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Progression Just Using Grippers


Sam Radford

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I am in the process of trying to get back to the gym but due to time constraints i.e. work and family I am finding it hard to commit to it on a regular basis. I am wondering how far I can progress with just the use of grippers before I need to change my routine and include gym work. I started properly grip training again in Dec-14 and could just close the CoC#1 and few months later I can close a Zenith #3 and only few mm's from a CoC#2.5. I use extensor bands also from IM.

Anyone else just focussed on grippers and how far have you progressed without the use of gym work?

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Went to south Africa for 6 week a with nothing but a #3 gripper, went from getting it to parallel to closing it! Used a hose clamp opened it up each workout and I finally closed it after 6 weeks!

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to be honest, I think weighttraining sure can attribute, but grippers are also very specific. So yes, I think you can get very far with grippers without other gymstuff.

How far, is depending - tadaaa - on how you train of course. And there's really no blueprint for that. Volume/Singles/Overload/Negatives/blocksets you name it. Everybody trains different and starts from a different point of starting strength.

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From my experience when I'm stronger my grip is stronger. When I lay off lifting and concentrate on grip I do ok for awhile and then I stall out. Even if I just do dips/pull-ups/etc at home I have more grip strength.

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I don't do any weight-training of any kind other than grip work and bending and all of my stuff (axle, pinch, wrist, extensors, bending) has been increasing steadily since I started competing in contests last year. Of course I'm not all that great at grippers, but then again I avoided them for most of last year due to severe tendinitis.

My gripper strength is coming around to where it was before the forced lay-off, but nothing astronomical...no set closing a 2.5 and mm set closing a very light #3. So I may not be the best example for giving gripper tips, but I would absolutely recommend an all-around lower arm and wrist centered training program in addition to grippers.

I don't think doing nothing but grippers is advisable...that's how I ended up with tendinitis.

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Thank you all for your help so far! Its inspiring to hear your different backgrounds and training plans! :bow

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I think these things vary on the individual basis.

For me personally, non-grip specific work has some carry-over into grippers but not nearly as much as grip work (deadlifts being a notable exception, especially rack pulls/holds although one can argue that this IS grip work lol).

Even small gains in pinch/hub lifts for me translate into stronger crushing strength.

As for training nothing but grippers - what has worked for me short term is a high-volume/high-frequency approach, however you have to be careful not to overdo it.

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I trained little strenght training for body in my road to closing CoC #3. KTA helped a bunch.

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I never did gym training and grip training at the same time, and I also barely ever did gym training. I started off not being able to close my CoC #1, did negatives for a week and got a close. Now I'm working on the #2.5 and I'm only about 2-3mm off.

For me personally, I think I would expect my gym workouts to give me a little more strength, if not just a placebo. Whole body is strong so grip feels strong, sort of mentality thing.

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I trained grippers and pinch lifts almost exclusively from 2006 through 2012. It went pretty well and I got to a pretty high level on grippers. The unknown answer is whether full body training during that time would have accelerated or hindered my progress. No way to tell, but to your original question, it's certainly possible to make great progress on just grip stuff with focused and diligent training.

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I'm not an expert on grippers by any means but I did see a video where Jedd said that anyone with focused training can close a #3 without doing weight training but beyond that you might want to start.

Also if you want to go for other grip goals like the INCH...etc. You might want to start lifting.

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I'm not an expert on grippers by any means but I did see a video where Jedd said that anyone with focused training can close a #3 without doing weight training but beyond that you might want to start.

Also if you want to go for other grip goals like the INCH...etc. You might want to start lifting.

I agree with this. To get to elite grip levels, most people will need to incorporate a full body strength training program. There may be some exceptions but those people probably have insane genetics.

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I never did gym training and grip training at the same time, and I also barely ever did gym training. I started off not being able to close my CoC #1, did negatives for a week and got a close. Now I'm working on the #2.5 and I'm only about 2-3mm off.

For me personally, I think I would expect my gym workouts to give me a little more strength, if not just a placebo. Whole body is strong so grip feels strong, sort of mentality thing.

Aren't you a rock climber? The other rock climber I know turned out to be a phenomenal grip athlete.

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I never did gym training and grip training at the same time, and I also barely ever did gym training. I started off not being able to close my CoC #1, did negatives for a week and got a close. Now I'm working on the #2.5 and I'm only about 2-3mm off.

For me personally, I think I would expect my gym workouts to give me a little more strength, if not just a placebo. Whole body is strong so grip feels strong, sort of mentality thing.

Aren't you a rock climber? The other rock climber I know turned out to be a phenomenal grip athlete.

I mean, yeah I am. So I guess I had a pretty good starting point, and maybe I was technically "body weight training" while climbing. Maybe "barely ever did gym training" is a bit off.

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I'm not an expert on grippers by any means but I did see a video where Jedd said that anyone with focused training can close a #3 without doing weight training but beyond that you might want to start.

Also if you want to go for other grip goals like the INCH...etc. You might want to start lifting.

I agree with this. To get to elite grip levels, most people will need to incorporate a full body strength training program. There may be some exceptions but those people probably have insane genetics.

There's also other advantages to doing full body strength training like having the ladies sploosh when you walk by.

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I'm not an expert on grippers by any means but I did see a video where Jedd said that anyone with focused training can close a #3 without doing weight training but beyond that you might want to start.

Also if you want to go for other grip goals like the INCH...etc. You might want to start lifting.

I agree with this. To get to elite grip levels, most people will need to incorporate a full body strength training program. There may be some exceptions but those people probably have insane genetics.

There's also other advantages to doing full body strength training like having the ladies sploosh when you walk by.

Curls for the girls!

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Thanks for all your help!! I have always been sporty and played Rugby League since being a kid so had to develop all over body strength for that. I played last year and without using a gym for the past few years, I was still on par with others in similar positions strength wise so I guess my foundation of strength is kinda there and my technique for the game is what probably keeps me afloat! If I can keep on training my grip and try to add other grip related techniques and exercises, this will help me massively.

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