Bill Piche Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Let's just say I have some connections and I am sure Wade would not mind. Wade Gillingham on Grip: 1) When you first started using the grippers, what routine did you use? The first time I touched the grippers was #2 in 1996. I closed it for 3 reps or so with my right and a one with my left. The first time I tried #3 was in 1997 - my dad had purchased the #2 & #3. I didn't buy the grippers until 1998 so I didn't train on them until then. 2) How long before closing the #2 with both hands (approx). answered above 3) How much can you pinch grip? I know you've done 45's. Any higher? I have never really trained my pinch grip. I've been able to pinch grip two 45's since I was 18 years old. The most i've ever done is 110 - two 45's and two 10's chained to it. I know that Maddy has done around 130 so I just wanted to see what I could do one night. This is the only time i've ever tried more than two 45's or a YORK 100. I can pinch grip the hub of a YORK 45 pretty easy now and i've done 70 with the IronMind hub. 4) Do you still do RT on Monday, Grippers on Wed, and some pinching on Friday? Yes, though my grip work is secondary to my powerlifting and strongman training. At least every other week I will work out with a large handle "rolling thunder" that we made. The handle diameter is right around 3 inches. Usually I will hook this up to a low cable row and hold for time. My brother Brad started doing holds with the end of a power bar to help his deadlift strength. Doing this really agrevates my back, so I came up with this as an alternative. The most that has ever been lifted with this handle is 175 pounds by myself and my brothers Karl and Brad. We have all done between 240 and 250 on the real Rolling Thunder so that tells you how hard this thick handle is. I usually do either a 10 or 30 second hold - 1 or 2 sets. I have been training my grippers once a week hard for the since fall of 1998. Prior to that I just closed whatever anyone had around me at the time because I didn't own them. I purchased the grippers in the summer of 1998. In the late fall of 1998 I closed our #3 gripper by hooking my left index finger through the hole in the spring and using my finger to keep the gripper from twisting in my hand. Since that time I have had the feaver to close #3 legit. I knew then that I had plenty of crushing power to close it but I had to get the technique down to keep the gripper from twisting in my big hand. Between that time and the time that I closed #3 legit (9/29/99), I did high reps with #1 and #2 and force reps or reps holding the spring with #3. The best i've done is 27 with #2 right and 20 with my left. I would finish these workouts off with a set of 40 or 50 with #1. At this time I could close #3 for 5 reps holding the spring so I just kept training this way thinking that I would get it some day. Then one day I just grabbed the #3 and closed it - twice in the same workout. Looking back now, I know I would have closed #3 a lot soon had I used the program I am currently on - thanks to you and Kevin Fulton. The high reps were fatiguing my grip too much and closing the #3 by holding the top was not helping my find the right groove. Just like in lifting, you have to use the proper form or you won't get stronger - I wasn't using the proper form. I do some pinching about every other friday. Ususally I just grab the 45's and do a couple reps with them. Sometimes, if I can get someone to challenge me, I will do the hub. Me and Brad have done this a couple times and it helps motivate me. Right now I am not seriously training pinch gripping because most of my pinch grip comes from my thumb. The weakness I need to work on is my finger strength. 5) HOw much can you do on the Rolling Thunder? 250 right and 240 left. This is very strict - held with my shoulders all the way back like a deadlift lockout. I've broken 260 from the floor. We made our thick handle rolling thunder in the fall of 1998. I had never touched a real rolling thunder before that. My brothers were telling me about this rolling thunder device that Scott Safe had at his business and how nobody could lift 200 pounds with it, so I got interested. Every time they would go over there they would bump the record up - 200, 210, 215, etc.. This friendly competition was getting me interested. We bought a real rolling thunder for my dad for christmas in 1998. The first time I touched the real one I did 225 because of my workouts with the large handle. (See June 1999 MILO article). 6) How did you end of lifting the Blob? Just when visiting Safe and for the fun of it (no intention before going there?). Scott had all of his grip toys setup in 1998 when he redid his store. Karl told me about the blob and told my there was no way I could do it. At that point I knew I could because I now had the motivation to do it. I didn't get over to Scott's until July of 1999, so I hadn't touched the blob until the day that I picked it up. It's tough to do. I had to feel it in my hand for awhile before I could figure out how to pinch it. If you just try to crush it, it will pop out of your hand. After getting it up with my right, the first time I touched it left I picked it right up because I knew how to squeeze it. The blob is fun because it is a novelty - a measure that many have tried so you know where you are at when you pick it up. Kinda like the inch dumbell. Incidently, Karl, myself, and Odd Haugen picked up Chris Mavromatis's inch dumbell replica when we were working out with Chris's mavrocks this summer during USAPL nationals. 7) How much do you use for the Farmers walk? When and how often? Depends on if i'm training for a contest or not. Ususally I don't train farmers walk any more than every other week. The most i've done is 300 in each hand for 50 yards. Since I started training this for strongman in the summer of 1998, my grip has gone up a lot! Watching Mark Phillippi and Odd Haugen do 260 at the hawaii beauty and the beast in 1998 (on tv) is really what got me interested in strongman. I knew I had a good enough grip to be competitive in this event, so I figured I would start training and see where it would take me. I found out real fast that grip is only a small part of farmers walk - this is an event that will make you a man! I started with 300 pounds total (150 in each hand) and I felt totally spent after about 100' the first time. Now i'm doing that in both hands and in much better shape at the end, so i've progressed a lot in this event. 8) When you weren't consistent on closing the #3, how were you using the grippers (I don't remember if you told me exactly how). High reps with 1&2...try to close #3 at the end of the workout. I was struggling without a program, doing stupid things! A person can't just grab #3 every chance they get and try to close it. That's like walking up to your max in the deadlift and trying to pick it up 3 or 4 times a week! After a lot of knuckle pain, and frustration I know better now! My advice is warm up and stick to the plan or you will never get anywhere with the grippers. 9) Are you now looking at going for the #4? Yes. I've set my sights on #4. I'm not going to buy one for awhile. I know what I have to do with #3 before I can even start training forced reps effectively with #4. I believe that anyone with a naturally good grip can close #3 with some training. #4 is a totally different story. A lot of people who have closed #3 say that they will close #4 soon. Mr. Kinney is the only one that has backed that up. I hope that in a year i'm in a position that I can really start training with the #4 without it totally kicking my ass. I will close it some day. My dad has one and has been training it for about 9 months. He has closed it against his leg and held it shut (touching) for a couple seconds. He will close it legit soon. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest StrongerthanArne Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Very interesting reading. Many thanks for posting it. I will myself order a Rolling Thunder soon. For supporting grip I am doing one arm deadlifts with a regular powerlifting bar, but would probably benefit more with a thick bar handle. Nevertheless, unlike the grippers it is obviously easier to measure your progress in a lift such as the one arm deadlift (regular grip and bar in front of body). Thanks to my friend Arne, we can increase the load by as little as 0.5 kg, after he bought Eleiko's smallest competition plates. The one arme deadlift is an event where I am NOT StrongerthanArne ( more like ArneisstrongerthanMikael). David Horne told me that anything above 120 is good, so we all feel like wimps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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