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Developing The Crushing And Healing Hand


DoctorOfCrush

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15 hours ago, avasatu said:

Yo. What is a power set?

Other people may call it something different, but basically you just take your goal gripper and practice setting it to parallel.  I treat these like a true attempt in all my preparation but then when you get the gripper to parallel you just hold it for ~3 seconds.  I found an older article by @bencrush while I was looking for programming ideas where he talked about it (http://www.atomgripz.co.uk/training.html).  I've already noticed quite the improvement

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June 15:
A. Weighted pullups: 25# x8, 7, 6, 6, 5
B. Weighted ring dips: 35# x5x5

A. FGSLR chinups: 5x5
B. Hindu pushups: 8, 8, 8, 8, 6

A. Weighted chinups: 25# x5x5
B. KB bench press: 58# x 6, 8, 7, 8, 6     The weird rep scheme just resulted from me going by feel.  I stopped whenever I had one more perfect rep in the tank. 

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June 17:
I'm banning myself from max attempts indefinitely.  I'm just shooting myself in the foot again like I did when I was trying to make it to the 2.5. I'm going to go back through my log and see how I progressed through that stage. 

R: MMS: up to 139# w/ 3 attempts at 144#     Close, but not that different than it has been for a while now. 
    A. Choked: BBGM(147) x 19mm, 19mm, 21, 21(x), 21(x)     I was feeling the max attempts here.  From now on I'm not going for max attempts here either.  It will be 5 reps at a given distance, increasing marginally from week to week. 
    B. MMS: IM2.5(126) x 5 singles
    Power sets: IM3(150) x 3 singles
_________________________________
L: MMS: up to hg250f w/ 3 attempts at 126#    This was the closest I have ever been on the 126#.  In some frames it looks like I might have gotten it, but I don't think so. 
    
A. Choked: GHP6(126) x 15mm, 19mm, 21mm, 23mm PR, 19mm
    B. MMS: GHP5(109) x 5 singles
    Power sets: IM2.5(134) x 3 singles

So like I said before, no more max attempts for the time being.  I'm going to go back through my log and see what was working and figure out why I deviated from it. Also, I'm super excited because I just ordered a Silvis T-Rex with ratings at 120# and 140# as well as the BTR handle, so I can't wait to start incorporating that into my training.

Pinch later today sometime. 

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June 20:
Grippers
R: 1" Block: HG250 x 3, 3, 5
    A. MMS: IM2.5 (126) x 2, 3, 3
    B. Click: GHP6(126) x 4, 4, 4
    Power set: IM3(150) x 3 singles
_______________________________
L: 1" Block: IM2 x 5, 3, 4
    A. MMS: LT2(103) filed x 5, 5, 5
    B. Click: HG250 x 5, 5, 5
    Power set: IM2.5(134) x 3 singles

Not the best workout, but I think my problem was going up on grippers for multiple exercises.  I probably should've done one-at-a-time/hand.  Nevertheless, the L seems to be improving in endurance.  The T-Rex is in the mail. . . 

KB
A. Windmills: 32kg x5x2
B. Chest-opening windmills: 32kg x5x2
C. Two KB windmills: 24kg/32kg x5x2
Bent press: 32kg x3x3

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June 22:
Been treating this week as an impromptu de-load week and just messing around with a few things.  Just started playing some disc golf, and I've played ~108 holes over the past 4-5 days.  Also, my T-Rex got here today, so I can't wait to use it on Friday. 

A. Pullups: 5x5
B. Ring Dips: 5x5
A. Hindu pushups: 5x5
B. Ring rows: 5x5
A. Chinups: 5x5
B. Pushups: 10x5

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June 24:
So first off, I love the T-Rex.  Today was my first time using it, and it performed just how I was hoping that it would.  I think that this gripper could be the one to finally help me break my plateau.  We'll see. 

R: MMS: up to 139; 139 x2 singles, T-Rex set to 130-135* x3 singles
     A. Choked: BBGM (147) @ 17mm, 19, 19**
     B. MMS: IM2.5(126) x 3 singles
_______________________________
L: MMS: up to 120 setting on T-Rex PR; T-Rex set to 110-115* x5 singles
    A. Choked: GHP6(126) @ 17mm, 19, 21, 19**
    B. MMS: GHP5(109) x 3 singles

I also threw in some hard, fast single crushes with the IM2 for R and the GHP4 for L to possibly work on rate coding after watching @mightyjoe's video on that topic.  I've already transitioned into warming up in this way, and I think I'll start throwing these sets in at the end of workouts. 

*After I bought the T-Rex I began looking at the RGC ratings board, where I knew multiple people had rated some adjustables from various depths, to see what I could glean about the progression of an adjustable mm by mm.  What I gathered is that the poundage increases roughly linearly with decreased mounting depth as opposed to logarithmically, which I was concerned about.  So basically, I extrapolated that I should be able to assume that the setting halfway b/n my 120 and 140 ratings on the T-Rex should be ~130, halfway b/n that setting and 140 should be ~135, and so on. This may not be 100% true, but the poundages felt that way when I was using the gripper.

**The goal on these sets was to complete them from 21mm, but I pretty sure the 5 MMS singles on each hand kinda drained my end range abilities. 

I love the gripper though.  The sweep is quite smooth and knurling is like that of an average IM, which I was happy with because I was worried about it being a bit too smooth.

This last workout culminated a 4-week period of me trying out the rep-style workout on Mondays and the MMS/single-style workout on Fridays, and basically I only saw an improvement in my strength endurance/rep ability rather than my top-end strength.  I think what I will do now is launch full-blown into @bencrush's plan for a 2 day program that I have been consideringIt consists of a Monday 'volume' day of attempting your best gripper (I plan on using the BBSM 139) for as many singles as possible and a Friday of choker closes at increased distance every week for 5 closes at the same distance.  There are a few other components, but that's the gist.  So basically, I'll be cutting out A LOT of rep volume.  I don't plan on doing more than a double on any one set for the next few weeks, just quality single crushes. 

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June 27:
So today was my first day of just doing singles for as many times as possible with my heaviest grippers, and it was a bit odd and shorter than I would have liked, but I'm going to stick with it and see how it works. 
R: 2 singles with 139#     I felt Friday's workout a bit still. . . 
L: 3 singles with T-Rex @120#     Same here. 

I also did 5 reps of rate coding on R and L with the IM2 and GHP4, respectively. 

Hopefully these numbers will jump a lot next week when I won't have done a lot of singles the Friday before.  We'll see.  This workout felt super short but that is probably a good thing.  

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July 1:
So as you might be able to tell, I've been pretty lazy this week when it comes to working out.  Between studying for my boards and playing a ton of disc golf everyday, I just haven't felt up for much apart from my grip workouts. 

R: Choked: BBGM(147) 15mm, 19mm x8 singles    These felt pretty good.  I've done these from greater distances (I think 23 or 25 is my current PR), but I knew that I was supposed to do 5 reps, so I went a little more narrow for the first workout. 
     
A. Power sets: IM3(150) x5 singles
     B. Rate coding: IM2 x5 singles

L: Choked: GHP6(126) x 17mm, 19mm x8 singles
     A. Power sets: IM2.5(134) x5 singles
     B. Rate coding: GHP4 x5 singles

I liked this workout quite a bit.  It felt weird trying to get warm for the choked reps because I'm used to having tons of MMS reps beforehand, but I eventually got used to it.  Next week the goal is to complete all the reps at 21mm (or 19 at the very least). 

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July 4:
Happy Independence Day!  So today went WAY better than I thought it would.  I was expecting maybe 4-5 singles with the heavy grippers on either hand, but that was not the case. 

R: MMS: BBSM(139) x 9 singles
    Rate Coding: IM2 x 5 singles

L: MMS: T-rex @ 120# x 9 singles
    Rate Coding: GHP4 x 5 singles

All-in-all much better workout today.  Maybe this is the beginning of a jump forward (finally). 

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12 hours ago, DoctorOfCrush said:

July 4:
Happy Independence Day!  So today went WAY better than I thought it would.  I was expecting maybe 4-5 singles with the heavy grippers on either hand, but that was not the case. 

R: MMS: BBSM(139) x 9 singles
    Rate Coding: IM2 x 5 singles

L: MMS: T-rex @ 120# x 9 singles
    Rate Coding: GHP4 x 5 singles

All-in-all much better workout today.  Maybe this is the beginning of a jump forward (finally). 

Great work doing 9 singles with the 139lb SM!!! 

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Hey doc, what's rate coding? I couldn't find where you defined it anywhere (though I admittedly didn't look hard). 

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7 hours ago, bencrush said:

Great work doing 9 singles with the 139lb SM!!! 

Thanks!  I really wasn't expecting it at all.  Hopefully I'll get at least that next week and keep moving forward.  Really liking the program so far. 

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4 hours ago, avasatu said:

Hey doc, what's rate coding? I couldn't find where you defined it anywhere (though I admittedly didn't look hard). 

It's one of the new things I'm experimenting with, and I originally saw it on a video from Mighty Joe (I'll link it below).  Basically, it's a method of increasing the rate at which your neuromuscular units fire in order to increase crush ability.  It's hard to increase motor unit recruitment in the smaller muscles (we max that out pretty quickly with prolonged grip training), which is usually the goal in training the larger muscle groups, so the next step is to increase the frequency of firing, which I hope to do with this.  It's part of the principle behind Pavel Tsatsouline's 'Grease the Groove' training modality.  

The way you do it is to take a gripper that is in the 40-60% range, set it, and mash the handles together as fast as you possibly can.  I do that and then hold them for ~5 seconds crushing as hard as I can.  It's hard to tell whether it is working yet (I'm definitely improving, but I've changed a lot of different things), but I can tell you that I have never mashed the IM2 handles together so easily in my life.  It's a toy at this point. 

 

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July 8:
R: Choked: BBGM(147) x 14mm, 18, 21, 23 x8 singles
     A. Rate coding: IM2 x6 singles
     B. Power sets: IM3(150) x5 singles
__________________________________________________
L: Choked: GHP6(126) x 13mm, 16, 19, 21 x8 singles
    A. Rate coding: GHP4 x6 singles
    B. Power sets: IM2.5(134) x5 singles

Pretty good workout.  I can already see how this is much more effective than my old way of doing things.  For instance, last cycle I would have just done one rep at 23mm, advance to 25mm for either a make/miss, and possibly advance to 27mm if I was really lucky.  That would have resulted in maybe 3 hard (not necessarily quality) reps vs. the 8 quality ones I did today.  Much better I believe.  I think I am going to plan on testing my 1RM after 4 weeks. 

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July 11:
R:
 MMS: BBSM(139) x15 singles     Geez, my pinky finger is eaten up after this one.  I really feel accomplished having done this many, and I can only hope that this is translating to a higher 1RM!  Hopefully I'll be able to start using my 144# instead.  I can't decide whether or not I'm going to attempt my 1RM next week or the week after.  I may do it next week just for the sake of having a shorter workout (my boards exam is next Wednesday). 
     
Rate Coding: IM2 x5 singles
_____________________________
L: MMS: T-rex at 120# x8 singles     I think that my left hand just need a bit more rest than my right.  Next week, I'm going to try and alternate my rests rather than doing my R and L sets back to back. 
    
Rate Coding: GHP4 x5 singles

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July 15:

R: Choked: BBGM(147) x 15mm, 20mm, 25mm x8 singles

     A. Rate coding: IM2 x5 singles

     B. Power sets: IM3 x5 singles 

_____________________________________

L: Choked: GHP6(126) x 16mm, 20mm, 23mm x8 singles 

     A. Rate coding: GHP4 x5 singles

     B. Power sets: IM2.5(134) x5 singles

Excellent workout today. I felt pretty strong on these and was not initially expecting to. Just didn't feel strong starting out (I've been tired each day from studying for my boards). I honestly was expecting to miss on the 25mm with the BBGM (the handles looked SO far apart beforehand). I look forward to attempting to the 144# RB300N on Monday.

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July 22:
I'm done with my second board exam (well the first half)! Finally. . . Ah.  

I did a gripper workout on Monday, but it was crap.  I was tired/sleep-deprived, but I went for it anyway.  I got my 139# and went for the 144# even though I didn't really think it was going to happen.  I honestly think that if I had gone for my BBGM(147) I would have gotten closer.  The change in handle size and spread REALLY threw me off.  After having not used it in weeks, the RB300N just felt so foreign in my hands for all of my attempts. Either way, I honestly wish I would have waited until the next day or just done a regular MMS day with the 139# instead.

Grippers:
R: Choked reps: BBGM(147) x 15mm, 20, 25, 27(x), 26 x6 singles     26mm is a distance PR.  I would've liked 27 for the appropriate 2mm increase, but I'll take a PR. 
    
A. Rate coding: IM2 x5 singles
    B. Power set: BBGM(147) x5 singles
_________________________________________
L: Choked reps: GHP6(126) x 17mm, 20, 23, 25(x), 23 x6 singles
    A. Rate coding: GHP4 x5 singles
    B. Power set: GHP6(126) x5 singles

I decided to finally get back into other training after having taken some time off during studying. I took it slow today though. 

Pullups: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
Pushups: 15, 15, 12, 12, 12

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Rate coding is currently revolutionizing my gripper training, along with an old school crusher machine for some post-gripper volume work. Super thankful for your suggestion there. Two questions:

1) How much rest between Rate Coding singles?

2) How do you choke to such wide widths? My chokers want to slip at the 24 mm mark as the workout progresses (I only tape one handle of the gripper because I don't want a "sticky" start since I close slowly).

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On 7/24/2016 at 1:39 AM, avasatu said:

Rate coding is currently revolutionizing my gripper training, along with an old school crusher machine for some post-gripper volume work. Super thankful for your suggestion there. Two questions:

1) How much rest between Rate Coding singles?

2) How do you choke to such wide widths? My chokers want to slip at the 24 mm mark as the workout progresses (I only tape one handle of the gripper because I don't want a "sticky" start since I close slowly).

I'm glad it's working for you!  I think that it is doing a lot for me as well even if it hasn't directly translated to an increased 1RM yet. 

1) I typically rest as much as I would between a tough single.  You just basically want to be as rested as possible to insure that you crush the handles together as explosively as possible. If I am doing an A/B setup like I typically do for my rate coding and power sets, I'll usually rest 2-3 minutes between the exercises (e.g. PS/2-3 minutes/RC/2-3 minutes/PS, etc.). 

2) I have never had a problem with any slippage up or down with my chokers. I actually wrap a strip of leather with tape securing it around the handles of the gripper before I choke it mainly to protect the handle, but I suppose that helps with slippage as well.  I close mine as explosively as possible, so I guess the stickiness is as problematic for me.  

I honestly wish I had something in the mid-150s or low-160s so I could just stay more narrow than parallel.  It feels like I'm getting diminishing end-range returns past that range. 

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I know what you mean. I could close my heavy 3.5 from 11 mm months ago. Too scared to train that close because it doesn't fit the status quo or the norm, but I think I will return to that range eventually.

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July 25:
Monday was my first day back at rotations, and even though I didn't do much, just being at the office from 8-5 drained me.  I did a gripper workout, and it was ok.  I did roughly 7-8 singles with my BBSM(139) and my T-Rex(120).  I honestly lost count of how many I did. 

Either Tuesday or Wednesday I did a pullup workout where I added chinups and some KB bench presses to the end of my pullups and pushups. I should've written it down becasue now I don't remember really when I did it. 

July 29:
R: Choked reps: IM3(150) x 13mm, 16, 19, 21(x), 19 x4 singles
    A. Rate coding: IM2 x3 singles
    B. Power sets: BBGM x3 singles
________________________________________________________
L: Choked reps: GHP6(126) x17mm, 20, 23(x), 20 x4 singles
    A. Rate coding: GHP4 x3 singles
    B. Power sets: IM2.5 x3 singles

Definitely not my best week of work, but I'm tooling with a few things that will hopefully help me out in the coming weeks.  We'll see. 

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Aug 1:
So as I alluded to in my last post I've changed a few things, hopefully for the better. 

Grippers - I've been using my 139# BBSM for my singles, but I have a 134# IM2.5 that has always felt harder than the SM for whatever reason.  Honestly, I've skipped it when warming up for the past few weeks and just gone straight from 126 to 139.  I've decided that at this point I will begin using this gripper during my MMS singles workout.   As soon as I can complete 10 solid singles, I will file the gripper 1mm. 10 more singles, and I will file another mm.  And so on.  I figure this will work out because I will be using a 'harder' gripper, and I don't mind filing this one, but I could not bring myself to do so with the BBSM. 

Pinch - I've really slacked off in the pinch department as of late.  I'm going to start back with workouts involving 5-10 singles with each hand as well as dynamic pinch work.  I've fixed my homemade pinch block to where it is now 2-3/16". 

Extensor work - Since I also plan on getting back into KB training along with this increased grip training, I'm going to add in more extensor work to see if I can head off or at least mitigate any golfer's elbow problems that may arise.  I made my own wrist roller that consists of a 1.5" diameter pipe with 3' and some change of cord b/n the handle and weight that I am going to begin using along with my EYHBs on a regular basis. 

TL;DR - I'm using a different gripper and ramping up other grip training. 

Grippers:
R:
 MMS: IM2.5(134) x10 singles          I won't be filing this gripper just yet.  This was actually 11 sets.  My 10th set was a questionable one, so I did an 11th and did not count the 10th. 
    
Rate coding: GHP4 x5 singles          I started using this one, so that I would absolutely be CRUSHING the handles together.  I want my neighbors to hear these handles clang together.
________________________________
L: MMS: T-rex @120# x10 singles          This was similar to what happened on the R.  My eighth set was questionable, so I didn't count it, but the next three were fine. 
    
Rate coding: IM1.5f x5 singles

 

Pinch: 50# x8 singles          Just easing back into it. 
Dynamic pinch: Clamp x8 sets of 5

 

Wrist roller: 10# x3 up & down          I've never done these before, but I just rested my forearms on a ledge with the cord at full length and slowly rolled it all the way up then completed a slow, controlled descent.  Man, do these things cause a wicked burn. 

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Aug 3:
I did some quick KB swings just to ease back into it and hopefully minimally affect my grip training.  60 1-arm swings w/ 24kg, 40 2-arm swings. Also did 3x10# wrist roller. 

Aug 5:
R: Choked: IM3(150) x 13mm, 16, 19 x5 singles
     A. Rate Coding: GHP4 x5 singles
     B. Power Sets: IM3 x5 singles
____________________________________________
L: Choked: GHP6(126) x15mm, 19, 21 x5 singles
    A. Rate Coding: IM1.5f x5 singles
    B. Power Sets: IM2.5(134) x5 singles

Wasn't feeling too strong starting off, so I knew I would probably just do what I did last week for this workout.  I was actually pleased that I was even able to complete that considering how I felt on my some of my warmup squeezes.  I was definitely noticing the effects of adding even a small amount of additional grip training.  Hopefully I'll get used to it as I incorporate it slowly. 

Pinch: 55# x3 assisted singles, 52.5 x2 singles.  I was going to do more singles with 52.5, but the webbing on both of my thumbs started to rip, so I called it before they did. 
Dynamic pinch: 8x5 reps  I attached pictures of my clamp I use for dynamic pinch because @avasatu wanted to see it, but I couldn't see an easy way to put it in a PM. 

Wrist roller: 3x10#

Photo on 8-2-16 at 4.49 PM.jpg

Photo on 8-2-16 at 4.49 PM #2.jpg

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Those types of clamps are almost impossible for me to close all the way with with grip!  Then again, I haven't used all four fingers to oppose the thumb. 

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On 8/7/2016 at 0:15 AM, avasatu said:

Those types of clamps are almost impossible for me to close all the way with with grip!  Then again, I haven't used all four fingers to oppose the thumb. 

That aspect helps a lot.  I work the clamp this way as well as b/n my forefinger and thumb. 

Aug 8:
R: MMS: IM2.5(134) x10 singles           I felt better about these, so I'll be filing 1mm now. 
     
Rate coding: GHP4 x5 singles
_______________________________
L: MMS: T-Rex@120 x10 singles
    Rate coding: IM1.5 x5 singles

Aug 12:
R: Choked: IM3 x15, 17, 21, 21(x), 19, 19
     Power set: IM3 x3 singles
___________________________
L: Choked: GHP6 x15, 19, 21, 23, 23(x), 21, 21
     Power set: IM2.5 x3 singles

I haven't been super focused as of late just because I have my last board exam (an oral/standardized patient exam) coming up next week. I've also been spending any free time playing disc golf because I'm currently addicted. 

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