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Rolling Thunder Tips


Bill Piche

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1) Sets and reps schemes: As with my 5 or so weeks training between the European and GGC (by the way I hadn't down any RT work for at least a year and still won that round so...). I favour triples and % of 1 rep max (1RM). Here's what I did. I divided the number of potential training sessions and tried a 5% increase each session thus: session one 3 x 1 x 80% 1rm, s2 3 x 1 85% 1rm etc, etc.

2) No chalk on a new handle: at the GGC I noticed Rick Walker and others very carefully cleaning the handle of moisture and then almost 'chinese burning' their hands over its surface thus removing moisture from their hands as well. Thus it was super dry and gave a better grip. With a worn/older handle chalk helps.

3) Do not let the handle touch you, do not tilt it in any way. I noticed some of the GGC pics of the RT event have slight tilts - it's cheating.

4) my 'secret' (if such a thing exists): a) thumb lock. I have my thumb in a hook like position rather than curled around the handle. I get a little more pad on the sleeve this way. b) I squeeze through the whole of the hand rather than just the thumb and hook the fingers. c) imagine, as you squeeze and lift, that you are trying to leave a palm, finger and any other part of the hand print on the sleeve.

5) do not hook the wrist. Let it hang down in a neutral position. I have seen way too many try hooking the RT, thick handled dumbbells etc. Mugs game. They get 150lbs up this way by virtue of strong wrists but loose more having a weakish grip.

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  • 7 months later...
1) Sets and reps schemes: As with my 5 or so weeks training between the European and GGC (by the way I hadn't down any RT work for at least a year and still won that round so...). I favour triples and % of 1 rep max (1RM). Here's what I did. I divided the number of potential training sessions and tried a 5% increase each session thus: session one 3 x 1 x 80% 1rm, s2 3 x 1 85% 1rm etc, etc.

2) No chalk on a new handle: at the GGC I noticed Rick Walker and others very carefully cleaning the handle of moisture and then almost 'chinese burning' their hands over its surface thus removing moisture from their hands as well. Thus it was super dry and gave a better grip. With a worn/older handle chalk helps.

3) Do not let the handle touch you, do not tilt it in any way. I noticed some of the GGC pics of the RT event have slight tilts - it's cheating.

4) my 'secret' (if such a thing exists): a) thumb lock. I have my thumb in a hook like position rather than curled around the handle. I get a little more pad on the sleeve this way. b) I squeeze through the whole of the hand rather than just the thumb and hook the fingers. c) imagine, as you squeeze and lift, that you are trying to leave a palm, finger and any other part of the hand print on the sleeve.

5) do not hook the wrist. Let it hang down in a neutral position. I have seen way too many try hooking the RT, thick handled dumbbells etc. Mugs game. They get 150lbs up this way by virtue of strong wrists but loose more having a weakish grip.

pretty interesting. i'll give that a try.

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  • 10 months later...

Yeah dry hands a big big part of it, also having your hands hot right befor the lift is important so it sticks. I will usualy rub my hands to gether hard right befor i hit it. :flame

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  • 4 months later...

I know these are already old posts, but i would like to know how often you train the RT and do you work really only with one working set with 3 reps?Is there any other tip how to improve the RT(thick dumbbells?)

I desperatly want to lift 100 kg at least with my left hand but i only can lift 90 kg on a good day and 85 kg on a bad day :(

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i am reading your log but you do also some other stuff(Gripper,v-bar) so you need more rest, but my main goal is i want to improve in the RT so i skip working with grippers and i also do not have a v-bar.

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But your question was 'how often do you...' and that is answered. Although what I do does give me an all round competition grip to a reasonable standard I doubt that I'd change the frequency that much if I was only doing grippers etc.

Although the log I have here doesn't go back far enough other than when I first trained grippers the frequency of the various aspects being trained hasn't changed much if at all. I lowered the V-bar from 2x a week to once (due to skin tears if more than once a week and on advice from others). Grippers, back when I was doing a 2 and aiming for a 3 was 3-4 times a week at the most. Now it is 2x a week. Pinch is as it was at 2x and so on. RT is as per the log.

You'll see, as per today, that when I don't feel strong or when I'm looking to cycle the intensity down and then back up I may do more singles than the usual number. But normally it's a warm up of 2-3 sets and then 1-2 sets of 3-4 x 1 with max weight. In my book I advise people to work out what they need rather than use a routine of mine as a means for their success. It may well be that you naturally get better results from a greater volume of training and so should look at that as guideline at least for how to work out what sets and reps you'll use for grip.

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Thanks for your advices-i am going to train the RT just once a week with the same reps and sets(especially because i work also the deadlift hard and my forearms are sore after it)

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I train RT twice a week along with alot of other grip stuff (including wrist and thumb exercises) and find it easy to handle.

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Here's what Laine Snook said

"As regards Rolling Thunder training, I trained for 8 to 10 weeks to lift the record. My training never went over 100 kilos + the handle and I aimed for a high rep routine ending with 100 x 12, where I would lift the weight, put it down, take my hand off the handle, putit back on instantly and then do the next rep. When I got to this level I stopped training (which I feel now was a mistake) and then attempted singles on a weekly basis, as I had trained the lift once a week I felt I should not alter anything.

The time scale from when I stopped training to when I got the record was 4 weeks, and I an sure that I was much weaker in my grip when i broke the record than when I had gone to Pullum sports and exceeded the record 2 weeks earlier, at that time 268.8 was very easy for me and I held the weight for around 5-6 seconds at lockout without trouble where as 268.8 felt heavy 2 weeks later. I am sure I was "overcooked".

I hope to return to training the Rolling Thunder in late september and hopefully get the 300 by the end of the year. I hope I will be first to 300. If I get this poundage I will then try to one hand clean and press the Inch."

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Interesting. Without having seen that I have had a few sessions, as per my log, where I did higher reps as a change of pace and yesterday was the same. In a conversation with Laine I said exactly the same thing about taking the hand off and putting it back on so as to get the feel for the right placement and feed back from the hand each and every time the hand is put on it. Laine has, as per another post, expressed an interest in having a go at the Millennium dumbbell I have and those familiar with my training know it takes me about 12 weeks to get ready.

I also made a note recently to the effect that following on from my W/Roller sessions my thick pinch felt improved. Both work ther thumb hard and as I am now using a thumb-over grip again on the RT we'll see if there's any cross-over.

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  • 3 months later...

goodie.. getting my RT handle in like 2 days now.. cant wait!!! :D

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goodie.. getting my RT handle in like 2 days now.. cant wait!!! :D

I should also get a real RT-handle this week. So the experimenting starts, what works for me. I will try to build up some base first with higher reps, 4-5 sets of 10 reps maybe.

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When I spoke to Laine he was doing a warm up and then 2 hi rep sets. That was it.

OK, maybe that will do. How many reps/set he was doing?

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4) my 'secret' (if such a thing exists): a) thumb lock. I have my thumb in a hook like position rather than curled around the handle. I get a little more pad on the sleeve this way.

Steve, I'm not sure what exactly you mean with that, is the thumb supposed to be like this or have I misunderstood?

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4) my 'secret' (if such a thing exists): a) thumb lock. I have my thumb in a hook like position rather than curled around the handle. I get a little more pad on the sleeve this way.

Steve, I'm not sure what exactly you mean with that, is the thumb supposed to be like this or have I misunderstood?

yes

Edited by mobsterone
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Have you (or anyone else for that matter) tried lifting the RT with straps.? tried it yesterday with 3 reps with 100kg and we'll see what happens... idea?

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Yes. With a strap I have lifted well over 400lbs. I did a seminar at Pullums some years ago and we used rubber bumper plates and filled the loading pin right up to the top. Apart from nigh on soiling my pants with the effort I was able to pull it off the floor with a strap. I'm pretty sure 200-kilos is possible with metal plates.

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Yes, but do you think there is an added benifit? Maybe your hands get used to the load? I try to use the strap as minimal as possible, not putting it under all my fingers, just thumb..

I can at least feel the effects of it now, because i am experiencing some major forearm soreness :D

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No. My use of an old stiff handle without strap has been more beneficial. I'm using only the newer more freely spinning one at the moment.

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first try on RT. got 50 kilos fairly easy on right hand . and managed to get it lefty aswell.. now i need to buy more plates :(

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