The Grip Show

Richard Sorin is the founder of Sorin Exercise Equipment. Richard is very important to the Grip Strength World and has a long list of achievements to his name. He was the first to Close a Captains of Crush #3 Gripper, He was the first to Plate Pinch Deep Dish York 45's and he's the reason we have "blobs" today. Richard titled a half York broken dumbbell "The Blob" and trained on it until he could lift it with ease and 20lbs added etc. The Original Blob is from a 100lb York Dumbbell of the 1st Generation. Richard has not only been a pioneer for grip strength he brought it to the big stage with Mighty Mitts. This was and probably still is the biggest grip competitions ever held when it comes to quality of competition, stage/audience and prize money etc. So Richard has not only blazed the trail for so many of us, but he has ran some amazing competitions to put grip in the spotlight and to this very day he is giving out advice and tips for people about the iron game and grip strength. Enjoy hearing the information and history directly from the man himself!

StrongHold 2023 was a Grip Sport International sanctioned event held by Ronni Bossie in Fort Fairfield, Maine. The event had 15 competitors ranging from teens to master's (50+) in age. Also for many competitors this was their first grip competition. Even though some of the pack was newer to grip there were some experienced Grip Veterans who made the trip to compete as well. After all was said and done the Overall Standings were 1st Place-Vinnie Rivellese, 2nd Place-Tim Butler, and 3rd Place-Emitt Samon. The Grip Show would like to congratulate Vinnie on a very impressive performance and Ronni for running/hosting this amazing competition. Check out this episode to find out how it all went down!

James Fuller is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to weight training and weightlifting history. He's been training and lifting for over 40 years now. He's competed in everything from powerlifting, grip sport competitions, to the olympic style weightlifting (which he still actively competes in.) James can be found on various platforms with the name "Strongman Archaeology", where he posts tons of content/videos about his training. James believes he's been given the gift of being a problem solver and has been able to help and coach many others through injuries, technique issues, or help jump them up to their personal bests. If you're into lifting weights, gaining mobility, improving technique, developing a stronger grip, or learning about lifters from the past and the vintage weights of old ....James has you covered and you're not going to want to miss this episode.

Check out James on Instagram: @ Strongman_archaeology

James Retarides started Arm Wrestling in the late 90's and didn't step away until 2012. During this time he won titles in 33 different states and was a National Champion in 4 different weightclasses. He also published a book about Arm Wrestling called Strong Arm Tactics. James was a journalist and editor throughout most of his 20's, has done broadcast work for CBS, ESPN/Pay Per View and became a psychotherapist in his 30's. After Arm Wrestling James transitioned into many different forms of strength training. James is a fan of Old Time Strongman feats and got involved in Grip Sport as well. James has accomplished several notable feats of grip strength like single hand pinching 2x55's for a plate pinch, Closing CoC #3's in competition, and lifting and holding a 200lb Zuver's Plate by the rim. Aside from these feats he currently holds the Grip Sport International world record in The Sledgehammer Choke and Levertop. James has one of the strongest biceps in history and is also known for his standing dumbbell curls and preacher curls. He reached one of his lifetime goals of curling a 154lb dumbbell preacher curl during the filming of an upcoming documentary he's been working on. The documentary is still in production and editing and hasn't been released yet. It is about drug free strength athletes. It also discusses how steroid usage/peds have impacted the fairness of competition. You can find James youtube channel here: @Professorcrowbar

Predictions and Opinions about the upcoming King Kong Grip Contest.

Tammy McClure is relatively new to the Armlifting/Gripsport scene but has yet to be defeated in competition at her weightclass. Tammy is a former college Track and Field athlete who won the Big West championship for the Triple Jump. She has always had an interest in climbing/bouldering. The strength developed through years of climbing have made her have a natural transition into the grip strength sports. She runs a business (Indian Creek Winery), is a former college athlete, has competed in climbing competitions and was featured on America Ninja Warrior (Season 7,8,9), she enjoys art and design, but most importantly she places a strong emphasis on her overall health and lifestyle habits. She balances all of these aspects while being a Wife and a Mother of 2. We thank Tammy for doing this interview with The Grip Show and wish her the best in her future competitions!

Carl Myerscough may very well have the most well rounded and strongest grip in the world. Carl is the only person to certify on the Ironmind Captains of Crush #4 Gripper with a credit card set. He also is the only person to close a GHP 10 Under certification standards. Carl currently holds the world record for the Ironmind Axle and tons of other lift records related to grip strength. Carl is one of the few people to ever lift the Millennium Dumbbell completely level and owns the Original/First one ever made. Carl gives us his insight on everything from his personal feats of strength, to overcoming injuries, and competing on the biggest stages whether that's In Armlifting/Grip Sport or his past years of winning NCAA Championships in the Shotput and competing in the Olympics. Carl is a world class athlete who pushes what the human body and grip is capable of and we are glad he sat down to share his story with us here at The Grip Show.

AGP 5 is the 5th installment of the Grip Sport International sanctioned competition that took place in Cornelius, NC on 9/16/2023. Jason Otto was the main promoter for this competition. He joins us on the Grip Show to breakdown the competitions overall history and the most recent competition results.

Jedd Johnson competed in his first grip competition in 2003 and hasn't slowed down since. Jedd has been instrumental in building and keeping grip contests alive and evolving in the United States. Jedd has a long history of strength training competing primarily in strongman and Grip Sport. Aside from his decades of being an elite grip strength athlete and achieving some of the best feats of grip strength we've ever seen, Jedd has coached many other athletes in their own sports/ as well as grip. Jedd has dvds and ebooks on about every single subject related to grip training. In this Episode Jedd covers a lot of the early days/comps when things were just getting started here in the U.S.

Hopefully everyone can learn something from Jedd in this interview and if you're ever in need of some grip content/knowledge hit up his YouTube channel @gripstrength or reach out to him about coaching. And just in case you didn't know ... They call him Napalm!

Heavy Hands 2023 was a sanctioned grip competition hosted by Zach Mullins and Ben Helms in Charlottesville, VA on Sept. 9th. This is a full breakdown/recap of this event. Featured are the Top 3 Overall Lifters to let us know how it all went down. 1st Place-Eric Roussin, 2nd Place-Ben Helms, and 3rd place-Zach Ebel.