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Brent Barbe Is In The Grip Well!


Bill Piche

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What is your approach to failure? It's very well known that very few people get the same

results/progress/success by following someone else's template (what worked for them) to their success. For example, when a grip athlete succeeds in certifying on a hard gripper it seems that the majority fall for

the "band wagon affect" and want to know every little detail on how they succeeded. It's been my

experience that when I hone in on how that same athlete approached failure (along the way) this

seems to be the part that becomes most useful for me in trying to determine what may also work

for others trying to achieve the same or similar goal. Hope my question makes sense. If not, please

ask ask and I'll try another explanation.

Thanks for your participation sir!!!

as far as failure goes I would say in my case that mostly means comp results. if things don't work out the way I thoguht they should I do a couple things:

1. was I injured. at NAGS Championship this last year I felt I was off at grippers and pinch. I'm pretty sure I was able to narrow that down to loading the inch from my basement to the car at 4:30 in the morning. I screwed up my right trap and it was pulling my neck and shoulder all out of position. at Cahd Woodall's comp I had given up coffee for a couple of months and then had a bunch of energy drinks that day and made myself sick. so on and so on. the thing I take away from stuff like that is how to prevent it in the future. at this point I bring enough food/water/snacks that there's no way I'm going to eat something unfamilier. trying to make sure I don't do anything stupid to hurt myself the week before hand. i put a work stoppage on all house stuff that could mess up my hands. things like that.

2. if there's no injury I look at event planning. again, at NAGS Championship this last year I didn't do as well as I could on the medley. i feel that I trained it wrong. I set up everything I could at home and just went through and got it all. I didn't emphasize speed at all. i could have moved a lot faster on the day but, that's not how I trained. another mistake was that I had my wife filming me and telling me what I missed/needed to get. I should have split those 2 jobs up and had a check list for the spotter person. I missed the face levers because doing the filming makes it too hard to keep track off items.

3. go back and look at training and see where I missed points and how I had trained for that event. the first thing you need to do is WRITE THINGS DOWN. if you aren't keeping a journal you don't really know what you're doing. a number of times I would swear to the fact that I was hitting some event hard but, if you look back at the notes I only hit it once or twice and maybe the weights were light ssince it was at the end. so, not only can you see if you really trained it like you meant to you can also see if you choked or were being overly optimistic about what you could really do.

does this answer you question?

Absolutely Brent!

Thanks for taking the time to go into details!

Much appreciated!

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I'll be able to get to the back injury question later. I have a bit to say. anything else?

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Hi Brent,

1. If you could focus on one aspect of grip strength that was the most productive overall, what would that be?

2. Do you have any training tips or techniques you might share for bringing up Axle numbers?

3. As far as block weights go, for someone with with smaller hands, do you think its more useful to work wider implements, or smaller ones but heavier?

Thank you!

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I think I have a minutes to hours to sneak this in...Leg Questions!

1. With Grip Sport (in particular Grip Contests), in general how important is it to train legs (Axle, 2HP, etc)?

2. Besides Squatting...for someone training for NAGCs, what "bang for the buck" leg exercises do you recommend?

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The well closes after today for Brent but he'll then answer any questions left he has not attended too once it is locked.

Thanks everyone.

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1. Why do you train grip?

fun. I like the training and I like the comps. I don't really do anything else that I need the extra strength for. for me grip training is its own reward.

2. What are you general stats? (height, hand size, normal weight/division)

6 foot and right now about 220. my hand size is 7 5/8? I can't find a ruler right now. I was in the small hand size division when it existed.

3. As a member of the Grip Collective, what do you hope to help see accomplished in the grip world down the road?

more athletes from the lower weight classes showing up. since we made the weight classes and records I feel like it's exploded with lighter guys. I'd also like to see getting away from the same 3 events being the basis of all comps. variety is a big part of what interests me in the sport. I think a higher level of competition has been a goal for all of us and we're always working with new ideas to improve things.

I also have two damaged discs (L3-4, L4-5), so your thoughts on training with back pain are of extreme interest to me. If my back goes out, my grip strength seems non-existent.

3. How did you damage your back in the first place?

doing a bunch of reading I think it's likely that I had the disc issues already when I "injured" my back. lots of people have bulging and herniated discs they're unaware of until something else aggravates them. I was warming up on the deadlift when it popped. still light weight. maybe bad form, who knows.

4. How do you approach training for a contest…through or around back pain?

I have done both. I think I'm smarter now but, I have done highland games where I had to lay down between each throw from the pain. at this point I have a much better idea of what to avoid and how to rehab things when they do flair up.

5. Are there any specific exercises that have provided you with lower back pain relief? (personal example: straightleg deadlifts with toes on a board have helped me tremendously)

the biggest thing I found is that I try to eliminate as many of the small stresses as possible. seating posture, better shaving mirror so I don't hunch my lower back to get closer, warm up well, keep flexible. I've experimented with some exercises that are supposed to help the lower back and they make it worse. I can't do decline crunches at all. not without weight, not even for sets of 5. they make my back crazy. so, don't do it. i try to make a point on a lower body day to finish with some high volume low weight lower back work to flush it all out. also, standing ab work with either a band or weight stack seem to keep it from being stiff the next day.

6. Do you do any kind of preventative maintenance or measures do you use on your back?

when I watch tv I don't sit. I lay down. normally I keep something under my knees to keep my LB neutral. also, I make a point to do pt/rehab while watching tv. so, stretches for the whole body, joint work for the hips, spine, and shoulders. different things I picked up along the way. get a copy of becoming a supple leopard. lots of good stuff in there. depending on my mood I go harder or easier. there's a basket by the tv with a lax ball, softball, mini band, pvc pipe, 2.5# plate, 5# plate, a "peanut", etc. just spend some time working things out with what would normally be down time and you can get in a couple extra hours a week with no problem.

i also wear a rehband belt 99% of the time training. even if my back feels good, even if it's not lower back intensive. keeps things warmed up.

Much appreciated.

not at all, this has been fun.

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Hi Brent,

1. If you could focus on one aspect of grip strength that was the most productive overall, what would that be?

that's really hard to say. one of the things I like most is the variety. I think that right now I'm spending a lot of time with thick bar and that might be the answer. one of the reasons for that is that it doesn't beat up the skin like some of the events. my skin seems to soften up faster than I can toughen it. If I end up having a couple weeks when I don't train I can lose 90% of my calluses and toughness. for instance, I did grippers tonight and it felt like I should have had a hole in my palms afterwards. just from a couple light weeks. i guess that's a weird answer, not about carry over or bang for buck.

2. Do you have any training tips or techniques you might share for bringing up Axle numbers?

I have actually been working on some axle stuff I will post about later. sept 29th is my test day and I want to get the numbers before I talk. don't want to send you down the wrong path.

one of the things I figured out recently is that perceived effort is way off when it comes to thick bar(for me). what this means is that after a certain point all I can tell is that it's heavy. I use an inch trainer for DB rows at the gym. I kept trying to change the weight and reps to keep things fresh. I think I wasted several months because whenever I changed things they felt heavy but, I don't think it was as effective as it could have been. since I decided this I started hitting 5 sets of 7. when that's good move up 5# and so on. I feel like it's helping me out more than mixing it up did. I don't know why 7, it's just what I settled on for my benching day. for my pressing day I use higher reps sets (been 12's for a while) and I switch it up with other exercises.

bring up your forearm flexion. find a way to do wrist curls. I can't do them with a straight bar, bugs my wrists. i also focus on the top half of the motion.

pay attention to hand placement but don't be a slave to set up. I have found that my grab and go hand placement is stronger than a careful thought out position. at this point my body knows. so, experiment with thumb stretch, angle, etc. play around with a heavy weight and see what comes up fastest.

chalk vs no chalk will make a big difference depending on the implement. test and play around.

3. As far as block weights go, for someone with with smaller hands, do you think its more useful to work wider implements, or smaller ones but heavier?

without question the strongest I have ever been on block weights was when I worked smaller blocks with added weight. you can't get crazy, 2x10 with an extra 30# will not get you to a blob lift. after gripmas I was able to lift and hold a fatman for several seconds. at the time I was working a 45# hex with 10# extra.

when you push the wider blocks you end up making attempts that aren't lifts. blocks + weight you can get is much more productive than no lift. the bigger blocks can be more about working in bad positions rather than building strength. the bigger blocks also have a better chance of injuring you if they're at your limit in terms of size.

Thank you!

not all, I just wish I could have gotten back to it a little bit earlier.

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I think I have a minutes to hours to sneak this in...Leg Questions!

1. With Grip Sport (in particular Grip Contests), in general how important is it to train legs (Axle, 2HP, etc)?

there training cross over you get from the big lifts does carry into grip. lots of guys have talked about squats helping grippers. and some of the events can be deadlifts of not insubstantial weight. I think you can get by without but, you will be holding yourself back. I also think that if your max axle dead is 400 and you can only deadlift 400 that's a bad spot to be in. being stronger is never going to work against you.

2. Besides Squatting...for someone training for NAGCs, what "bang for the buck" leg exercises do you recommend?

if it's one or the other I would say deadlifting. the squats are good and will help you get stronger but, there is no squat event in grip. if you could only do one the deadlifting will get you stronger and help perfect the form you'll need for a comp.

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I forgot to close this 4 days ago. One question had to be removed because it did not meet the deadline. Sorry about that.

Stay tuned next month for a new addition of The Grip Well!

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