My pinch grip world record.

[Vince]

Dan Duchaine wrote:

Vince,

Give us a run down of your grip feats.

Why did you feel the need to design your own pinch grip machine rather than using the apparatus which has become standard in the field, such as two 20KG/45lb plates on a loading pin, or a Euro-Pinch set up?

Is the answer that you dont infact have the pinch grip prowess you like to imply, thus you set about constructing your own grip equipment in order that you could infact obfuscate said lack of prowess??

This cheeky position of yours is infact given extra weight when we observe the cash prize you once offered (perhaps still do?) to anyone who could beat your pinch record... albeit on your machine!!!

Why did you never simply prove yourself on the aforementioned standard grip tools?

Ah, Dan will do anything to get this place going! I am not going to respond to such a question in a Goodrum thread. Where is that hero? No doubt he reads this forum.

Well, the world pinch grip record used to be a casual thing. If you did a feat you sent in an article to Peary Rader of Ironman and what you did became the best anyone has done. The first time I remember anyone claiming a world best was little Bruce White from Perth, Australia. The guy was only 150 pounds but had a tremendous pinch grip. He claimed something like 121 pounds with his right hand. There was no one there to verify this claim. It was the honour system. Not at all sufficient for world records but there were no real records or competitions in those days.

We had pinch grip contests in gyms way back in the early 1960s in Vancouver, BC. There would be a thick plate in the gym and you could put a short bar through to add weight. This was all fun in those days. Some guys were good at it but most were hopeless. I happened to be okay at it so kept an interest in the pinch grip afterwards.

At my gym in Sydney we had several pinch grip contests over the years and what became obvious was it was difficult to judge whether someone actually lifted the plate clear of the floor. I had fashioned a 4X2 inch steel plate that weight could be added on each side. The trouble was this apparatus had to be tilted sideways a touch before clearing the floor. We had guys down near the floor to see if it was properly lifted. After those problems I decided to build a proper pinch grip machine. I had a factory where I designed and built my own gym equipment so this was just something extra for our gym.

The first machine went up to 50Kg. When we first tried lifting on it we had trouble doing 20kg. The problem was the oil on the skin and some residue on the stainless steel pinch plate. I used stainless steel because it doesn't tarnish and no chalk is used. Using chalk that cakes on the sides of plates is cheating as far as I am concerned. Oh, as long as everyone can use the same thing it is accepted. However, a mirror finished stainless surface is as good as it gets for a standard.

In our first contest using the machine I lifted 53kg. The best I had done on the plain steel apparatus was 110 pounds. So more weight could be lifted on the machine. Part of the reason was the thumb weakness was partly overcome by having the plate unable to shift sideways. We allowed cleaning of the plate with a Windex window cleaning product to get rid of all oils there. Competitors soon found it helped to wash the hands thoroughly and dry them well before an attempt.

After that first contest I made a second pinch grip machine that had 80kg on the weight stack. It also had a lever that fell once the stack lifted cleared a certain height which was about 3/4 inch or 20mm. I managed to lift 82.5kg in a gym contest so rebuilt the machine to have 90kg on it. I exceeded this limit in the next contest with 92.5kg which is the most weight anyone has ever lifted in a pinch grip of any kind. I did this in front of witnesses and had someone with me at all times to make sure I followed the rules. This is on a video, too, which I will get around to uploading on Youtube one day soon. The machine now has 100kg weight stack but we haven't had any recent contests so I haven't been training on the pinch.

What is obvious is that no one is the best on all the apparatus. I beat a bloke who won the Australian Grip Championships and who once lifted two 20kg plates back to back. He pinched 52.5kg on the machine and I did 80kg in the same contest. It appears that wrist curls interfere with pinching ability so enterring a multi event grip contest is not a good idea to keep your pinch at the maximum. Even though I did the 80kg during an Australian Grip contest that result wasn't accepted for a world record. That just goes to show that the people involved in grip contests are not fair dinkum. I walked away from posting on the Gripboard forums.

more in another thread.

[Vince]

David Horne of England has the accepted one hand world pinch grip record which was about 65kg last time I looked. That is a lot of weight. Plus, they require that it be lifted quite a distance off the floor. Everyone has different rules re grip events.

In recent years they have used an apparatus David has fashioned that has different width rubber plates that can be added or removed from the middle to give a competitor a choice in grip widths. Yes, hands vary in size and some are better at 2 inch widths while larger hands might do more on a wider apparatus. They also have contests using two hands and there are records for these events. Chalk is allowed and plates are 'conditioned' by caking after many applications. This sort of defeats the purpose of having a standardized apparatus but I am not the guy making the rules for those contests in England. I would prefer that the plate be cleaned for each attempt.

My son, Zorba, has lifted 67.5kg on the machine and this is the second highest anyone has done in a one hand pinch as of a couple of years ago.

Here is David's site. I just glanced and Elizabeth has pinched 2X20kg plates for 4 reps. Well, it would help if we all had the same implements to train on for pinch events. I don't have David's pinch apparatus which I think a bit primitive. There is only one competition pinch grip machine in the world and it is installed in my gym in Sydney, Australia.

http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/

[Pink_Cookies]

Hi,

I've just been directed to this thread, and have a couple of points to raise.

Steve Gardener, Nick McKinless and a few others have all done over 110kg on the pinch.

They all used the Euro set up, and were judged by David Horne or similar, so there will be no point in claiming any inconsistency here.

Vince, might I ask how much have you piched on a similar apparatus to the Euro, or two 20KG plates?

[Vince]

David Horne is a true strongman. So is Nick McKinless. No doubt about them at all. However, David usually has contests in his back yard in England and they use basement type equipment. They have evolved standards using their equipment and that is what they do there. They have records, a web site, contests and organizations. That is great.

I do my own thing. I have designed and built a lot of my own gym equipment and my standard is very different to what David devises in England. I came up with a pinch grip testing machine and people are free to come to my gym and try it out. Only a hand full of people have lifted over 60kg with one hand on it.

The truth is there are several variations of pinch gripping. Nick McKinless had a variation where he allowed skateboard tape to be attached on each side of a two hand pinching apparatus and we used that for the first Australian Grip Championships many years ago. We had to abandon using the sandpaper type tape because it caused cuts on the fingers and if others used the same apparatus then infections could be transferred. So health reasons saw the demise of that event. It was actually fun to do and quite heavy poundages could be hoisted to a deadlift position. I succeeded with 145kg and got 150kg off the floor. I suppose the sandpaper could be removed but the poundages would be no where near what I listed above.

The apparatus used in England for two hand competition is quite different. There is one in Australia but I don't have access to it and haven't got around to ordering one so I could practice on it. I respect all heavy lifts done in the various styles and make no claims about what I could do on them. It remains to be seen what David could lift on the machine. At the last Australian Grip Championship that I competed in the lads could train at my gym using the machine for months before hand and also could buy a stainless steel training device to use at home. We didn't see much improvement at all on the pinch even with practice. I blame the other events and I believe training for things such as wrist curls (which is not a grip event) interferes with pinch gripping strength. I found that out to my dismay at my last grip contest. I lost heaps of strength and so did the other guys. Nick ended up saying the smooth stainless steel plate needed a trick to do well on. There is no trick because everyone had access to the machine and knew about washing the hands and using the Windex.

The grip lads are an interesting group. They love competing and having a go at the various events. What is clear is that whatever David and a few leaders suggest is what becomes the accepted practice in the grip community. You either join them or go and do your own thing or just do nothing at all.

[Vince]

Here is a comparison of the equipment made for pinch grip contests.

David Horne's apparatus compared to my pinch plate.

[Vince]

There is a site called the Gripboard Com that has forums about all aspects of grip feats. Too bad this is a closed forum. You have to register before you can view the forums and contents. That shows you how touchy some of these characters are. If you disagree with them they ban you. So much for having a different opinion about matters re grip lifting, equipment, rules, etc.

http://www.gripboard.com/

[Vince]

David has elected to use the round plates for competition. That is a pity because it is awkward to lift a round apparatus with two hands and lift the assembly sufficiently clear of the floor to get credit for the lift. Nick McKinless came up with a better solution that could be deadlifted. It was easy to negotiate and a completed lift was easy to determine. With David's gear you need sticks at a certain level to indicate a completed lift.

If they combined my mirror finished stainless steel surface with the deadlift version it would be a satisfactory testing device. The steel ones allowing chalk are not a standard that I would allow. The chalk gets caked on and this improves the grip. They allow it because you can lift more but it is a form of accepted cheating. Another problem is that some gyms don't allow chalk to be used as it makes a mess.

My standard won't be accepted. Not a chance on this earth. The lads would rather battle on with primitive equipment and feel they are genuine strongmen. I could design and build other grip testing machines but this would be a monumental waste of my time. Grip contests will remain a small time event which is a pity because they are interesting.

[rocket]

Good elaboration, Vince, but I am not in any way surprised to hear that you've been removed from a board for being outspoken