[Ben Edwards]

Eric, I thought about what I wrote and to be even more clear about what works (for me) on the middle fingers deadlift is to “screw” them into the barbell. Like you’re trying to mash them into the bar. I screw them so roughly into the bar that it almost cuts my skin just getting into position.

One last tip that I can give is to try gripping the bar two distinctly different ways. See which one works best for you. On light weights that aren’t near my max, I prefer to just hook the middle finger under the bar. Squeeze a little bit on the bar. On heavy weights that are near my max, I not only squeeze (which I mentioned in my previous post) the bar, but I actively try to FLEX my fist as hard as possible the entire time. Now, technically, it’s not a fist if you can’t curl all the fingers together, right? But that’s how I think of it. It seems to “anchor” the middle fingers to the bar better that way.

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[Ben Edwards]

Dave, you’re right about Mary giving some outstanding technique advice!

The best advice I got on the Middle Fingers Deadlift was by Al over 5 years ago. He showed me the tip of turning my fingers sideways on the bar instead of straight on to the bar. Spreads the discomfort across a slightly larger surface area of finger. And for a guy like me who doesn’t have big fingers or big strong finger bones, it helps quite a bit. Maybe 30-40 pounds for me. I was showing this tip to Emily Burchett. I didn’t explain it as well as Al did, but I tried. Another very helpful thing I found in the limited number of times I’ve pulled MFD was that just hooking the middle finger under the bar isn’t as helpful as actively trying to squeeze the bar. This is the opposite of what helps me on thick bar lifts. On those I don’t squeeze the bar hardly at all. I just try to rigidly lock my hand in an isometric position and lift. My Inch results from this year didn’t show my full potential, for simple reason not related to my method of lifting.

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[Ben Edwards]

It was a ton of fun! I still need to do a proper meet report.

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[Ben Edwards]

8 days to go. Bodyweight was 217 pounds this morning. Glad to make my contest weight goal with a bit of leeway.

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[Ben Edwards]

I first met Mary at the 2002 Super Grip Challenge at Kevin Fulton’s farm. She is a delightful person and is a blast to be around. I remember her smacking me on the butt at one of the Dino Gym meets (2006?), and I was a bit wobbly after a lift and almost fell over the chairs, lol. My wife also loves Mary, so she didn’t mind that I had Mary’s gigantic hand print in chalk on my butt after that.

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[Ben Edwards]

Big congrats, Eric!!! That is very cool man.

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[Ben Edwards]

3 weeks to go. Weighed 220lbs on the dot this morning. Getting excited about seeing old faces (and new) again!

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[Ben Edwards]

Chad, I hope to see you there!

Bodyweight was 224lbs this morning. Weight loss is moving along on schedule for me to slip into the 220lb weight class on February 13th. 5 weeks to go until the comp.

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[Ben Edwards]

Great lifting, RJ and Dan! Wish I had been there to give some of my favorite lifts a shot.

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[Ben Edwards]

I had a great time at the Record Day yesterday. Thanks to Eric for hosting it and making me feel very welcome in his great training hall! It was great seeing Lance and Dean again, too! I plan on writing a more detailed report on my training blog. Not that there is much to report on my end. My hands did not respond as well as I expected them to.

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[Ben Edwards]

I’m on the forum again – thanks to you, Al! Glad to be back.

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[Ben Edwards]

[b]Quote from rjackson on February 19, 2015, 08:51[/b]
Do we have to wait for the web site upgrade to find out what went on?

Ruth, I was waiting for the website upgrade to list what everyone else had done. But I can give you my results for now. I did not hit my goals on most of the events. But I didn’t leave injured, so it was a success, haha. Plus, I had a great time visiting with everyone.

INDEX FINGER LIFT-RIGHT HAND: 115 (2nd place)
INDEX FINGER LIFT-LEFT HAND: 105 (4th place)
ONE HAND FULTON BAR DEADLIFT-RIGHT HAND: 154 (5th place)
BEARHUG DEADLIFT: 255 (2nd place)
TWO BAR 2″ VERTICAL BAR LIFT: 354 (4th place)

Left index finger was not healed and the skin tore on my first attempt. Which was 105lbs. Right index finger was fine, so I just lacked the strength on that day to lift more.

Hindsight is 20/20. I should’ve gone lefty on the one hand axle deadlift. I chose righty, because it’s my stronger hand – usually. But I didn’t factor in whether the lift was going to give my right forearm tweak trouble. It did. And my attempt at 166 went to my knees and then right back down. My right extensor felt like it was going to detach on 166, so I quickly put it down. Disappointed with that, because thinking back on it, I could’ve held it a few more seconds and got the “down” command and added 12 pounds to that event. A few days ago, I loaded this weight (166) on my Silverback Axle and pulled it with ease lefty. That was the first time I had touched that Axle for probably a full year.

The Bearhug Deadlift was interesting. It didn’t give me any trouble until I tried 280lbs. Then I guess it was the pressure of squeezing my wrists into the plates that once again irritated my right forearm. I did better on this event than I thought I was going to though.

Had to settle for 354 on the Two Bar 2″ Vertical Bar Lift. My right forearm by then was completely shutting down. Scott Tully mentioned that on my successful 354 lift, my right hand was holding onto the weight by fingertips only. He was right about that! I could’ve held onto more, but I skipped my 3rd attempt so that I wouldn’t screw up my right forearm anymore than it already might’ve been. This is also the lift that bothers my back. The super close stance is specifically what bothers it. I don’t deadlift anymore, but when I did – I was a sumo puller. That was the only style that didn’t irritate a back injury I had in 2010.

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[Ben Edwards]

[b]Quote from rjackson on February 10, 2015, 09:39[/b]
Your words of anticipation make me bummed that I cannot be there. But on a more positive note, thanks to your write-up I can participate by proxy. I’ll be rooting for you to pull off some really good numbers.

Thanks, Ruth! I really appreciate the kind words. I will try to make a few really good numbers.

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[Ben Edwards]

Thanks, Chad! I’ll do that.

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[Ben Edwards]

We’re 6 days out from the Grip Champs. Looking forward to seeing Al and the Dino Gym again! And of course – spending the day competing and visiting with fellow competitors and their families/support staff is always a lot of fun for me. I was sorry to see that Dan and Ruth aren’t going to be able to make it out – due to an injury.

My left index finger is still not healed all the way. So I am already planning on having only one good attempt before it completely gives up the ghost. I would rather avoid that, because nobody appreciates mingling blood with a fellow competitor. But wouldn’t that make us blood brothers? My goal is 132lbs righty and lefty. 60kg just has a nice ring to it. Plus, it would beat the all-time record held by Al of 130lbs. But I fully expect someone else at the contest to go above 132lbs, so if I do manage to set the record – there’s a good chance it will be quickly eclipsed a few minutes later.

I don’t have my openers picked for the One Hand Fulton Deadlift yet. Depends on how grippy the axle is. If it’s an IronMind Axle, I will lift less than if it’s a solid steel axle. The IM Axle tends to rotate more in my hand than a heavier solid steel axle does. Even with no training for quite a while, I think (hope?) 160lbs will be about the best I can do. I know I won’t get even close to the 220lb weight class record of 183lbs by Jeff Ciavattone.

The Bearhug Deadlift will either suit me, or irritate my right forearm. It is the one that I tweaked years ago (steel bending) and it occasionally gives me trouble. Unfortunately, it has been slightly tender this last week. I think it’s from a very mis-timed release on the 42lb WFD. Tweaked it a bit and, although I don’t feel it’s a bad injury, it is announcing itself a few times a day. So I will be careful to leave a little leeway on any lift involving my right arm. Which will be most of them, aaaarrrgh. There is no record in the 220lb weight class.

I hold the 220lb weight class record of 366lbs in the final event – the Two Bar 2″ Vertical Bar Deadlift. I don’t expect to go over 350lbs at the contest though. I’m not training grip (besides Index Finger Lift every two weeks, lol), so it won’t be anything remarkable.

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