Practicing Grip

[mightyjoe]

After receiving numerous e-mail requests concerning "Practicing Grip" I thought

I would share a short, simplified version without the science behind the concept.

As I have time I can add details to this post or as questions come up I can answer

them to the best of my ability.

First, the background to what started the concept in the first place.

A little over a year ago I became obsessed with learning how the central nervous system, CNS

played a role in resistance training (specifically grip)and set out to answer my question

through tons of reading and doing my own independent tests with subjects of various backgrounds.

I had 6 subjects participate in my testing. Three individuals in person and 3 individuals online.

Three of my subjects already had some grip training under their belts and three had none.

More on the TESTING later. Now to the concept in a nutshell:

1)Instead of working out your grip through a regimen of numerous sets and reps you PRACTICE

one or more grip exercises throughout each day.

2) Pick one or two grip exercises you'd like to progress at and then proceed to PRACTICE

these one or two exercises each day. For example, in the beginning I chose grippers and

single hand pinch.

3) Limit each exercise to no more than 3-5 attempts each PRACTICE session. In the case

of grippers it's very easy to PRACTICE by carrying your gripper with you throughout the day.

4) PRACTICE no more than once or twice an hour, less is fine.

5) Have a testing day every 6 weeks to measure your progress.

6) NEVER max out during a PRACTICE session. NEVER! Stay at around 80% of your one rep

max. Less is fine also but above 60% for sure. Explanations later.

7) NEVER exhaust a muscle group!

8) End each session FRESH with plenty to spare in your tank!

One more thing. This is not designed to replace programs such as Bill's RRBT or KTA,

both of which I own. If anything this concept complements both of them nicely such

as using PRACTICE Grip as maintenance after RRBT or KTA. Detailed explanation later

on ALL the above points.

I know there will be plenty of questions and I will do my best to answer all of them.

With the help of Sherrie (xengym) I'm going to do some spread sheets of my test subjects.

I hope this thread can be useful to all who care to participate.

I LOVE sharing knowledge and giving positive encouragement to ALL my Grip friends!

Thanks for reading!

Have a Grip Day!!!

Mighty Joe

[austinslater]

Interesting read. What were your results in the 1hp and grippers from doing this for a while? thanks in advance,

Austin

[Malice]

Sounds similar to greasing the groove. It's a great way to get stronger since strength in a particular exercise is a skill rather than a breaking down and rebuilding of muscle. I've used it for years with my martial arts students to improve their pushups and pullups and I've been using it to great effect with the GripTopz. Like Joe says NEVER exhaust the muscle group you're working on by allowing maximum rest between tries. Keep it up Joe.

[mightyjoe]

Interesting read. What were your results in the 1hp and grippers from doing this for a while? thanks in advance,

Austin

Thanks for the question Austin!

My one hand pinch went from 58 to 71 lbs. in under a year.

Calibrated grippers went from low 120's to 140 in under a year also.

BTW, this is just 2 examples. ALL my other grip feats went up as well with

pinch and grippers being the most progressive.

One important point about grippers: it's best to measure your progress with calibrated grippers

instead of just trying to judge by the factory numbers. The jump is often times too great to

get an accurate assessment as to your progress. With caled grippers I move up as small as increments as

my collection allows (which is quite a few)LOL!

Hope this helps!

[mightyjoe]

Sounds similar to greasing the groove. It's a great way to get stronger since strength in a particular exercise is a skill rather than a breaking down and rebuilding of muscle. I've used it for years with my martial arts students to improve their pushups and pullups and I've been using it to great effect with the GripTopz. Like Joe says NEVER exhaust the muscle group you're working on by allowing maximum rest between tries. Keep it up Joe.

Thanks for the response Russ!

Yes! There are similarities with GTG but there are a few differences.

BTW, does anyone care to know any of the science behind this concept?

If not, I won't waste a bunch of valuable time on explaining this part.

[BenMorrissey]

Just wondering whether you would be able to post all the test data (or at least a sample). I am in no way refuting your claims, I'm just interested is all.

Was a good read, interesting results!

[austinslater]

Thanks for the response and yes I would be interested in the science behind it. Thanks for sharing.

[Geralt]

Same here! Thanks for sharing indeed.

[GatorGrip]

Your scientific approach is always intriguing Joe, I am naming you "DR. GRIP"! Your logical approach coupled with sound experience gives you validity! I hate theory with no real world application but your thoughts are always sound and girded with action.

Edited May 4, 2011 by GatorGrip

[mightyjoe]

Just wondering whether you would be able to post all the test data (or at least a sample). I am in no way refuting your claims, I'm just interested is all.

Was a good read, interesting results!

Thanks for your response Ben!

I in no way took your response as you mentioned.

I have a lot of data from 6 different subjects not including myself.

I will not post ALL of the data because it's not necessary to demonstrate

the concept and the validity of what I tested.

One of my subjects was my youngest son Cody who does not train his grip as

what a normal grip athlete such as the majority on this board would call training

but he has participated in my testing by practicing grip. I had Cody practice

every 3rd day. I had another subject practice every other day. I had a 3rd subject

practice every day. What I will do once I have my data charted is post the data

on Cody and one other subject. This should suffice for demonstration purposes very well.

If not, I will offer more data. Let me get all the data in a logical and chronological

order and we can go from there.

For example, Cody progressed from a #151 gripper (IM #3) to a #162 gripper (Narrow, SE) in well under 3 months.

His 2 hand pinch went from low 160's to mid 180's in the same time frame.

There's numerous members on this board that can verify Cody's amazing progress.

One thing to keep in mind with "Practicing Grip" is LESS IS MORE!

QUALITY ABOVE QUANTITY!

[mightyjoe]

Your scientific approach is always intriguing Joe, I am naming you "DR. GRIP"! Your logical approach coupled with sound experience gives you validity! I hate theory with no real world application but your thoughts are always sound and girded with action.

Thanks Gator!

I greatly appreciate your kind comments!

I've worked hard at this and put in a lot of time and effort

to just maybe help others progress at this wonderful sport!

Thanks again and stay tuned because there's TONS to cover between

application and the science behind it all.

All I ask is patience because time is something I've been short on lately.

Life itself seems to be such a rat race in todays society and I'm running

wide open at times.

I realize it took me a while to get this posted as promised a while back but

I simply haven't had time. For those that may have gotten frustrated from the delay,

you have my apologies.

I also appreciate Sherry's (xengym) offer to help me with the data. My sister has also

offered to help me get the data organized but being Sherry is a Gripster I may be biased

towards her help, especially at charts.

[Sher]

Whatever's easiest, Joe. I'm here if you do need anything.

[bencrush]

Sounds very logical to me Joe! As always your grip and strength training posts are nuggets of gold. I'll certainly read the science behind your ideas although I've got to admit that I'm always more interested in just seeing the basic numbers like you posted about Cody's results - which were fantastic in such a short timespan!

[tja]

Good posting, thanks Joe! It is interesting how this logic (not just grip, but other weight training) goes exactly opposite to many other training strategies. I have often hit a wall with too much intensity. I think I'll try this out after finishing my current schema. Please do post charts, details etc. Also, I'd be interested in knowing if you had a control group that trained using a completely different intensity level.

Edited May 5, 2011 by tja

[Jedd Johnson]

I am interested in the science behind it as well. Thanks.

[Cody4474]

This will be a good thread. It is very logical not to Max Out everyday or every exercise. According to Louie Simmons from Westside Barbell, you can only do max effort work for 3 weeks with the same apparatus before there is a negative affect on the CNS leading to a decrease in strength. The conjugate method was a way around this by varying the max effort work done every week. From my understanding of strength training, creatine and ATP stores are replenished in the body in as little as 3-5 minutes, while the CNS can take between 6-8 minutes to fully recover. Max strength is more about motor units firing and not creatine or ATP stores as a limiting factor.

When you leave reps "in the tank" you are not attacking the CNS like you do with max effort work and it is allowed to fully recover between sets and more importantly between days. The sub-max method is very popular to increase strength.

Again, all of this is my understanding of training. Hopefully this doesn't step on any toes, I am a newbie here.

I would love to see the results and scientific background for your study. Also, is there anyway (when you get the time, I know you are busy) that you could outline who your subjects were and their training backgrounds.

I love it when someone strikes out on their own with some research!

[mightyjoe]

First, WELCOME Cody! I have responded in RED to your comments.

This will be a good thread. It is very logical not to Max Out everyday or every exercise. According to Louie Simmons from Westside Barbell, you can only do max effort work for 3 weeks with the same apparatus before there is a negative affect on the CNS leading to a decrease in strength. The conjugate method was a way around this by varying the max effort work done every week. From my understanding of strength training, creatine and ATP stores are replenished in the body in as little as 3-5 minutes, while the CNS can take between 6-8 minutes to fully recover. Max strength is more about motor units firing and not creatine or ATP stores as a limiting factor.

I haven't followed Louie Simmons much but I'm familiar with the conjugate method. There's numerous differences between the concept I've studied

and the conjugate method. Mainly is you never MAX out during any practice session. You test your efforts (what ever your goal may be) once every

6 weeks to measure your progress.

You are correct about the CNS as opposed to ATP stores in the muscles versus motor unit recruitment from the CNS except

the time of recovery is slightly off depending on several factors including blood glucose levels in the blood at the time

of exertion being the main factor.

You are also correct in stating this about getting stronger and not necessarily bigger (hypertrophy).

When you leave reps "in the tank" you are not attacking the CNS like you do with max effort work and it is allowed to fully recover between sets and more importantly between days. The sub-max method is very popular to increase strength.

Correct! Except under "Practicing Grip" there are no sets per session. There's 1 set of 3-5 reps "practiced" throughout ones day.

For example, I practiced grippers today. At 10:00 am I did 1 set of 5 reps. At noon I did 1 set of 4 reps. At 2:00 PM I did 1 set

of 3 reps. At 4:00 PM I did 1 set of 2 reps. Before leaving work at 5:00 PM I did 1 rep. The gripper was a BB Master w/ 5/8" diameter

handles. That's all the practice I did with grippers today. I will explain later on how one can determine the best practice routine

for them as an individual.

Again, all of this is my understanding of training. Hopefully this doesn't step on any toes, I am a newbie here.

I can't speak for anyone else but you certainly did not step on my toes. Furthermore, I welcome your input and from reading

your post you seem very familiar with the material I'm covering. Only thing you did that threw me off was introducing the information

sooner than I had intended about the science behind the workings of the CNS. I had planned a logical progression of this concept so

that hopefully the whole concept would fit together nicely into a concise package that would allow anyone to grasp the ideas and principles

behind the whole concept. I feel if I introduce a principle or idea ahead of its proper place I could cause confusion and this is the last

thing I want. With that being said, there's still no problems Cody. I just wanted to address your post before I went any further.

I would love to see the results and scientific background for your study. Also, is there anyway (when you get the time, I know you are busy) that you could outline who your subjects were and their training backgrounds.

If you've read the previous posts I'm working on getting a nice chart and layout of my results. FYI, I'm no scientist. I'm just a self taught

researcher that is obsessed with testing ideas and researching claims concerning strength attainment, specifically GRIP. I've been involved in some

aspect of grip for nearly 30 years. I LOVE reading and studying how the human body works and most of all I love to share knowledge and help others

with the same interests. There were 6 subjects in my study. I can identify the backgrounds of all of them, including the names of all but 2 at their

request.

I love it when someone strikes out on their own with some research!

Thanks! I hope my material at some point helps ALL those interested!

[rico300zx]

I look forward to your research too Joe, I'm not really a fan of lots of reps either. I think I've done half descent not doing tons of reps so maybe this could help me to fine tune some things for myself. I got strong ay pinching by pinching big pieces of marble at different times throught the day. I miss that job, because I always worked with my hands with period of rest inbetween moving and installing the marble, I would always pick it up by pinching them carry it. I went to about 5 different job sites a day where I would do this during that time.

Parris

[Geralt]

And how many days a week would for instance grippers be practised? Let's say most inhabitants on this board have a goal in closing the #3.

So when getting that one almost, one would practise a few reps, across every day around #2 - #2.5 setting? (at 60% or above of 1rm)?

The principle sounds logical. I read Louie S. interview recently I was shocked to see how much he trains in a week. I for instance don't have the time in my personal life to train that much, so I am wondering if the practising idea at working at around 60% of your max also would be beneficial when training 2 or 3 times

per week for overall body training? And for griptraining in that matter? I now do 2 sessions for grip in a week and these are 'eyeball out of the socket' heavy sessions. Rest is mostly around 4 days in between.

It takes a long time to figure out what works and sometimes that is frustrating. I have periods that I can close my #3 and grind the handles and there are days I dont't even come close! this with the same resting period and no particular difference in between like fatigue, work, private life etc. But that's the human body I figure.

Very interesting topic!

[aaronb41]

Hey Joe-

Thank you for sharing! I am very exciting to give this a try. One question:

Should there be any warm up done? For example, if I planned to do a set of 2 reps with a #2, would it be wise/ok to knock out a set of eight or so with a Trainer for a quick warm up?

Thanks again for sharing!

[mightyjoe]

And how many days a week would for instance grippers be practised? Let's say most inhabitants on this board have a goal in closing the #3.

So when getting that one almost, one would practise a few reps, across every day around #2 - #2.5 setting? (at 60% or above of 1rm)?

The principle sounds logical. I read Louie S. interview recently I was shocked to see how much he trains in a week. I for instance don't have the time in my personal life to train that much, so I am wondering if the practising idea at working at around 60% of your max also would be beneficial when training 2 or 3 times

per week for overall body training? And for griptraining in that matter? I now do 2 sessions for grip in a week and these are 'eyeball out of the socket' heavy sessions. Rest is mostly around 4 days in between.

It takes a long time to figure out what works and sometimes that is frustrating. I have periods that I can close my #3 and grind the handles and there are days I dont't even come close! this with the same resting period and no particular difference in between like fatigue, work, private life etc. But that's the human body I figure.

Very interesting topic!

Geralt,

Thanks for the great questions!

I'm now working on the way each individual can figure out what's best for them.

I appreciate your patience.

There's so much ground to cover here and I have limited time so I'm doing my best to

add information when I get the chance(s).

[mightyjoe]

Hey Joe-

Thank you for sharing! I am very exciting to give this a try. One question:

Should there be any warm up done? For example, if I planned to do a set of 2 reps with a #2, would it be wise/ok to knock out a set of eight or so with a Trainer for a quick warm up?

Thanks again for sharing!

Hello Aaron,

Thanks for the question!

As I mentioned above to Geralt this will be covered in the post I'm working on.

After the layout I'm going to go over the driving principle behind the whole

concept which is the SAID Principle, Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.

I'm hoping my next post will get everyone started and on the road to steady progress. It should also

answer many of the questions about "Practicing Grip".

[Geralt]

I'll be lurking around till that time! a change in my training scheme would be VERY welcome, today I did gripmachine work and got nowhere around my last PR!

After rest that means it's the overtrainingbell ringing. Again. So your ideas are welcomed from the bottom of my hart here hahaha!

Thank you for sharing this info! Much appreciated!

[aaronb41]

Thank you Joe!

I will be looking forward to your upcoming post. Again, thank you for your time, hard work and generous sharing with the board!!

[macaz]

This is interesting. Thanks.