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First Workout For Beginners


David Horne

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I seem to be seeing a lot of newbies jumping into all sorts of feats of strength's, including bending before they have got any real base strength in the hands and wrists.

This is what I would advise to the pure beginner to start with, for a good few months before he/she decides on the path they want to choose. I think this will stop a lot of injuries that are happening due to imbalances between certain areas.

Exercises

1. Two Hands Pinch Lift for holds, also use work gloves to protect your skin.

2. Finger curls with an Olympic Bar, overhand grip. Hold it on the last set when you can't do anymore finger curls.

3. Two Hand Wrist Curl. Normal, with a comfortable range of motion. Do not let the bar go into your fingertips like some bodybuilders do, also do them with your thumb under the bar as you are training your wrists and don't want to fight against the thumb digit on top of the bar.

4. Two Hands Reverse Wrist Curl.

Do the Pinch holds for 10-15 secs, and the other exercises for 15-20 reps.

1. How often?

I would do them 3 times a week if you can, but twice a week if struggling with this.

2. How many sets of each?

I would say 3 sets per exercise, which you should easily do quickly. If this is a struggle then go down to 2 sets.

3. What about crushing?

The 'crushing' exercise is Finger curls with an Olympic Bar, overhand grip. This is an easy exercise to learn for the beginner and doesn't have the techniques of setting, etc. Grippers can be brought in later when they want to excel at this implement.

4. Why the gloves with pinching?

You can easily tear the skin in between the index finger and thumb, which would put you out of action, especially since you will be pinching 3 times a week. This initial program for the beginners is all about strengthening, and the gloves will make it a tougher exercise, but safer for the skin.

5. Should you do all these exercises on one day?

Yes. In the order I stated.

Hope this helps,

David

Edited by Wannagrip
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I think this would be a good addition to the FAQ.

Some questions:

How often?

How many sets of each?

What about crushing?

Why the gloves with pinching?

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Should you do all these exercises on one day?

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Answers to questions;

1. How often?

I would do them 3 times a week if you can, but twice a week if struggling with this.

2. How many sets of each?

I would say 3 sets per exercise, which you should easily do quickly. If this is a struggle then go down to 2 sets.

3. What about crushing?

The 'crushing' exercise is Finger curls with an Olympic Bar, overhand grip. This is an easy exercise to learn for the beginner and doesn't have the techniques of setting, etc. Grippers can be brought in later when they want to excel at this implement.

4. Why the gloves with pinching?

You can easily tear the skin in between the index finger and thumb, which would put you out of action, especially since you will be pinching 3 times a week. This initial program for the beginners is all about strengthening, and the gloves will make it a tougher exercise, but safer for the skin.

5. Should you do all these exercises on one day?

Yes. In the order I stated.

Hope this answers your questions.

David

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David, I would have suffered a lot less nagging injuries if I would have done this first. It is real hard not grabbing grippers or bending bars and going full out right away. This is really good information.

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Outstanding! Definitely worth pinning.

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Great article David.

My wrists are still my weak links especially for bending.

Its easy to hurt yourself since bends usually are max (or beyond if it doesn't move) attempts.

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Great advice David. I wish I would of done something like this for 6 months to a year to develope a base. Probably not a bad idea for the more experienced lifter to go back to this type of routine after specializing on something else or after a hard cycle.

Austin

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Austin,

Yes, the program could be used by an experienced lifter after he's been specializing for a certain feat or contest. Hell, I still use these exercises.

David

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Any imbalance can be found-out when doing a tough feat of strength, this may cause an injury. Wrists seem to be getting injured recently.

David

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There is a lot of sound advice in those post. If a newbie feels that this is not enough, or they should be ripping card decks right away, they do not have the patience, persistance, and sure won't have the strength to make it very far.

I don't have the patience for people who want to jump headlong into bending, grippers, and other "cooler", visual feats of gripping because it's no different from a child's facination with anything shiney: use the sense that God gave a mule for crying out loud.

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David

Great post! Thanks! Question - what about levering work as Bender suggests for bending prep?

Could you include that at the beginning or add it in later or do you think it necessary at all for beginners? I found levering work to be a missing link in my own training and would like your input on it. Thanks, Chuck

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Chuck,

Add levering later when you know that your goal is bending. The wrist curls are safer than a leverage exercise, because of the leverage principal, so better for beginners.

David

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Thanks for this post David, As a newbie this is exactly what I need. I'm going to make this my routine for the next few months. I had been using a wrist roller and sledge, but will drop them and work on this instead.

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Hi David, quick question - what about any thick bar work, would you recommend i drop this completely to build up a base a strength with the program you outlined, or is it ok to continue with in conjunction with the program?

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Exercises

1. Two Hands Pinch Lift for holds, also use work gloves to protect your skin.

2. Finger curls with an Olympic Bar, overhand grip. Hold it on the last set when you can't do anymore finger curls.

3. Two Hand Wrist Curl. Normal, with a comfortable range of motion. Do not let the bar go into your fingertips like some bodybuilders do, also do them with your thumb under the bar as you are training your wrists and don't want to fight against the thumb digit on top of the bar.

4. Two Hands Reverse Wrist Curl.

Just to clarify: sorry*

2. Finger curls- stand facing bar and grab bar w/overhand grip and curl to about 90deg. forearm and wrist blaster?

3. Two hand wrist curl- standing or sitting on bench w/hands hanging over edge?

4. Two hands reverse wrist curl- standing with back to bar?

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Great plan for the basics, David.

The advantage of the plan is, that you don't need much equipment: only a bar and plates.

If you are an advanced lifter, who wants to train a basic program too, you can use the same program with much success, I'm sure.

If you have more equipment you could modify this plan a bit:

Crush:

I very like the idea, to train the crush with a bar, not with a gripper, because, closing grippers is very technical. But training with a parallel gripmachine would work also, I think. The advantage of a gripmachine over the fingercurling exercise is, that you have pressure on your thumbpad too. It's a different feeling.

Pinch:

I would suggest one modification. I would train my pinch with a TTK (if you have the equipment, of course), because I think, dynamic exercises are better for a base-training.

What do you think about this?

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I'll answer these questions.

timtim

1. what about any thick bar work?

I think the Two Hands Pinch Lift is sufficiant work for the thumbs, and also the fingers, which will get worked again with the 'crushing' exercise Finger Curls. No need to add extra at this stage. If later you decide that you are going to go for thick bar work then cool. Also as Florian states most people have some weights and plates.

la

2. Finger curls- stand facing bar and grab bar w/overhand grip and curl to about 90deg. forearm and wrist blaster?

Deadlift the bar, with an overhand grip. Do not use your wrists, only the fingers. Allow the weight to drop in your fingertips, then 'CRUSH' it back up to a clenched fist.

3. Two hand wrist curl- standing or sitting on bench w/hands hanging over edge?

Sitting with arms on legs or bench (whatever is more comfortable), and yes hands over the edge.

4. Two hands reverse wrist curl- standing with back to bar?

No. Sitting just like normal wrist curls, but with your knuckles pointing upwards. It works your wrist extensors. You will not need much weight for this, in fact start with the empty bar. Also if you prefer use a ez bar, if you're not very flexible in the wrist.

Florian,

I doubt many total-beginners would be purchasing a TTK, and plate loaded gripper. But maybe they would :laugh

The problem with the plate loaded gripper is that many people cheat and kinda shrug or deadlift the weight. I think a newbies enthusiasm would get the better of him and he'd be doing a bit of a deadlift! :tongue

As for training your thumbs, the Pinch is easy to do, and the TTK is another machine that is easy to cheat on.

David

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Terrific post, but then I've come to expect no less from this man, and this board.

It is real hard not grabbing grippers or bending bars and going full out right away.

Amen to that!
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