Developing The Crushing And Healing Hand

[DoctorOfCrush]

Dec 23:

Weighted Pullups: 53# x 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 After the set of 5, I really wasn't sure about 4, but it wasn't too bad.

Weighted Chinups: 53# x 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Pullups: 12

[DoctorOfCrush]

Dec 25

Warmup

MMS: 2 x 2/2

5 x 2/1; OC

2.5 x MMS attempt From here on out, I was just doing GHP5 MMS singles with my left.

2.5 x MMS attempt

2.5 x MMS Finally got the MMS.

6 x MMS This 6 might actually be easier than my 2.5. This felt pretty easy.

3 x attempt

3 x attempt

3 x braced attempt/ 2.5 braced attempt Still not even close on the #3.

Edited December 25, 2015 by DoctorOfCrush

[DoctorOfCrush]

Dec. 26:

A. Weighted pull-ups: 53#x 5, 4, 3, 2, 2

B. Ab roller: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Weighted chin-ups: 70# x 1 ; 53# x 2, 3, 4, 5

Brick Holds: 25# x 25-30s x 3/each side

I don't have a pinch block, but I found a brick outside my apartment and just strapped a 25# weight to it to try this out. It's 81mm/ 3.2 in on the side that I held. I wish I had more incremental weights. As of now, it's either 25#, 53#, or 70#.

Thumb Clamps: 15, 18, 18, 18, 15

[DoctorOfCrush]

Dec 27

Kettlebells:

Bottom up press w/ 53#:

R: Miss; Make

L: Make; Miss

The inconsistency was making me think I need to practice a few more bottom up cleans, so I did those for a few sets and will probably do them for a few more workouts until they are rock solid before doing more press.

Press: 70# x 5 sets of 3/side

Jerk: 70# x 3 sets of 5/side

[Tom Scibelli]

Nice job on the ghp6 and 2.5 closes!

[DoctorOfCrush]

Thanks Tom! I was super pumped. It was a pretty nice Christmas present to myself.

Dec 28:

Really tough gripper day.

Warmup

CCS: 2 x 1/1 I thought I might go for the GHP5 w/ my L today, but the 2 was pretty tough so another time.

20mm: 2 x 3/3

5 x 3/2

5 x 5/2 At this point I realized I just need to stick with the 2 for now on the L for reps.

5 x 5/ 2 x 3

5 x 4/ 2 x 2 I initially thought I was just getting tired, but I'm pretty sure I just set these poorly.

5 x 5/ 2 x 4 Three reps then I got the fourth braced.

Negatives: Right: 3 x 1, 1, 1

Left: 3 x 1; 6 x 1, 1

The negatives today absolutely destroyed my hands.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Dec 29:

A. Weight pull-ups: 53# x 5, 4, 3, 3, 2

B. Ab roller: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Weighted chin-ups: 53# x 2, 3, 3, 4, 5

Pullups: 12

Brick hold w/ 25# (R/L): 37s/35s 38/39 35/37 I have found that my left is marginally better in this realm of grip strength.

Thumb clamps: 18, 18, 18, 18, 15

[DoctorOfCrush]

Dec 31:

Phew rough workout. Might take some extra rest after this one. I didn't feel terribly strong right off the bat. This might be the first indication that I need to start stretching out my workouts again. It's been a while since I did.

Warmup

MMS: 2 x 3/2

5 x 2/1

5 x 3/1 From here on out, it's 5 OC with the L unless otherwise noted.

6

3 attempt

3 attempt

3 braced attempt/ 2.5 braced attempt

6 attempt

6

2.5 I seriously think that these 2 grippers might be the same RGC, and the more I use them, the more convinced I become. I'll be getting a lot of them rated soon.

2.5 attempt/ 5 attempt

20mm Hold: 2.5 x 10s/4s I just felt like giving these a try.

My arms are shot.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 2

Janda Situps: 3 sets of 5 one and a half reps These sucked hard.

Pushups: 3x15, 10x banded pushups I've never done the banded versions before, and they were pretty awkward.

KB Bench Press:

53#x6/side

70#x 4/4, x 2/1 (not sure how I got that first set of 4)

53# x 8/side x 3

[DoctorOfCrush]

Fought HARD to not do a gripper workout (I've been doing 2 days of rest in between, but I am transitioning to 3).

Jan 3:

Dumbbell rows: 30#x5/side

40x5

50x5

60x5

70x5

80x5

90x5

100x5x5

Walking lunges: 100# x12 x3

What I actually wanted to do today was return to squats and deadlifts (I may start back going once a week) and maybe throw in some Pendlay rows, but the school gym is closed on the weekends during the undergraduates' winter break, so I settled for the above quicky. I found out that I much prefer Pendlay rows to dumbbell rows for sure.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 4:

So I probed the weightlifter's warehouse order form not too long ago by ordering a BBGM thinking that they would just send me an email saying that Warren was not making them anymore, but Bill emailed me back saying how the BBGM would be on it's way last week. It came in today.

Warmup

MMS: 2 x 3/3

5 x 2/2 Easiest L ghp5 reps I've had in a while. I knew that the extra rest had paid off.

2.5 x 1/attempt

BBGM x attempt/ 2.5 x attempt

3 attempt/ 2.5 x attempt

BBGM x attempt/ 6 x attempt

3 attempt/2 x 4

5 x 5/ 2 x 3

5 x 5/ 2 OC

6 x 1/ 2 OC

BBGM attempt/ 5 OC

3 attempt/ 5 OC

Well this workout was certainly all over the place. It was a mixture of wanting to try out the BBGM, getting really close on the #3, and having some time constraints that screwed up my planning. All in all, I felt way stronger today after the additional day of rest, so I'll definitely be keeping that plan of attack. Another part of the plan is to not even attempt anything above my GHP5 during the next workout. I also noticed that my L feels much better with OC and single heavy reps rather than reps, so for a little while I'm going to mix singles or sets with resets after each rep to help strengthen my L.

I'll be ordering a few grippers probably on Wednesday to hopefully fill some gaps that I have. The idea is a rated RB300N to hopefully fall b/n my GHP6 and CoC3 (that was part of the goal with the BBGM, but I'm pretty sure it's ~5 lbs heavier than my 3) and a HG250 that will hopefully fall b/n my GHP5 and CoC2.5 but that I can also file and not feel so bad about. I'm also going to give the left turn 2 a chance because as I mentioned above the reps are bothersome to my L, so maybe this can be a rep workhorse for my L.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 7:

Finally got my dip belt for pull-ups, so I decided to give it a shot even though I was pretty tired from Ob/Gyn.

Weighted pull-ups: 53#x 5, 4, 4, 3, 2

Weighted chin-ups: 53#x 2, 3, 4, 4, 5

I tried out hip belt squats, and they were pretty awkward, but I'll work out a set up to make them go more smoothly.

Hip belt squats: 70# x 10

95# x 6

95# x 6

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 7:

Pretty tired again from Ob/Gyn today. I'm really not liking this rotation whatsoever. . .

Focused on just getting in some mobility/strength work tonight.

Death march: 25#x 14, 35x16, 45x16, 50x14

For these you take a dumbbell in each hand and basically do walking single-leg deadlifts

Alternating seated press: 25#x20, 35x20, 45x20, 50x16

Dumbbell single-leg deadlift: 25#x5/5, 35x 5/5, 50x 5/5

I've never done these before, so I was really just testing the waters.

Alternating dumbbell Sotts press: 25#x10, 35x10, 40x10

I found out I much prefer doing these with the barbell.

Here's the last set. They got pretty tough, and I started to rotate to finish out the reps.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 9:

I was supposed to do this yesterday, but I had a terrible day on Ob/Gyn that included waking up at 4:30 and not eating from 9:45 to 6 pm. I was not a happy camper.

Warmup

MMS: 2 x 3/1; 2 x 4/3

5 x OC; 5 x OC These sets didn't quite feel right up until this second overcrush.

2.5/ 5 OC I just did 5OC with my left from here on out.

6

6 Not sure if I quite got these 6 attempts. They didn't feel like crisp closes.

BBGM attempt

3 attempt

3 attempt These were about the same as last workout.

6 attempt

5x5/2x5b

5x5/2x4b Minimal bracing on these. Just enough to keep the spring from rotating too much.

Negatives w/ extended handle: BBGM/GHP6 x 1, 1, 1

I went and bought some 3/4" copper pipe to extend the handles for negatives, and it worked out pretty well. I'll post a video of this below. I ordered the LT2 rated, RB300N rated, and the HG250 on Wednesday, so I'm hoping I'll get those in not too long. Super pumped.

Edited January 9, 2016 by DoctorOfCrush

[DoctorOfCrush]

Just an update. I got my new grippers today, and I'm super stoked to take a crack at them. The LT2 came in at 103 and the RB300N came in at 148. I'm hoping that the narrow spread and bigger handles will mean it feels a little bit lower. That knurling is vicious. I took a quick go at the LT2, and it feels great. The only thing I'm worried about is I'm probably going to end up filing it a lot, and I just had it rated. I did a quick set of 5, and it was pretty easy. If I can do 10 during my next workout, I'll start filing it because I'd like for it to be a tough 5. I guess I at least know the baseline difficulty. The HG250 feels weird with such smooth knurling, but I didn't give it a squeeze, so I'm not sure where it sits.

I'm on ObGyn night float this week, so I'm not sure if I'll be up for a workout later this week. We'll see.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 12: So. Many. Reps.

Warmup

MMS: 2 x5/ LT2 x5

5 x1/ LT2 x5

HG250 x3/LT2 x5

2.5 x1/LT2 x4

6 x1/LT2 x4

6 x1/LT2 x4

RB300N attempt/LT2 x5

3 attempt/LT2 x4

HG250 x4/5OC

HG250 x4/5OC

5 x7/ LT2 x5 This was a PR rep set on the 5 with my right.

My take on these new grippers:

LT2 - I really really like this gripper. It fits so snug in my hand, and the reps felt great. I think I overestimated my abilities yesterday. My limit today for strong, quality reps was 5, so I am really happy with this gripper. Once I'm in the 7-8 range, I'll start reconsidering filing it down.

HG250 - This one was interesting. It felt really weird for those first 3 reps I did. I can't really explain how. The resistance is exactly what I was hoping for and it really did grow on my as I did more reps. One thing that is annoying is that the mount is off. 1/8" on one side and 3/16" on the other, so the handles don't line up well, but of course that isn't a huge deal.

RB300N - This one is SUPER stiff throughout the sweep. I'll think that it does feel a little bit easier than the #3, but only just. I think I'll be surprised when the handles touch because my hands will be a touch wider than what I am used to. My copper extended handle fits perfectly, so I may be using that a lot.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 15:

Finally got a chance to go to the school gym on Friday, granted it was after 75 hrs of being in the hospital for night float on ObGyn. Did some light squats and deadlifts because I haven't squatted in probably 6 or more months. The goal is to hopefully be able to go in each week and just add a few kilos to the sets. Keeping it simple.

High bar back squat: 70kg x5x5

DO Deadlift: 100kg x5x5

Jan 16:

Warmup

MMS: 5 x3/LT2 x3

5 OC/LT2 x5

6/LT2 x5

300N att/ LT2 x5

300N att/ LT2 x5

3 att/ LT2 x5

HG250 x4/LT2 x5

250 x5/LT2 x4

250 x4/LT2 x3

300N att/5 OC

300N att/250 OC

Negatives: BBGM/2.5

I am addicted to attempts, and I know I have to stop making so many if I want to make progress. I just someone to take these heavier grippers away from me! My next workout will be exclusively quality sets with the LT2 and HG250. I'm going to try to not make any attempts on anything above the HG250 for the next workout or possibly 2 ( I said this before, but let's hope I can stick to it this time). I just sent 4 of my grippers off to Cannon for rating: GHP5, CoC 2.5, GHP6, and BBGM. I'm excited to see what they come out as so I at least have a number for my best MMS (the GHP6). I also know I'm gonna want to buy even more grippers once I know which gaps I need to fill. . . .

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 16 addendum:

Thumb clamps: 5x15

Brick holds: 25#x 41/29, 37/35, 34/34, 29/23

I think I just had a weird grip on the first attempt with my L.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 20:

Snow day here in East TN today. Lot of hanging out, playing in the snow, and gripping, of course.

Warmup

MMS: All done with HG250/LT2

5/5

4/4

5/5

5/5

4 very close to 5 on both

Click closes: I've never done these before, but I basically released it ~5mm b/n each rep. I really just wanted some extra volume. All done with HG250/LT2

7/8

6 w OC/ 7 w OC

6 w OC/ 7 w OC

Negatives:

RB300N 148 x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

I didn't go for attempts on the heavier grippers! I kept it to quality reps rather than screwing up my plan like I've been doing, so I was proud of myself. I can tell that my L is already getting quite a bit stronger just based on the fact that I could do the negatives on the L with the 300N. Before now I could hardly even set it properly to get a good negative out of it. The difference in the mount of the 2 sides of the HG250 started to get to me, so I tried to file the handle down a bit, but the difference was too great, so I just abandoned that. I really excited to get my grippers back from Cannon to see where they all stand.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 24:

Warmup

MMS: 2 x5/ LT2 x5

[HG250 x 3/1] x2

300N(148) attempt/HG250x1

3 (150) attempt/ LT2 x5

3 braced attempt/ LT2 x5

3 braced attempt/ LT2 x6 (rep PR)

3 braced attempt/ HG250 x4b

3 braced attempt/ 3 braced attempt

300N w/ ext. handle attempt/ 300N braced attempt

2 x8/ LT2 x5

Negatives: 3 x 1, 1, 1

300N x 1, 1

So I decided to get back to doing some braced attempts because I honestly think that is what helped to get me closing the 2.5 faster. Hopefully, I'll have a braced close on the #3 soon.

I got an email from Cannon after my gripper workout today with the ratings of the 4 grippers that I sent to him, and, honestly, I was kind of bummed. Here is how they rated:

GHP5: 109#

CoC 2.5: 126#

GHP6: 126#

BBGM: 147#

I knew that the 2.5 and the 6 were really close and possibly even identical, but I was at least hoping that they were meeting in the middle in the low 130s rather than the 6 being that low. I also did not expect my 5 to be rated so low either. I'll have to give the BBGM a few more attempts also because I was really thinking that it was a few pounds tougher than my RGC150, but I guess I was just off on all of these! So it looks like I'm stuck with 2 identical RGC 126s, a gap from 126-147, and then a 147/148/150. All-in-all, less than ideal.

I immediately considered buying one of Dreadnought's mid-130s grippers that he put up on here, but I think I may just end up filing HG250 and CoC 2.5, even though I really hate to now that I JUST got it rated. Oh well.

Here's my best braced attempt at the #3:

[DoctorOfCrush]

So I was talking to my wife the other night, and I was telling her how it kind of stunk how my grippers ended up rating. Before her eyes totally glossed over, I mentioned that I would probably just end filing down the 2.5 to attempt to fill the gap b/n my GHP6 and BBGM, but I also told her how Dreadnought had posted the same day a whole bunch of grippers in the range that I needed. At this point, I said, "But I probably don't need to buy any more grippers at the moment..." to which she replied, "If it was me, I would just buy the ones I knew I needed and that were already rated so I'd know exactly where I stood." So I immediately got back on here and bought 2 of Dreadnought's grippers. I love my wife.

So here is what I will have now once my grippers come back and the new ones come in:

CoC 1

CoC 0.5 filed ~9 mm

CoC 1.5 filed ~4 mm

GHP4

CoC 2

LT2 103

GHP5 109

HG250 filed 2 mm

CoC 2.5 126

GHP6 126

CoC 2.5 134

BBSM 139

BBGM 147

RB300N 148

CoC 150

A much better spread than nothing from 126-147. The ideas I have right now are that I'll probably still file my 2.5 126 a little bit for a smaller stepping stone to the 134. When I need to, I also plan on beginning to file the 148 as it has the wider handles and narrow spread. Plus, I honestly feel like it is harder than the 150 already. I think that every time I give it a squeeze. I'm really hoping they all get here tomorrow, but I don't think I'll end up getting mine back from Cannon until Friday, so I may wait an extra day for those if I can muster up enough self control.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 28:

I said it in my main board post, but I'll say it again: I was like a kid at Christmas when I saw all those grippers in my mailbox. . .

Great gripper workout today.

Warmup (threw in some inverted closes, which I hadn't done in forever)

MMS: 2 x5/ LT2 x3

5 x3/ LT2 x6

Filed HG250 / 5

126 CoC2.5/ HG250 (x)

134 CoC2.5/ HG250 Boom PR

139 BBSM/ 126 (x) Boom another PR

147 BBGM (x) / 126 (x)

147 (x) / LT2 x5

126 x2 / LT2 x5 This one was iffy. Not sure if I got the second rep, but it was super close.

HG250 x5,5,5 / LT2 x5,5,5

Clicks: HG250 x8,8,8 / LT2 x8,9,8

Negatives: 148 300N x1,1,1

So stoked after this workout. It was a long one with all the attempts, but really good overall.

Here's a few of my attempts.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Iffy 126# x2 set

I don't think they ever touched, and they definitely weren't touching when I got closer to the camera.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Jan 30:

Finally had some time to get back into the gym again today after the snow day last week, and I may end up regretting it altogether.

High bar back squat: 77kg x5x5

Took these super slow. They were ATG borderline paused reps. My quads are totally shot already.

DO Deadlifts: 105kgx5, 110 x5, 110 x6, 110 x5, 115 x5

I accidentally did 6 on the 3rd set. I thought I might have, and then my wife asked if I meant to do 6, so I knew I had.

These DOMs are going to suck, but hopefully I'll get a chance to get back in next Saturday and do this all with a few extra kilos. Super slow and steady.

[DoctorOfCrush]

Phew. This week on inpatient OB has been really taxing and left me with no time to log a workout I did back on Monday. Here it is. (By the way, I was totally right, and these DOMS from squats have been absolutely miserable. Back at it Saturday.)

Feb. 1:

Warmup

MMS: 2 x3/LT2 x3

5 109 x3/LT2 xCCS I did this so I could say I did and I wouldn't feel as bad about filing later.

Hg250 (filed 4mm) / 5

126 / Hg250

134 (x) / 126 (x) During this workout, I was attempting legit paused MMS sets rather than deep sets. This was the set where I realized I am not very good at that. When I looked back at my initial position when I paused for the camera to see, I was miles apart rather than being at a good MMS width. I'll just have to practice a bit more. The L attempts are all deep set attempts.

134 (x) / 126 (x)

Deep sets: 134 / 126 (x) braced attempt

139 (x) / LT2 x5

139 / LT2 x7 PR rep set.

139 / 5 x2

Braced sets: 134 / 5 x3b

139 / 5 x4b

147 (x) / 5 x3b

My goal with doing the lighter braced reps was to hopefully get in a rhythm and get closer than ever on the 147 BBGM.

Ok, so I think it is about time to make some changes to what I do on my 'MMS' day. I think my higher rep day is working well for me, but the lack of any organization of my alternating day may be hurting my training. I may go back to doing wider sets leading up to mms sets and doing multiple waves like I used to (e.g. wave up to max CCS, wave up to max MMS, wave up to max deep set). We'll see.

I would also kill for a 143 CoC 3 right about now. That just seems to be the next logical step. I thought about posting to the 'Wanting to Buy' page requesting a 142-144 #3, but I highly doubt anyone just has one sitting around that they would be willing to get rid of.