Last year at work, a sharp pain shot through my chest and back. It put me on the ground inside my cubicle. My boss and two others looked on.

I didn’t know what hit me, but I waited several seconds to see if it would pass. It didn’t. It hit me again. I could barely get the breath to tell my boss to drive me to the hospital several miles away.

After 8 hours of all types of tests (one being an MRI With Contrast where the technicians failed to mention that in a male body, the contrast makes a pair of testicles feel like a pair of testicles on fire), they could find nothing wrong with me.

Fastforward to Christmas eve 2009 and the same thing happened again. This time my back and neck siezed up to heighten the fun of my situation.

Long story short, it’s been several weeks and I’m still feeling a weird discomfort and pain in my chest/back area. I’m too scared to do any workouts or cardio, much less grip strength training.

I have two kids to worry about so that last thing I want to do is do a lot of straining and have “it” happen again, and potentially put me into the ground permanently.

So, my question is, “What would make you quit grip training?”

For me, this incident just might be it. It’s sad really. The only reason I’m posting this is because I’ve been away from this site and tweeting for a while and I’m curious as to what the grip strength community thinks about this.

Let me know in the comments.

Mike Rinderle

http://twitter.com/mrinderle

Q1: It’s cool to know what type of people get into grip strength. Could you tell us about yourself, where you live, what you do etc?

I’m 42 years old and live in Crofton, MD. I have a beautiful wife Melissa (who has also recently caught the grip bug) and 4 great kids. I am the director of sales for a shipping software company. I workout at home.

Q2: Tell us, what’s the story around how you got into grip strength?

A coworker brought in some Heavy Grips grippers into the office. He and some of the younger guys were always trying to see who could close the biggest one or get the most reps. I gave it a try one day and actually did better than most of them. I was hooked. From there, I found the Gripboard and since March I have thrown myself into this sport with everything I have.

Q3: How did/does your friends and family feel about your hobby?

Most of my friends have no idea what I’m talking about when I try to explain it. My wife has been very supportive from the start and has actually started training with me. She and my 17 year old daughter competed with me at Gripmas this year, which was a real treat for me. My 13 year old son is repping the HG100 and will be getting a CoC Trainer for Christmas.

Q4: What is your favorite grip strength exercise and why?

I would probably have to say a tie between grippers and 1” vbar. I love them both. Grippers because they were my first love and 1” vbar because I have really made some great progress on the lift. Since August, I have raised my PR on vbar from 252 lbs to 334 lbs, which I think puts me about 7th on the FBBC 1” vbar list all-time.

Q5: What is your hardest grip strength exercise and why?

For me it has been DO axle deadlifts. I had back surgery a few years ago and just got back into strength training a little over a year ago. I have really had to work on the amount I can deadlift as well as the supporting grip aspect of the lift. My numbers are finally starting to creep up though. My best on that lift is a 345# pull on my homemade pipe axle.

Q6: Who’s the one person you look up to the most for guidance and motivation in the grip strength community?

There are so many people that have helped me improve: Kris Hamilton, Bobby Goodfellow, Frank Snyder, John Eaton, Brent Barbe, Sam Solomi, Ben Edwards to name just a few. But if I had to pick one person, it is without a doubt Jedd Johnson. Jedd has helped me immensely. He had me to his house for training sessions, competitions, lent me equipment to train on, motivated me, and really epitomizes an all around grip athlete. He is strong in every event and it has all come from hard work. He puts more hours, sweat, tears, blood, and skin into this sport than anyone else I know. It all paid off for him recently when he set the new world record in the 2HP at Gripmas.

Q7: Anything else you want to say about grip?

Grip athletes are the greatest group of people I have ever met. Every person I have met on-line or in person, including the superstars of the sport, have always been willing to help with advice, motivation, and even equipment if you need something to train on. This sport has made such a huge difference in my life and I hope to continue participating for a very long time. My youtube site: http://www.youtube.com/user/mrinderle

I’m so stupid. Well, not really, but for the longest time I’ve thought that the “heavy” dumbbells were just too damn’d heavy for me.

Anything over 40 pounds I just considered too much to try, so I’d use machines with cables instead.

After 19 years of lifting, and some grip strength training, I’ve realized that heavy dumbbells aren’t too heavy; my grip was just too weak.

Seriously, I never tried anything over 40 pounds before. After a couple years of grip strength training, I decided I’d give those heavies another attempt. To my amazement, these weights were well within my range. They probably were for a good majority of those 19 years; I just didn’t realize it until grip strength training revealed it.

This is quite a revelation for me. I’ve even noticed that I can do a lot more on the machines, too.

If you’re reading this and you look at those dumbbells like a dummy as I did, get yourself into some grip strength training, revisit those dumbbells you’ve avoided for years, and see how strong you really can be.

Trinidad of Iron Bell Gym

http://twitter.com/ironbellgym

Q1: It’s cool to know what type of people get into grip strength. Could you tell us about yourself, where you live, what you do etc?

I am in Sales and Marketing. I found kettlebells 3 yrs ago and started a Personal Training business 1 year or so ago. I am in Southern California, Inland Empire area east of LA. Chess, boxing, basketball and kettlebells keep me sane.

Q2: Tell us, what’s the story around how you got into grip strength.

A workout partner of mine was always into strength training. He hated bodybuilding. So he introduced me to life outside of a gym. Swinging sledge hammers, sandbags workouts, The kettlebell, etc. Have not been in a “GYM” since.

Q3: How did/does your friends and family feel about your hobby?
Still trying to convince them I am not crazy but I have got many of my friends into strength training.

Q4: What is your favorite grip strength exercise and why?

KETTLEBELL snatch! Best workout I have ever done. Who knew 53 lbs could humble me so!

Q5: What is your hardest grip strength exercise and why?

Sandbags. Working with the uneven weight distribution is always a challenge.

Q6: Who’s the one person you look up to the most for guidance and motivation in the grip strength community?

@sandysommer. Met him at the AOS certification then ran into him on twitter.

Q7: Anything else you want to say about grip (mention your website if you have one)?

Great community of folks. http://www.ironbellgym.com is my site and http://www.kettlebellandstrength.com/ is @sandysommer’s strength site. Thanks for the invite to share a little bit about me.

Trinidad
Iron Bell Gym

Jason Steeves

http://twitter.com/Shoggoth09

Q1: It’s cool to know what type of people get into grip strength. Could you tell us about yourself, where you live, what you do etc?

I live in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada which is just a few minutes outside of the capital Edmonton. I work as a Senior/Lead Estimator for energy (oil, gas, electricity, etc.) construction projects throughout western and northern Canada. My current roommate is my Boston terrier Marty (named after Marty Feldman for the buggy eyes).

Q2: Tell us, what’s the story around how you got into grip strength?

I was pulling dead lifts with an over/under grip in spring of 08 and was starting to tweak my back. I went to a double overhand and could barely hold 225# and knew it needed to be fixed. I started snooping around the internet and ran across IronMind and Adam Glass’ blog and was hooked. I’m thankful that there are guys out there like Adam that keep video and written blogs out there. It’s very inspirational. Since then I’ve found the Gripboard and David Horne’s World of Grip forums which are packed with a lot of information.

Q3: How did/does your friends and family feel about your hobby?

It’s more of a novelty for them. I don’t think they really care that much. The missus definitely gets annoyed at hearing me talk about it all of the time.

Q4: What is your favorite grip strength exercise and why?

Hmm, depends on what goal I’m currently going after. Right now it’s grippers. I’m nearing the end of a cycle of KTA now and am eagerly anticipating what I want to do next. My short term goals when I’m done the KTA are levering the 20# sledge as it’s pretty close, reverse grip bend a gr. 8 bolt for the steel slayer list and a 400# double overhand axle lift.

Q5: What is your hardest grip strength exercise and why?

Probably my wide pinch. I’ve got a set of Legacy dumbbell blobs ranging from 27# to 52#. When I cut up my larger ones I did a full lift of my 46# one once and that’s the last time it happened quite a while ago, then again I don’t give them that much attention recently either. So many feats and only so many ways to constructively program for them. I’ve only got so much time in the week. I’m eager to give the blob KTA a go in a little bit.

Q6: Who’s the one person you look up to the most for guidance and motivation in the grip strength community?

I don’t think there’s any one name I could point at being the one. Many have been influential in helping me whether they know it or not. There are the big names like Steve McGranahan, Dennis Rogers, Pat Povalaitis, John Brookfield and then the tons of people of all skill and strength levels each with their own specializations like Adam Glass, Paul Knight, Steve Gardener, Aaron Corcorran, Ben Edwards, Chris Rice, etc. and the tons that are just getting ramped up like Frank Snyder, Mike Rinderle, Sam Salomi, etc. Man there is just too many to mention. Go to the forums and you’ll know what I mean. They’re all great guidance and motivation on so many levels.

Q7: Anything else you want to say about grip (mention your website if you have one)?

I think Josh Hanagarne said it best in his guest post “Three Reason I Love the Grip Community”. It pretty much encapsulates my experience as well. My handle for most things is either Shoggoth or Shoggoth09.

I’ve been maintaining an exercise blog recently and have a YouTube site that I use to track my progress as well.

YouTube Site: http://www.youtube.com/user/Shoggoth09

Blog: http://shoggoth09.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Shoggoth09

It was 5 months ago and I was somewhat discouraged about what I perceived to be a lack of community within the grip strength community. I mean, there were forums here, company websites there, and some of the strongest dude’s  in grip had their own videos and sites, but I felt with social media, grippers should be more united and social.

Randall Strossen of IronMind Enterprises

I thought about all the players, especially IronMind since they are a major part of the grip world. I have lots of their products and much respect for their manufacturing philosophy of making stuff last a lifetime. I noticed though that they didn’t have a twitter presence.

So I said, “What the hell. IronMind will be my first attempt at outreach. I’ll send them a letter and invite them to use twitter and get involved with the community.”

I’ve sent letters to companies before, but most of the time I never hear anything back, so I was surprised when I actually got a response, and even more surprised when the head honcho, Randall Strossen, was the person doing so.

Even better was the genuine concern and enthusiasm that Randall seemed to have for my letter and suggestion to get involved with Twitter.

I think when you talk to people, or email them back and forth, you can get a sense about what type of person you’re dealing with. Randall seemed to be a regular nice guy that just happened to run a major corporation. Not to sound cheesy, but I got the feeling that I was talking to Uncle Randall, not some corporate suit and tie.

As the months went on, I’d offer Randall advice ranging from Twitter, to HTML, to blogs. We chatted about this and that and had a phone conversation t0 boot. That was pretty cool getting to hear the voice behind the emails. Our talks led to me creating GripStrengthTweets.com, which probably never would have happened on its own.

Anyway, this Tuesday Randall told me that he was sending me something as a show of appreciation for my assistance with social media. I told him he didn’t have to send me a thing, but was honored nonetheless. I was to be receiving an overnight package.

I bend steel but I must tell you that I was like a kid on Christmas waiting for Santa and shaking boxes trying to figure out what I was getting.

I had no clue that when I got the package today (weather delayed it a day) that I’d be receiving the new Captains of Crush Grippers book.

My son rushing into pic to steal my book

Today, I had some serious stress to deal with at work, a three-hour round-trip commute, a wrist in some serious pain, and two kids crying for food and bottles when I got home. So, getting such a gift was a perfectly timed stress eraser.

When I opened the book and read the message inside I was even more stoked.

Signed book by Randall Strossen

The message read:

To Shane Swing. Hot off the press—you are the 1st person in the world to get a copy of this book—hope you enjoy it! Best Wishes. Randall

Knowing that someone sent me the first book of a new book print run, regarding a hobby I couldn’t live without, is totally mind blowing. I’m honored that Randall would do something like that for a fan like me. This shows a great deal about the man behind the company, and it reflects equally on his business.

Thanks a million Randall.

You made one stressed-out grip fan’s year.

David Obeid

http://twitter.com/DavidObeid

Q1: It’s cool to know what type of people get into grip strength. Could you tell us about yourself, where you live, what you do etc?

I live in the NSW Southern Tablelands, Australia.  I’m married, have 5 children and work as a high school mathematics teacher.

Q2: Tell us, what’s the story around how you got into grip strength?

My dad passed away earlier this year.  It got me to thinking about my own health and I decided to get into shape.  The day I started my program I hurt my sciatic nerve. Things went pear shaped very quickly. I had badly herniated my L4-L5 disc and ended up getting discectomy surgery.  To combat the boredom of laying around doing nothing and to try to keep up the momentum I had hoped to have started in my “get fit and strong” thing, I decided to look at grip strength – I could squeeze grippers, work bands etc while flat on my back!

Q3: How did/does your friends and family feel about your hobby?

My wife is awesome. She always supports everything I do. My kids love it too – they like nothing more than to challenge visitors to squeeze some of my CoC grippers.

Q4: What is your favorite grip strength exercise and why?

Tough choice. I like playing with my David Horne wrist developer.  It’s super tough!  I also like using my Ironmind “Close the Gap Straps” for time. I enjoy trying to compete against myself.

Q5: What is your hardest grip strength exercise and why?

Getting the last 2mm of whatever CoC I am up to.  Why? Because the last 2mm always seem to kick my butt.

Q6: Who’s the one person you look up to the most for guidance and motivation in the grip strength community?

John Brookfield. His books have been great!

Q7: Anything else you want to say about grip (mention your website if you have one)?

I can’t wait until my surgeon clears me to do more strength work. There was lots in John Brookfield’s books I want to try that I haven’t been able to because I’m still on a strict regimen from the surgeon after my operation.

Regards,

David Obeid

David.Obeid “at” gmail.com
Visit my blog: http://www.davidobeid.blogspot.com
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/DavidObeid
Follow me on Plurk: http://www.plurk.com/DavidObeid/invite

Aaron Corcorran

http://twitter.com/AaronCorcorran

Q1: It’s cool to know what type of people get into grip strength. Could you tell us about yourself, where you live, what you do etc?

My Name is Aaron Corcorran and I’m currently working as an IT geek. Mostly Network/Systems Administration and some programming. Also have worked as a machinist in the past and have a small side business building custom training equipment primarily for grip enthusiasts. I live in Tucson, Arizona with my lovely wife Heidi. I’m also a former All-American Thrower at the University of Arizona, Highland games competitor and lifter of Heavy stuff both Power and Oly.

Q2: Tell us, what’s the story around how you got into grip strength?

Well I kinda stumbled upon it. Less than a year out of College I blew out a disc in my back in a non-sports related accident. That ended my throwing and lifting career. Fast forward 8 or 9 years without training and I had a huge empty hole that competing used to fill. One day a buddy at work told me I should try this powerball thing he had. He said they had a league going at work. With a couple days practice on it I managed to take the lead for the work league. In the process I felt some of the old strength come back in my hands and forearms that I missed. I started Googling grip strength and found the CoC grippers. I ordered the Trainer thru #2 and while I was waiting for them to come in I found the gripboard. After I had a chance to try the grippers out and do some reading on the board I was hooked.

Q3: How did/does your friends and family feel about your hobby?

I’ll be honest, they all thought it was kinda weird at first. But they came around once they saw what I could do with it and how much I enjoyed it. My wife is very supportive now.

Q4: What is your favorite grip strength exercise and why?

Boy I don’t know if I have just one favorite. I enjoy training all aspects of grip. The Bending, Grippers, Pinch. Holding the American record in Unbraced Bending was cool, closing the #4 CoC gripper was great, and pinch lifting over 100# in one hand is pretty fun too. They are all a ton of fun. I guess I would have to say my favorite is whatever new exercise I’ve come up with that week.

Q5: What is your hardest grip strength exercise and why?

My hardest grip exercise is probably thick bar stuff. Stubby fingers and thumb combined with meaty hand  and thumb pad conspires against me. It was a real high to finally lift the Inch Dumbbell.

Q6: Who’s the one person you look up to the most for guidance and motivation in the grip strength community?

I have many friends that I get motivation and bounce ideas off of. Paul Knight, John Eaton, Jedd Johnson, Ben Edwards, Chad Woodall, and many others. I read extensively just about any book I can on strength training as well to get new and interesting ideas for training plans.

Q7: Anything else you want to say about grip (mention your website if you have one)?

Grip training and competing is a blast. Always love to work with new people so if you’re in Tucson look me up. Also if you can come out for one of my grip contests. My websites are: http://www.az-grip.com and http://www.youtube.com/user/acorcorr

After a 1-way, 2-hour commute home this past Thursday, I was praying for some relief. It came in the form of a 4 foot high box from strongergrip.com.

I talked to Ryan Pitts previously. He was interested in purchasing some ad space on gripstrengthtweets.com. I told him he was in luck, because ads are now free for the life of my site. If someone has a grip strength, or general strength, website that I like, I’ll post their ad (even make them one if they need it) on the site for free, forever.

Ryan agreed, and I created a nice animated graphic for his ad:

I told him it was my pleasure, because after all, without companies like his that make quality products for us grippers, our “sport” would only be a “hobby.”

So, even though the ad cost nothing, Ryan told me that I could have any product on his site that I wanted. Man, I held back the excitement. It was like Christmas in September.

It was an easy choice for me. I shall have the monster sledgehammer I said, and that’s what arrived at my door step a mere 6 days later.

Allow me to critique the experience.

Promptness

Getting a box that quickly on the day Ryan said it would arrive says lots about a company. He delivered on what he said.

Packaging

The first thing I saw when I opened the box were several of his business cards. Very smart marketing move in my opinion. The hammer itself was packed as if it was fine Chinaware. Crumbled brown paper lined the shaft of the hammer so it wouldn’t get damaged if the box was dented. The hammer then was wrapped inside of a spongy, bubble wrap type of material so that it wouldn’t scratch. Ryan even taped an allen wrench to the hammer packaging so I could unscrew the screw to add more weight to the hollow hammer head. And to top it off, he provided me a loading funnel for the shot. Very nice touches to an already awesome offering.

Product

The hammer is of utmost quality and bad-ass-ness. It’s shiny black color looks great and the hammer itself is quite a tool to behold. I’ve swung it around a few rounds and I’m feeling every muscle. I’ve yet to get the shot to load the hammer up to increase its weight, but I’m sure it will be even more of a challenge.

Overall Experience

Ryan strikes me as a man of honor, and a man who takes his word and his products very seriously. I respect that, because that’s the exact same way that I am. I know where to go if I ever need a mace or any other product that he offers in his line.

Very good opeation you have Ryan. Keep it up.

Ryan Pitts

http://twitter.com/strongergrip

Q1: It’s cool to know what type of people get into grip strength. Could you tell us about yourself, where you live, what you do etc?

I live in Iowa.  I’m a machinist by trade and my skills and passion for strength lead me to the entrepreneur path.

Q2: Tell us, what’s the story around how you got into grip strength?

My first brush with grip was reading an article in IronMan magazine by Brooks Kubick on Dinosaur Training.  He talked about thick handle and sandbags and stuff that was very exciting for me.  All I knew was the stuff( I use that term lightly) you find in bodybuilding mags.  Was years later I finally found out that he had a book DT.  A great book.  Then a few years ago I was blown away by some DVDs of Dennis Rogers that showed you how to do some crazy stuff.  After that I was hooked and inspired to come up with some of the great tools you see on StrongerGrip.com

Q3: How did/does your friends and family feel about your hobby?

It has become more of a way of life for me.  So, very supportive.  I have done some motivational talks at schools and youth groups, and that is a blast.  I definitly plan on doing much more of that.

Q4: What is your favorite grip strength exercise and why?

Trick question.  There are so many aspects of grip training and with everything I have at home I can not tell you a favorite one.  Imagine anywhere you walk in my house there is something grip or training related.  My wife is wonderful for putting up with me.  Then just last night I whipped up a Stainless Steel loadable blob!   I love it all!

Q5: What is your hardest grip strength exercise and why?

Another tough one. I’m usually training for feats of strength.  So, in that respect my hardest is card tearing.  I’ve been shown by Dennis and I’ve read Jedd’s Card Tearing book.  It just hasn’t clicked yet.  But it will.

Q6: Who’s the one person you look up to the most for guidance and motivation in the grip strength community?

I’ll side step the one person and give you my list of influential people. Brooks Kubick, Dennis Rogers, Pavel Tsatsouline, John Brookfield, Randall Strossen, Adam Glass and all you strength seeking grip guys!

Q7: Anything else you want to say about grip (mention your website if you have one)?

I believe grip is the great equalizer.  For the small guy.  Training grip lets a smaller guy do some impressive stuff and a big guy be even more impressive.  With Diesel Crew and other grip supporters you WILL see grip training continue to grow and be given the emphasis that it deserves. Oh and if you have not yet, go check out StrongerGrip.com where you’ll find high quality grip and body conditioning tools made by yours truly!

Thanks for doing this Ryan. Anyone reading this; make sure you say hi to Ryan in the comments below.