He burst on the grip scene when he nonchalantly stopped by the GNC Grip Gauntlet at the 2004 Show of Strength and before he left, Wade Gillingham and Randall Strossen looked at each other and said, "Joe Kinney!"


Certification on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper began in 1991, and it's the most recognized feat of grip strength excellence in the world. Making history, Tex Henderson was certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush Gripper® at the 2006 Global Grip Challenge, as the first man certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper, Richard Sorin (left), watches and the Diesel Crew's Jedd Johnson (right) referees. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

What caused the comment was Shedrick "Tex" Henderson low-gearing his way through a No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper - this was an extraordinary display of crushing grip power as he clamped down the gripper millimeter by millimeter, almost in slow motion. If that weren't impressive enough by itself, consider that this was Tex's introduction to Captains of Crush® Grippers and that he was a powerlifter and fledgling strongman, not a grip strength specialist. But grip strength stardom and spectacular performances on the benchmark Captains of Crush® Grippers were part of Tex's destiny.

At the 2006 Global Grip Challenge - run by the Diesel Crew, hosted by Sorinex, and attended by many of the top, young grip guys as well as elder statesmen Richard Sorin and Randall Strossen, not to mention all-around really special MILO guy Steve "Inver Stone" Jeck - guess who made history on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper?

Tex did what nobody had done - under the strictest conditions to date, he slammed a No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper shut. The Diesel Crew's Jedd Johnson was refereeing the historic moment and when Randall Strossen turned to Jedd for his decision, asking if Tex had closed the gripper, Jedd said, "He destroyed it."

When you're as strong as Tex - blessed with the gift of extraordinary grip strength - success with the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper certainly gives you internationally-recognized bragging rights in the world of grip strength, but there is another goal beckoning . . . certification on the No. 4 Captains of Crush® Gripper.

Let's be frank here: Just as not everyone can run the 100 in under 10 seconds or deadlift 800 pounds, not everyone - no matter how hard or smart they train - has the gifts required to close a No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper and this is even more true of the No. 4 Captains of Crush® Gripper.

IronMind® has been at the heart of the grip world for two decades, and along the way, we have seen the need to separate the wheat from the chaff, and of this we are certain: Shedrick "Tex" Henderson has what it takes to honestly close a No. 4 Captains of Crush® Gripper and he's making progress toward that goal: Tex just told us that he's within about a 1/4-inch of doing it right now - and lest you think otherwise, rest assured that this is an above-board, no-monkey-business effort, proving, as Bruce Wilhelm says, "When you're strong, you're strong."