Donati's Log Of Steel Bending, Grip And Powerlifting

[Buccos1]

Sun (8/16)

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 1

We were at Busch Gardens all day, and I wasn't able to get my first rep in until 10:00 pm. This was the first session I wasn't able to get in all of the planned reps. Gave it a shot, but fell short … was still attempting closes well past midnight.

[EricMilfeld]

Fri (8/14)

RRBT

Phase 2 -- Day 9

My wife and I took a trip down to Virginia, so today was spent mostly traveling. I also had a scare with some Chinese food on the way, which I thought was going to derail the entire weekend. Luckily, it was only minor.

MSG. That stuff is evil and used in a lot of Chinese restaurants.

[Buccos1]

I've eaten Chinese a few times and really liked it (at least what I got). But this place was different. Almost everything seemed like it was in the freezer and tossed on the grill. I love Japanese food and eat it all the time. Never read much on MSG, but will definitely check into it!

[Buccos1]

Mon (8/17)

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 2

[Buccos1]

Tue (8/18)

Bench Press

(1x8) 135

(1x5) 185

(1x2) 245

(1x2) 285

(1x2) 315

Shrugs

(1x5) 225

(1x5) 315

(1x5) 405

(1x5) 475

Decline Kettlebell Pushups

(1x25)

Lying KB Extensions

(1x8)

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 3

Despite my hands feeling/being wrecked from grippers, bench felt pretty good today. The warm-ups seemed to hurt my palm the most, but after I was dialed-in, everything felt pretty good. I was going to bend today, but decided to wait until tomorrow. I've bent a Red Nail (at least one) in single IMPs every 7-10 days for well over 5 years straight, and am going to do everything I can to keep this streak active. But my hands lately have been feeling rough, and I know doing this will be difficult in the upcoming weeks. The last couple Reds I've bent in singles have ripped my palm/fingers up pretty good.

[EricMilfeld]

I've eaten Chinese a few times and really liked it (at least what I got). But this place was different. Almost everything seemed like it was in the freezer and tossed on the grill. I love Japanese food and eat it all the time. Never read much on MSG, but will definitely check into it!

We had Japanese tonight, as a matter of fact.

[Buccos1]

LOL. I wish I had some rolls right now! We have some really good places around here … especially in Pittsburgh.

[Buccos1]

Wed (8/19)

DO - IMPs

Yellow Nail

5/16 x 7" Grade 2

Red Nail

DU - IMPs

Yellow Nail

1/4 x 6.5" Grade 5

DU - BBW

1/4 x 7" Grade 8

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 4

My hands are getting torn up from RRBT. There are a couple of things I could probably do better for conditioning, especially with cream and stuff (which I haven't been doing enough). It was great to get through today's bending, and not have any major tears!

[Buccos1]

Thur (8/20)

Squats

(1x5) 135

(1x3) 225

(1x1) 315

add briefs

(1x1) 405

(1x1) 440

(1x1) 455

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 5

[Buccos1]

Fri (8/21)

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 6

I started getting a callous in the middle of my palm from all of the high-rep stuff. I ended up getting an "egg" and started to file it down, as it seems to be getting a little worse this past week. My hands are worn, but seemed to be getting a little more accustomed to the volume.

[Buccos1]

Sat (8/22)

Football Bar Bench Press

(1x5) 130

(1x5) 180

(1x3) 220

(1x2) 240

Speed Bench Press

(1x3) 135

(1x3) 155

(3x3) 155 - add chains

Lying Kettlebell Extensions

(2x8) 35

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 7

Grippers today felt pretty good. At least compared to the past week-or-so!

[Buccos1]

Sun (8/23)

Deadlift

(1x5) 135

(1x3) 225

(1x2) 315

(1x1) 405

(1x1) 440

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 8

I am still attempting to alternate conventional and sumo pulls, each successive week. Today was raw conventional. I wasn't able to get my scheduled day in earlier in the week, so went today instead. Looking forward to the break with the RRBT!

[Buccos1]

Mon (8/24)

Bench Press

(1x8) 135

(1x3) 185

(1x3) 225

(1x1) 260

(1x1) 295

(1x1) 320

Bench Press - Slingshot (red)

(1x1) 350

(1x1) 360

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 9

[Buccos1]

Tue (8/25)

Shrugs

(1x8) 135

(1x8) 225

(1x8) 315

(1x5) 405

(1x3) 475

(1x3) 525

Football Curls

(3x5) 90

Decline Kettle Bell Pushups

(2x20)

Lying Kettle Bell Extensions

(2x8) 35

RRBT

Phase 3 -- Day 10

My hands have been wrecked from RRBT the past month, but I have been dying to close one of my harder grippers, despite some of the high-rep stuff with the easier ones not feeling too solid. I tried to shut my 126lb. Super Master today and just missed it, which isn't too bad, I think. Probably 2mm from touching. All-in-all, seeing that I am definitely not 100%, I'm happy to still be close with this gripper.

[Buccos1]

Wed (8/26)

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 1

[Buccos1]

Thur (8/27)

Deadlifts

(1x3) 135

(1x2) 225

(1x2) 315

add suit/straps down

(1x1) 405

(1x1) 445

straps up

(1x1) 475

(1x1) 500

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 2

My hands and fingers are getting torn up! I ended up doing some gripper reps in-between sets of deadlifts today, which ended up knarling my fingers up pretty good. My deadlift bar has pretty sharp knurling; this combined with the gripper sets/closes left some nice marks. I am going to have to tape up most of my fingers the next few days.

More-and-more lately, it seems, my gripper strength is starting to return (at least compared to the closes I've been getting the past few weeks).

[Buccos1]

Fri (8/28)

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 3

[Shoggoth]

Have you tried some electrical tape on the finger side handle and craploads of chalk on the palm side? Might save your hide.

[Buccos1]

I haven't really used electrical tape, but might try that too. I was using athletic tape on the handles, which seemed to help a lot the first few sessions, but was causing me some trouble when trying to set it after some of the later closes. I started taping my setting finger with athletic tape, which really seems to help. Sometimes I am using chalk but a lot of my reps are done at work and it's tough with the chalk there.

The GHP grippers seem to do damage after a lot of closes. I haven't had as many issues with the #2 knurling.

[Shoggoth]

I did a lot of KTA work at my office when I ran through that program. I used liquid chalk a lot for that. Much cleaner.

[Buccos1]

Sat (8/29)

Squats

(1x3) 135

(1x2) 225

(1x1) 315

add briefs

(1x1) 405

(1x1) 425

(1x1) 455

(1x1) 465

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 4

I did most of today's reps during squats and they felt strong! Probably the best gripper closes I've had in the past month.

[Buccos1]

Sun (8/30)

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 5

After the higher-rep closes with the hard gripper yesterday, my hands and fingers were destroyed today. Still, though, I think I am finally adapting to the high-volume.

[Buccos1]

Mon (8/31)

Bench Press

(1x8) 135

(1x3) 185

(1x3) 225

(1x2) 260

(1x2) 295

(1x1) 315

Bench Press - Sling Shot (Red)

(1x1) 345

(1x1) 355

Speed Bench - mini bands

(1x3) 135

(5x3) 155

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 6

Today's reps felt strong. I ended up getting a lot of closes during my bench session, and they felt solid! There is no doubt (at least with me) that you are stronger on grippers in the middle/during a compound weight session.

[Buccos1]

Tue (9/1)

DO - IMPs

Yellow Nail

5/16 x 7" Grade 2

Red Nail

DU - IMPs

Yellow Nail

1/4 x 6.5" Grade 5

DU - BBW

1/4 x 7" Grade 8

RRBT

Phase 4 -- Day 7

Overall, my hands feel OK, but still pretty torn-up. It was still good to get in a decent bending session, though. Took down the Red in about 15 seconds, which was a lot stronger than the past few Reds.

[Buccos1]

Wed (9/2)

Phase 4 -- Day 8