Do You Train Grip at Home? Killing the Virus!

[Bill Piche]

What is great about grip is I think the majority train it at home anyway?  Where do you train grip and is this virus affecting your grip workouts?

[Royz]

Normally I train at a commercial gym. But all the gyms are closed now (in the Netherlands). Luckily I've got weights, loading pins etc. at home. I haven't got much room though, so mostly it will be garden training. Hopefully the weather will remain mild...

[Tom Flesher]

I do most of my powerlifting and grip at home, but my strongman gym is closed for the time being and I’m not sure if they’re going to do outdoor workouts on Saturdays or not.

[climber511]

I have my Yol Bolsun Gym in the garage - everything I need - and more.

[Chez]

I own a one bedroom coop apartment in the suburbs just north of NYC. its crazy expensive to have a house here. I take my grip stuff to the gym in a backpack. I always do a big weight lifting movement to kick start my CNS and then hit grip right after and then usually finish my normal weight lifting stuff. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Chez

[king crusher]

10 minutes ago, Chez said:

I own a one bedroom coop apartment in the suburbs just north of NYC. its crazy expensive to have a house here. I take my grip stuff to the gym in a pack back. I always do a big weight lifting movement to kick start my CNS and then hit grip right after and then usually finish my normal weight lifting stuff. 

For cryin out loud what is a pack back sir?

[Chez]

19 minutes ago, king crusher said:

For cryin out loud what is a pack back sir?

ah, typo. You know what I mean lol

[king crusher]

20 minutes ago, Chez said:

ah, typo. You know what I mean lol

Was wondering if it was a NY thing ha

[Mike Rinderle]

I train everything at home.  I'd never leave my property if I could get away with it.   I'm the original social isolationist. 

[Alawadhi]

Have everything in my home and more.

[Mywor]

We have a gym in building 1 mile from where I live with everything you could possible need. Only me and the owner lf the building train there. 

[jasonotto]

The Pachyderm Palace aka my garage, is full of all the grip and lifting toys anyone could need.  I try to hide out in there as much as possible and usually some of the other Pickup Artists train here as well.  Gary Stuart is a regular of course. 

[mcalpine1986]

I normally train at a gym but yesterday the uk government shut all gyms for i dont know how long.  There have been talk from only 2 weeks upto 3 months. I hope it doesnt go on for too long as i will go crazy not being able to lift heavy, squats etc. I have 3 kettlebells and loads of grip stuff but no room to workout so ive taken them into work and im going to train there in the mornings beforehand. Gripwise ive been focusing on plate curls but now cant do any so might just concentrate on sledgehammer training and grippers.

Edited March 21, 2020 by mcalpine1986

[Chez]

So i bought weight plates to store in the fitness room in my co-op community and man it wasn't easy. Many stores were sold out. I couldn't even get 45s, I got 5s, 10s, and 35s. Enough to train loading pin lifts like the crusher and flask. The heavy band system I purchased is sold out now after I bought it. All guys who rely on commercial gyms are buying up home training equipment. 

[slazbob]

On 3/18/2020 at 6:51 AM, Mike Rinderle said:

I train everything at home.  I'd never leave my property if I could get away with it.   I'm the original social isolationist. 

Totally agree!

[dean_redzic]

Seems like a lot of people have home gyms.

I thought with a lack of equiptment we would see a surge in gripper certifications!!!

[Tom Flesher]

On 3/17/2020 at 9:02 PM, Tom Flesher said:

I do most of my powerlifting and grip at home, but my strongman gym is closed for the time being and I’m not sure if they’re going to do outdoor workouts on Saturdays or not.

No outdoor workouts so my most recent purchase was a 300 pound sandbag. I’m hoping that if I carry it down the sidewalk in my neighborhood people will ask if I’m ok. 

[Bearcat 74]

I’ve been training with rocks, logs and sledge hammers. 

[Vinnie]

I was working out once a week at Anton's in Queens, and he has most grip equipment.  I have a fair amount of grip equipment at home, but it is my mom's house, until my divorce is final and I move out, so I don't like to have my equipment out a lot.  I will often do just grippers at home or in the office, since they don't require a lot of space or set-up, but I don't do as well on them when I don't mix with some CNS-firing filler (as Chez has taught me).  So in virus times I have pulled out a fold-up bench I have, which i was not really using, and I have decided to use this isolation to chase a non-grip goal I kind of had for this year anyway, and have wanted all my life but have not chased since I was 17:  to bench 200 free weight.  Yes, you saw that right.  I am probably the only person who is certified on GHP7 and MM1 who cannot and never could bench press 200.  I maxed out in the 190 range both as a teenager and when I tried at Anton's house recently.  But I have never pushed myself on bench, so I am pretty sure that with some focus for a month I can do it. 

Progress:  11 days ago I did 5 sets with 155, max reps, and got 4-3-3-3-3.  Yesterday (10 days later), same weight: 7-5-5-4-3.  Newbie gains!  No spotter, so I am stopping with the last rep I am sure I can make (and of course I know I am actually capable of getting out from under 155 if I can't make the last rep, as I tried once when I had a potential spotter and it was fine, but I don't like the feeling so I am being careful anyway).

On April 27 I will turn 51 so maybe I will try on April 26 lol.  And then again whenever the world reopens!

I would also like to go for MM2 this year, but I have slipped back on grippers since MM1, so I need to get back on those soon, too.  I hurt my thumb two months ago doing a long 2HP hold on flask, and still can't do serious pinch with my right hand (very very slow mend going on).  So that is another good reason to focus on bench right now, which will allow that to heal and is good background prep for setting grippers when I get back to them.

I think I will also start training some of my novelty implements, like the grab ball that should be arriving soon, and inch pinch, hub, coin - stuff I can do inside with under 100 pounds.  And I'm warming up to sledgehammers.

[Mike Rinderle]

200 will be a smoke show with a little training by the 26th.  It's awesome you are branching out into other lifting Vinnie.

If you are close to 200 without training bench, you could get two wheels by the end of summer easy.  250 by the end of the year without going crazy.

At 190 without training bench, you are way ahead of most guys out there. The average adult male can't bench 135.  Dare I say it, you could get to 300 with a year or two of training.  

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by Mike Rinderle

[Andrew P]

With the stay home and layoff I'm training more than ever. But I'm in the minority that have a stupid overstocked home gym and I've always preferred training alone. 

[Vinnie]

1 hour ago, Mike Rinderle said:

200 will be a smoke show with a little training by the 26th.  It's awesome you are branching out into other lifting Vinnie.

If you are close to 200 without training bench, you could get two wheels by the end of summer easy.  250 by the end of the year without going crazy.

At 190 without training bench, you are way ahead of most guys out there. The average adult male can't bench 135.  Dare I say it, you could get to 300 with a year or two of training.  

 

Not sure about much more than 200 but we will see where the limits are.  I have a bit of a handicap, in that I had radiation treatments on my torso during puberty in 1980 -- which thankfully cured me of Hodgkins disease and permitted me to grow up, but stunted my growth from neck to waist.  That's why I am 5'6" 180, while my brother, who was the same size as me at the same ages when we were little but never got cancer, is 6' 220.  I'm basically missing 6 iinches and 40 pounds of torso.  Thank goodness my genes run naturally large, so I just seem like a short guy with big limbs.  If I had been small to begin with, I'd have been in trouble!  All that being said, I agree that deciding in advance that I can't is going to guarantee it.  I will see what's possible, within reason since training is not the only thing in my life.  But it is worth some effort, for sure.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Vinnie

[Climber028]

4 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

Not sure about much more than 200 but we will see where the limits are.  I have a bit of a handicap, in that I had radiation treatments on my torso during puberty in 1980 -- which thankfully cured me of Hodgkins disease and permitted me to grow up, but stunted my growth from neck to waist.  That's why I am 5'6" 180, while my brother, who was the same size as me at the same ages when we were little but never got cancer, is 6' 220.  I'm basically missing 6 iinches and 40 pounds of torso.  Thank goodness my genes run naturally large, so I just seem like a short guy with big limbs.  If I had been small to begin with, I'd have been in trouble!  All that being said, I agree that deciding in advance that I can't is going to guarantee it.  I will see what's possible, within reason since training is not the only thing in my life.  But it is worth some effort, for sure.

You have a handicap in your brain, not your torso. You're absolutely able to hit 250, even if you didn't use a program and just trained bench a little bit. You're already way ahead of most people. 

[Vinnie]

1 hour ago, Climber028 said:

You have a handicap in your brain, not your torso. You're absolutely able to hit 250, even if you didn't use a program and just trained bench a little bit. You're already way ahead of most people. 

Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I am open-minded, and I think you and I might agree that if you have achieved all your goals, you did not set (at least some of) them high enough.  But I am also a pragmatist and wise enough from my years to know that not EVERYTHING you can imagine is possible simply because you will it to be.  There are goals which are unattainable, and therefore not worth pursuing (or at least are worth pursuing only to see how close you can get to them, but still knowing you can't).  For me, benching 300, closing a COC 4, running a 5-minute mile - things that are not gonna happen.  Not possible.  My body will not go there, and I know that.  I know this is a point some people disagree with, and I am happy to hear the disagreement, but this is my view.  Boundless optimism that you are capable of anything might get you more than pragmatism gets you, but it is still not always correct.

250 I won't say never.  Not sure I will be motivated enough to chase that, but let us see how I feel after 200.  200 I am gonna get.  That IS attainable, and for that I AM motivated.  Yup.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Vinnie

[Climber028]

20 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I am open-minded, and I think you and I might agree that if you have achieved all your goals, you did not set (at least some of) them high enough.  But I am also a pragmatist and wise enough from my years to know that not EVERYTHING you can imagine is possible simply because you will it to be.  There are goals which are unattainable, and therefore not worth pursuing (or at least are worth pursuing only to see how close you can get to them, but still knowing you can't).  For me, benching 300, closing a COC 4, running a 5-minute mile - things that are not gonna happen.  Not possible.  My body will not go there, and I know that.  I know this is a point some people disagree with, and I am happy to hear the disagreement, but this is my view.  Boundless optimism that you are capable of anything might get you more than pragmatism gets you, but it is still not always correct.

250 I won't say never.  Not sure I will be motivated enough to chase that, but let us see how I feel after 200.  200 I am gonna get.  That IS attainable, and for that I AM motivated.  Yup.

If we're talking basketball or high jump then sure you might be limited but having a short torso is no problem for the majority of weightlifting. If anything it helps a lot of lifts.