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Grippers, How Often


Norden

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How often do you train grippers?

I want to do this 2 times a week, but as soon as I get to the point where I can do singles with my #3, I have noticed that 2 times/week is too much. I guess it gets too taxing for muscles and cns to do heavy singles that often.

However, I would still like to train grippers 2 times/week.

What does your gripper schedule look like?

Has anyone noticed that it would be helpful and rewarding to, for example, have one heavy day and one lighter high rep day each week?

Or does anyone have any other suggestion how and what to do?

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Once per week, or sometimes after very heavy gripwork (for me) a few days more. Than I can say I am fully recovered. Other weighttraining in between even slows this process down a bit. Once I understood this for my body, I started seeing results.

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What kind of volume are you using those two days?

Dropsets. Using a gripper I can do 1-3 reps with (I most often end up using a gripper I can only do singles with). 4-6 sets.

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Once per week, or sometimes after very heavy gripwork (for me) a few days more. Than I can say I am fully recovered. Other weighttraining in between even slows this process down a bit. Once I understood this for my body, I started seeing results.

Yeah, you have told me about this before. Seems to take about a week for me to completely recover too. Problem is that if I only train grippers once per week I put so much pressure on myself to make this workout perfect, which doesn't seem to be good for me. A whole week without using grippers at all makes it hard for me to really get used to them. The set, the close. To feel comfortable with- and used to them. See what I mean?

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Do a second workout during the week but make your focus a little different. Do reps on lighter grippers, clicks, timed holds etc. If you're using a #3 for your drop set routine do some work where you don't go above a 2.5 at the most and work on technique. You will get more comfortable with your technique and still improve. I have done this with good results. Good luck with your progress.

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I get your point, so what you can also do is setting practice. So just focus on 'pushing' the gripper closed and not wasting to much energy in fingerwalking the gripper closed, but put your effort in, like I said, pushing the handle as far as possible with your setting hand. You will not know what hit you in chest and shoulders, and you will not burn your hands because you are not actually closing the grippers as in crushing them. Hope you understand what I mean. I am doing this right now. You can approach this in mutliple sets with 4 - 6 reps. You will notice how weak you will be in that area. At least, I am so that's a weak point.

Make sure to keep a few days in between them and that would take your problem head on.

As Austin Slater mentions, that worked for him, so everyone has his own experience. My experience however is that when I start closing grippers two times per week, whether one of the workouts is very light or not, that triggers regression for me. When you would do this, I'd do working on technique with resistance just enough to feel tension, so IM#1 and not much higher. Problem with that can be that you don't have enough tension for practising the set. And technique seems to fall apart when resistance gets higher. That's where setting practise could kick in.

Better is probably what Andrew Durniat advocates and that's training grip all round with thickbar and such, and then specializing for a few weeks with grippers. Continuously training grippers is probably not the best thing to do. Tell me about it. hahaha

Edited by Geralt
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What kind of volume are you using those two days?

Dropsets. Using a gripper I can do 1-3 reps with (I most often end up using a gripper I can only do singles with). 4-6 sets.

Norden-

Grippers, are like that for most... One week you can get a few reps, the next you barely get a close. Doesn't mean you're overtraining... You just might be off for a bit, then one day you PR.

I'm on two a week now-I've done it all tho- with training. You would know better than anyone else... You might need some hard intense negs to spark your progress. I think two a week... With that low volume that you're using doesn't sound like you're over doing it... Unless there is other grip work being done?

You know you found the right grip workout when you keep moving forward... If you have set backs you have to change some things. Always do something different; more reps, even if you have to force them...Heavier grippers, too. Give your hands a reason to change.

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A focused training cycle with utilizing the alarm response and more can create big time gains. I think there is too much "once a week" afraid of overtraining that occurs. You CAN train grip more often.

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What I can suggest is taking, at least 3 or 4 days rest from the last grip workout. It seems you need a 2 days for weekly grip related exercises, one heavy and the second light.

For the idea of "overtraining", take a look at my training log, you'll see I'm doing Negatives, mind you that this is with very heavy grippers about 3 times a week, while one day is designed around high reps, I'm talking at least on a 50-100 reps, will depend upon what I can do but this is what I'm currently working towards, this was so I could work the Positive aspect of the gripper.

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It depends what your goal is, if you want faster progress on grippers I think higher frequency and volume can work well as you build up to it.

Gabriele-cancrusher- was doing grippers 7 days a week with 100 reps a day with the hardest gripper possible. He MMS a Coc #4 and he is also very close to being the 2nd person to close a ghp 9 at 19 years old.

I'm not saying to do that he obviously built up to it, I'm just showing an example that you can hit the grippers with high volume and intensity.

Edited by Stephen Ruby
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It depends what your goal is, if you want faster progress on grippers I think higher frequency and volume can work well as you build up to it.

Gabriele-cancrusher- was doing grippers 7 days a week with 100 reps a day with the hardest gripper possible. He MMS a Coc #4 and he is also very close to being the 2nd person to close a ghp 9 at 19 years old.

I'm not saying to do that he obviously built up to it, I'm just showing an example that you can hit the grippers with high volume and intensity.

True, but indeed Gabriele has a long history of strengthtraining under his belt and people who can close #4's tend to have already a bigger potential than most people that maybe just can close the IM#2 after some training and need to work up to for instance the #3 level. Last group represents I think the majority of people.

Norden pretty much gave an answer himself, if he trains more he regresses. That is a real good indicator I would think. The other option of more frequent training is pumping up the volume but lowering the resistance. Since I also have a busy life with work and kids that's not an option, taking into account that it's advisable to try to grow also in the other strength departments.

Grippers are things you can pick up easily every day but if so much squeezing everyday would make you that stronger the IM list with CCS sets and the top of the Mashmonster ladder would be a lot bigger I think. Not to bash your comment Stephen, I know you are a strong guy, just saying I think that closing grippers above level #3 makes for some recovery time afterwards for the vast majority of trainees. A lot of people, including myself for years, are looking for the fastlane in strengthimprovement. I think there is none of that, just consistent training and listening to body signals.

Edited by Geralt
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I agree with Stephen with the build up...and specialization. I do not think you can go high volume and blast them from all parts so to speak. I had to specialize on grippers ONLY. I would have never closed the 3 by using traditional "rest and train" protocols. Which is why KTA was born. And, there have been a lot of people who have had success with PLANNED high volume, cycling, and periodization, etc. Note the "planned" word.

http://www.cyberpump.com/ktaprogram/feedback.html

Just some of those that responded well to the "planned high volume".

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Yes, high volume is for "peaking." Then downgrading for a bit. If you did it all the time it would be bad. If you didn't get injuries, you would have to keep going with more and more.. To make gains.... Then you're shot.

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Guest Squat More

Bill is spot on, when it comes to grip I think frequency and volume are important, you can train grip more often because you use your hands every day, for everything, they can take a pounding so to speak more than most other traditional forms of strength training.

I have made sick gains training on the Europinch 3x a week - besides blob lifting (which also came very fast without any other block weights to use to build up) I have not done much pinch to speak of in any serious manner besides picking up the odd pair of 25s here and there over the years. In a manner of a few months (EDIT: I cut my euro inserts on November 1st so pretty much a month and 13 days I have had a euro) I am near the 100 kilogram standard for what is considered pretty strong and I will absolutely SMASH 100+ kilos the next time I train and work up to a max because I am:

A. Specializing - focusing on europinch and doing other grip related work that will lend itself to pinch strength.

B. Training with a frequency I know is not too much, or too little to make gains. I know how my body responds, I make notes in a log, I pay attention to myself.

C. I am following a set plan I wrote up for myself, it is 2x a week instead of 3 now - but much more thought out and planned with an eye on total volume and variations. I have shared that plan with Parvez Aslam (grip monsta p) - I think if he uses it he will shatter previous records.

The most important thing with grip, not just grippers is varying volume each session as well as how you are training ( for me on the euro it has been mixing up days for reps, holds, singles working on set up and technique etc) but the fact is I trained often. Volume and repetition matter so much more when dealing with smaller muscle groups. I believe this is why the guys who've used the rolling thunder routine I shared have all made gains (the ones who followed through till the end)


Stephen Ruby once said I have a knack for writing programs, because of the rolling thunder program I used and shared. I have said many times I couldn't take credit for that, as the principles were shared with me from other strong men, I just formulated them into a "program" and went with it, put in the work and didn't make excuses. I took a chance at using someone elses advice on volume and frequency in grip and it worked, and it has been working with the Europinch too. David Horne and Kody Burns (former and current 2hp record holders) both suggested pretty much the same thing - to train often, once a week just isn't enough. David has said to me when in the past I wanted to do everything: you can focus on one thing and be very good at it or focus on everything and not make much progress. <--- not his exact words, but that was the main message and he was right.

And at the end of the day, having any plan is better than going into any kind of training session with no plan at all. Without any main goal and set idea on how to reach that goal, you're just a chicken running around with it's head cut off.

Edited by Squat More
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Everyone is different - sure the basics apply pretty much to all but after that all bets are off on what works. The problem is figuring out what works "for you". Big grippers have been closed with many different training plans. If your goal - whatever it is - it a MM set then you need to realize the setting process is at least half the battle - and you'd better become very very good at it. The first advice I would give you is to build a base of overall forearm, wrist, and hand strength - and a big base at that - before you start to specialize on any one thing or any high volume program - or you will get injured almost assuredly if you don't. I personally don't believe in doing any of the specialized or advanced routines until you have exhausted the gains from the basics - they are called advanced routines for a reason.

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I think anyone looking for a "one size fits all" recipe - other then learning how your body responds to stress & leverages - is going to be disappointed.

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I know a 75 years old farmer that can dig potatoes out of the ground barehanded.BAREHANDED.

And he was doing it for hours.

I tried and almost lost a nail.

How did he get that level of conditioning?

Destroying his hands everyday since he was 5 yo.

Human body is capable of amazing things, is this (bad word filter)ing modern society that turned men into pussies.

Every farmer I have ever met, including the women, -and I have met a lot- have grips of steel. As strong a handshake as any CoC I've encountered.

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Thanks for your replies and advices.

When training for closing the #3 two-three years back, the only thing I did was lots and lots of negatives three times a week, and they made me strong and I closed the thing after not too long. Thing is that I've heard of more than one guy getting hurt from these negatives and high volume training through the years, and I think you have too?

What I want is to get strong at MMSing big grippers, and I'm not in any kind of a hurry, willing to risk tendons getting torn and things like tendonitis to come earlier than necessary.

I believe in the drop set, the way Chez have explained it to me. And I believe in perhaps trying to do some lighter work from time to time, to get used to actually closing the gripper lots and lots of times, among other things. I believe Tim Struse did this back when he was climbing the ladder.

Reason I posted this thread was mainly to know if working like this has helped any guys here throughout the years, and if so - in what way it has been good and rewarding.

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When i closed the coc 3 i started searching on the web for programs because i couldnt figure out how to close the ghp 7.

But i realized that grippers were effecting my workouts too much.

 

Edited by CANCRUSHER
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When i closed the coc 3 i started searching on the web for programs because i couldnt figure out how to close the ghp 7.Then i started reading chez's log and trained once a week doing dropsets for about one year and this made me destroying ghp 8 and coc 3.5 and putting pressure on the SE.But i realized that grippers were effecting my workouts too much.I was not doing anymore deadlifts,or any other pulling exercises cause i was too scared of straining my grip.Then i said (bad word filter) this shit.I started hitting weights as i never done before,eating a lot more,taking 2 protein shakes per day and gained something like 25 lbs.This is the problem guys we must always remember that the goal is not to close a gripper but to be a machine always ready to kick some ass.

Very true you have to train the hole body, Its like a chain one weak link could be

Cuasing that hole chain to fail or if the hole chain is strong except the hook at the end being your (hand) the chain can't be used to its full potential. So i say train every link and be a machine..

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A strong grip means nothing without a strong body.

And a strong body means nothing without a strong grip.

Truth.

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