Crush Is Weakening, As I Have Been

[pdoire]

I have always been a gripper specialist type of guy. Lately I have been incorporating Pinch....wide and narrow along with sledging, a little thickbar and some Blob work.

My forearms feel very strong and are sore in places I never felt before, however when it comes to the grippers my crush is off...and it worries me. I know I have read that there is an adjustment period. I have been doing the non gripper stuff for about a week and a half...Do I just need more time? Or will my gains slow and just become more well rounded?

What do you guys that train all around think? I can barely close my three sometimes...When a while back I closed the Elite....

[FrankyBoy]

According to my experience the crush is most sensible to other grip exercizes.

I learned to compensate this by increasing my gripper volume in an appropriate manner.

So my gripper volume is always at least that high as any other training.

[pdoire]

Franky I think my gripper training is equal to my other stuff..or maybe even more, but I will keep what you said in mind!! Thanks!!

[twig]

Clay says that tearing KILLS your crush, and since tearing is essentially pinch, it probably follows that pinch does too.

Personally all grip exersises that aren't grippers kills my crush.

Edited October 6, 2005 by twig

[climber511]

If your goal is to increase your overall strength - in the long run a little loss of one for the sake of the others is no big deal. Just my prediction but injury awaits those who have uneven development. Look at this board and who is hurt and who specilises to excess without balance. My two cents.

[underdawg]

It'll take a little time, Paul, but the gains will come back. I rarely touch grippers anymore, but I don't have any trouble making gains when I go back to them.

[opnsysme]

Ya, I always do my grippers first, because they always suck if they are done any other time. I think it has to do with the fact that grippers are a dynamic tension exercise, so they tax your grip even more than other training. Where as bending is all out at first then gets easier, blobs are static weight, leverage same static weight, etc..

[Bob Lipinski]

I made no progress on my grippers for a long time after branching out into other feats.

The only good thing is that I was alot stronger when I went back to specializing on the grippers.

[foggymountainmuscle]

I always do lots of different exercises, and when people mention topics like this, my first thought is usually "WTH?" . It is just silly to think that getting stronger in one area will make you weaker in another. My guess is at this stage of your new gripper training is your recovery stinks because you've never done these things before and they involve much of the same muscles used in crush, particularly in the fingers.

If you hit a PR in blob training and thickbar lifting in the same week, will you hit one in crush? Sure you could, but should you expect it? Not necessarily.

[Starkmann]

bare in mind I am new to gripping but...

Sounds like overtraining, maybe. How often are you hitting you grip?

Remember your grip will not at it's strongest when you train hard. It will be at its strongest when you are rested. So if you crush one day then lever the next, then repeat, you may never recover.

Of course, it could be just as you said, adjustment. Do your workouts take longer now? Are you taking more efforts to recover to match the increased volume?

I guess my main point is make sure you have adapted you recovery to your new program and give it two weeks. See how you feel about it then.

[gottabend]

Paul,

I share your experience and observations however, as other have suggested, I've opted for well-rounded grip strength. I did KTA last spring and got to where I could close my 2004 #3. I backed off of bending for KTA and had done no bending or levering until about a month ago. I really started focusing again on pinch after KTA and lifted the Blob about 8 weeks ago. Got a 2" bar last weekend and am using same in my full-body work. Although like you - I think my crush is strongest when I focus on crush, I want my grip strength to be well-rounded (crush, pinch, wrists, bending, etc.) so will continue to train them all. I can still close my Elite but am unable to consistently close my #3 per the COC cert rules. Can do so with a parallel set. Will shift focus slighly in coming weeks just so I can meet my objective of certifying this year. After that, it's back to the balanced approach.

Just the two bits' worth of rant from a fellow newbie. :-)

I'll be interested to see what we both think a few years from now with more experience behind us.

[pdoire]

Thanks all, I am sure the non-gripper realted muscles and tendons and not near the recovery level of the gripper only muscles. I will wait and see what happens..as my hands adjust.