strongman Corporation, run by Dione Wessels."

Although Laurimaa has stated unequivocally that IFSA athletes will not compete in World's Strongest Man Super Series (WSMSS) competitions unless those contests are IFSA sanctioned, he also emphasized that IFSA is striving to support the growth of the sport.

"IFSA Strongman invests heavily into the development of the Strongman sport worldwide, and we want to be as inclusive as it is possible for us to be," Laurimaa said.

"For this reason, we intend to continue supporting independent event promoters such as FitExpo's Odd Haugen who respect the basic rules and health & safety standards of the Strongman sport as stipulated by IFSA and its member federations."

IFSA Strongman CEO Jussi Laurimaa has just told IronMind® that until World's Strongest Man Super Series (WSMSS) competitions apply for and receive IFSA sanctions, "athletes managed by IFSA Strongman will not be participating in WSMSS competitions."

Notably, the top three finishers at the FitExpo strongman event "are exclusively managed by IFSA strongman," Laurimaa said, which means that while it is true that they have qualified to be in the WSMSS, they will not be "participating in any future WSMSS events as things now stand.

"As of today, none of the WSMSS competitions - for which the FitExpo is a qualifier - have applied to be sanctioned either by IFSA or by any of the over 30 national federations that comprise IFSA," Laurimaa said.

Brian Schoonveld opened with a huge performance at the strongman competition at the FitExpo and he never looked back - finishing in first place overall as the contest ended today.

Travis Ortmayer was second, Jesse Marunde was third, and Odd Haugen finished in fourth place.

Pasadena, California - Not content to merely break the world record in the IronMind® Apollon's Axle™, Brian Schoonveld opened the World's Strongest Man Super Series qualifier with a bang at the FitExpo yesterday, smashing the world record in a way that left no doubt that he is capable of taking the lift through the 400-pound barrier.

 

Calling for a blast of crowd support, Brian Schoonveld gets ready to raise things to the rafters in the IronMind Apollon's Axle at the FitExpo yesterday. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Schoonie had already done 170 kg as a warm up, so there was little surprise when he took 180 kg (396 pounds) on his second attempt, but what nobody expected was that after he continentaled the bar to his shoulders and push pressed the bar overhead, Schoonie lowered the bar to his shoulders and then banged out three more push presses.

Odd Haugen won the second event of the day, the farmer's walk, which was also marked a moment in strongman history as it was reportedly the first competition with farmer's walk implements exceeding 400 pounds. Rounding out the first day of competition, neo-pro Dave Ostlund won the medley in impressive style.

At the end of the first day of competition, here are the standings:

1. Jesse Marunde 19 points
2. Brian Schoonveld 18 points
3. Travis Ortmayer 14.5 points
4. Odd Haugen 14 points
5. David Ostlund 12.5 points
6. Jim Glassman 12 points
7. Corey St. Clair 11.5 points
8. Grant Higa 6.5 points

The contest continues today, with the top four competitors qualifying for the first World's Strongest Man Super Series event, scheduled for April 30 at historic Muscle Beach (Venice, California).

Pasadena, California - The strongman contest at the FitExpo begins today and rumors are flying that Brian Schoonveld is ready to attack the world record in the IronMind® Apollon's Axle™, a signature event in the strongman world.


Brian Schoonveld relaxes yesterday at the Odd Haugen-Josh Bryant strongman seminar at the FitExpo. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Schoonie is weighing around 360 pounds, looking strong and feeling confident. There is talk that his first attempt on the Apollon's Axle™ might be at or above the world record, which is currently held by Hugo Girard and stands at 175 kg (385 pounds).

This strongman contest is reportedly the first in history to feature a farmer's walk with over 400 pounds per hand (!), and it is a qualifier for the upcoming World's Strongest Man Super Series event at Muscle Beach (Venice, California), which, in turn, is a qualifier for the 2005 World's Strongest Man contest.

Back in the 1960s, in the earliest days of powerlifting as an organized sport, there was a fellow named Wilbur Miller who was also known for his hand strength - and Wilbur Miller could bend spikes in his bare hands, which is exactly what the Holle brothers are doing now.

In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, short bending, never exactly a mainstream activity, got some unprecedented attention when IronMind® began shining a spotlight on what John Brookfield, most notably, was doing in this arena. John and a handful of others kept pushing up the standards, but short bending had not exactly become something you'd find practiced all over the place.

Moving down the road another decade, what had begun as a seed had taken root and was growing. We would say that the dam really broke when Gavin Holle turned the bending world upside down after he quietly bent an IronMind® Red Nail™ in half - something that nobody other than John Brookfield, the first to congratulate Gavin, had done.

Despite having top flight authentication for his feat, there were some Doubting Thomases, who would soon develop an adaptation of Gavin's style, which was very different from John's, and before long, PR performances were popping up around the bending world, which was growing rapidly.

At this point, controversy reigned because there were all sorts of arguments about bending styles, permissible padding, etc., and we've even seen rules for bending that are wordier, no doubt, than some national constitutions.

In what might well be a case of back to the Holles for a glimpse of the future again, the latest is that the Holle brothers, likening bending pads to the wraps used by some powerlifters, have eschewed all forms of padding and now, quite simply, they bend everything with their bare hands. And from what IronMind® has seen, the bends are also done in the traditional overhand style, with the hands at about midsection height.

It is hard not to be almost bowled over by the directness of such as assault on a nail, but it should also go without saying that this feat of strength is not for everyone, and that the chances of injury - potentially very serious - should be apparent, understand and accepted by anyone tempted to try this.

This weekend's FitExpo in Pasadena, California is going to feature everything from bodybuilding to strongman to weightlifting, and the action starts on Friday with an evening program that features a seminar by IronMind's Randall Strossen, a weightlifting demonstration led by Mike Burgener and Pat Cullen-Carroll, and a strongman demonstration and talk by Odd Haugen and Josh Bryant.


14-year old Sage Burgener will be one of the lifters featured in the demonstration of how to use Olympic-style weightlifting for high school athletes. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Mike Burgener.

Randall Strossen has been writing the monthly sports psychology column for IRONMAN magazine since 1988, and his seminar, "Winning Ways: How To Succeed in the Gym and Out," is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday - if you're in a rut or just looking for better results, be sure to catch this seminar.

Next, at 7:30, Nicholas Cullen-Carroll, Josh Aguirre and Sage Burgener will demonstrate the snatch and the clean and jerk, as coaches Pat Cullen-Carroll and Mike Burgener explain how Olympic-style weightlifting can give high school athletes a competitive advantage. If you are new to the snatch, and the clean and jerk, or wonder how to make them work in your school, come here for some answers.

Now it's time to make way for the big guys: Wrapping things up, at 8:15, Odd Haugen and Josh Bryant will talk about strongman and give a demonstration. Odd will be competing in the strongman event at the FitExpo, and Josh Bryant, Odd's training partner, will be competing in the powerliftering contest - lifting raw! Dreaming about competing in the World's Strongest Man contest? Come by and pick up some pointers.

For full information on the FitExpo, please check FitExpo's official web site.

See you there!

Mike "The Destroyer" Roy, who put on a grip contest last year with a $10,000 prize list, is back again this year with the 2005 edition.

Picking up where it left off last year, the 2005 Destroyer's Old Time Grip Challenge has six events, and while last year's contest introduced some new events to many of us, don't think the 2005 edition is merely going to be a repeat of the formerly novel but now familiar banana press, King Kong Balls, and so forth.

After last year's mold-breaking contest, it should go without saying that if you want a run-of-the-mill grip competition, this is not where you will find it.

Here are the events:

1. Bending a spike and a bolt; tearing a deck of cards and a tennis ball; rolling up a frying pan.
2. Loading the King Kong balls (six of them).
3. One finger table curl; no grip curl.
4. Banana press combined with the vertical bar hold.
5. Plate lifting; buffalo head lift; plate deadlift; giant King Kong ball.
6. Arm wrestling

Everyone who followed last year's contest is familiar with most of these events now, but a couple of words might help explain the new ones.

The no-grip curl is done with a massive dumbbell that has a short length of bar protruding from the ends on both sides. The curl is done by grabbing the dumbbell with these protruding bars (roughly 2 inches long) in your hands. The buffalo head lift is done with a bar that has two vertical bars sticking up from it - the lifter grabs the vertical bars, lifts and walks with the weight.

The contest is set for August 27 in St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada. There is no entry fee, but to qualify, The Destroyer says you must be able to "bend a spike, tear a deck of cards and lift 150 pounds on the Rolling Thunder®. This is just a test to know if you can do the minimum in the contest."

More contest details will be forthcoming, and if you want to sign up, please contact Dave Daneault at: destroyergrip@hotmail.com.

IronMind® has just received confirmation that Canada will be sending a team of seven women and three men to lift at the Arnold, and that Norik Vardanian will be competing, with his father, the great Yurik Vardanian, there as his coach.


It was an extraordinary moment: In the warm-up room at the 1995 USA Weightlifting National Championships, Yurik Vardanian, who had finished coaching Lance Vermeil, started playing around with his old friend, the barbell. Dragomir Cioroslan jumped in, and before we knew it, both guys had cleaned and jerked 150 kg. Vardanian's impromptu lifting was the talk of the contest. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo (Fresno, California).

This news added to an already impressive list of entries, and Mark Cannella, co-director of the Arnold Weightlifting event, was extremely enthusiastic about the confirmation of the Canadian team and of the Vardanians: "Lifters recognize what the Arnold is," Cannella said, "and they want to be part of it."

Yurik Vardanian is on everyone's short list of the greatest weightlifters of all time, and his 400-kg total in the 82.5-kg category at the 1980 Moscow Olympics remains the magical mark lifters have since tried to equal, and his son, Norik, has created quite a buzz in the US weightlifting community, as he is a young lifter who shows exceptional promise.

For details on weightlifting, and the other events at the Arnold, please check the Arnold's official website.

Amid a string of alphabet-soup designations, confusion levels in the strongman world might amaze even Abbott and Costello, but throughout all the changes, one of the burning questions in the strongman community remains, "How do I qualify for World's Strongest Man?"


Jarek Dymek has a firm grip on the war clubs at the final contest in the 2002 Super Series (Honolulu, Hawaii). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

World's Strongest Man (WSM) is the granddaddy of all strongman contests: Started in 1977, it has featured the legendary names in the field, and it has routinely been described as "the Worlds" by top strongman competitors. And while the contest is not without its critics, the fact remains that it is the leading brand name in the field and it has provided levels of TV exposure that dwarf everything else to date. Looking forward, "the established relationship" between WSM and ESPN "will continue . . . for the foreseeable future," according to the WSM Super Series press release yesterday.

In recent history, the entry route to World's Strongest Man was through IFSA. At the risk of sounding rummy, this was "old" IFSA, as in Douglas Edmunds, Jamie Reeves, Ilkka Kinnunen and Marcel Mostert - the backbone of the international strongman world for years. Without these four men, strongman would never be at the level it has already achieved, and they were the operational core of WSM - guiding Trans World International (TWI) on everything from athlete selection to event design to equipment preparation, as the WSM show was produced each year. Also vital to understand is that in 2001, old IFSA entered an agreement with World Class Events (WCE), headed by Ulf Bengtsson, to run the Super Series, which had as its mission "awarding the only strongman World Championship title," which was done based on a series of Grand Prix events.

In 2004, old IFSA was transformed into new IFSA, as an investment group purchased the assets of the original organization, bringing both unprecedented levels of funding and management expertise to the table for the express purpose of turning strongman into something much bigger than it currently is.

IFSA Holdings (the new IFSA) has subsequently announced its own world championships, to be held in Quebec, and it has no role in the 2005 WSM contest.

The way to qualify for the 2005 WSM contest is really quite simple:

1) What is now called the WSM Super Series is the vehicle for reaching WSM, and in 2005 there will be four or five Grand Prix events held between April and August, each with a minimum prize list of US$25,000.

2) Placing "first or second in each Grand Prix will automatically qualify" athletes for WSM, which will take place sometime in August, September or October.

Top WSM Super Series officers have repeatedly presented a position of being open to all athletes, so if you want to go to WSM, now you know what to do, and for complete details, please check the WSM Super Series official web site.

When Steve Belanger hosted his Grip Gathering last December, one of the guys who came over was Devin Annis and while he was there, Devin showed that the IronMind® Red Nail™ was no match for his bending ability, and now it's official: Devin has just been certified.

With thanks to Steve Belanger for acting as Devin's official witness, in what must have seemed like déjà vu, Devin did it all again, officially this time, and his name has been added to the Red Nail™ Roster.

Congratulations, Devin!

IronMind® has just received confirmation that Polish strongman stars Mariusz Pudzianowski and Jarek Dymek will compete in the 2005 World's Strongest Man Super Series.

Further, WSM Super Series spokeman Colin Bryce has reiterated that WCE, which own the Super Series rights, and TWI, which owns the World's Strongest Man rights, are working together - despite repeated announcements explaining this alliance, there has been some confusion in the strongman community about this point.

Emphasizing this alliance, Bryce's statement explained, "In 2005, WCE and TWI have decided to join forces. The World's Strongest Man Super Series (formerly the Super Series) will now award a WSM Super Series Championship title, based on the overall Grand Prix results and will be the official qualifier to The World's Strongest Man competition."

Also included in this announcement was the statement that there would be "four or five Grand Prix Events to be staged between April and August," that the minimum prize money for each of these events is US$25,000 and that the expenses (travel, hotel, food) would be covered for "the invited athletes."

For more details, please check the official WSM Super Series web site.

If you have the long term goal of getting certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper and you need a little added motivation to squeeze extra hard, or even if you're just a casual fan of hand strength, be sure to check out the video clip of Jesse Marunde nonchalantly banging out ten consecutive reps on a No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper.


Rock on: Jesse Marunde works on a 380-pound stone at the 2003 US Nationals (St. Louis, Missouri). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Even if you're not a longtime IronMind® customer or gripper guy, you probably know that Jesse Marunde was the first teenager to get certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper, and in the book Captains of Crush Grippers: What They Are and How To Close Them, with the help of Jesse's grandfather, we tell the story of how Jesse built the foundation for his great hand strength at an early age.

Jesse isn't a smoke-and-mirrors gripper guy; he just clamps down and by virtue of the horsepower he has, the gripper shuts, and while Jesse is the first to say that this isn't a perfect documentary, we think anyone who sees it will be impressed.

You can see it for yourself on Jesse's web site.

And for those of you who will be in Southern California for the FitExpo, Jesse Marunde - always a favorite with the crowd - will competing in the strongman contest.

Congratulations to Brett Kerby, who was just certified on the IronMind® Red Nail™.

Interest in short bending continues to grow, resulting in more guys producing outstanding performances.

Recognizing his accomplishment, IronMind® has certified Brett Kerby on the Red Nail™, and his name has been added to IronMind's Red Nail Roster, the official list of those who have mastered this benchmark bend:.

Congratulations Brett!

High school athletes and coaches who would like to learn more about Olympic weightlifting have a great opportunity at the upcoming FitExpo in Pasadena, California.


Steve Gough (left) and Mike Burgener (right) are looking pretty serious: In 1991, Mike Burgener came up to the Fairfax Weightlifting Club (San Anselmo, California) to talk training with Steve Gough. Under Steve's leadership, Fairfax was producing such top junior weightlifters as Tom Gough, Jasha Faye, Pete Schiano and Tim Logan, so Mike came up to pick Steve's brain. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

The FitExpo runs February 18 - 20 at the Pasadena (California) Convention Center and Friday's program, which is geared toward youth, has something very special going on: USAW coaches Pat Cullen-Carroll and Mike Burgener, along with three of their athletes - Josh Aguirre, Sage Burgener, Nicholas Cullen-Carroll - are conducting a demonstration/seminar entitled "Olympic Weightlifting for the High School Athlete."

So if you're a high school athlete or coach who wants to get an idea of how the Olympic lifts can give you the competitive edge, and how you can get a program started at your school, be sure stop by.

"Olympic Weightlifting for the High School Athlete" is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. February 18th, and for complete details on the FitExpo, please check the FitExpo's official website.

See you there!

Steve McGranahan, the source of some great feats of hand and wrist strength, will be on the Leno Tonight Show on Thursday night at 11:35 p.m.

Steve said, "I will be doing the one-handed card rip. Hope you get a great laugh. It looks pretty funny."

Tearing cards remains a classic feat of lower arm strength, nicely combining hand strength with wrist, arm and shoulder power - especially as you move above one deck.

How's Steve do this with one hand? Tune in and find out.

Enjoy.

Congratulations to Fredrik Laritz, who has just been certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper.

Fredrik not only demonstrated commanding hand strength, but as things turned out, to keep his certification squeaky clean, Fredrik ended up satisfying two highly qualified judges - first, Johnny Lindholm and then, Jorgen Norlund.

From everything we hear, Fredrik dominated the No. 3 and he is fired up to make more progress, so the No. 4 is probably in Fredrik's sights next.

Recognizing his accomplishment, IronMind® has added Fredrik Laritz's name to the official list of guys certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® gripper.

Congratulations Fredrik!

Eleiko, the world famous barbell company, is accepting nominations for its US$5,000 scholarship for a deserving weightlifter.


Chinese weightlifting star Zhang Guozheng squat jerks his opener, 187.5 kg, at the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships (Vancouver, British Columbia). Zhang Guozheng and his teammate Shi Zhiyong, both gold medalists at the Athens Olympics, along with their coach, Chen Wenbin, will exhibit their extraordinary talent at the 2005 Arnold. Consider this an hors d'oeuvre for the Beijing Olympics. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

When you are talking about eating or drinking, there are a lot of famous bars, but when it comes to lifting, one name stands above all others: Eleiko. Best known for its superb barbells, the first choice of top lifters world wide, Eleiko also underwrites a number of programs that contribute to the sport of Olympic weightlifting, and their scholarship program is one example.

For details, please check the Eleiko web site.

Older and bolder: The 2005 Scottish Master Athletics International's Master World Championships are scheduled for September 23-25 at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds (Hopkinton, New Hampshire).


Canadian master competitor Harvey Barkauskas spins toward a world record attempt at the 2004 US/North American Heavy Events Championships (Pleasanton, California). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

With Don Stewart as the Athletic Director, eight events will be contested, and there are nine different classes, so instead of acting your age, go throw and have a great time.

For complete details, please check the Scottish Masters website. 

In a new event for this year's strongman contest at the Arnold, a replica of the Thomas Inch dumbbell will be pressed for reps.


At the 2002 AOBS dinner, Mark Henry became the first man in the world to clean and press a replica of the Thomas Inch dumbbell. At this year's Arnold, one of these dumbbells will be pressed for reps. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo (Saddle Brook, New Jersey).

Terry Todd, Ph.D. announced that a rule change has just been made for his event, and now each athlete will simply go for the maximum number of reps from the shoulder - either hand may be used and there is a 90-second time limit.

Also in the news, MHP has become the title sponsor of the 2005 Arnold strongman contest, a move that was welcomed by NAS President/ASA Vice President Dione Wessels, who said she was "happy that they are willing to show their faith in Strongman with all their support."

For full contest and ticket information please see the Arnold's website.

Terry Todd, Ph.D. just announced that Mariusz Pudzianowski has withdrawn from the Arnold Strongman contest and that Karl Gillingham will replace him in the all-star lineup.


Karl Gillingham had a shining performance at the 2004 US Nationals (Atlanta, Georgia). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Dr. Todd said that when he received word that Mariusz Pudzianowski would not be competing, he immediately got on the phone and reached Karl Gillingham, who said he had been training hard and would love to compete in the Arnold strongman event.

Mariusz, while not competing, reportedly will still be at the Arnold, so if you want to meet him in person, stop by the MetRx booth. And if you're a strongman fan, be sure to catch the Arnold Strongman contest - it's one of the top events of the year.