DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Hey guys I started training wide pinch a few months ago I use a 45 pound hex dumbbell with bands hooked over it. I started developing pain in the joint closest to my hand so I quit wide pinching all together. Most people swear by block weights and say that it is one of the best things you can do for overall hand strength. Are they absolutely necessary in order for me to develop a well rounded grip? I really don't want to develop chronic joint pain. Thanks in advance, Erik 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith513 Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 give it a rest for a couple weeks, then try it again. A couple times i've gotten to carried away and ended up upsetting something in my hands or wrists... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said: give it a rest for a couple weeks, then try it again. A couple times i've gotten to carried away and ended up upsetting something in my hands or wrists... I am going to train with my homemade pinch block and a pony clamp for a few weeks then and see what happens. Hopefully my thumb joint won't hurt the next time I try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennix Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 It's not so much about block weights or not, you have probably overtrained it and got joint paint from that. I have gotten that from time to time. Most of the times I just continue training things that doesn't hurt. But you can definitely try resting also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 8 minutes ago, Lennix said: It's not so much about block weights or not, you have probably overtrained it and got joint paint from that. I have gotten that from time to time. Most of the times I just continue training things that doesn't hurt. But you can definitely try resting also. I only do like 4-6 singles for wide pinch maybe I should do 3 or less and just do "normal" width for my other volume Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennix Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, DevilErik said: I only do like 4-6 singles for wide pinch maybe I should do 3 or less and just do "normal" width for my other volume I don't know how experienced you are with wide pinch. But I gained great success when new to do lots and lots of reps. Learning positions and optimal ways for my hand to pinch. We are talking 10x10 for a while and then when skin/hand/cns addapted go into singles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 5 minutes ago, Lennix said: I don't know how experienced you are with wide pinch. But I gained great success when new to do lots and lots of reps. Learning positions and optimal ways for my hand to pinch. We are talking 10x10 for a while and then when skin/hand/cns addapted go into singles. I am not experienced at all I am more of a gripper guy I do train pinch and thickbar very seriously but I only train pinch and thickbar once every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 1 minute ago, Joe Sullivan said: There is such a thing as too wide for some... find your sweet width and stick with that and below. Thanks for the tip Joe. My hands are very large 22 cm which is a little over 8.66 inches but I am still struggling with wide pinch which is very odd. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Just now, Joe Sullivan said: Oh wow! HUGE!! Then there shouldn’t be much that’s a problem for you then.... it may be just irritated from over training. Give it a rest and see. I was thinking that it might be the bands but I am not sure. The tension at the bottom is only 45 lbs and then it gets VERY heavy at the top out of nowhere because of the range of motion being so small due to the bands pulling down very hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, Joe Sullivan said: Oh wow! HUGE!! Then there shouldn’t be much that’s a problem for you then.... it may be just irritated from over training. Give it a rest and see. Haha yeah I am pretty genetically gifted when it comes to grip since my hands are pretty large even for my height. I will just give it a rest and try it again in a few weeks thanks for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Thanks everyone for being so helpful I really appreciate it! I am glad I became a member of Gripboard the grip community is very nice. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Just now, Joe Sullivan said: Here’s another suggestion for you, you said you have a tendency to jump up too quickly, you may be jumping up and wait to fast before the tissues have a chance to adapt. Scale it down a little bit and work with a certain weight for a while. Just like I told you with the hammers. It may help you with that. Yeah you are right man I will do that. I want every thing way too fast I even keep thinking what if I didn't get injured from grippers how strong would I have been now etc. Even though it was a stupid injury, injuries are always part of the game and I need to take a step back and realise that I need to have fun and that I shouldn't worry about being the strongest. I just need to keep making progress and I will eventually reach my goals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZRMMA Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 (edited) As someone who likes Blobs and Block Weights I would second all of what Joe is saying. There were times early on where I would lift them too heavy too often and my thumb at the base and wrist would feel strained(really bad). I would say just dial back and progress slower or work more volume or timed holds at a lighter weight/less tension. And if you’re just doing it to round out your overall grip and it isn’t a main goal I wouldn’t push it to where it messes up your main training. I will also add that if you can stay patient with it and train smart your hands will adapt so don’t give up on it. After feeling the same style of pain/injury early on I’ve gotten to a point where I can lift some pretty heavy blobs consistently and pain free. It’s one of the most comfortable lifts for me now. Edited October 5, 2021 by ZRMMA 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 55 minutes ago, Joe Sullivan said: Injuries don’t have to be part of the game if we train smart. Yes it happens, but if we listen to our bodies they are less apt to happen. Strength is a marathon not a sprint. It’s a cumulative effect over time. The tissues need to adapt to the stresses over time. I wish I had someone to give me this advice years ago because I was like you once... adding to much too fast and I had to have back and neck surgery as a result. I didn’t allow my body to adapt and just because I was able to increase and lift more weight so fast does not mean I should have as evident by my injuries. Take your time and enjoy the process. You only get one body. Very true man I am sorry to hear about your back and neck surgery. I will take your advice I think I will just do some higher reps for a while with thickbar and pinch and see how that goes. Thanks for wise words I will take a big step back and focus on having fun whilst making progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith513 Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 1 hour ago, DevilErik said: Yeah you are right man I will do that. I want every thing way too fast I even keep thinking what if I didn't get injured from grippers how strong would I have been now etc. Even though it was a stupid injury, injuries are always part of the game and I need to take a step back and realise that I need to have fun and that I shouldn't worry about being the strongest. I just need to keep making progress and I will eventually reach my goals. You sound like me... I bought a Wrist Developer three weeks ago... I used to too much, and now it still sorta bothers right wrist when using it.... Haven't even been able to add it to my routine, because i used it way to much. Our hands are more delicate than the rest of the body. I've always been hard headed balls to the wall full steam ahead person, but that haven't gotten me anywhere quicker. its taken me 10 years of spraining and straining every thing in my body at least twice to learn. I just started Simple and Sinister, and not gonna stop until I can do turkish get ups with my 88lbs kettlebell... But I bought a 26lbs kettlebell which is way lighter than I need and I'm slowly building up from there. I don't care if it takes two years...... But I'm also doing David Hornes beginner routine in junction for probably the next 6 months... Slowly adding weight to my pinch block, and using a sledge for the curls and grippers for the crushing... I don't care about being the strongest, but if I live long enough, I'm want to be one of those assholes who can still run a couple miles in their 80s, lever sledges and do basic calisthenics. In other words, I'm sorta starting from scratch again, but this time with a lot more knowledge. Slow and steady 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 3 minutes ago, ZRMMA said: As someone who likes Blobs and Block Weights I would second all of what Joe is saying. There were times early on where I would lift them too heavy too often and my thumb at the base and wrist would feel strained(really bad). I would say just dial back and progress slower or work more volume or times holds at a lighter weight/less tension. And if you’re just doing it to round out your overall grip and it isn’t a main goal I wouldn’t push it to where it messes up your main training. I will also add that if you can stay patient with it and train smart your hands will adapt so don’t give up on it. After feeling the same style of pain/injury early on I’ve gotten to a point where I can lift some pretty heavy blobs consistently and pain free. It’s one of the most comfortable lifts for me now. Thanks for the insight man I will scale it back and focus more on volume. It just all seemed very odd to me since I recover really well from grippers but thick bar and pinch are giving me some trouble and from what I have read on here it's usually the other way around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 4 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said: You sound like me... I bought a Wrist Developer three weeks ago... I used to too much, and now it still sorta bothers right wrist when using it.... Haven't even been able to add it to my routine, because i used it way to much. Our hands are more delicate than the rest of the body. I've always been hard headed balls to the wall full steam ahead person, but that haven't gotten me anywhere quicker. its taken me 10 years of spraining and straining every thing in my body at least twice to learn. I just started Simple and Sinister, and not gonna stop until I can do turkish get ups with my 88lbs kettlebell... But I bought a 26lbs kettlebell which is way lighter than I need and I'm slowly building up from there. I don't care if it takes two years...... But I'm also doing David Hornes beginner routine in junction for probably the next 6 months... Slowly adding weight to my pinch block, and using a sledge for the curls and grippers for the crushing... I don't care about being the strongest, but if I live long enough, I'm want to be one of those assholes who can still run a couple miles in their 80s, lever sledges and do basic calisthenics. In other words, I'm sorta starting from scratch again, but this time with a lot more knowledge. Slow and steady I am sorry to hear about your wrist man. I am someone that just gets obsessed and then I forget about having fun and I end up injuring myself. I am going to take it slow from now on and just have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Just now, Joe Sullivan said: You may be doing too much grippers and it’s affecting the other things. In my opinion grippers are terrible for thick bar and pinch progress. I stopped doing grippers completely because it was detrimental to my other training progress and only seemed to help grippers. Grippers seem only to help grippers. Yeah I have heard this a lot but I enjoy grippers the most out of everything and they affect my recovery the least out of the 3 I also train upper/lower 4 times a week so I need time to recover from all of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Right now this is my routine: Monday: Heavy Grippers+Pinch Tuesday: Upper body Wednesday : light grippers+thickbar+lower body Thursday: Off Friday: Upper body Saturday: Lower body + Heavy grippers+wrists/forearms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 15 minutes ago, DevilErik said: Yeah I have heard this a lot but I enjoy grippers the most out of everything and they affect my recovery the least out of the 3 I also train upper/lower 4 times a week so I need time to recover from all of it. Let me rephrase that I enjoy training my crush grip the most I know there are other ways to train it but grippers are just convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, Joe Sullivan said: Then greatly reduce the amount you train grippers. One time a week tops if you want to be good at all the other things without affecting them. Grippers take a lot out of the hands and CNS. More than most people realize. Cut it down and see. That may be your problem. I never really thought of that since I recover quite well from grippers and they seem to affect my recovery to a lesser degree than pinch or thick bar but I could give it a try. I might just think that grippers don't impede my recovery but maybe they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, Joe Sullivan said: They do and they will ESPECIALLY if you are doing other things grip. Progress killers. I never realised that it was this significant I thought my progress had slowed down on my other stuff because of me not having the "Proper" equipment but it has probably been me training grippers 3 times a week. I knew they were hard to recover from but I didn't realise they could actually kill your other progress. Thanks man you have helped me out tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jermiah Merciconah Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 1 minute ago, DevilErik said: it has probably been me training grippers 3 times a week. Are you doing Nathan's program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, Jermiah Merciconah said: Are you doing Nathan's program? yeah I am except for his programming on thick bar and pinch. it works really well and I have made some crazy progress on grippers while doing it but you really have to adapt and get used to it it's crazy heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilErik Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 minutes ago, DevilErik said: yeah I am except for his programming on thick bar and pinch. it works really well and I have made some crazy progress on grippers while doing it but you really have to adapt and get used to it it's crazy heavy. it's low volume though so "easy" to recover from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.