How Should I Train My Grip?

[Luka]

Hey there. I'm Luka, and this is my first time posting in this forum. I'm 17, 5 ft 10, 180 lbs.

I just started working out a few weeks ago and I bought the heavy grippers a week ago. When I first got them I was half an inch away of closing the hg200, and a week later I can now close it once.

The reason i bought them was so I could work on my weak grip, but I was shocked when I almost closed the hg200. My right is also way stronger than my left as far as gripping goes(and armwrestling,never lost to a kid the same age as me) But I guess that is normal.

Anyways are there any routines you'd suggest to me? I've found a lot of beginner routines but they're all workig towards closing the hg150, and i need to be working towards reps on the hg200 and eventually closing the hg250 once. My long-term goals are doing reps with hg300 and closing the hg350 once. Haha I can only dream about closing the 350 Thanks in advance.

[JoshW]

What helped me get the HG300 for reps and to close the #3 was get a range of grippers, ironminds, ghps and heavy grips.

Get some rated grippers from this website below

This website is awesome check it out for all the grippers you want.

http://cannonpowerworks.com/

PS- i would like an arm wrestle sometime as im only abit older than you

Edited November 20, 2014 by JoshW

[PeterSweden]

https://m.youtube.co...h?v=Qj9Ue9co4us

https://m.youtube.co...h?v=NHQdtyoiR08

These two videos are the most important that I know for gripper training.

[PeterSweden]

Also, train your thumb for a better base for the back gripper handle.

Actually you should train your whole hand to get an overall strong hand. Crush isnt true gripstrength IMO.

Thickbar and pinch is more useful in life I'd say.

[Chops]

They say that an undefeated armwrestler is someone who does not armwrestle.

Take Peters advice.

[EJ Livesey]

The first thing I would focus on is not using gloves or wrist straps when lifting.

[fortes mãos]

Hey there. I'm Luka, and this is my first time posting in this forum. I'm 17, 5 ft 10, 180 lbs.

I just started working out a few weeks ago and I bought the heavy grippers a week ago. When I first got them I was half an inch away of closing the hg200, and a week later I can now close it once.

The reason i bought them was so I could work on my weak grip, but I was shocked when I almost closed the hg200. My right is also way stronger than my left as far as gripping goes(and armwrestling,never lost to a kid the same age as me) But I guess that is normal.

Anyways are there any routines you'd suggest to me? I've found a lot of beginner routines but they're all workig towards closing the hg150, and i need to be working towards reps on the hg200 and eventually closing the hg250 once. My long-term goals are doing reps with hg300 and closing the hg350 once. Haha I can only dream about closing the 350 Thanks in advance.

If you want to get the bigger grippers I believe working on your set is the first thing.

PKS style! Watch the Paul Knight video on setting grippers since he is the one who created setting grippers.

Once you have a good set you can do everything else and be a smash monster!

Awesome keep it up!

[fortes mãos]

Sorry did realize someone already posted PKS style!

[speedy]

Hey there. I'm Luka, and this is my first time posting in this forum. I'm 17, 5 ft 10, 180 lbs.

I just started working out a few weeks ago and I bought the heavy grippers a week ago. When I first got them I was half an inch away of closing the hg200, and a week later I can now close it once.

The reason i bought them was so I could work on my weak grip, but I was shocked when I almost closed the hg200. My right is also way stronger than my left as far as gripping goes(and armwrestling,never lost to a kid the same age as me) But I guess that is normal.

Anyways are there any routines you'd suggest to me? I've found a lot of beginner routines but they're all workig towards closing the hg150, and i need to be working towards reps on the hg200 and eventually closing the hg250 once. My long-term goals are doing reps with hg300 and closing the hg350 once. Haha I can only dream about closing the 350 Thanks in advance.

What sky rocketed my grip strength is the use of a towel and sometimes a manilla rope when doing pull-ups or/and body rows. I actually put down the grippers for awhile did those exercises about 3 times a week for several months. Then one day I dusted off the gripper and crushed it. Not the one you listed but I think it was a COC #2. I am past that now but using the same method to this day and it is working quite well. Pretty soon, actually in 2015 I am returning to weighted pull-ups and will being doing at least one set with a towel.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Iman74

[Chops]

I must add, KTA training may also be an idea. There is a beginners version that is geared towards baseline strength. I added about 35 pounds to my crush using it. Google KTA, grippers, cyberpump.

[jvance]

I must add, KTA training may also be an idea. There is a beginners version that is geared towards baseline strength. I added about 35 pounds to my crush using it. Google KTA, grippers, cyberpump.

no offense to chops here but i vehemently disagree. KTA or anything like it that involves negative should not be used by beginners at grip training (ie; anyone with less than two years of consistent training). KTA has its uses but you'll need to build a grip foundation beyond just closing grippers before taking on a program that brutal to your hand and forearm tissues.

I did KTA and immediately went from the 2.5 to owning the 3 by the end of the program so i was thrilled by the results at the time. However the damage my tendons took on during the program started slowing me down about a month or two later - and it took me about a year of on and off misery for me to finally get rid of all that tendinitis.

DO THE TIME, stay the course, do the unglamorous grip and forearm work to build your foundation. Those grippers aren't going anywhere - you will thank yourself for being smart in the long run.

[climber511]

I'm old and conservative but Grip should not be a race but a journey. The bigger the base you build the higher the peaks you will eventually climb. When you are a beginner - train like a beginner and build a solid foundation of not only strength but resilience and "bullet proof" yourself from your elbows to your finger tips including strong wrists - build balanced strength all around your joints. You will only be as strong as your weakest link. Advanced programs are just that - advanced.

[Chops]

I must add, KTA training may also be an idea. There is a beginners version that is geared towards baseline strength. I added about 35 pounds to my crush using it. Google KTA, grippers, cyberpump.

no offense to chops here but i vehemently disagree. KTA or anything like it that involves negative should not be used by beginners at grip training (ie; anyone with less than two years of consistent training). KTA has its uses but you'll need to build a grip foundation beyond just closing grippers before taking on a program that brutal to your hand and forearm tissues.

I did KTA and immediately went from the 2.5 to owning the 3 by the end of the program so i was thrilled by the results at the time. However the damage my tendons took on during the program started slowing me down about a month or two later - and it took me about a year of on and off misery for me to finally get rid of all that tendinitis.

DO THE TIME, stay the course, do the unglamorous grip and forearm work to build your foundation. Those grippers aren't going anywhere - you will thank yourself for being smart in the long run.

Definitely listen to the experienced guys on this board. As a newbie i can only attest to what worked for me, probably shouldnt be giving out free advice. Ill dial it back....

[jvance]

I must add, KTA training may also be an idea. There is a beginners version that is geared towards baseline strength. I added about 35 pounds to my crush using it. Google KTA, grippers, cyberpump.

no offense to chops here but i vehemently disagree. KTA or anything like it that involves negative should not be used by beginners at grip training (ie; anyone with less than two years of consistent training). KTA has its uses but you'll need to build a grip foundation beyond just closing grippers before taking on a program that brutal to your hand and forearm tissues.

I did KTA and immediately went from the 2.5 to owning the 3 by the end of the program so i was thrilled by the results at the time. However the damage my tendons took on during the program started slowing me down about a month or two later - and it took me about a year of on and off misery for me to finally get rid of all that tendinitis.

DO THE TIME, stay the course, do the unglamorous grip and forearm work to build your foundation. Those grippers aren't going anywhere - you will thank yourself for being smart in the long run.

Definitely listen to the experienced guys on this board. As a newbie i can only attest to what worked for me, probably shouldnt be giving out free advice. Ill dial it back....

Chops, hope you didn't take my cautioning as me putting down or belittling your grip experience. I didn't intend for that at all, I just know I, much like you, had a very positive experience at first with KTA because of those quick results. I'm pretty sure back then I recommended other new guys get on board with it too, but looking back on year 2013 (plagued by nagging injuries), I would have waited on starting a program like KTA until I had built the foundation that can handle the extreme methods of the program. I still think it's a good program, but not for people who haven't at least turned wrenches 5-10 year before grip training, and definitely not guys with unconditioned hands.

A quick timeline of my journey, this might help to show some of the newer guys the pitfalls of overdoing it:

2008: Lifting junkie; discovered bending when a bendaholic I worked with showed me how to bend a piece of steel (i think a blue or yellow nail). He was friends with Adam Glass back when they were stationed together and would bring steel to work and bend all shift long. I was a decently built guy back then and he challenged me to bend a piece (i think a blue nail), and i, naturally, failed to even wobble it. He of course destroyed it, and i was impressed cuz he wasn't really a strong looking guy. Of course i didn't understand the difference between real strength and gym strength back then. I went on lifting and didn't really take any more interest in bending or grip for a few more years.

April-ish 2011 - bought a bunch of cheapo grippers from amazon - bored one day, and messed with them from time to time; mostly to show off (had a decently strong grip and was stronger than most people at work). I don't remember when i got the bending itch but ran across Ironmind and remembered how my buddy at work used to melt steel. So i bought the benders bag and quickly progressed to the blue nail. This also inspired me to start braced bending, which i quickly built the strength to bend 80D timber spikes. Then came the rebar.... in late August of that year i was trying to brace bend a 2 foot, 1/2" piece of rebar. I got it down to 90 degrees and i was trying to crush it to a U and i snapped my pectoral tendon clean off... So i was out of bending and any sort of lifting for about 4-5 months after surgery (not to mention 7 weeks without being able to work)

During the time i was recovering from the surgery i focused in on hand strength, mostly because i was very limited and weak in upper body movements and i needed something to feel strong again. I bought the 2,2.5, and 3 in early 2012 and closed the 2 right away both hands, but with substantial effort. I was a good 1/8th from the 2.5 and the 3 just felt stupid hard. In March of 2012 i bought KTA and followed it to a T; i quickly progressed through the program and closed the 2.5 within a week or two and closed the 3 in may for the first time. From then on i would be on and off at or near the 3 gripper level - but would almost only train grippers. Near the end of 2012 i was getting near CCS strength for the 3 and closed my 163# elite... but that's where the progress stopped. I started getting severe tendinitis from all the negatives and overcrushing I'd learned with KTA. The quick progress all but stopped and i couldn't even put in any good training on the 2hp or block weights because of the pain.

During all this time I managed to qualify for NAGSC but didn't do very well because I wasn't able to train the events much with the on and off elbow pain. It wasn't until later in 2013 that i got the elbows under control and started becoming more well rounded in grip and in full body strength again.

2014: Now I am a cynical and highly conservative grip athlete that learned the hard way.... I've come to realize that quick progress at anything comes at the price of everything else and it is best to take the rounded approach. I want to be around training as long as God lets me and I'd rather be a contender many years from now than be THE man now but burn out quickly.

Don't think of it month to month, where do you want it to take you and when do you want it to end. It is up to you...

sorry for the rant!!

[PeterSweden]

I must add, KTA training may also be an idea. There is a beginners version that is geared towards baseline strength. I added about 35 pounds to my crush using it. Google KTA, grippers, cyberpump.

no offense to chops here but i vehemently disagree. KTA or anything like it that involves negative should not be used by beginners at grip training (ie; anyone with less than two years of consistent training). KTA has its uses but you'll need to build a grip foundation beyond just closing grippers before taking on a program that brutal to your hand and forearm tissues.

I did KTA and immediately went from the 2.5 to owning the 3 by the end of the program so i was thrilled by the results at the time. However the damage my tendons took on during the program started slowing me down about a month or two later - and it took me about a year of on and off misery for me to finally get rid of all that tendinitis.

DO THE TIME, stay the course, do the unglamorous grip and forearm work to build your foundation. Those grippers aren't going anywhere - you will thank yourself for being smart in the long run.

Definitely listen to the experienced guys on this board. As a newbie i can only attest to what worked for me, probably shouldnt be giving out free advice. Ill dial it back....

Chops, hope you didn't take my cautioning as me putting down or belittling your grip experience. I didn't intend for that at all, I just know I, much like you, had a very positive experience at first with KTA because of those quick results. I'm pretty sure back then I recommended other new guys get on board with it too, but looking back on year 2013 (plagued by nagging injuries), I would have waited on starting a program like KTA until I had built the foundation that can handle the extreme methods of the program. I still think it's a good program, but not for people who haven't at least turned wrenches 5-10 year before grip training, and definitely not guys with unconditioned hands.

A quick timeline of my journey, this might help to show some of the newer guys the pitfalls of overdoing it:

2008: Lifting junkie; discovered bending when a bendaholic I worked with showed me how to bend a piece of steel (i think a blue or yellow nail). He was friends with Adam Glass back when they were stationed together and would bring steel to work and bend all shift long. I was a decently built guy back then and he challenged me to bend a piece (i think a blue nail), and i, naturally, failed to even wobble it. He of course destroyed it, and i was impressed cuz he wasn't really a strong looking guy. Of course i didn't understand the difference between real strength and gym strength back then. I went on lifting and didn't really take any more interest in bending or grip for a few more years.

April-ish 2011 - bought a bunch of cheapo grippers from amazon - bored one day, and messed with them from time to time; mostly to show off (had a decently strong grip and was stronger than most people at work). I don't remember when i got the bending itch but ran across Ironmind and remembered how my buddy at work used to melt steel. So i bought the benders bag and quickly progressed to the blue nail. This also inspired me to start braced bending, which i quickly built the strength to bend 80D timber spikes. Then came the rebar.... in late August of that year i was trying to brace bend a 2 foot, 1/2" piece of rebar. I got it down to 90 degrees and i was trying to crush it to a U and i snapped my pectoral tendon clean off... So i was out of bending and any sort of lifting for about 4-5 months after surgery (not to mention 7 weeks without being able to work)

During the time i was recovering from the surgery i focused in on hand strength, mostly because i was very limited and weak in upper body movements and i needed something to feel strong again. I bought the 2,2.5, and 3 in early 2012 and closed the 2 right away both hands, but with substantial effort. I was a good 1/8th from the 2.5 and the 3 just felt stupid hard. In March of 2012 i bought KTA and followed it to a T; i quickly progressed through the program and closed the 2.5 within a week or two and closed the 3 in may for the first time. From then on i would be on and off at or near the 3 gripper level - but would almost only train grippers. Near the end of 2012 i was getting near CCS strength for the 3 and closed my 163# elite... but that's where the progress stopped. I started getting severe tendinitis from all the negatives and overcrushing I'd learned with KTA. The quick progress all but stopped and i couldn't even put in any good training on the 2hp or block weights because of the pain.

During all this time I managed to qualify for NAGSC but didn't do very well because I wasn't able to train the events much with the on and off elbow pain. It wasn't until later in 2013 that i got the elbows under control and started becoming more well rounded in grip and in full body strength again.

2014: Now I am a cynical and highly conservative grip athlete that learned the hard way.... I've come to realize that quick progress at anything comes at the price of everything else and it is best to take the rounded approach. I want to be around training as long as God lets me and I'd rather be a contender many years from now than be THE man now but burn out quickly.

Don't think of it month to month, where do you want it to take you and when do you want it to end. It is up to you...

sorry for the rant!!

Nah, not at all, it was a good rant

Eye opening for me too, even tho Im not really one of those rushing guys anymore.

[Jedd Johnson]

Luka,

I have a tremendous library of beginner grip training information at my members site, http://www.thegripauthority.com.

The site has been up since 2010 and is loaded with how-to videos, articles, you name it.

I have workouts dedicated to specific feats, and an unbelievable amount of gripper training information.

Also, members get my grip training products free as well.

There is a TON of info here at the Gripboard. Don't get me wrong. However, there underlying theme behind all of my stuff at TGA is constant progress while staying safe and injury free. Just like some of the others have mentioned, you can't make progress when you're hurt. This is what I tell my members all the time.

I wish you well with your training.

Jedd

[PeterSweden]

If you like to read and learn from the best there is a copious amount of information in "the grip well" thread here on gripboard!

[hellswindstaff]

Hey there. I'm Luka, and this is my first time posting in this forum. I'm 17, 5 ft 10, 180 lbs.

I just started working out a few weeks ago and I bought the heavy grippers a week ago. When I first got them I was half an inch away of closing the hg200, and a week later I can now close it once.

The reason i bought them was so I could work on my weak grip, but I was shocked when I almost closed the hg200. My right is also way stronger than my left as far as gripping goes(and armwrestling,never lost to a kid the same age as me) But I guess that is normal.

Anyways are there any routines you'd suggest to me? I've found a lot of beginner routines but they're all workig towards closing the hg150, and i need to be working towards reps on the hg200 and eventually closing the hg250 once. My long-term goals are doing reps with hg300 and closing the hg350 once. Haha I can only dream about closing the 350 Thanks in advance.

Long term goals are actualized by conquering many many short term goals.

Your mind has no limitation... self-imposed mental limitations are self-imposed bodily limitations.

Dig around gripboard, find a handful of exercises that you want to get really really good at and hammer them for the next 5-10 years. Also, make sure that you have some sort of practice to keep your hands, wrists, and elbows healthy... because without your health, you can achieve nothing.

[slazbob]

Luka-

You're young and just starting out...this is a great time for you. Just about any regular training will give you results at this stage.

Just learn all you can, and train on the grippers a few times a week, for now. Then you'll start feeling your way around these grippers and start to realize what you need to do to get better.

Mastering one gripper for reps usually will bridge the gap for the next level.

[Norden]

...but first of all:

Understanding and mastering this technique will get you closer to shutting your goal gripper, than you will get from years of great workouts where you're holding the gripper wrong, not setting it etc.

Practice this alot with your lightest gripper.

99.9% of gripsters here would agree on this.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Norden