Sledge Blog By Ruffhans

[ruffhans]

hello all. i was in grip chat with prizner tonight and he motivated me to start a blog. im glad he did , this will motivate me to shoot for a 15 lb hammer strict lever.

i can curently strict a 12 for reps,..about 3/4 strict. this is perforemed standing or kneeling. arm shoulder hieght hand at the very bottom of the hammer. holding hammer strate up, i lower it to my nose/forehead, and sometimes to my ear, and back agian without bending my elbow or moving my arm. i can do 12 lb in my rite hand, and 10 in my left.

my goal will be 15 in rite hand and 12 in left.

i will start my training tomorow. i will do a 6 week training period and see how far i come.

i will be doing as follows,......2/3 times a week, ( no set days but as i feel), this has worked best for me in the past. during this training period i will work only my forearms and grip, and most of this will be done with the hammers. levering wrist movement exct. i will do some wrist rolling and hanging from rolling thunders for time. there will be no pinching or gripper training done. i will also do dexterity ball work every or every other day for hand health.

i dont have a specific workout in mind but it will go something like this,...

warm up with hammers.

hammer catch from hand to hand

levering in front and back with hand

only half way up the handle.

from there a few levers in each hand with normal wiegth. probably 2/3 times per hand for good long warm up. then 3 sets of one rep per hand with narmal wieght with one pound added.

after that i will do forearm workout and a timed hold from rolling thunders that will hang from a chin up bar.

this will be it for grip. the only other form of excersise will be tai chi during the week. i will report in once a week to tell you how it is going, unless there is some rule about reporting daily,..as this is my first blog.

ruffhans

[ruffhans]

today i did not do a lever workout due to the fact that my forearms are pretty sore from rolling thunder hangs yesterday. i did do 5 mins of dexterity balls tonight though. as soon as the muscles in my forearm recover i will lever. most likely saterday.

i also noticed that i spelt "blog" instead of "log",.....im a dumb ass!

[priznr]

good luck with your training! it's good to see a sledge hammer log in the training log section.

you will get that 15® and 12(L)

peace

[ruffhans]

today without planning on it i trained. i was at work. some of the frat house guys got talking about wieght lifting, and we got on the subject of grip and wrist strength agian. a fellow asked me if i had that hammer i was talking about in my car, he wanted to try levering it. i went out and got it and had about 9 guys try. during the cource of the conversationi levered it about 5 times. one of those times was 3 reps in a row. i tried once with left and to my suprise i got it but was shaky, and i was about 3 inches from getting the hammer paralel to the ground. i also tried something i never did before and nelt down on two knees to rest my arm on a table to try the levering. much , much harder. my first try i did not get it back up and noticed that it was about three times harder to keep it balenced from side to side when keeping your arm tight to a table. 2nd time i got it but with alot of trouble. also did another rep with left hand and did not get it back up but only half way.

thus,...i had a workout without planning on it. this was all done cold too so it will be interesting to see how a warm up adds to my levering.

im thinking that too long of a warm up ill take away strength while a light one will help.

[ruffhans]

did a levering workout today,.

warmed up by hanging on rolling thunders in each hand on a chin bar. did 3 sets at about 5 secs each. then went on to hammers,...did hand toss back and forth for about 2 mins.

after i felt i was warmed up enough i started levering. although i am shooting for 15 lbs i stayed with 12 for today and just wanted to see how strict i was, and check my form in a miror. i ended up levering 12 lbs in "both" hands to my suprise. usauly 8 lbs in my left is hard enough.

first atempt was in rite hand. strict lever down to the side of my head by my ear and back up. first atempt in left hand. same but felt a bit harder on the wrist, and hurt the webing between my thumb and index finger were as the webing on my rite hand is tough. 2cnd atemp with rite hand was the same, so when the hammer was at top agian i went for another rep witch made three for the rite hand. on the last two reps with the rite hand i held the hammer for about 2 secs for a hold. 2cnd atampt with left had was harder and hurt a bit. third atempt with left hand was very shakey and almost did not finish it.

this was it today.

[ruffhans]

today i did know levering but did try something new i have just began doing about two weeks ago.

i did wrist roller with a 3" bar. useing this size of a bar i could not use the normal wieght i use. on the 3" i only used 10 lbs. the reason for such a light wieght is due to the fact that i have to almost compleatly let go of the bar each time i repositoin my hand to roll. unlike on a 2" bar or thinner, when doing this all the wieght is held by the holding hand. i did this up and down for about 5 mins with short rests in between for about 30 secs. had good forearm pump, however this was very taxing on the fingers and the thumb, aswell as the wrist. i like the feel of that the 3" bar provides and will alter between the 3" and a 2" bar during my goal to reach a strict 15 lb lever.

Edited December 12, 2005 by ruffhans

[ruffhans]

well new news! i measured my bar and i was wrong it is 3 and 1/2 " not 3" so it provides a tuff workout. my hands are 8" so if you can hold one i would recomend it for great open hand, thumb,finger strenght!

[ruffhans]

another workout tonight pretty simple

very big dexterity ball work,..later in the evening 4 levers in each hand with 12 lbs. this time was much easier and less painfull. no warm up was done! i have always had good results with levering and have made fast gains in it. being able to go from 3 levers in right hand and only 2 in left , to 4 in each hand has prooven it agian. this gain was made in one week. still felt strong after levering. i believe i could have done more reps or added weight tonight, but i will not rush it.

[ruffhans]

did workout this morning.

hung from my RTs for a few secs each time to warm up. did this untill very week.

taped one lb to my 12 lb hammer, and to my suprise levered it in both hands two times. this was without any other levering done for a warmup.

to my suprise the levering is moving rather fast and i feel it will be a short time before i hit my 15 lb lever goal.

i have been starting to realy "feel" when i lever. i examine the lever through its entire motoin when doing it. and make mental notes on where the preasure realy is and when to exacute force. i find that the "lowering" of the hammer to my nose is slow. i think this is true for most who lever but im not sure.

i also am planning with each time i move up one lb to make sure i try the new wieght from a table where my arm rests. this way i feel i will see what the wieght truely feels like. as levering a wieght with arm tight to a table is harder than the other.

i also have notice how that a proper squeeze and pinky/ring finger tightening at the rite time helps in the levering. i am making sure that the movement is the same every time also.

i have also been thinking about just going out and buying a 16 lb hammer and just training with it, instead of working my way up. i believe this mite be a good thing to do. even though i may not be able to lever it fully rite off, i will be able to lever it about 1/4 of the way. and with each new workout i can lower a lill bit more each time. this may be a good way to trian also.

i will post if i decide to do this, as a 16 lb hammer is about 35$ at my local hardwere store and i dont know if i want to spend that much rite now as my wife just put a 700$ guitar on layaway for me that i wanted.

[priznr]

congrats on the 13 both hands!

[ruffhans]

thank you priz!

[ruffhans]

workout yesterday was just some levering and that is it. it started with a trip to the hardwear store to get some things.

while i was there i saw that they still had a 16 lb hammer that they have had for a few years no one has bought. i tried this same sledge about a year ago only getting it down and holding it for 2 secs, but unable to get it back up.

so i tried it agian to see what i could do. to my disapointment i could not get it back up and ended up getting a pain in my wrist. but this was first thing in the morning and with no warm up.

upon coming home i taped 2 1/2 lbs to my 12 lb hammer to see if i could lever it and agian i was weak! having already hurt my wrist a lill it only made things worse.

i then did a levering warm up and agin nothing!! at this time i felt crushed and became very upset. decided to leave the 2 1/2 lb plate taped to the 12 lb hammer and give it another try agian in a few days.

my hands and wrists where also sore and tired from the huge dexterity balls i have been useing.

so for the first time since my levering goal i feel a bit down and discouraged. the 16 lb hammer feels so far away that it looks dim from here. i see others levering 16 lbs and it bothers me that i cannot. but it bothers me more that i cant do it without pain.

but i am smart enough to know that any training program has its set backs and hills to go over.

i tried to pick myself up by telling meself that there is alot of guys who could not even lever 10 lbs,...but it did not work.

[ruffhans]

sice beginning my grip training back in 2002,..i have now and then noticed something i always thought to be odd. one day you can realy suck, weak as hek. you dont know why, but you just aint got it.

and another day you amaze yourself. no warm up and bam you just pull something off.

mybee it is beacuase you took a good time to rest and got a lill stronger, maybee your hands where warmed up in another way, maybee you had a cup of coffee, or maybee where more focused.

i have found myself wondering about all of theese things at one time or another.

and today i find myself amazed agian.

about 5 mins ago i picked up my 12 lb hammer with 2 and 1/2 lbs taped to the top for a total of 14 and 1/2 lbs and leverd it to my nose and back strict with my rite hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it felt easy'r than a few days ago,..infact i have not even picked up my hammer since the last time i posted,...must have needed a good rest is all.

i am going to go try agian rite now while im writing this post,............................................well i did it agian,..this time much slower and with a lill pain in the wrist on the way back up. if i where warmed up there probably would not have been any pain.

so it looks like im not far away from my 15 lb hammer lever in each hand goal after all.

i am happy!!! and have you all to thank! without the gripboard and others all at difirent levels motivating me i would not have an interest in getting stronger.

thank you!

[priznr]

dude ruffhans, from your log, if you go ahead and read it.. almost every time you try levering without being warmed up properly your wrist hurts/pain etc..

warm up good man!@$!@ make warmup a protocol of your workout.. if no warmup, no workout.... or something..

for example, part of my workout is a mandatory warmup.. if i don't do it i dont workout.. but when i hurt my leg a couple weeks ago.. i didnt dothe warmup properly, and there's such a big difference.. pain in the hip etc.. so it's just not worth it not to warmup and workout..

glad to see you're doing better, and congrats on 14 1/2 !

WARM UP MANG

[ruffhans]

priz!!!! i been looking for you in chat!

well thanx for the good advice! i will keep that in mind. i know i posted that i would begin with a warm up, i shoudl do that! my arm still hurts a lill but it will get better. i guess i see and hear about guys doing 16 and more with no warm up and i feel like i should do that also. but i have to remember that im me and not them.

thanx agian priz!

[ruffhans]

have not done any levering since last post,. now that the holiday is wrapping up, i levered this morning after a very lught warm up.

did 14.5 in both hands strict. felt fiarly easy. had very very slite pain in rite hand. so i didnt do it agin. i think i may just do one rep workouts.

[ruffhans]

did 15 strict in rite and left hand today!!! not only is my goal met, but i exeeded my origanal goal of only 12 lb lever in left hand! yahhhoooo. it is amazing to feel how light it is, and how my wrists and arms have came up in strength.

i would like to add however that somedays it is easy'r than others. so in other words if i lever agian two days from now it may feel harder. i will keep with this 15 lb lever for awhile. and keep working on the balls, wich by the way are making my hands like steel!!!! the thumb muscle and the pinky muscle,..( the muscle that runs along side of the hand on the pinky side),.has become extreamly hard and bigger. my opened hand and finger strength from the balls is awesome.

curently my guitar playing and artwork will be on my mind alot, as i am giving a great deal of my time to further my guitar skills, and trying to put out a few more art pieces before spring. so i may stay where i am grip wise. i have told wanna and others about my future plan to do some awesome art work for a "sledge hammer levering" logo.

i would like you guys to give me some ideas as to what i should shoot for next.

would you say i should keep going untill i get a 16 lb lever?

shoot for the 15 lb for reps. try something new?

pass along some ideas , it may spark an idea in me to try for something new.

DONT SAY BENDING!!! lol i have bent before and i hate it. i have done a 60 d nail three times in my past and it hurt, made me feel unnatrual, and put my heart rate where i didnt like it. so anything else would be cool. plus i dont care if i can bend or not,..i never related to it,..like levering, ripping exct.

thanks agian for all your suport.

[StalwartSentinel]

did 15 strict in rite and left hand today!!! not only is my goal met, but i exeeded my origanal goal of only 12 lb lever in left hand! yahhhoooo. it is amazing to feel how light it is, and how my wrists and arms have came up in strength.

Good job!

[Muscle Turtle]

ruffhans, you have any pics of you levering?

I say keep doing what you have been doing. It got you to the 15, now see if it can get you a bit further.

[ruffhans]

as soon as my brother gets around to it i am puting a clip of the lever on here yes! and thanx agian turtle

[ruffhans]

well i did alot of thinking today and decided that i will start all over again for some new goals.

the lever with the 15 lb hammer was nice, but after doing a few times in each hand over a couple of days i can see that it will be harder and more painful on some days than others. so i will continue to train with the 15 lb hammer untill i can do it pretty easy each time and while my arm is tight to a table. this will be a worth while goal to shoot for.

i thought i should try for a couple of other things aswell. i will continue with the huge dexterity balls increasing in wieght on the 5 inch balls. my long term goal is two 5 inch balls with a bag of shot in each. each bag is 25 lbs but i think the balls will only hold about 20 lbs worth. this will be probably be the hardest to reach as the 5 inch balls i have now do fit in my hand but are curently at 7 lbs. so the size wont be the problem as much as the wieght.

i rpped a few thick romance novals the other day and it felt good on my hands. so, i want to get back into ripping. i will shoot for a big phonebook or something as thick as one. i think that is 2 inches if i am corect. someone could let me know if i am wrong.

and finaly my forearms. i want to increase the sise of them. they are now 14 inches at widest point. i think 16 inches would be nice. however with out folowing a body building type workout plan wich includes alot of protien i dont think i will see 16 inch forearms. so someday 15 would be nice, but for now a more practical goal will be 14.5. i plan on achieving this with the levering movments, and wristrolling. i do all my wrist rolling while holding the bar out with the help of my shoulders. so i would like to wrist roll 35 lbs up and down ONCE in this manner.

i would also like to point out that i have a rather odd training routine. if i "feel" it i will do it. i will not folow a 3 day/2 day a week program. some of you may feel that this is rather dumb, but from experiance i know i do my best this way. so asfar as having a goal date to reach theese goals by, i just have them as goals to reach, whenever. i find that having a date is harmful for me and puts me in an unrelaxed mode wich inturn hinders me. i choose to take a slow whenever aproach. you probably notice this with the first part of this post. no set days to post. i trust this ok and does not take away the seriousness of my goals. it may seem like a lazy aproach and maybee it is but i have soo many hobbies that i will get mind boggled if i try for them all at once.

so in a nutshel here is the list agian.

GOALS

to become stronger in my 15 lb lever. i.e, reps,arm on table ext.

to rip something of a 2inch thickness or more. example thick book/ phonebook.

to roll in my hand two 5 inch wide 20 lbs each balls.

to increase forearm sise 1/2 inch

to wrist roll 35 lbs up and down once in traditoinal manner with wieght being held by front deltoids.

well,..we will see how it goes. as of rite now i will gow try each of the following and see how close i am to each!

Edited January 1, 2006 by ruffhans

[ruffhans]

ok,..i measured my forearms just to make sure,.they are 14 inches at widest point.

we have a 2.5 inch thick yellow pages phone book, i tried very hard and nothing happened.

i tried wrist rolling the 35 lbs,...hahaha noway!! i had to cut it down to 15 lbs. i should add that this is done on a 2 inch pvc pipe bar and when my arms are held out striaght the distance i have to roll it up is 57 inches. the levering is still there but very hard in left hand and painful, but i have done it too mush in the last 2 days also. i dont think i would do 15 lbs strict in each hand if my arm was straped to a table.

and asfar as the balls go i have no way to add wieght yet but i wil report in on that soon.

[ruffhans]

last night tried the phonbook again and nothing. soemday. did the 15 lb lever felt hard this time and i did not get it back up with left hand. also did a 6 lb ball workout, and noticed the muscle on the pinky side of the hand is getting bigger and harder. did not do any wristrolling or forearm work.

[Muscle Turtle]

I once knew this guy who was trying to rip a phone book, and he was trying real hard and he kinda misgrooved it and he PAPER CUT HIS HEAD OFF!!!!

think about that for a second man

Edited January 5, 2006 by Muscle Turtle

[Muscle Turtle]

so this 3 legged dog comes into the bar and says, "Im looking for the guy who shoots paws".....