Right now, Grip is still in the infancy of the sport, but I think with more information it will some day blow up, just as Strongman has done over the last few years.

I think that if more information were available to the body of strength enthusiasts out there, then more people would become interested and want to take it up. In my experience, I’ve rarely met anyone who didn’t enjoy trying to close heavy Grippers, lift heavy block weights, and bend hard nails. All these things have been featured in recent Grip Contests I have competed in. My objective with this series is to get more information available to the Grip beasts who are wandering about, aimlessly, looking for a direction in which to drive their training – Straight to the Grip Contest.

Just yesterday, March 31, 2007, I was lucky enough to compete and win the Grip Assault Grip contest at the Total Performance Sports Facility in Everett, Massachusetts. It was a small contest – only six or seven competitors. And it’s strange that the contest was so small because TPS is a great facility where I know a ton of big guys train. I also know from holding the World Series of Grip in other New England States, that the Region is filled with athletes who are talented at Grip strength.

I have seen at least a half dozen strongman competitors lift the Thomas Inch Replica Dumbbell, another dozen or so close the IronMind #3 Gripper, as well as other top Grip feats. New England is full of athletes that could have done very well yesterday, but most did not show up.

The conclusion I am coming to as that there is just not enough information out there. The process of trial and error is not a fun process. What I want to do with this article series is give you all the information you need in order to avoid the costly investment of trial and error. You’ll be able to skip all that and get what you need to train to be your best.

Updates to this series will come routinely. My goal is to make this series interesting, educational, and entertaining. And I want your feedback. Write me when you can. Let me know if you have more questions, or if something I write isn’t clear. I will try to address any concerns in follow-up articles.

The first installment in this series will be Grippers. Hand grippers are probably the most popular of all the Grip Strength Contest events. This chapter will be opened soon. I hope you like it. Thanks.

NAPALM JEDD