IronMind was founded in 1988 by Randall J. Strossen, a Stanfordpsychology PhD with a longstanding interest in weightlifting and related strength sports.[2] That year also marked the beginning[3] of Strossen's 12-year stint writing a monthly column for Iron Man magazine about the psychology of bodybuilding and weightlifting.[4]
IronMind's slogan, "Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies," reflects the company's roots in sports psychology. It is also the subtitle of Strossen's second book, a partial collection of his columns for Iron Man, published by IronMind in 1994.
Products
Some of IronMind's notable products include the Captains of Crush Grippers, the Rolling Thunder, the Vulcan Racks system, and the book Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks.
IronMind has been a mail-order company since its inception and publishes an annual product catalog that also provides training tips, a history of strength sports, and information on subjects ranging from hand health to nutrition.
The World's Strongest Man (WSM) contest has used IronMind's Draft Horse Pulling Harness for its competitions since 2002. In 2006, IronMind manufactured a harness for the WSM's Car Walk event after consulting with two-time WSM winner Jouko Ahola on the design. It has been used at WSM competitions ever since.[8]
Strength enthusiasts, people training at home and those with hand ailments such a carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis make up the rest of IronMind's patrons.[9]
Focus on grip strength
Grip strength has been a major focus for IronMind since the company introduced its specialized line of grip-strength tools in 1990.
The idea that grip strength comprises three basic components – crushing, pinching and supporting elements (deadlifting, etc.) – was first presented to the world in the 1992 IronMind catalog.[10] IronMind promoted[11] and further developed this idea in later catalogs. It first published a chart in 1995 highlighting how grip strength applies to activities and professions ranging from law enforcement to powerlifting and playing music,[12] and expanded on it in subsequent catalogs.
Two books written by grip-strength expert John Brookfield and published by IronMind – Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition (2008) and The Grip Master's Manual (2002) – also expand upon these basic components of grip strength, which are now considered as widely accepted fact.[13]
IronMind is known worldwide for its Captains of Crush line of hand grippers. These grippers, considered the "industry standard" in building grip strength,[14][15] have become somewhat of a cult phenomenon[2] and have amassed a worldwide following – one British strength enthusiast has written into his will that he would like to be buried with his Captains of Crush hand gripper.[16]
In 1991, IronMind began certifying people able to close the company's benchmark Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper; certification on the Captains of Crush No. 4 was added in 1998 and certification on the Captains of Crush No. 3.5 was added in 2008.[17]
Only five people (Joe Kinney, Nathan Holle, David Morton, Tommy Heslep and Magnus Samuelsson) have been certified for closing the No. 4.[18]
Publications
IronMind has published 18 books by established authors such as John McCallum, Ben Weider and David Webster. It has also developed and published books by such first-time authors as John Brookfield, Steve Jeck, Steve Justa, Brad Johnson and Brian Jones, many of whom have become authorities in their fields.[19]
Randall J. Strossen's first book, Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks (1989), was also the first product offered by IronMind. It presents the classic 20-rep squat routine, a routine best known for helping people bulk up in a short period of time.[20] The book is currently in its eighteenth printing (in English) and has been translated into German.[21]
As a photographer and editor-in-chief for IronMind's quarterly journal MILO (launched in 1993), Strossen flies over 100,000 miles a year to cover strength-sport events around the world.[22]MILO is the only American bodybuilding or weightlifting magazine to receive media accreditation to cover weightlifting at the 1996, 2000, 2004 and the 2008 Olympics.[23]
Arnold Sports Festival
IronMind has been involved as a sponsor or an organizer of the International Weightlifting Invitational, GNC Grip Gauntlet and Arm Wrestling events at the Arnold Sports Festival (also known as the Arnold Classic or just "the Arnold" and named after Arnold Schwarzenegger) for several years.
↑ Strossen, Randall J (March 5, 2006). "Cholakov Brings It Home". IronMind News. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
Further reading
Brookfield, John. 2008. Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN978-0926888-81-4)
Brookfield, John. 2002. The Grip Master's Manual. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-11-0)
Jeck, Steve and Peter Martin. 1996. Of Stones and Strength. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-05-6)
Johnson, Brad. 2005. Bodyweight Exercises for Extraordinary Strength. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN978-0-926888-78-4)
Jones, Brian. 2008. Grappling Basics: A New Twist on Conditioning. Nevada City: Ironmind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN978-0926888-79-1)
Jones, Brian. 2004. The Complete Sandbag Training Course. Nevada City: Ironmind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN978-0926888777)
Jones, Brian. 2007. The Conditioning Handbook: Getting in Top Shape. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN978-0-926888-14-2)
Justa, Steve. 1998. Rock Iron Steel: The Book of Strength. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-07-2)
McCallum, John. 1993. The Complete Keys to Progress. Ed. Randall J. Strossen. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-01-3)
Strossen, Randall J. 1989. Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-00-5)
Strossen, Randall J. 1994. IronMind: Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-02-1)
Strossen, Randall J., J.B. Kinney, and Nathan Holle. 2009. Captains of Crush Grippers: What They Are and How to Close Them, Second Edition. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN978-0926888-84-5)
Webster, David. 1997. Sons of Samson: Volume 2 Profiles. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-06-4)
Weider, Ben. 2000. Louis Cyr: Amazing Canadian. Nevada City: IronMind Enterprises, Inc. ( ISBN0-926888-09-9)
The Strongman Super Series, known from 2001 to 2004 as the IFSA World Strongman Super Series, from 2005 to 2008 as the World's Strongest Man Super Series, and reverting in 2009 to the World Strongman Super Series, is a sequence of grand prix events in the sport of strength athletics. It was introduced in 2001 in response to concerns that, unlike other individual sports such as golf or tennis, there was no recognized international "tour" in strength athletics. The Strongman Super Series ensures that there are a number of high-profile, professionally run contests during the year, with competitors' placings being used to decide the overall Super Series Champion.
MILO: A Journal For Serious Strength Athletes was a quarterly journal dedicated to strength sports, published by IronMind. It was published continually from April 1993 to March 2018. The magazine was named after Milo of Croton.
Dr. Randall J. Strossen is an American strength and physical culture advocate, kinesiologist, equipment manufacturer, historian, journalist, author, teacher and an expert in grip strength training.
Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian retired strongman and powerlifter. Due to his 84 international wins in major international strongman competitions including four World's Strongest Man championships, eight Arnold Strongman Classic championships, two IFSA Strongman World Championships, and over 70 world records, he is widely regarded as the greatest strongman of all time.
Magnus Samuelsson, is a Swedish actor, former strongman and winner of the 1998 World's Strongest Man contest in Morocco. He has also made it to the World's Strongest Man podium 5 times and the finals 10 times and is regarded as one of the best strongmen in history. The son of a former Swedish arm wrestling champion, he has also been ranked among the best arm wrestlers in Europe during his active years with a second place in 1993 as his best performance.
Grippers, sometimes called hand grippers, are primarily used for testing and increasing the strength of the hands; this specific form of grip strength has been called crushing grip, which has been defined as meaning the prime movers are the four fingers, rather than the thumb.
The International Federation of Strength Athletes was an international governing body for strongman competition. IFSA operated from 1995 to 2007 and was based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Carl Myerscough is an English former track and field athlete specialised in shot put and discus throw and a world record holder grip strength specialist. His imposing height of 208 cm earned him the nickname 'The Blackpool Tower'.
Mark Felix is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. He has competed at a record 18 World's Strongest Man contests, reaching the finals three times. He is the winner of the 2015 Ultimate Strongman Masters World Championships, 2016 WSF World Cup India and has won numerous international grip contests, including the Rolling Thunder World Championships in 2008 and 2009, as well as the Vice Grip Viking Challenge in 2011 and 2012. Having competed in over 100 international competitions throughout 19 years, Felix is the 3rd most prolific strongman contestant in history.
The GNC Grip Gauntlet is a strength athletics contest that tests the grip strength of competing individuals over three disciplines, each designed to test one of the three recognised facets of hand strength: crushing; pinching; and supporting. It was developed by Wade and Brad Gillingham and became an internationally recognised contest featured at some of the world's most prominent strength athletics events and expos, including the Arnold Strongman Classic and the various WSM Super Series Grand Prixs. The last time the GNC Grip Gauntlet was run in a competitive format was the 2010 Arnold Classic. Since that time the challenge has changed to an informal challenge with no official results maintained. Prizes are still awarded for successful completion of the challenge.
The Strongman Champions League is a Strongman competition circuit, with several Grand Prix events throughout the year and the Strongman Champions League overall champion title going to the overall winner at the end of the season. Competitors include legends in the sport, including Žydrūnas Savickas, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Krzysztof Radzikowski, Mikhail Koklyaev, Matjaz Belsak, Ervin Katona, Dainis Zageris, J.F. Caron, Nick Best, Andrus Murumets, Martin Wildauer, Mateusz Kieliszkowski, Pavlo Kordiyaka, Aivars Šmaukstelis, Vytautas Lalas, Dennis Kohlruss, Rauno Heinla, Travis Ortmayer, Laurence Shahlaei and Terry Hollands.
Captains of Crush Grippers is a brand of torsion-spring grippers designed, manufactured and sold by IronMind Enterprises, Inc., based in Nevada City, California. IronMind founder and president Randall J. Strossen wrote a book in 2003, Captains of Crush Grippers: What They Are and How to Close Them, to address some of the myths and questions surrounding CoC Grippers. This book was revised, and the second edition published, in 2009.
The Fortissimus is a defunct event in strength athletics. The name means "the mightiest" and was a multi-event challenge at the end of which the winner is crowned as the "Strongest Man on Earth". It was set up to bring together the strongest competitors on the planet independent of the organisations to which they were signed, and also as a tribute to the nineteenth-century Canadian strongman Louis Cyr, which gave it many similarities to Le Defi Mark Ten International which last took place in Canada in the early 1990s. After its first airing in 2008, the strength athletics magazine Milo described it as the ultimate strongman competition ever held. Despite a successful edition in 2009, a reported lack of a major sponsor for 2010 resulted in the competition being suspended, no future contests have been announced.
Giants Live was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three at each contest will receive an invitation to compete at the World's Strongest Man contest for that same year.
Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more. In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Shaw has also set more than 25 world records in deadlifting, stonelifting, keg-tossing, grip related movements and more.
The All-American Strongman Challenge is a leading competition in strength athletics that takes place within the annual Californian FitExpo. Although North America has a number of prestigious strongman events determining the "Strongest Man in America", the "Strongest Man in Canada" and the "Strongest Man in North America", the All-American Strongman Challenge has added kudos because it is open to entrants from overseas with the potential to bring in leading international competitors as well. It is notable for the calibre of entrants it has attracted, with many World's Strongest Man finalists being represented.
Vytautas Lalas is a Lithuanian professional strongman. He is most notable for being the winner of the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic and the runner-up at the 2012 World's Strongest Man.
Mike Burke is an American strongman and a grip strength specialist from Aurora, Colorado. Before becoming a strength athlete, he worked as a construction worker.
Richard 'Pops' Sorin was an American strongman and a grip strength specialist.
Joe Kinney is an American strongman, grip strength specialist and crush grip innovator from Bean Station, Tennessee.
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