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32-668: It was developed by brothers Brad Gillingham and Wade 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 various WSM Super Series Grand Prix's. The last time the GNC Grip Gauntlet was run in a competitive format was the 2010 Arnold Classic. Since then it has changed to an informal challenge with no official results maintained. Prizes are still awarded for successful completion of

64-868: A 4 ft bar and shared the world record with Brian Shaw for the heaviest Hummer Tire Deadlift performed from 15 inches off the floor at 509 kg (1,122 lb). In a stacked field, he again had to settle for the sixth place. At the 2015 World's Strongest Team competition held in Stoke-on-Trent, Felix and Eddie Hall (who competed under name 'Team Saxons') emerged 2nd place behind the champions Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and Matjaz Belsak (Team Vikings). In 2016, Felix won World Strongman Federation World Cup held in Varanasi , India, which his first and only international competition win to-date. Even though he also won 2005 IFSA British Championships, it contained only English and Scottish athletes. In 2023, Felix became

96-498: A 7-year run from 2004 to 2010 tested their hands at the GNC Grip Gauntlet. The Gauntlet eventually settled on three formats: Light, Medium and Heavy. In early 2009, the weight of the Rolling Thunder was dropped from 212 lb (96 kg) to 207 lb (94 kg), to correspond with IronMind's new version of the Rolling Thunder. In 2010 due to changes in the Rolling Thunder and a change from Captain's of Crush grippers to

128-442: A challenge to the world of strongmen to lift 300 lbs with Rolling Thunder, and it took 15 years for this challenge to be met when Mark Felix performed the feat at the 2008 Mohegan Sun Grand Prix , in the process becoming Rolling Thunder World Champion. Brad Gillingham Brad Gillingham (born April 26, 1966) is an American world champion powerlifter and strongman competitor from Minnesota , United States. Brad

160-696: A new world record in Rolling Thunder with a lift of 301 lb (136.5 kg) which ultimately went on to become the final record with the V1. In 2009, Felix successfully defended his Rolling Thunder World Championships title. In 2011, Felix won the inaugural Vice Grip Viking Challenge which took place in January at the LA Fit Expo. He also performed a 485 lb (220 kg) double overhand axle deadlift. Felix retained his Vice Grip title by winning

192-447: A suit, Felix wore a multi-ply deadlift suit for all of his attempts. In 2011 and 2013, Felix was selected for the Arnold Strongman Classic , which is widely regarded as the heaviest and the most difficult strongman competition in the world. In 2011, he loaded a 243 kg (536 lb) Manhood Stone (Max Atlas Stone) over a 4 ft bar and secured a sixth place finish. In 2013, he loaded a 205 kg (452 lb) Atlas Stone 4 times over

224-433: A website with an online store that sells strongman and powerlifting training equipment. Brad is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and coaches several elite powerlifters and athletes. Powerlifting Competition Records: equipped raw (unequipped) Strongman Records: Mark Felix Mark Felix (born 17 April 1966) is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to

256-619: Is a 6 time IPF World Powerlifting Champion and a 14 time USAPL National Powerlifting Champion . Brad has won 34 Major Events. Brad has set IPF Open World Records in the 120+ kg Class with a 395 kg (870) deadlift at the 2011 IPF Pacific Invitational in Melbourne, Australia, and a 397.5 kg (876) deadlift at the 2011 IPF World Championships in Plzeň , Czech Republic. Brad set the IPF Open Classic (RAW) World Record deadlift at

288-659: Is employed by the State of Minnesota. Brad is married to wife Diane and has two daughters Emily (21) and Elizabeth (18). Brad is part of the First Family of Strength along with his late father Gale Gillingham , a former guard for the Green Bay Packers , and brothers Wade and Karl Gillingham . Brad is the co-owner of Jackal's Gym in Marshall, Minnesota along with brothers Karl and Wade. Jackal's Gym also has

320-494: Is the 3rd most prolific strongman contestant in history. Felix has been affectionately called "The Miracle Man" due to his immense grip strength, deadlift ability, and continued impressive performance in strongman competition despite his relatively older age, with many of his competitors over a decade younger than him. Felix was born in 1966 in St. George's, Grenada . At the age of 23, he moved to Rishton , Lancashire, England. He

352-725: 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 several 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

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384-578: The 2012 Vice Grip Viking Challenge. He also set a world record in the Captains of Crush "COC" Silver Bullet event (holding a suspended weight from within the handles of a Captains of Crush no. 3 gripper) with a time of 43.25 seconds. In 2012, Felix set a new Rolling Thunder world record at the 2012 Bodypower Expo in Birmingham , England with a lift of 323.5 lb (146.7 kg), more than 20 lbs. heavier than his previous world record. However, this

416-804: The 2013 IPF Classic World Championships in Suzdal, Russia with a 375 kg (826) deadlift. Brad has set 16 IPF Masters World Records with highlights being a 400 kg (881) deadlift at the 2010 IPF World Championships in Potchefstroom , South Africa and a 1057.5 kg (2331) Total at the 2008 IPF Masters World Championships in Palm Springs, California . Brad was inducted into the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Hall of Fame in November 2006, and into

448-537: The Europe's Strongest Man from 2008 to 2020. His highest placings were coming in at 3rd place in the 2010 and 2015 competitions. Felix was also a perennial contender in Britain's Strongest Man competition, coming in 3rd place two times (2008 and 2013) and 2nd place four times (2006, 2007, 2015 and 2016). In 2010, Felix placed 3rd behind champion Brian Shaw and in 2012, 2nd behind champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson at

480-683: The IFSA version of England's Strongest Man. This led him to the IFSA British Championships, which he won in 2005. Of the five events, Felix won three (Deadlift, Farmer's Walk and Atlas Stones). Afterwards, Felix credited his victory to "Big hands, big heart" . In 2005, Felix was invited to compete in the IFSA World Open in Sao Paulo, Brazil which was a qualifier for the 2005 IFSA Strongman World Championships later in

512-785: The IPF North American Powerlifting Federation (NAPF) Hall of Fame earlier that same year. Brad was a U.S.A. Powerlifting (USAPL) Brother Bennett (Hall of Fame) Award recipient in 2003. Brad was inducted into the Minnesota Chapter of the National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA) Hall of Fame in 2010. Brad graduated from Little Falls, Minnesota Community High School in 1984 and St. Cloud State University in 1989. He lives in Minneota, Minnesota and

544-657: The Knaack Tools of the Strongman Award, was also awarded to both Felix and Brian Shaw at 2023 World's Strongest Man. The award was voted by the athletes to recognize the hardest working athlete in the year's competition. With his very large hands and a reported hand span of 13 inches, Felix is noted for his exceptional grip strength. He won the inaugural 2008 Rolling Thunder World Championships which took place at 2008 Fortissimus contest in Canada. He also set

576-516: The Rolling Thunder in 1993 and it is now a grip staple. One-hand deadlifts had long been a preferred means of testing and building grip strength and Rolling Thunder itself is a thick revolving deadlift handle (length: 7 1/2" (rotating portion is 6") and diameter: 2 3/8") to which weights can be attached. Such is the rise of its popularity that Rolling Thunder competitions are often held in conjunction with major strongman events, grip competitions and expos. Early on in its history, in 1993, Ironmind issued

608-474: The beginning of the 20th century. In 1964, IronMind introduced heavy duty grippers which are now known as 'Captains of Crush'. By 2004, there were five models in increasing difficulty to close (The Trainer, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4) and the selected gripper was the No.3. With the introduction of three more bridge grippers in 2006 (No. 1.5, No. 2.5 and No. 3.5), the challenge was offered in three different levels. For

640-654: The challenge. In 2002 Gillingham brothers and General Nutrition Center (GNC) introduced Blob Challenge in the GNC booth at the Mr. Olympia in Las Vegas, Nevada. After two successful editions, wanting to expand the challenge, they came up with the idea to test 3 main facets of grip strength: crushing strength, pinching strength and supporting strength. Therefore Wade approached Randall J. Strossen from IronMind Enterprises to get permission to use Captains of Crush Grippers as part of

672-596: The challenge. In conversation with Strossen it was decided that Wade's original idea to use a Thomas Inch dumbbell replica for the supporting grip challenge should be replaced with the IronMind Rolling Thunder . The GNC Pro Performance Grip Gauntlet debuted at the 2004 Arnold Expo Challenge. The three implements used were the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper, the York Blob and the Rolling Thunder. An estimated 20,000 competitors at Fitness Expos over

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704-493: The edges making them more difficult to lift. They were called 'Fatman Blobs' for this reason. The blobs used at GNC Grip Gauntlet were made from second generation York dumbbells which were sleeker hence relatively easier than the first generation. The weight always remained 50 lbs, derived from Sorin's original blob. Rolling Thunder's history goes back more than a decade before the Gauntlet first existed. IronMind developed

736-690: The finals. In 2007, he repeated his second-place finish in Britain's Strongest Man and finished seventh in the 2007 World's Strongest Man . In the same year, he also finished third in the Strongman Super Series Mohegan Sun Grand Prix. In 2008, he came fourth in Europe's Strongest Man and went on to finish third in Britain's Strongest Man, qualifying him for a third successive WSM appearance. Felix has said, "Every year I gain more experience and learn more about what I am capable of." Felix regularly competed at

768-407: The gold standard of world class crush grip strength. During final years of the gauntlet, they switched to Gillingham High Performance (GHP) grippers. York Blob was the sole challenge of GNC Grip Gauntlet in its two initial years. The challenge was to pinch grip and lift a 50 lb (22.7 kg) iron blob. The history of this implement goes back to the 60s when Richard Sorin was asked to refurbish

800-589: The highly acclaimed Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic held in Reykjavík , Iceland. At 2011 Giants Live London, Felix shared the world record for the heaviest strongman style Deadlift with Brian Shaw, Laurence Shahlaei and Terry Hollands when they all pulled 412.5 kg (909 lb). He then increased it to 420 kg (926 lb) and shared the record with Shaw and Shahlaei, but the two of them again raised it to 430 kg (948 lb). However, unlike Shaw, Shahlaei and Hollands who performed their lifts without

832-411: The light format, it was required to close the No. 2 gripper. For the medium format No. 2.5 was the requirement and for the heavy format it was the No. 3 gripper. Through IronMind's certification program which was also run in parallel to the GNC Grip Gauntlet, a lot of individuals certified themselves in the official certification list for the No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper which is now widely considered

864-535: The new Gillingham High Performance (GHP) grippers, it was decided by Wade Gillingham that the historical integrity of the event was no longer sound enough to continue compiling a list of winners. The disciplines of crushing, pinching and supporting were tested. Crushing, used the IronMind Captains of Crush grippers, Pinching used the York Blob and Supporting was tested using IronMind Rolling Thunder. Torsion-spring hand grippers date back at least as far as

896-512: The oldest competitor ever in the 2023 World's Strongest Man at 57 years old, in what would also be his final World's Strongest Man appearance. The record was previously held by Odd Haugen , who participated at the 2006 World's Strongest Man at the age of 56. Felix in 2023 also broke the record for the most World's Strongest Man entries at 18 times, while reaching the finals three times in 2006, 2007 and 2015. The fourth place in 2006 remains his best performance at World's Strongest Man. A new award,

928-449: The weight room at University of South Carolina . Sorin noticed one half of a discarded 100 lbs first generation York roundhead dumbbell with a near broken handle which he moved to his YMCA gym. He then removed the remnants of the handle and used the 50 lbs belly of the dumbbell for pinch grip training. He named it the 'Blob' because it was just a blob of iron. The first generation of York dumbbell bellies protruded out more from

960-634: The year, but he failed to finish in the top four and did not qualify for the IFSA World Championships. Felix also competed in the IFSA World Team Championships in 2005 as a part of 'Team World' representing Grenada , where the team placed third overall. In 2006, Felix placed second in the Britain's Strongest Man competition and this led to a place in the 2006 World's Strongest Man , where he placed fourth in

992-599: Was a dedicated bodybuilder and turned his attention to strongman competitions in 2003 at the age of 37, comparatively late in relation to other strength athletes. Felix also works as a plasterer, with his strength training done four evenings a week. Felix turned pro as a strongman within a year when the IFSA Strongman Federation was launched in 2004. He came third in England's Strongest Man in 2004, and in 2005 went on to come second to Eddy Elwood in

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1024-472: Was identified with being performed on a flawed V2 handle which resembled the same error V1 had, hence was nullified upon introduction of V3. In 2019, Felix set a new world record in the Hercules Hold event with 160kg in each hand at Giants Live World Tour Finals with a time of 87.52 seconds. In 2020 Europe's Strongest Man he surpassed his record with a performance of 92.37 seconds. In 2020, Felix set

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