Scott Styles Posted January 25, 2006 Author Share Posted January 25, 2006 Sean, I am now using the Ironmind pads exclusively. They are more trouble to wrap than the shop cloths and tougher on my crushing grip, but they don't seem to impact my bending strength either way. Definitely worth it for the additional hand protection. 01-24-2006 - Workout 7 of 16 - Playing: Nothing Crappy workout. I've been spending too much time playing video games and not enough time recovering. I also over did it on Saturday. I was anxious to bend tonight and decided to do it before the yoga. My knuckles are achey from trying to progress too fast. I struggled with a timber tie and couldn't bend a piece of 7" 3/16" square. I did no other grip work because I need to let my knuckles recover. Since I'm dissapointed with the bending and tired from staying up too late, I don't feel like doing the yoga. Anyhow, tomorrow I'm going to do my yoga and follow it up with some squat form sets. Or vice versa. That should give me an extra day to recover on the squats before going to Greg's. Hopefully my hands feel better by Saturday. Time to go focus on eating dinner, doing some contrast baths, and getting to bed on time. 9 chances left to get stronger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp76 Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Glad to hear it man. When I started it took one stab through a old shirt to convince me that leather or cordura was the way to go. -Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 25, 2006 Author Share Posted January 25, 2006 Yeah, being vegitarian complicates the wrap situation for me a little bit. I did come across some synthetic leather on a website tonight that I may try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 01-25-2006 - Workout X of 16 - Playing: Nothing Squats 5x45 5x95 5x95 5x95 Looks like I got lower this time. But it was hard. I'm honestly feeling frustrated with these right now. I could pick that same 95lbs off the ground without issue. In fact, to prove this to myself, I just went and did that. Then I put it over my head. Really pretty irritating. Got video, but the lighting is a little screwed up. Cat broke the lamp so I had to improvise: http://www.gripfaq.com/gb/20060125SquatSet1.wmv http://www.gripfaq.com/gb/20060125SquatSet2.wmv http://www.gripfaq.com/gb/20060125SquatSet3.wmv http://www.gripfaq.com/gb/20060125SquatSet4.wmv No yoga, I'm just not feeling up for it. Oh, and to top it off, Monday I ordered 2 more months of glucosamine. This morning I figured out it makes me gassy. Gaaahh! I'm thinking I might need to change things up and do a month of morning workouts at the world gym downtown or something like that. At least my hands are starting to feel better. I am looking forward to gripping on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 (edited) Keep after it man! I know it's frustrating but you'll get there. From what I recall you have session with someone from the board this weekend so I don't really want to give any advice because there are some seriously strong dudes. That said I have an observation, question and suggestion: You still look like you are bening pushed down, pull yourself down. It may seem stupid but you'll know it when you feel it. What is stopping you from doing more? is it your legs, back or technique? I'm not say go up, I'm just curious I tried bottom position squat this weekend. Set the bar up on the safeties and get under it like you had just bottomed out on a squat. It was a great workout but also an education. You learn a lot about body positioning while you are setting up. Give it a try, go light or load the bar with more than you can do and just set up on it to learn the position without pressing into it. Edited January 26, 2006 by Starkmann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 Definitely getting together with Greg this weekend, so hopefully he can help to straighten me out. I'll try to think about pulling myself down as well. What stops me from doing more? Trying to stay upright. If I bend forward a lot, the weight isn't nearly as tough. Based on what I've been reading, it seems like the problem may be weak quads. Especially since I spent two and a half months doing the partial thickbar deads twice a week. The most strenuous thing I do outside of weightlifting is walk places and take a couple flights of stairs to / from my apartment. There's a good chance my glutes and lower back are over powering my quads. The more I think about it, I'm leaning towards doing the month of morning workouts at the gym to give myself a boost. I don't like the yoga. I like the idea of it, but I don't like doing it. If I do go that route, maybe I'll throw some leg extensions in to specifically focus on the quads. I can also try the bottom position squats. I've been thinking about the kuckle pain I've experienced - it coincides with me dropping the dexterity balls. They may not be related, but I've added the nightly dexterity balls back in. I'm not doing great at hitting my contrast baths every night anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 I'm sure Greg can identify your issues with the squat better than I can over the internet, so I'll leave that to you guys. I'm sure it will go well. Have you considered other kinds of flexibility/bodyweight programs? or does the whole idea of it just bore you? You could do some of Pavel's Power to the People, take up rock (wall) climbing or, if you want to be really wacky, try out martial arts. I'm not sure it matters which one, I don't have a favorite, try Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Ju Jitsu, etc. Just food for thought. Keep after it and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 I don't mind stretching. When going to the gym, I do it after my cardio and before my weights. The yoga / pilates mix was something new I decided to give a try. I guess my hope was the new movements would have some sort of spectacular effect, immediately fixing my bad shoulder and making my back like steel. Unreasonable, I know. After 6 months trying to learn to like it, I just don't. What I think it comes down to is that the wide variety of moves she uses to keep it "fun" require coordination and just leave me feeling tired of thinking so hard. I want to do the same thing over and over until I can completely turn off my brain. My favorite part of exercise is that I don't have to think much at all while doing it. That wasn't an option with the yoga. It also didn't give me much of an exercise high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denisbeck Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 I don't mind stretching. When going to the gym, I do it after my cardio and before my weights. The yoga / pilates mix was something new I decided to give a try. I guess my hope was the new movements would have some sort of spectacular effect, immediately fixing my bad shoulder and making my back like steel. Unreasonable, I know. After 6 months trying to learn to like it, I just don't. What I think it comes down to is that the wide variety of moves she uses to keep it "fun" require coordination and just leave me feeling tired of thinking so hard. I want to do the same thing over and over until I can completely turn off my brain. My favorite part of exercise is that I don't have to think much at all while doing it. That wasn't an option with the yoga. It also didn't give me much of an exercise high. Scott, keep it up you'll get there. Somethings that helped me squating were looking at a fixed point above eye level and not deviating from it. If I don't do that I tend to go forward. It made it easier for me to keep in the grove. Keeping my feet under my hips and in the same plane with each other. I also found stretching afterward was far better than before. I use a light weight to do my warmup and then start adding weight. I found by stretching my back out prior to squating, my spine felt to loose and I had difficulty staying tight. After I am done squating, the stretching alliviates the tightness in both my back, quads and hamstrings. Nice work also with the FBBC wrist roller, are you using that in the power rack or free standing? Best of luck and keep at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 Thanks Denis. I'm using the FBBC wrist roller in the power rack. Alright, so my new plan is to go to the gym in the morning on MWF and do: 20 minutes cardio Stretch Squats for form Pulldown Standing Dumbell Press I'll continue doing my grip workouts on Tuesday and Saturday, but no yoga. I'm also dropping the daily contrast baths and glucosamine. Dexterity balls are back in. I may have to limit the volume a little bit on the grip work, but this should bring my enthusiasm back up over the course of the next month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I'm waiting with bated breath to see how your weekend workout with Greg goes. I'm hoping he is able to offer the help you are seeking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 29, 2006 Author Share Posted January 29, 2006 01-29-2006 - Workout 8 of 16 - Playing: Nothing Went out to Gregg's today. It was a very enlightening experience, to say the least. Squats I can't really break down the sets and reps, but I did: Box Squats with ~95lbs Quarter Squats with ~195lbs Squats with Bands, no idea the weight Box Squats with no weight Long story short, my hips are weak. I didn't even know how to use my hips to get back out of the hole, let alone that I was supposed to. Basically, I need to thrust forward with my hips as I stand. Right now, even when I get out of a chair, I use momentum from leaning forward to do the work my hips are supposed to do. Now that as I focus on keeping the tension in my hips as I go down, then thrusting as I stand, I feel liking I'm staying upright as I go to parallel. The other interesting thing was that I found it MUCH easier to stand up with the weight on the quarter squat with the barbell higher on my back than lower. Not sure why, but it shouldn't matter much for my current goals. The end result is that I will be doing squats and quarter squats on my M/W/F workouts for the next month. The goal is to get me used to using my hip muscles as well as mentally comfortable with heavier weights on my back. I'm also supposed to practice standing with the hips when getting out of chairs etc. And I need to get a box that puts me at about parallel height to squat down to it with no weight on my off days. I am feeling hopeful about the squat. Bending Did a few light bends double underhand, then got my piece of 7" x 1/4" zinc plated round for a PR. I also bent a Grade 2 bolt with a combination of reverse and double overhand style. It just wouldn't go DU. Everything Else Lifted a 30lb blob lefty and righty. Failed on the 35lber Did some lockouts on a 2" barbell. Worked up to 225, failed on multiple attempts at 235 Failed to lift Greg's Inch Trainer Failed to bend a horse shoe Failed to do a full rip on two seperate decks of cards Basically I spent a lot of energy failing on a lot of things. It was a blast and I have a lot of opportunity for improvement. Greg, Ryan, and Tom all showed up. Dave also joined via the web near the end of the day. I learned tons and am definitely confirming my theory that the secret to strength is surrounding myself with people that are stronger and more experienced than me. I look forward to going back and am greatful to Greg for bringing me into his home and sharing his time to help me. Unexpectedly, Tom gave me a ride home and some dexterity balls! He saved me a ton of time on the trains and I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number Ten Ox Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Wow! I'm pumped just reading that, what a night! Definately a bit jealous that you have people to train with and push you. Nice job on the PR'S! What kind of padding were you bending with? How was the 2" barbell compared to on Oly? What is an inch trainer?What kind of cards? Don't you love getting your butt kicked? It's SO motivating to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 It's the people that make it such a great sport - not just the heavy lifting. Those kinds of get togethers are the best !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamidon Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Scott, Thanks for coming out. I had a great time. Keep after your squats they will come along and you will see improvements in everything. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 29, 2006 Author Share Posted January 29, 2006 I'm definitely going to get a boost off of yesterday, it's painful to pour a gallon jug this morning. I'm also happy to say I remember how to squat with my hips. I had a lot of fun being around a bunch of other people that are into grip and strength training. It introduces a completely different perspective to hear Tom say he still views himself as in the beginner phase, then to watch him squat 275 and almost get 315. Then to see Greg's 17 year old son triple 275 and just about get 315. Then to see Gregg bottom position the 315 from the pins. When everyone in the room easily squats triple what I do, it's a great indicator doing more is inevitable, if I work at it. It takes me 2-3 hours on the train to get to Greg's, so I kept putting it off. Turns out the time invested was well spent. I should of gone much sooner. Outside of having a great time, I learned key things I just wasn't figuring out on my own. For instance, when I lever overhead, I try to keep my arm parallel and get the hammer to parallel. That's not how it works. If your arm is parallel, the hammer only goes down to 30-45 degrees. If the hammer is parallel, the arm is up 30-45 degrees. Somehow I missed that. The other thing I found out is that Greg really understands how to do the grip feats. I guess I knew in addition to bending short steel he'd closed a 3, ripped decks, bent horse shoes, scrolled steel, levered some good weights, etc. But since he usually talks about what he does as an aside while talking about what Dave does, it never really occured to me to he's a grip master in his own right. Not only that, he is willing and ready to share with others the "secrets" on how to do them. No games, just honest instruction on how to postion the body to get leverage and do the feat. You can only do so much in a single day, and he knows a ton I want to learn. It's obvious a lot of time has been invested figuring this all out, and I'm very appreciative that Greg is willing to share it with no BS. Number Ten Ox, I was using cordura for bending, except when trying to do the horse shoe. Tom wrapped it for me with leather. The 2" barbell was tough for me to hold on to and made my finger tips burn. 2" is the perfect thickbar size for me, my finger tips just barely touch. The cards I brought over were Raven brand cards from Target, I'm not sure what Greg had. The inch trainer is really cool - 2 metal cylinders the same diameter as a 5lb plate, with a 6" 2.5" bar welded in the middle. Then there is an attachment to add plates on the side of each block. Empty it weights 130lbs. Greg broke it off the ground, Ryan deadlifted it multiple times. Ryan also deadlifted it with 2.5lbs added to each side. He broke it off the ground with 5lbs on each side. This thing just rolls right out of your hand. Even putting my finger on one of the bells to stop rotation, I could only get one side off the ground at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkd12 Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 It was great meeting you Scott. I hope you can make it to the next one also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted January 30, 2006 Author Share Posted January 30, 2006 Good to meet you as well Ryan. I'm planning on coming to the next one as well. I've got standing comittment on Sunday afternoons, but I can almost always free up my Saturdays. Attending to Recovery - Workouts 5-8 (Microcycle 2) Results: 88% compliance Laptop hard drive died yesterday, so I'm not going to have as much time to post until that gets fixed. Gonna have to make this shorter than usual. Problems 1. I consistently failed to do buckets. 2. I missed one workout due to achey knuckles. 3. Dampened enthusiasm 4. Constant gas 5. Not sleeping enough, 7 hours a night instead of 7.5 Solutions 1. Dropping buckets for now. Tired of doing them and want to reduce the amount of time I spend thinking about my workouts to bring my enthusiasm back. 2. The achey knuckles correspond with dropping dexterity balls and adding the extra gripper workout. I'm adding back in dex. balls daily and dropping the extra gripper workout. 3. Dampened enthusiasm. Comes from hating the yoga and pain from trying to do too much. Dropping the yoga. Returning to 2 grip workouts a week. Visitng Greg's re-energized me, so no gym yet. Will be doing squats MWF at home. I'm also reluctant to drop $100 on a month at the gym until I know how much the laptop failure will cost me. I'm also dropping the gloves at night to reduce the number of instances in a day I do things around my grip workouts. 4. Constant Gas. The glucosamine had my engine going all day long, in like 5 minute intervals. I don't care if it works, that's just too much. I stopped taking it even though I still have a 2.5 month supply left. I'd gladly pay the $40 to prevent those side effects for 2.5 months, so I'm not going to stubbornly work my way through the whole supply. 5. The broken computer should help fix the sleep short term. I've also stopped playing my gameboy as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 01-31-2006 - Workout 9 of 16 - Playing: Nothing Hands are still a little beat up from Saturday, but I decided to go for it. Bending, Double Underhand: FBBC 3/16 Round: 6x7"; 7x5" FBBC 3/16" square: 7" Timber Ties: 6" 1/4" Zinc Plated Round: Finish largely kined 7" piece Hands were weak, so I went for volume. I'm trying to bend my weaker stock that I have left. Down to only a litlle bit of 3/16" round. Should finish it in the next week or so. FBBC 2" Wrist Roller (supported at shoulder height, alternating hands): 1x25, 1x70 (PR), 1x70 (PR) Hard work. Will keep it here next time. Block Weights Curls: 1x25 Pass my 25lb block hand to hand Lft the 30lb block from the bench Hands were already fried from wrist roller. Finger Extensions Green Expand Your Hand Band: 1x20 I ordered my formulator this morning. Can't wait for that to come. I've got pictures of all the bent steel, but my computer is still down. I'm waiting for Dell to get back to me. I wanted to squat every day, but my knees aren't prepared for it yet. They were aching a little, so the squats will probably be MWF for now. If I ever used to move this way, it was a long time ago. 7 chances left to get stronger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 What's going on man. Your seven chances to get stronger have got to be almost up. ;-) Is the formulator beating you down? how are the squats? Did you visit Greg this weekend, and now your hands are virtually crippled by the abuse? Man do I hate when that happens. I'm really looking forward to seeing your workout, wrap up. Also to seeing where you go next. Despite the changes in your program you have done great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisof4 Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 What's going on man. Your seven chances to get stronger have got to be almost up. ;-)Is the formulator beating you down? how are the squats? Did you visit Greg this weekend, and now your hands are virtually crippled by the abuse? Man do I hate when that happens. I'm really looking forward to seeing your workout, wrap up. Also to seeing where you go next. Despite the changes in your program you have done great work. Yeah, I am eager to see an update also. Let us know what's going on. =) Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted February 6, 2006 Author Share Posted February 6, 2006 Thanks for the support guys. Technology sucks. My laptop came up briefly on Thursday and Friday, then went back down Saturday morning. I've been accessing the forums via my PDA, so limited posting. I did however make time for my grip workout: 02-04-2006 - Workout 10 of 16 - Playing: Nothing Not my greatest workout. The wrist roller last Tuesday trashed my thumbs: Bending, Double Underhand: FBBC 3/16 Round: 3x5" FBBC 3/16" square: 7", Fail on kinked 7" Timber Ties: 6" Fail on Grade 2 bolt As soon as I bent the first piece of 3/16" stock, I knew I was in trouble. My thumbs ached. I decided to build up gradually and see what I was capable of. The 7" square was all I had in me. Kinda a bummer. The soreness was clearly a result of the wrist roller work on Tuesday. I'm really not sure if it is good pain or bad pain, so I skipped wrist roller. Block Weights Pass my 25lb block hand to hand Lft the 30lb block from the bench a couple times The weakness in my thumbs was apparent here. I had to drop wrist roller from my workouts last cycle as a result of similar issues around thumb pain. Maybe wrist roller isn't a good exercise for me. Or maybe it's a stellar exercise because it beats me up so completely! I'm really not sure. Since I've got the grip contest this weekend, I will be doing no gripping Tuesday evening. I'd like my hands to be fresh to see what PRs I can set. I also think my thumbs need some time off. I do believe that my bending is approaching the limit of my current hand / wrist strength. Any progress at this point is going to come from getting stronger, not just learning to apply my strength. I am still practicing the squat from, though it is slow going. I figured out late last week that I have a gait issue that is the result of worn out shoes. I replaced them this weekend and am hoping that will help improve the robustness of my knees so that I can practice more. Resolving this may also help me with the issue I have where I favor my right side coming out of the hole. 6 chances left to get stronger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 best of luck in your competition, sorry to hear about the lappy issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Side Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Interested to hear how the comp goes. Scott what are your long term goals in grip and lifting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkmann Posted February 11, 2006 Share Posted February 11, 2006 Where you a man? I look forward to hearing how it's going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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