A little about me

[Guest map12345]

Hi!

I'm new to this board, and haven't even had a chance to look around yet, but I figured I'd tell you a little about who I am here first.

I'm Marc (map) from Canada, eh? After a lengthy (15 months) of broken leg recovery :S I could finally walk again. Soon after I started with walking, then walking faster, then push-ups and situps, then a bit of weights, then some kayaking, and now I find myself (a few years later) back it good health.

So I've become very interested in weight training over the past year, with a doing it on and off, but have always quickly found myself to get bored of it, yet this grippage.com really caught my eye every time it has been mentioned around on the net. So with a little research I've become enthused to really start doing something about getting a strong grip, and maybe letting the rest of my body gain some good strength along with it (I'll squat and deadlift to make sure of it)... but I'm still just a little 15 year old kid, all 113 pounds of me, with great coordination and balance, so lifting stuff is no longer a problem, except usually for my hands/forearms often give out on me.

Alright, so sorry about the rambling, but I'd be glad to hear from all of you and tell you how stuff is going.

-map

PS: I'm probably gonna pick up a COC trainer only, and maybe hook up some thick DB's and stuff

[blueshadow]

Welcome Marc you are at the perfect age to make great gains and progress by taking advantage of the wisdom,experience and know how contained in these pages!

[Roark]

Marc,

Your nickname says it all: 1234, each step in

order. Take advice from the veterans on this

board, ignore the probable inclination of your

youth to bypass certain steps, and you'll make

speedy progress. Some of the fellows here (not

me) have reached world class strength levels,

and they have much to offer. And the price is

right!

Welcome!

Joe

[Tou]

One more Canadian aboard ! We are very few.

Where are you in Canada ? I live in Lévis, south of Québec City.

Welcome to the board, read all the past posts because there is some very good stuff here. Train hard and you'll mash a couple of grippers. You came to the right place in order to improve your grip.

[Guest map12345]

Tou,

I'm confused... you say you're Canadian as well... yet you live in Quebec? hehe

I'm from Manitoba, born & raised

It's amazing to see how many Grip enthusiasts there are out there. I came here expecting to find something like joe, bob, and frank... the 3 guys that break stuff with their hands. I guess I've been mistaken.

Oh yah, do any of you (Maybe tou) know if there are any Reliable Canadian Dealers for COC grippers? If not, I have no problem going through IronMind... as I assume it's a good company

-Map

[Tou]

Get your stuff directly from Ironmind. It is one of the best company in the world of strength. It's faster to order online at ironmind.com.

Some of the guys on the board are the best in the world. David Horne and Richard Sorin hang here at times. They are the two best grip athletes alive. You're probably a hockey fan. Well, imagine receiving advice from Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. We have that for grip strength !

Now get your grippers, learn all the best grip exercises and train like a madman.

[Guest kINGPIN]

Welcome to the board.  Read learn and apply and you will get what you want.

[Guest james]

Welome to the board Marc! you have found the right place for grip strength!

I wish I found out about the COC grippers when I was 15!!! I'm 18 now. I still can't close that #2 yet!!!

James

[Guest 86-1005097353]

Here is some free advice. Only my gym members get that. I do not do personal training.

Given your age you probably won't listen to anything I say! I bet you won't. There will be many here who might disagree with my advice.

Here goes. You have plenty of motivation. That is good but can also be a negative because you might be impatient. What you need is more information. You need to know about the factors that go together to make you grow and get stronger.

Those factors are nutrition, exercise and rest. If you do not understand all of them you will not make the gains that you desire. At 15 your testosterone is just starting to forge your adult size. Your body is in a state of rapid growth and you will be doing many things at once. No need to put more demands on your system than is helpful. Your body is growing taller because your bones are growing. You are maturing sexually. And finally, your muscles are getting stronger and larger.

Number one job for you is to buy a good nutrition book and study it. I can't recommend one off hand, but buy one written for university nutrition courses and not one written by some supposed bodybuilding expert.

Number two is to learn more about training. If you read all the threads about training on this site and elsewhere then that will help you get started. There are some books you can buy that will form a good basis to your theory. If you have the wrong theory then you will not grow as much as you want to. The other problem is in the application of theory. That can be more difficult than finding the right theory.  Larry Scott wrote a good book about training, another one is by Dr Fred Hatfield, called "Scientific bodybuilding".

Number three is to remember to rest. Since bodybuilding originated about 100 years ago I would say the biggest change in how we train has been in the amount of rest a muscle needs to grow. If you go about training all your muscles every week you will soon be training way too much. Also, you will be overtraining certain muscles such as arms and shoulders. Is it any wonder that so few make really good gains.

This is what I would do if I were 15 again. It will help your grip, too. I would do close grip lat pulldowns to the top of the chest with handles that are 6 to 8 inches apart. You do a set with a light weight then rest for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then add 10 pounds and do another 5 to 10 reps. You can vary the number of reps from workout to workout. I like doing 5 reps. You will soon see why! Then do another set with 10 more pounds if you can manage that. The strategy is to work up by 10 or 20 pound jumps to a weight you can only just manage for your target number of reps. That is why 5 is ideal. It feels good to do that number. Then, and only after you are experienced, do an additional 3 to 5 sets at that maximum weight. You will need to rest perhaps 2 minutes between sets.  If you use this protocol on all the exercises you will find you should be sore the next day. That is what you have to be after each workout to know you are going to be growing.  You can use this exercise every 5th to 7th day. Experiment to find out what makes you grow the most.

The other exercise is to do full squats. Do them as you would your lat pulldowns. Again, once a week is sufficient. Do your lats on Monday, and your legs on Thursday.

That's it. No arms. No chest. No nothing. See, I knew you wouldn't believe me.

Another trick is to train only if you weigh more each week.  You should also write down what you eat, lift and measure. That way you have a record and can use that to find out what you are doing wrong.

If you have to add a thind exercise then do a chest movement. Most beginners like bench presses. You could do a peck deck if you have a machine. Again, same strategy as before. Do the chest a few days after the lat pulldowns, and do the legs on a separate day in between.

You could try the two exercise strategy for 6 weeks and see how you go. Then try the 3 exercise program.

I don't recommend deadlifts for any exercise program. I tore a biceps doing that and it is a silly and dangerous exercise. You will damage your spine sooner or later. Be careful with squats. Keep your upper body as erect as you can.

Be sure to do other activities and have fun as a teenager!

Good luck.

[Tou]

You want a good program you can follow for a few years, here it is. This is what I should have do when I was 15 instead of doing biceps and bench everyday.

Day one : squat + overhead press + bent rwo

Day two : deadlift + close grip bench press + chin ups

Throw in some grip work twice a week.

Do this routine for a couple of years and you'll have a solid foundation.

I spent the last two years building such a foundation following that program. It is very simple and it makes me strong. Some guys at the gym are more cut and tanned than me but they step back when I deadlift 400 for 20 reps. No, I don't perform any biceps and triceps. Close grip bench blast your triceps like nothing else and heavy chins are the best biceps exercise you can have.

Should you perform deadlifts ? YES, YES, YES. The best exercise along with squat. You won't have a strong back until you lift heavy weights in deadlift.

[underdawg]

like these guys have said, whatever you do keep it simple.  you'll get much stronger than by blitzing your pecs every other day, and pumpin the #### out of your biceps.  i recently started on a routine similar to the one tou described to rebuild my foundation.  it's one brooks wrote that i found on another site.  basically i overhead press, barbell curl, squat, power clean, and close grip incline bench twice a week.  each excercise is done 5X5.  i throw in 2 or 3 grip excercises at the end of each workout.  you may be better off with the workout tou described because it wouldn't take as much time to complete, but this workout has worked wonders for me.  i'm only 22, but i spent far too many years tryin to look like the latest "mr. everything" and never made any progress.  i wish i could go back and do it all over again.

[Guest 86-1005097353]

We are confusing the young fellow already. Why give a kid so many exercises? Let me relate a true story that happened at one of my gyms about 12 years ago. A young guy from America joined up and asked for advice. This young man was about 22 and had a good physique already. Nothing spectacular, though.

I told him to do exactly as I prescribed. Realise he was already an adult and not a typical energy using kid of 15.  He followed the weigh more each workout policy and trained twice a week. On each visit he did 3 exercises for 3 sets. Bench press, lat pulldown, and squats. After a month he had gained about 15 pounds of muscle. He started to look like he trained with weights. He then asked if he could do some additional arm exercises and I recommended against it but relented and suggested curls and pressdowns. Over the next month his gains were cut in half. When he trained like everyone else in the gym his gains came to a halt. I wondered why that was so. I wasn't monitoring his eating habits because he was already gaining. Seems he was too eagre and the additional exercises might have interferred with the growing process. I think he might have come in on a separate day to do arms.

The point is if you have a successful program why change it? Here he was making the best gains that anyone had ever made in the gym and he still wasn't satisfied.

I see little point doing overhead presses. Ditto the deadlifts. Lots of people believe they are important but what do they develop as far as muscles go? Not very much. The deadlift is surely not beneficial to the spine. Not when huge weights are lifted. Anything over 400 pounds is asking for trouble.

What happens in training is that responses are directly proportional to the stresses you place on your various systems. If someone young is looking for maximum hypertrophy then I believe my program will result in exactly that. The truth is many other gym users would benefit from such a program. I believe Mike Mentzer found that his clients had to cut back on what they were doing. Shows you how much we are all sheep following blindly whoever is leading us. If we thought about what we were doing we might not train as we are now.

A lad has only so much adaptation ability. He needs his resources to fool about with his mates and to participate at school. What point is there in recommending a serious training program when a far simpler one will do?

All the advice is well meant. Perhaps I should refrain because it is almost a waste of my time. I have no desire to debate what beginners should do, although it is important. I will, however, debate hypertrophy theories until the cows come home.

[blueshadow]

Map by all means do squats and deadlifts these are two of the best excercises for becoming strong and building a solid foundation as Tou mentions! Just do not overdo either one of these! Most of us on this board perform these and know their true worth when it comes to good gains. Listen to the likes of the one and only Tou and others here who really practice what they preach! Stay healthy,live long and prosper!  

[Arthur Antonopoulos]

Hi Marc,

I'm sure you asked for help in building your grip in this post and how it turned into a bodybuilding post beats the f&$%# out of me.

The amount of work to put into your grip training depends on the rest of your training and your overall goals. A good start would be to purchase a couple of grippers, perhaps the T, #1 and #2. Although you may not close them yet, you will need them in the future and can use them to gauge your strength and for forced closes if need be. Work them a couple of times a week and really concentrate on the placing of the gripper in your hand and in getting the right technique. Trust me, correct technique is paramount. Also try to snap them shut as fast as you can. And also get chalk. If you don't have any, get some you'll need it.

Work your pinch hard too. Get a couple of 1" plates, place them together, smooth side out and pinch them. You can either do timed holds, rep them or do max lifts. You can use a 2" block as well. Once again work on your technique. And use chalk. There's plenty of good information on pinching and the grippers on this site so check them all out.

Next do some wrist curls. I feel this movement is totally underestimated and is THE best wrist strengthener out there for mine. Note I said wrist strengthener and not forearm pumper, there is a difference. Do not be afraid to work on low reps on this movement once you get used to it.

DO deadlifts. These will not only build your body top to bottom once perfected (only second to squats) but will help your increase the strength of your supporting grip immensely. Choose between regular deadlifts and stiff legged deads after squats. I do hope you are doing squats, especially 20 reppers as they will add strength to every part of your body, yes, even your grip.

And that should be it. Do NOT be afraid to vary your training and work out what works best for you. Also if you have a chance read up and expand your knowledge. Although not directly grip related books by Kubik, Strossen, McCallum and Justa are invaluable reads.

Follow Tou's routine. The routine Tou has written in his post is probably one of the best routines I have seen and a couple of hard years work on that regime will turn you into a superman. Just work hard and set goals for yourself.

Train smart, train HARD and get strong.

Arthur

[Fuel Crusher]

Vince,

Pec deck over Bench's, LOL.

I know you like machines and your advice on a short routine is pretty good (disagree over deadlifts tho), but surely you can't recommend a small isolation movement like the pec deck over a great upper body movement like the bench, or dips?

FC

[Tou]

Here's a tip for anyone who wants to ruin his shoulders : perform pec deck. A couple of sessions and you're good for surgery.

[Fuel Crusher]

Couldn't agree more Tou, just the thought makes me wince.

Oh and Marc, read and study 'Brawn' by Stuart McRobert, you will be sooo pleased you found this book at your age. Also maybe watch the weight on your squats and deads, at 15 your spine is probably still growing so don't go taking any chances, you've plenty of years to work into the heavy stuff.

Cheers

FC

[Guest]

If you get confused during your training adventure and wonder what should I do now?

Follow these words to the letter:

Do the absolute minimum to achieve the absolute maximum!

Anything more is a waist of your time and energy and does little more than burn you out.

G

[Guest kINGPIN]

Why could'nt I have found this place when I was younger and have someone say that to me.

[Guest map12345]

LOL! You guyz (and girls? if any) are awsome! I come in here to say hi, and BAM! 18 full fledge workouts and advice... I've never found such a cheery bunch of weight/grip trainers on a forum before.

Well... To add to what you know about me (Vince_Basile

and others), I've been eating very healthy for the past year and a half. You wouldn't believe the comments from friends... "How can someone so small eat so much?" "How the #### don't you get fat, you eat twice as much as me" "You're going to die one day from eating so much"

BUT! My little tip is that everything I eat is healthy. Instead of chips, I'll have an apple and a glass of milk, or instead of a coke, I'll drink water or milk and some peanuts or something... Plus I eat some junk once in a while (meh, I work @ McD's)

Also, I know a LOT about training, lifting, youth lifting, etc. My only problem has been my motivation. I have a HUGE drive to do anything I want with anything, but I end up going too far with my training, and figure "Hmmmm... if I do this routine and it works, then I can't cut back, cause then I'lll only be giving 90%, which isn't the best." So I've figured that all out, and learned a lot about myself in the process, and have learned to have fun doing a few fun exercises, like squats, deadlifts, chins (assisted), overhead presses, rows, push ups, sit ups, etc. a few times a week... errr all of them a few times a week, and burned out and got a cold (bummer... my second in many years). So now I'm all better and happy, so I'm thinking of keeping it up but cutting back (Vince)... maybe to what tou has suggested, as those are all my favorite lifts (basic push, pull, and leg movements for nice balance), and add in some grip work at one or both, as well as some push ups and sit ups (Calisthenics got me into shape and still have a little place in my heart to work them like ####).

So thanks so much to all of you guys!

Oh yah, sorry... but I don't think you can keep my away from my deadlifts... I have found them to be my most practical of all lifts and just love doing them. They feel great as low or high rep exercises, and have strengthened my low back to the point where It no longer ever hurts from jogging, or any other exercise

Well... I guess I'll be going now

Chow

-map

Oh... just wanted to edit in a thanks to Aurthur... as this was a post on grip :p