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Tmmicklabs


tmmicklabs

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Hi. My name is Travis and I'm a Gripaholic.

I've been messing around with the COC grippers since July of 2002.

I will retell the story of the infamous pickle jar incident to give you guys some history.

It was a dark and stormy night in June of 2002. My wife was making dinner and asked me to open a new jar of pickles to go with the hamburgers she was cooking. I grabbed the pickle jar and twisted and huffed and puffed with all my might but the lid did not budge. I struggled with it for a couple of minutes until my wife yanked the jar out of my girly little hand and proceeded to twist the lid off without any effort. This was very embarrassing. I was on a mission to build up my grip strength. I dusted off my old Wal-Mart Gripper...you know...the one with the pink foam padded handles. I could do about 25 reps at first. I used these daily for about a month and worked my way up to 90 reps. Then while at work one day something magical happened. A buddy of mine..Rick "Big Stew" Stewart came into work with a gripper he had just purchased from a local martial arts supply store. This thing was a monster. It had knurled handles and a shiny chrome spring. The spring on this thing was about 10 times the size of the spring on my Wal-Mart Gripper. Oh coarse I had to try this beast out. I was thinking in my mind, "I will be able to close this thing for at least 10 reps since I can do 90 reps on my pink foamed handled gripper". He hands the beast to me and I squeeze. The gripper and Big Stew both laugh in unison. The beastly gripper did not even budge. Not even a 1/4". I hand it back to him and have him try it. Same results. The beastly gripper will not budge. I am now a man on a mission. A mission to close this monster gripper. I called the martial

arts supply store and talked with the owner. He told me this gripper comes from China and is supposed to take 195lbs of pressure to close. I then start searching the internet for more information on heavy duty hand grippers and I come across Ironminds web page. Score. I learned about the COC grippers and the COC Certification Program. It is now the month of July 2002. Payday...I order a Trainer Gripper from Ironmind. A week later it arrives. I open up the package and give it a squeeze. Failure..I miss closing it by 1/16". I try again. Missed it by an 1/8" this time. I rest for a few hours and then try it again. BAM!!!...I nailed it shut. What a great feeling. A week later I am able to rep it about 10 times. I then get back on Ironmind.com and order a # 1 and # 2. A week later the # 1 and # 2 arrive. I try the # 1 and miss it by a mile. We are talking about 1/2" or so. The # 2 did not even budge. I compare the spring size of the # 2 to the spring size of the Chrome Beast. The Chrome Monster is quite a bit bigger. Is this thing a # 3 I wonder. Only one way to find out. I order a # 3 and a # 4. They arrive. The Chrome Beast is indeed the same spring size as a # 3. No wonder this thing is so tough. I continue my quest to close the # 1.

It is now late February of 2003. I still cannot close the # 1. I am stuck on the last

1/16" on this darn thing. Been stuck at this spot for months. On February 21st 2003 I

search the internet for COC Gripper Training Program. Bingo..I find the KTA Program and the Gripboard. I immediately purchase the KTA Program and Join the Gripboard. A couple of weeks of KTA and I am closing the # 1 and am also learning more than I could ever imagine from the other members of the Gripboard.

So here we are in April of 2004 now. I can now close my easy # 2 but I am by no means grinding the handles yet. I have also taken up bending and block weights. I've been bending since January 10th of this year. I did have a brief bending stint last summer but hurt my right arm from using the wrong technique and trying to bend stuff that a beginner should not have been trying to bend. Right now I train 2 days a week. Usually Tuesday and Friday. I train grippers first, then bending, and then I finish it off with block weights.

Edited by tmmicklabs
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Last Fridays Workout - 4/2/04

Gripper Workout :

5 closes of the # 2

5 closes of the filed down BB Master Gripper

5 closes of the BB Super Advanced Gripper

5 closes of the # 1

5 closes of the Trainer Gripper

Bending Workout :

2 "springy" 60d Polebarn Nails

2 60d Galvanized Nails

2 60d 8 Twist Timber Ties

2 6" Grade 2 Hex Bolts

2 60d 8 Twist Timber Ties

1 7" x 1/4" cut of HRS

Blockweight Workout :

5 deadlifts of the 25lb Hex

5 deadlifts of the 25lb Hex by the face

5 deadlifts of the 30lb Hex

5 deadlifts of the 30lb Hex by the face

Thats it for Friday. I had a pretty good workout that day.

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Todays Workout - 4/6/04

Gripper Workout :

5 closes of the # 2

5 closes of the filed down BB Master Gripper

5 closes of the BB Super Advanced Gripper

5 closes of the # 1

5 closes of the Trainer Gripper

Bending Workout :

2 "springy" 60d Polebarn Nails

1 60d 5 Twist Timber Tie...New PR

2 7" x 1/4" cuts of HRS

2 6" Grade 2 Hex Bolts

1 8" x 1/4" cut of CRS...new PR..my first bend of anything made of CRS

Blockweight Workout :

5 deadlifts of the 25lb Hex

5 deadlifts of the 25lb Hex by the face

5 deadlifts of the 30lb Hex

5 deadlifts of the 30lb Hex by the face

I will be resting until Friday - 4/9/04

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Congrats on starting your training log! Also congrats on your new PR's today! Your bending ability has shot through the roof since January. Keep it up. :rock

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Travis, the more logs, the better. Nothing beats learning from the experience of others. ;) It will be fun to watch your progress, and I'm sure you will enjoy keeping the log and getting feedback.

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It's nice to see you finally jumping aboard and using the report section. Your best workouts are yet to come.

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Travis, nice to see you here. Can't wait to read your log and learn from it as well as see your progress. The Yellow will be yours SOON! :rock

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4/8/04

Gripper Workout :

10 closes of the Trainer

10 closes of the # 1

10 closes of the # 1.5

10 closes of the # 1.9

1 close of the # 2

4 more attempts at the # 2..Just missed by a 1/16" on each attempt.

My hands are shot now. I hope I have enough energy left to get in a decent blockweight workout today.

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4/8/04

Blockweight Workout :

10 deadlifts of the 25lb Hex

10 deadlifts of the 25lb Hex by the face

10 deadlifts of the 30lb Hex

10 deadlifts of the 30lb Hex by the face

My hands are beyond fried right now.

I will do my bending workout tommorow.

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That is an awesome workout, Travis. It is probably one of your all-time best!! :rock

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4/9/04

Bending Workout :

It looks like bending the day after grippers and blockweights is a bad idea for me. Here is how it went down.

Attempts at a "springy" 60d polebarn nail..I use these to warm up with..not today though...15 degree kink...something is wrong.

1 60d 8twist timber tie...this felt pretty tough. I usually snap these like pencils.

1 60d 8twist timber tie...this one was realy realy tough. Things are not looking good.

1 6" cut of 3/16" zinc coated square stock...this one was also hard but that is normal for the zinc coated stuff.

Attempt at a 7" x 1/4" cut of HRS...Failed... Usualy kill these things..only got about a 20 degree dent.

Attempt at a 8" x 1/4" cut of CRS...U'd one of these on Tuesday..Not today though...only about a 5 degree kink.

Frustration sets in....tendon in right elbow area is hurting now.

Attempt at a 60d 8twist timber tie...5 degree dent...Time to call it quits before I get mad and hurt myself.

This is my worst bending workout ever. Next week I am going back to doing grippers, blockweights and bending in the same day. I've learned my lesson.

:cry

Edited by tmmicklabs
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Take a break, rest up, and come back stronger. Don't let one bad day shake you. :D

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It's not suprising. You're hitting 3 area's hard at the same time. You are only averageing what, 2 days rest between workouts?

High volume works, but you don't kill yourself. You gotta leave gas in the tank.

-HH

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You should not expect to be at "full strength" after a change in volume or doing something you don't normally do.

You need to practice CVI. Also, RURD.

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You need to practice CVI. Also, RURD.

I ran these through the search engine, but found no hits. What are CVI and RURD?

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4/9/04

Bending Workout Part 2 :

I stopped by a local Tractor Supply Co. Store on the way home from work tonight looking for some Grade 2 Hex Bolts. Jackpot...$1.14 per pound...Score...I purchased two pounds of these beauties. Got home and they were taunting me...begging me to test them out. Here is how it went down.

2 6" Grade 2 Hex Bolts Destroyed in 10 seconds each. Way too easy.

What a relief...I went for a third one but ran out of gas but put a 30 degree kink in it.

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4/13/04

Gripper Workout :

10 closes of the Trainer

10 closes of the # 1

10 closes of the # 1.5

5 closes of the # 1.9

1 close of the # 2

4 more attempts at the # 2..Just missed by a 1/16" on each attempt.

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4/13/04

Bending Workout :

Total workout time was 20 minutes.

2 5" 40d polebarn nails

4 6" by 1/4" threaded hex bolts

1 6" 60d 8 twist timber tie

1 6" 60d "springy" polebarn nail

1 6" by 1/4" grade 2 hex bolt

Attempt at a 6" by 1/4" grade 5 hex bolt...1 degree kink

1 6" 60d 12 twist timber tie...new PR

1 6" by 1/4" cut of Plate Steel...new PR

Edited by tmmicklabs
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Great work on those new PR's!! I knew that 12-twist would fall for you soon. Now, on to the yellow!! :rock

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4/15/04

Gripper Workout :

100 closes of the Trainer...not a typo..took me 10 minutes but I busted out 100 total closes on the Trainer.

20 closes of the # 1

10 closes of the # 1.5...aka...BB Super Advanced

I am such a volume slut today. My hands are fried now.

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4/16/04

Gripper Workout :

Left Hand..Closed the # 1 48 times in a 10 minute period.

Right Hand..Closed the # 1 56 times in a 10 minute period.

Hands are fried now...doing dexterity balls to speed up recovery.

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