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What did you do this weekend?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their weekend. Did you make any plans? Take a trip? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
I planted some seeds for a little garden we're trying, we got a platform bird feeder and the birds love it, I applied to a bunch of side gigs for extra money, ... it was a good weekend. OH and I baked bread :)
I attended the Armlifting USA Thickbar Championship, and it was the weirdest weekend of my life. My brother wanted to compete, asked me two weeks ago if I'd go with him. He decided not to until my dad shared the event on facebook last Wednesday, I happened to see it, and went "Yo, late regsitration is open. I'll go with you if you don't wanna go alone." The weights are lower as this is mostly a grip competition, but even the big guys were still pulling upwards of 100kg on rolling handles.
We rolled up to the gym expecting to do a Mas Wrestling class we'd left early specifically to catch (two people sit across from each other, brace against a board, and pull on a stick) and stumbled into the national championship. My brother's fiancee talked to one of the competitors, and got talked into the thickbar championship, as well. She'd entered the competition not knowing what she was going to be doing, which we all found hilarious, but some other competitors talked her through the events.
Day of the competition, they both kicked butt, put up higher weights than they thought they would. The people judging and running the thing were all veterans in strength sports, and one of the guys had to tell my brother how impressed he was at his performance at his first comp. The dude even said my brother's fiancee did great, but obviously needed work on stuff for the obvious novice reasons. One of her Saxon bar (2.5in rectangle bar) lifts was hilarious because she got the weight up, held it, but didn't tuck her hips in, and held it for three seconds before one of the trainers was shouting "pull your butt in!", she made the adjustment, and got the drop signal from the judge.
It was one of the weirdest but coolest weekends I've ever had.
Niche sports competitions never fail to amaze me.
As someone looking to improve their grip strength... I'm intrigued! Grip strength was my weakest point when doing deadlifts. I've been training by doing dead hangs after my pull-up workout and I have a Captains of Crush Trainer, though I don't feel like my grip has improved much.
As far as grip, you ever try fat grips? That's a 2.5 inch grip (the alternate listing is 2-inch) and while axles are only 2, it never hurt to go bigger. Thick bar is great for grip, but you'll probably pull 2/3-1/2 your normal lift with it depending on your grip. It's really firm rubber, so it'll give a tiny bit, but not much. If you don't want the Amazon one, they still don't cost much, far less than a $250 axle.
If you can click the trainer, get the 1, and when you can click that get the 2, then worry about half-sizes. Or save money with the Heavy Grips, but they tend to soften a bit.
But they can be so much fun. If you want to compete, the thickbar championship is held every year at The Training Hall, Odd Haugen's gym in Thousand Oaks. Walking in there felt like walking on holy ground, but everybody was absolutely nice, and even the judges were giving everybody tips on their technique. Just as an observer I learned a ton. It's just registering for Armlifting USA ($20) to get on the leaderboards and entry fee ($60 for this one), and you're in.
Played tennis with the GF.1 It was my first time ever attempting to play tennis, and I think I did alright. At least, with regards to coordination. "Control" is another story. It's pretty damn hard to hit the ball light enough to remain in bounds!
1 - read: casually hit the ball back and forth without keeping any kind of score.
We had a nice little bonfire in the backyard with a friend. The puppy curled up in a blanket next to me and fell asleep. It was her first time out with a fire, so I’m glad she wasn’t afraid of it or anything like that. :)
I'm so outta shape; I played some oculus demos, and can barely make it down stairs.