Winter Clash for Cash: The Three Lifts and How to Train for Them

Last updated October 20, 2026 · By Zane Cope

The Winter Clash for Cash is an online grip contest run by Armlifting USA. You lift at home or in your own gym, film it, and send the video in. It runs from November 15 through December 31, 2026, there are three lifts, and you can attempt each one as many times as you like. This guide covers how the contest works, what each lift asks of your hands, and how to train for all three between now and the end of December.

A quick note before we start: this is our training guide, not Armlifting USA's rulebook. Rules can change, so treat their Winter Clash for Cash page as the final word on anything below.

How the Contest Works

Dates: November 15 through December 31, 2026. The live leaderboard starts November 22, and results are announced January 1, 2027.
Cost: a current Armlifting USA membership ($20) plus a $20 contest entry fee. If you are already a current member, you pay only the $20 entry. The membership page is here. In his announcement video for the contest, Riccardo Magni said the membership is good for 365 days.
How to enter: there is no entry form. You submit your competition videos to Armlifting USA on Instagram. Their page also says that footage you submit becomes Armlifting USA's property and can be used for the contest, promotion, and their media.
Attempts: unlimited. You can also do the three lifts on different days.
Judging: Riccardo Magni of Armlifting USA is the sole judge, and decisions are final. A lift only counts once it has been reviewed, approved, and added to the live leaderboard. Athletes who intentionally break the rules have their results deleted and are not refunded.
Weight classes: the traditional Armlifting USA weight classes.
Prize money: prize money will be awarded. Armlifting USA will announce how it is split after the first three weeks of competition.

Riccardo also said in his announcement video that a strong showing might earn an invitation to the 2027 Arnold Classic. That is not on the event page, so treat it as a possibility, not a promise.

Their page does not spell out how the fees are paid or what the video has to show. Ask Armlifting USA directly before you film your first attempt, so a good lift is not turned down on a technicality.

The Three Lifts

1. Orange Fat Gripz Deadlift

The rule: genuine, original orange Fat Gripz only. No replicas and no substitute brands.

The orange Fat Gripz are the Extreme Series, 2.75 inches across. Slide a pair onto a barbell and a deadlift you could normally hold all day becomes a fight to keep your hands closed. Your fingers cannot wrap far enough to lock the bar in, so the weight is held by open-hand strength and thumb pressure.

How to lift it:

Seat both grips the same distance from the center of the bar, with the slits facing the same way.
Chalk your palms and the full length of your fingers, not only the fingertips.
Squeeze hard before the plates leave the floor. If your hands are still settling as the bar breaks the ground, it will peel open.
Pull smoothly. A jerk off the floor is the fastest way to lose a thick bar.

Armlifting USA's announcement for this contest called for a bar that is 27 mm or thicker, which rules out the thinner 25 mm women's bar. Confirm that with them before you train on a bar you plan to compete on.

2. Vertical Bar Deadlift

The rule: Armlifting USA calls this event the Grandfather Clock Deadlift. Any company's equivalent implement is allowed as long as the gripping diameter is 1.9 inches. Armlifting USA names the Hilt, the Rogue Grandfather Clock, the GripStrength.com Vertical Trainer, Arm Assassin, and Nemesis.

This is a vertical bar lift. You grip a short steel tube that stands straight up and down, with the weight hanging below it on a loading pin. Your fingers do wrap around the bar, but under load it wants to slide down through your hand. What keeps it there is friction, thumb pressure, and how hard you can squeeze.

How to lift it:

Use a swivel carabiner between the bar and the loading pin. Under load the pin wants to rotate, and that twist pulls a vertical bar straight out of your hand. The swivel lets the pin spin while the bar stays still. Train with the same setup you will film with, so contest attempts feel the same as practice.
Wrap your hand around the bar and lock your thumb over your fingers. Treat that as a starting point: try small changes in thumb position over your first few sessions and keep whatever holds best for your hand.
Stand up to a full lockout, hold for a count, and lower it under control.
Start much lighter than you expect. A vertical bar is far harder than a rolling handle at the same weight.

3. 3-Inch Pinch Block Deadlift

The rule: any company's true 3-inch pinch block is allowed. Armlifting USA names IronMind, GripStrength.com, Arm Assassin, Nemesis, and Grip Genie.

Most people who train pinch do it on a 2-inch block. Three inches is a different lift. Your hand is spread wide, your thumb is working near the end of its range, and anyone who has only trained the narrower width usually finds their numbers drop sharply.

How to lift it:

Center the block in your hand, thumb flat on one face and fingers flat on the other.
Chalk the pad of your thumb and the pads of your fingers. Skin that is too dry or too sweaty slides on a wide pinch.
Squeeze first, then stand. Lift to a full lockout and lower it under control.
You can tilt the block, but you cannot scoop it. Armlifting USA confirmed this for the Winter Clash. A slight tilt toward your fingers often makes the lift easier, so practice it. If you are not sure where a tilt becomes a scoop, send Armlifting USA a test video before you submit an attempt.

How to Train for All Three

All three lifts are skill lifts. You get better at them by practicing the exact implement with heavy singles and short holds, not by doing high-rep forearm work. Hands also recover more slowly than most lifters expect, so the plan below gives each implement one heavy session and one lighter session a week, with at least 48 hours between hard days.

If you are new to grip training, start with only the heavy sessions. Add the lighter holds once your hands are recovering well from one session to the next.

Warm up first

Do not go straight to a heavy single with cold hands. Spend about five minutes opening and closing your hands, circling your wrists, and doing a few light sets of finger extensions. Then work up on the implement itself in three or four jumps, starting well below your working weight.

A simple training week

Day 1: Fat Gripz deadlift, heavy singles. Then pinch block timed holds.
Day 2 (two or three days later): vertical bar deadlift, heavy singles. Then Fat Gripz timed holds.
Day 3 (two or three days later): pinch block, heavy singles. Then vertical bar timed holds.

Heavy singles: after your warm-up, work up to one single that is hard but clean. Then do two to four back-off singles at 85 to 90 percent of it. Rest three to five minutes between them.

Timed holds: take about 70 to 80 percent of your best single and hold it at lockout for 5 to 8 seconds. Do two or three holds per hand, and stop well short of failure. These are practice, not a test.

Finish each session with a few sets of finger extensions. Grip training works the muscles that close the hand, and a little extension work gives the opening side some attention too. The GripSaver Plus does that job. For more on how often hands can be trained hard, see How Often Should You Train Grip Strength?

Look after your skin

Thick bar, vertical bar, and wide pinch work are hard on calluses. File down thick or rough calluses so they do not catch and tear, keep your hands moisturized on rest days, and end the session if a callus starts to tear. A torn hand can cost you more training days than a missed lift.

From now until November 15

Use the weeks before the contest opens to learn the implements. Find your starting numbers in week one, then add small amounts each week. Do not test a true maximum every session. The goal is to arrive on November 15 knowing exactly how each lift feels and what a solid first attempt looks like.

During the contest

Get on the board early. Submit a lift you can make comfortably in the first week. A safe number on the leaderboard beats a miss.
Retest every 10 to 14 days. Unlimited attempts is an advantage only if you keep training between them. Maxing out every session wears your hands down and your numbers stall.
Do not force a test day. If your warm-ups feel slow or your hands are sore, train lighter and test another day. You have until December 31.
Film every heavy single. Your best lift of the contest may come on a day you did not plan to test.
Leave time at the end. A lift does not count until Armlifting USA has reviewed it, so do not save your best attempt for the last evening of December.

If you want a fuller picture of how to plan heavy and light weeks, our guide to periodized grip training walks through it.

What You Need

Two of the three lifts accept any brand that meets the size rule, and GripStrength.com's implements are named in Armlifting USA's rules for both. The Fat Gripz are the one item that has to be the exact product.

Vertical Bar Deadlift: the Country Crush Vertical Lift Trainer, a 1.90-inch by 6-inch steel vertical bar. This is the implement their rules list as the GripStrength.com Vertical Trainer.
3-Inch Pinch Block Deadlift: the Country Crush Pinch Block in the 3-inch width.
Orange Fat Gripz Deadlift: genuine Fat Gripz Extreme Series, the orange pair.
A swivel carabiner and a loading pin for the vertical bar and the pinch block.
A barbell, plates, and chalk.

We put the three implements and the swivel carabiner together as a set so you can order everything at once:

Winter Clash for Cash Package, Set 2: all three implements plus the swivel carabiner, for lifters who already own a loading pin.
Winter Clash for Cash Package, Set 1: the same set with a Country Crush Loading Pin, in your choice of a 15-inch Olympic pin or a 12-inch standard pin.

Orders typically ship within two business days. Give yourself training time before November 15 and order early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to do all three lifts on the same day?

No. Armlifting USA's rules say the events may be performed on different days, and you have unlimited attempts on each one through December 31.

Can I use a different brand of thick grips for the Fat Gripz lift?

No. The rule is genuine, original orange Fat Gripz only, with no replicas or substitute brands. The other two lifts allow any brand that meets the size rule.

Is the Country Crush Vertical Lift Trainer the right size?

Yes. The rule calls for a gripping diameter of 1.9 inches, and the Vertical Lift Trainer measures 1.90 inches across. Armlifting USA lists it by name as an accepted implement.

Can I tilt the pinch block?

Yes. Armlifting USA confirmed that tilting the 3-inch block is allowed for the Winter Clash, but scooping it is not. If you are unsure whether your technique counts as a scoop, ask them before you submit.

I have never competed in grip sport. Can I enter?

Yes. The contest is online, so there is no travel and no platform to walk out on. You need a current Armlifting USA membership, the entry fee, the three implements, and a phone to film with. Our article on getting involved in grip strength competitions covers what to expect from the sport.