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Chris Rice Is In The Grip Well!


Bill Piche

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From Chris when I asked him to give some background on himself:



I think most members of this board know a little about me but for those who don’t here’s the basics. I’m 65 year old – 6’ 2” tall and currently about 195# bodyweight. I started on the GripBoard in 2003 so I might be considered an old timer here. I am a retired letter carrier for the US Postal Service and did a lot of physical labor along the way as a sort of second job. My main hobby is rock and mountain climbing – the weights and grip training are usually targeted towards that end – I’ve been doing it for 31 years now. Grip training is a natural take off of climbing. I have accomplished most of the “feats” of grip strength but certainly not all of them – I hope some of them elude me forever – I can’t imagine not having a carrot out there to chase. I like competition and believe they are critical for development past a certain point for all but the “freaks” among us.



I started lifting weights in 1959 so I’ve been at it quite a while now and have seen about every training method come and usually go as well – all that seems to be changing are the names the “gurus” are giving things. I have tried so many training ideas I can’t even remember the names of everything so to me there is very little “new” under the sun. I have some fairly definite ideas about training but live under a saying Franco Columbo said about training “If it works, it works, I don’t care what anyone says”.



So ask away and I’ll do my best to answer.


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Great to have you here!
I've been waiting for another round of the well!

I've heard that you are one hell of a pincher :)

What are your philosophy behind 2h euro pinch?

What works, what doesnt?

In your training, do you focus on one thing at a time or can you train multiple diciplines alongside eachother?

I cant train grippers and thickbar and have gains. THikcbar kills my crush for example.

How did you come up with the climber curl? :)

Thats all for now!

Thanks Chris!

/ Peter

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Hi Chris,

Wow talk about experience!!

In your 31 years of training did you ever have tendonitis from all the gripwork and how did you deal with that?

Thanks,

Roy

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Chris,

From all the experience that you have, what kind of training methods have worked for you, both in traditional lifting and grip training?

Do you train to get stronger in your grip lifts the same way you do in other traditional lifts?

Thanks for doing this.

-Tom

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Chris, you are one of Grip's greatest assets. Your character exceeds even your strength. And you have the coolest garage gym in the universe.

Could you tell us about the most memorable grip contest you've competed in?

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Hi Chirs,

Thank you very much for doing this. I have a couple questions, though the obvious one about your approach to 2HP has been asked.

1. Why do you dislike grippers? Is it ideological, or do you feel they are not helpful for overall grip.

2. If you had to pick one exercise for general handstrength, for someone who didn't want to get into Gripsport, what would that be?

3. How has your training regime changed as you have gotten a little older? Have you noticed any significant decline in your overall and/or grip strength, or are you able to still make progress in areas?

4. How many pull ups can you do? (yes, this is a serious question lol)

5. As a pioneer of the sport, how would you like to see it change to reach a wider audience, and do you see that happening?

6. Speaking of sport, how can you account for differences in equipment in different venues of competition. I.e. an oly bar is pretty much an oly bar. Yes there will be some differences in bite and flex, but the tolerance is very very high as opposed to the Euro or grippers?

Thank you for your insight.

Mike

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Great to have you here!

I've been waiting for another round of the well!

I've heard that you are one hell of a pincher :)

What are your philosophy behind 2h euro pinch?

What works, what doesnt?

Peter - Pinch is not something that can described in a sentence or two. It's very complex to get the best out of "your" personal set of strengths and weaknesses. What works for one person may make the next one regress. Jedd, Brent, Andrew, Kody, Adam etc and I have all had discussions on technique and we all do things fairly differently - but we each take advantage of our own personal muscular advantages and minimizes our weaknesses. The secret for me was something David Horne told me - buy a notebook and write down everything you try (and try EVERYTHING) - no matter how silly it may seem - and over time a theme should appear of what is working for you better than something else. But be aware that things change over time as you develop - best width may change - angle of hands - all kinds of variables can and probably will change over time.

In your training, do you focus on one thing at a time or can you train multiple diciplines alongside eachother?

I cant train grippers and thickbar and have gains. THikcbar kills my crush for example.

I can't say that I train grip the same way most on here do. I take a longer view than what I can do in the short run. Something like 12 weeks to a bigger gripper - or pinch - or fat bar is a concept I do not think about for myself. I jump all around in my training throughout the year with a huge amount of variety but then several weeks out from a competition I start specializing on the events being held and adding in more volume but I can only do that for a short period of time before I over train and start going backwards. So "fat bar kills my grippers" is irrelevant to me because I don't look at things that way. Over a long time period fat bar will not kill but enhance your grippers as will a more overall approach.

How did you come up with the climber curl? :)

I came up with the "Climber Curl" because straight bar wrist curls hurt my arms - I have trouble rotating my hands that far - the solution seemed to be to simply turn the handles to the angle my hands were comfortable with. PDA had a device with straight handles that I used as a template and made my changes to solve my personal problem. It seems others have the same issue and the device has become fairly popular.

Thats all for now!

Thanks Chris!

/ Peter

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Hi Chris,

Wow talk about experience!!

In your 31 years of training did you ever have tendonitis from all the gripwork and how did you deal with that?

Thanks,

Roy

Roy it's not so much have I ever had but when have I not had somewhere :). But it not that often caused by grip training for Gripsport. I can pretty much control my training in the gym and backoff or modify as necessary - most of my problems come from the climbing - there are times when letting go isn't that nice an option and I push farther than I would in a gym setting. How do I deal with it? For me its about balance - if I can keep my antagonists strength in balance with the prime movers, I don't often have serious problems. When I do get it deep tissue massage, cross friction massage, proper stretching, and making myself back off from things that hurt under load. It is imperative to keep moving the problem area without or with very light loading to prevent scar tissue formation. Hope this helps.

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Chris,

From all the experience that you have, what kind of training methods have worked for you, both in traditional lifting and grip training?

Do you train to get stronger in your grip lifts the same way you do in other traditional lifts?

Thanks for doing this.

-Tom

Tom I want to save your question for later as answering it will likely turn into a small booklet :) Hope that is OK?

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Chris, you are one of Grip's greatest assets. Your character exceeds even your strength. And you have the coolest garage gym in the universe.

Could you tell us about the most memorable grip contest you've competed in?

Eric - Thank You for the kind words! And I love my gym - it my version of a "Man Cave" - many decades in the making.

My favorite Grip Contest is easy. It was one of John Beatty's Backyard Bastard Bashs- not sure which one. Anyway he had a Hercules Hold as one of the events and I won the event overall - the only time I have ever done so I think - at least beating the guys I did that day. John Beatty, Jedd, and big Chad Woodall among others - I remember going to the bathroom and walking back towards the events and Chads mom was on the phone talking to Chads Dad and she was telling him I had beat Chad in a Strongman event. It was my proudest moment in a Grip Comp. Wish I could pull it off again someday :).

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Mike

Thank you very much for doing this. I have a couple questions, though the obvious one about your approach to 2HP has been asked.

  1. Why do you dislike grippers? Is it ideological, or do you feel they are not helpful for overall grip.

Kind of all the above maybe. For me I don’t find much carryover to anything else but they are fun. But my issue is really much deeper than that. I tend to think of things as they relate to life, competition and/or certs etc. And grippers are a mess. I don’t like the V shape as it doesn’t really relate to anything I ever find in my life. The RGC rating system leaves much to be desired as to relating a poundage number to the actual difficulty expressed in the hand – looking at a table full of rated grippers (regardless of who rated them), it is impossible to tell which one may suit you better as to difficulty of sweep and close etc. The next issue is the whole setting process – when Chez was in the Grip Well he talked about how having a strong chest and shoulders was needed to set a big gripper – when I think about that (and it’s true) I can’t help but think there should be a way to test our crush strength that is a “hand strength” test and not one of chest strength and the “skill” of setting – regardless of MMS – CCS – TNS, block, or whatever. Looking at competitions on a World Wide scale I wonder how we can possibly compare ourselves to each other under these conditions. Judging can also be difficult with TSGs – being positive if one is closed in a hand shaking all over the place isn’t a perfect system. I just think we can do better – and I am working on doing just that in a little experiment I am doing with Sean Dockery – time will tell. I’m not sure that many people want a true crushing strength test – I think most want a “TSG” test.

  1. If you had to pick one exercise for general handstrength, for someone who didn't want to get into Gripsport, what would that be?

Easy one – Fingers Curls done in a Power Rack – Double overhand and double underhand grips. High reps one time with lighter weight– then low reps with moderately heavy weight – then massively loaded negatives once in a while – lots of rest in between. It does need something additional for balance like opening rubber bands or reverse wrist curls but as a standalone exercise it will make you darn strong.

  1. How has your training regime changed as you have gotten a little older? Have you noticed any significant decline in your overall and/or grip strength, or are you able to still make progress in areas?

The more things change the more they remain the same. What has always worked for me is variety. I have never considered myself as a “strength” athlete. My goal was “to be ready”. If a friend called and said let’s do a triathlons this weekend – or how about climbing a big wall next month – or an Olympic Lifting contest – or whatever - I wanted to be a few weeks away from being able to do that and being able to enjoy it safely. My big muscle strength has certainly declined over the years in spite of my best efforts. My grip strength seems to be “increasing”. I’m not sure I am actually becoming stronger per se but learning how to utilize my strengths with techniques that provide me with better application of force maybe.

4. How many pull ups can you do? (yes, this is a serious question lol)

Last time I tried I got 14 relatively strict. Generally I can do 10 to 12 on a given day. I do not do “pullups” as they hurt my elbows – I use a neutral grip.

  1. As a pioneer of the sport, how would you like to see it change to reach a wider audience, and do you see that happening?

Mostly I want to see it grow of course but I am tired of everything being about big men lifting big weights only. This sport is fun darn it and the current attitudes are not encouraging people to join in unless they are already at the top of the food chain. The IGC has instituted weight classes and we need to encourage smaller to normal sized people to enter the sport – and do competitions with that in mind. Certifications may need to be developed that are more suitable for the 135# rock climber perhaps and recognition lists or whatever developed to encourage these people to join in. The Arnold and Fit Expo are terrific events for what they are but they are not going to grow Grip as a sport – in fact they may even discourage it in some ways. That young man out in the crowd who sees a 400# man Axle DL 500# and says to himself – no way – and we never see him again. We need to do better.

  1. Speaking of sport, how can you account for differences in equipment in different venues of competition. I.e. an oly bar is pretty much an oly bar. Yes there will be some differences in bite and flex, but the tolerance is very very high as opposed to the Euro or grippers?

This is something that I don’t think the sport is ready for yet. At the moment there is no “money” in the sport and the “governing body” exists in name only – no “dues” or “members” etc. No insurance which covers promoters by virtue of belonging etc. No legal protection for officers etc. Promoters are free to do pretty much what they can within their budgetary limits as to equipment. And without money equipment is being made available in very small quantities and is not out there in bigger gym settings for people to try – which means slow growth potential. Seasoning is an issue no other strength sport has to deal with and I don’t think anyone knows how to solve it really at this point. Grip is going to have to grow quite a bit before the equipment can be made that can be readily available worldwide and made to any kind of exacting standards that match an Eleiko Competition set for example that costs $5 to $6000 for one set. I don’t see any real change coming down the road in the near future. And that is not an altogether bad thing maybe. I compete fairly often and talk often with most of the promoters – between us we lift back and forth on different Axles, Euros etc all the time – and what we have found is that generally our results vary little between different setups. Some “feel” better but don’t give numbers far outside our normal numbers. Temperature, humidity etc all play a factor as well.

Thank you for your insight.

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I don't have any questions yet, but I'm really liking what I'm reading so far. Lots of great info, and I really like your points about gripper training.

Thanks again for doing this!

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Actually, I do have a question now:

About the finger curls... That sounds similar to the motion used on a grip machine. Except maybe that the hand closes tighter. How do these differ, would you say?

Thanks!

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Actually, I do have a question now:

About the finger curls... That sounds similar to the motion used on a grip machine. Except maybe that the hand closes tighter. How do these differ, would you say?

Thanks!

I find a huge difference between the two. On a machine you have the back of the hand braced on the top handle - so what you do is a combination gripper close and dead lift on the bottom handle with big weights. On the finger curls you have nothing to brace on so it doesn't have a "gripper close" aspect to it - so pure fingers. Both have merit but I did the finger curls for years before hearing of the GB - I think it was responsible for much of the strength I had when I came into the sport. I think doing the finger curls with a Double Underhand grip with some cheating on the thighs can build some truly incredible hand strength in both supporting and overall grip strength. You can work up to fairly significant weight.

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Very interesting. That makes sense. I'll have to try it out... Thanks!

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I have a few questions I am curious about, regarding your long time in the iron game.

If you could go back and start your training life over again. What is the main things you would do differently? Regarding grip and overall strenght.

What has been your biggest motivation, during all of these years of strenght training?

This may be hard to answer under this circumstances. Perhaps better fit for a self biography or something. But I am so impressed by people who doesn't quit with the iron game, like so many, and do it for life, or as long as they can. So I just "had to ask"..

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Chris-

What is a good weight in your opinion, on the finger curls?

I would say 300 to 315# for triples maybe is very strong for a guy around 200 to 225# body weight but if you are a big guy probably more. It's not about what you can "do" as much as progression. At my best climbing wise I weighed about 180 and was doing double body weight on them without a full ROM. ROM becomes compromised as the weight goes up but isn't important really (even mini reps work well) - the really heavy overloads done very infrequently work well and the reps build "health" in the hands. Remember I had done these for over 20 years at that point.

Edited by climber511
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I have a few questions I am curious about, regarding your long time in the iron game.

If you could go back and start your training life over again. What is the main things you would do differently? Regarding grip and overall strenght.

What has been your biggest motivation, during all of these years of strenght training?

This may be hard to answer under this circumstances. Perhaps better fit for a self biography or something. But I am so impressed by people who doesn't quit with the iron game, like so many, and do it for life, or as long as they can. So I just "had to ask"..

Six Barrel Shotgun

I have a few questions I am curious about, regarding your long time in the iron game.

If you could go back and start your training life over again. What is the main things you would do differently? Regarding grip and overall strenght.

Honestly I don’t think I would change that much in my training life. I guess I would “DO” more and “train” less if anything. I would climb more mountains I know. When I look at what I would tell others I guess I would say to “learn yourself” better – if I had been able to listen to my body better when younger I might have saved myself some injuries which have cost me training time and of course progress. The “ten foot tall and bulletproof” idea we all have when young doesn’t always do us any favors later on. But without that early attitude we would accomplish nothing so it certainly has its place in the grand scheme of things. I think people today depend too much on others to tell them what to do in the gym when no one (NO ONE) will ever know you as well as you know yourself. I have never seriously trained my grip for over a few weeks at a time – I started too late and don’t have the recovery ability for specializing in it.

What has been your biggest motivation, during all of these years of strenght training?

I have one thing I think has been responsible for staying active all these years. Every morning when I get up I think to myself “today I get to work out again” or climb or whatever is on the agenda – it’s a gift every day - not a chore. I look forward to each and every day and what it may bring. Being able to do the things I can still do at my age is a privilege and I look at it that way – but I believe I have earned that ability perhaps in some small way. For me it’s not really about the strength training but about what that training allows me to do in the rest of my life.

Or maybe I’m just too stubborn and dumb to quit :).

This may be hard to answer under this circumstances. Perhaps better fit for a self biography or something. But I am so impressed by people who doesn't quit with the iron game, like so many, and do it for life, or as long as they can. So I just "had to ask"..

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Hi Chris,

Wow talk about experience!!

In your 31 years of training did you ever have tendonitis from all the gripwork and how did you deal with that?

Thanks,

Roy

Roy it's not so much have I ever had but when have I not had somewhere :). But it not that often caused by grip training for Gripsport. I can pretty much control my training in the gym and backoff or modify as necessary - most of my problems come from the climbing - there are times when letting go isn't that nice an option and I push farther than I would in a gym setting. How do I deal with it? For me its about balance - if I can keep my antagonists strength in balance with the prime movers, I don't often have serious problems. When I do get it deep tissue massage, cross friction massage, proper stretching, and making myself back off from things that hurt under load. It is imperative to keep moving the problem area without or with very light loading to prevent scar tissue formation. Hope this helps.

Thanks Chris! I think backing off in time in the gym is probably my biggest issue even though I've been working with weights for quit a long time myself (22 years, started when only 16) . :-)

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Chris,

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your answers.

I totally agree with you regarding contests, and hence I am getting more quick contests out there on my tours this year, and also to public areas, with them having a go. We want to find some more geezers like yourself :)

By the way, if I was ever going to come to USA to compete again, it would be the Gripmas that would tickle my fancy. This contest signifies what the sport of grip is about!

By the way I'm not coming to America, haha, not when the North Wales mountains and sea are only a 2 hours drive away!

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My questions have been asked and answered already. Thanks for doing this Chris

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