Building A Bigger Engine For Grip Contests

[Scott Styles]

06-10-2006 - Workout 4 of 80 - Grip Work at Home

I got a good night's sleep last night. Ate pretty well yesterday. However, when I started the grippers today, my hands felt weak. So I decided to switch things up.

Grippers

BH: 1xT, 1x#1, 1xBBSA

Did that again when I got back inside. No strength.

20k Kettlebell Work (Around 25 minutes)

2 Handed Swings

1 Handed Swings

Clean and Press

Press

Bottoms Up Clean and Press

Snatch PR

Bottoms Up Snatch PR

Fail at juggling

Yeah!!! I'm very happy with how this went. This is the first time I ever snatched the kettlebell, or bottoms up snatched it. I'm sure my form was abysmal, but it was cool. I got a lot of work in with this thing doing a number of movements. My entire posterior chain was fried as well as my hands. I don't really know how to come down from the snatch, so I was more or less dropping the bell. I'm doing this on grass, so it doesn't really hurt anything to do so. The fact that I did low back machine instead of RDLs on Friday is what I think enabled me to feel ready to play with this today. Something to keep in mind. The juggling was nowhere close to happening. I need more coordination and thumb strength to pull it off.

Vertical Bar

Two Handed (Custom equipment from Climber511, awesome back saver)

1x115

1x165

1x215

FAILx265

One Handed

FAILx160

1x135

No V-bar strength after kettlebells. I didn't expect any, but I wanted to keep my skin thinking about the lift. 2 weeks off from v-bar and my skin loses all of its conditioning. Sweat was also making it hard to get a good grip, even with chalk.

Misc Lifts

Lever 6lb sledge with contest setup

Pinch 2 25s to lockout lefty and righty, twice righty.

Almost pinch hard 25s righty

Lockout 25lb block weight lefty and righty

Lockout 30lb block weight righty, clear ground lefty

Glad to see 2 25s going up again. I think the key for me to have strong plate pinches is a focus on dynamic thumb work, followed by a brief period of event practice leading up to the contest. Doing static pinches doesn't seem to improve my pinch much. After kettlebell today, I didn't feel there was much point in more thumb work than this.

Formulator Extensions

10x10lbs

10x10lbs

5x10lbs

Wrists have been feeling the grippers a bit. I'm curious to see if this helps.

Stretches

Adductors

Low Back

Hamstrings

Quads

Calves

Hips

Side Bend

Did a couple easy dislocates with a 1" diameter steel tube I have. Nothing serious after all the kettlebell work.

Overall, this workout was VERY refreshing. I enjoyed the kettlebell work a lot, and it was nice to get away from the grippers for a workout. I am really happy to be both snatching at bottoms up pressing the 20k kettlebell. So happy, in fact, I'm tempted to buy a 24k bell. I'm going to wait awhile though.

The more I think about it, the suggestion to wave my training weights/reps over a number of workouts is a really good one. I'm at the point in my training where I usually quit due to a loss of interest. I've regained all the strength I lost from being sedentary, and the gains are drying up. I'm taking the same approach I always do, and I'm losing my patience like I always do. I'm going to do something different and try Jeff's approach now. If I can even approach his strength levels, I'll be doing very, very well.

[Scott Styles]

I gave into temptation last night and ordered a 24k kettlebell. It will give me a good goal to shoot for and encourage rehab of my shoulder. I considered going with the 28k bell, since $105 for an extra 4k to play with seems pricey, but ultimately decided a 20% increase in weight over my current one is plenty.

I only have some minor soreness in the obliques and shoulders today. That is a world of difference from how I felt the last time I used the kettlebell. I was looking at the RKC stuff online, far beyond me, but pretty cool.

Attending to Recovery - 5/28/2006 - 6/10/2006 - 74% Compliance

Recovery Factor Results can always be downloaded here, posting them is tedious:

http://www.gripfaq.com/log/20060528BigEngine.xls

Points of interest:

1. I've started eating out again. Compliance on days I can do is significantly lower. The tasty food pushes out the healthy food.

2. DHA is low because I ran out. I now have more.

3. I haven't been doing well on the beans. One of they key foods I was using to get beans is home made tacos, but the last time I ate them was when I got really, really sick. Whenever I think of them, I still think of them coming back up. I don't have a solution for this yet, other than to wait and accept I'm eating less beans.

Overall, my eating has improved significantly since I started tracking the recovery factors. That's a good thing. I'd like to have a record of each food I eat and how much, but do not yet have motivation to track it. Too bad there isn't a better way.

[Scott Styles]

I actually did a 4 mile walk on Sunday. Cardio? Maybe? Go me!

06-13-2006 - Workout 5 of 80 - Full Body at World Gym

I only got 6.5 hours of sleep last night. I was up too late playing my new Nintendo DS Lite. It is awesome. However, I have been eating very well, since getting some calorie dense foods. I've also been consistently getting up at 6:10. This workout seemed to reflect those changes.

Warm Up: Elliptical Trainer for 5 minutes, steady state HR between 140-150bpm

Front Squats

BWx5

45x5

95x5

95x5

These felt more solid today. I _could_ add weight on Friday, but I think I need to practice the form more instead. I may do 3x5x95. I want to feel like I'm keeping a good arch in my back and maintaining appropriate tilt in my pelvis at the bottom. I also want to feel like my knees are solid and not shifting around.

Standing Dumbell Press

8x25

12x35

7x35

Took Jeff's advice and switched the weight up. I actually got a pump in my shoulders on the first set. That never happens to me. It was much more pleasant to not be chasing my old PR.

Romanian Deadlifts

8x135

8x185

8x185

Got the reps here, upped the warm up weight. Man, the hardest part about this was actually keeping my grip. The gym was hot and my palms were sweating. I had to fight to hang on the entire time. I will bring some chalk when I do this again next Tuesday. I'll be doing low back machine or weighted hyperextensions on Friday.

Supinated Pulldowns, Shoulder Width Grip

8x100

8x150

8x150

My pulldown is still broken. I resigned myself to the fact that it may stay broken for a long time and went looking for a better pulldown machine. Found a Hammer Strength one that looked good, but the freaking seat was broken. Stuck with this for now I guess. I could handle more weight, but will stick with this weight for at least one more workout to let my joints get used to the new angle.

Machine Rear Delt Flys

8x40

8x60

8x60

These were harder today for some reason. Will stay here next time.

Calf Raises

8x90

8x180

8x180

I like how when there are 2 45s on each side of the machine, they rattle against each other. Will stay here next time.

Side Bend

12x45

12x55

Obliques were sorest from the kettlebell work this weekend. I think I will do oblique work on the Tuesday workout, not sure about Friday. If I do kettlebell again on Saturday morning, it's probably not needed.

Stretches

Adductors

Low Back

Hamstrings

Quads

Calves

Hips

Side Bend

Lats

It's good to stretch.

Overall I'm happy with how this workout went. I think I'm on a plan that is going to make lifting 2x a week work for me.

Shoulder Rehab

I noticed something interesting about my bad right shoulder. It sits 0.5-1" lower than my good left one. The bottoms of my ribs seem to line up, as do the tops of my hips, so this is probably a clue. The trap on my right shoulder looks longer too. My shirt collars always ends up sliding towards the right side as well while I lift, probably due to the lower shoulder. Thinking back, I can remember noticing this as far back as my senior year of college. That was 4.5 years ago. I wonder if that indicates a problem with my supraspinatus? Or maybe something else? I'll have to research it when time allows.

[Scott Styles]

06-13-2006 - Workout 6 of 80 - Grip Work and Shoulder Rehab at Home

I'm going to the PMI Chicago chapter meeting tomorrow night, so I had to do my grip work this evening. I have to say, I was pleasantly suprised. It may remain on Tuesday nights.

Grippers - Ladder up/down through: #T, #1, BBSA, BBM, Easy #2, Hard #2.

RH: Closed everything through Easy #2, everything through BBM down, Missed Hard #2 by 1/16"

LH: Closed everything through BBM up, everything through BBSA down, Missed Easy #2 by 1/8"

Grippers felt strong tonight. Righty, I could swear I closed the Easy #2 on the way down as well, but my fiancee insisted that wasn't the case. I'm excited to be so close to the Hard #2 righty again, as well as the easy #2 lefty. I took an extra attempt on the Easy #2 at the very end with each hand, but had nothing to show for it. Having only done the grippers once in the last week didn't seem to matter.

Climber511 TTK - Two Handed

5x10

5x10 (no pointer finger)

5x15

5x12.5 (no pointer finger)

3x17.5

3x15 (no pointer finger)

Did these on the shoulder height platform again. Felt good. Excellent thumb pump.

Overhead Levers - Climber511 Loadable Sword (On Platform)

1xEmpty

1x2 Washers

1x4 Washers

1x6 Washers FAIL

1x5 Washers FAIL Lefty

1x4 Washers

1x2 Washers

The contest setup is much harder for me with this. I keep losing the weight to the left and right. Hopefully this will improve with time.

Finger Extensions with IM Bands

25xGreen

20xYellow

Did 'Em

Shoulder Rehab Progress

Had my fiancee take some picture of me from the front and back standing, standing with the arms raised to the side, and standing with my arms like they would be at the bottom of a bench press. Not only is my shoulder lower on the right side, so is where my trap starts to taper out of my neck. I'm going to have to spend some time looking at these and thinking about what it means, as well as doing some reading. I didn't do any shoulder exercises yet, since I'm really not sure what addresses this issue. It seems highly likely the root of my problem lies in understanding this.

[Scott Styles]

06-16-2006 - Workout 7 of 80 - Kettlebell Work at Home

It's been a crazy week. I've run an hour short on sleep the last 4 nights in a row. Last night was especially a bear, I only reached 6.5 hours of sleep by sleeping in an hour and missing my morning workout. At 4:30pm yesterday, a freight train lost several bags of stearic acid on the line I take to and from work. That unidentified white powder turned my 50 minute commute into a 3.5 hour commute, including getting off the train about 10 miles from the city and having my dad come get me to drive me home (he rules for doing this). Even this morning, my commute in took an extra hour.

On the bright side, when my dad got me, he brought my new 24k kettlebell from Gill Athletics. Today I used it:

24k Kettlebell Work

3 sets of 2 handed swings (5-10 reps)

2 sets of alternating 1 handed swings ( 5-8 reps total)

Snatched it from the ground twice with each hand

Pressed it

Cleaned and Pressed it a couple times

Failed to bottoms up clean it or bottoms up press it

Walked around with it over head lefty and righty, maybe 15 ft. each way

5 BW Squats

5 Front Squats holding it

2 sets of BW one legged calf raises (6-8 reps)

This thing is sweet. I chose the proper weight. It totally fried me. I had some concerns about the handle shape being different than my other one, it just made the exercises harder on my grip. It was like 85 outside, and I could feel the heat. I think this kettlebell actually borders on too heavy for me to use the day after I lift, like I had planned on. I need to improve my technique with the 20k bell first.

Hopefully I can grip tomorrow, not sure how this work will affect my gripping. At the very least I will do v-bar, finger extensions, formulator extensions, and some supraspinatus raises for my shoulders.

Looking at the Dragon Door website, it's clear I have some technique issues. I'm just guessing at things to do with it, but certainly don't have all the specific tricks down. I think if I learned them, I could make the 24k kettlebell the right weight for me. I can make up for what I lack in strength by shutting the hell up and learning how to do the lifts properly. I might look into some instructional materials at some point in the near future.

[Scott Styles]

06-17-2006 - Workout 8 of 80 - Grip Work at Home

Running on about 7 hours of sleep today, I am still sleep deprived. I hope to make up for that this evening. I was interested to see how the today's grip workout would go after all the kettlebell work yesterday.

Warm Up: Walk 1.5 miles in the heat. Stupid heat.

Grippers - Ladder up/down through: #T, #1, BBSA, BBM, Easy #2

RH: Closed everything through BBM up, everything through BBM down

LH: Closed everything through BBM up, everything through BBSA down

Decided to peak with the easy #2 today, my hand strength was not there. On the way up, I got a really deep set with the BBM lefty, which is the only reason I got it.

Vertical Bar

Two Handed (Custom equipment from Climber511, awesome back saver)

1x115

1x165

1x215

1x265

FAILx325

FAILx305

FAILx285

1x265

Not sure what inspired me to try for a 30lb PR here instead of the 10lb one I might of actually been able to get if I did it first. Greed I guess. Well, I wasn't rewarded for it. In between sets I did some plate pinches. I got my easy 25s righty, almost locked out the easy 25s lefty. I'm very close to doing my hard 25s, still quite far from doing my easy 35s. Skin held up alright through all of this, which was my primary reason for doing this part of the grip workout.

Supraspinatus Raises

3x8x10lbs

Did these, even though I didn't feel like it. I'm kind of at a loss for what exactly will fix my shoulder.

Pushup Shrugs

Did some shrugs in a variety of pushups positions, in an effort to work my serratus anterior. Seemed like the thing to do.

Formulator Extensions

10x10lbs

5x10lbs

5x10lbs

I slowed down on the last two sets and focused on using my extensors to get the weight up. My wrists were tired.

Finger Extensions with IM Bands

25xYellow

20xGreen

Overall this workout went about as well as I expected. The kettlebell is hard on my grip. If I want grip work to go well, I have to do it before kettlebell work. It may be that I get sufficient training on the grip work even when I do it after the kettlebell work. No idea. We'll see what next weekend brings, if I feel like playing with the kettlebell more or not. I've got about 3 weekends to screw around with it before I need to start doing contest prep for the Michigan Grip Invitational.

I did get opportunity to read Pavel's Naked Warrior book this afternoon at Borders. It had some interesting bits in it about tension, breathing, and greasing the groove. I think he probably could have condensed the book down to about 50 pages, but overall I like his ideas. I also found some free videos on the website selling Steve Cotter's kettlebell encyclopedia DVD:

http://www.shihan.com/products/catid/9.html

Between those 2 resources, and some random articles I read online, I feel like I have a much better understanding of what I should be trying to do while using the kettlebell for basic things like swings, cleans, and snatches. It will be interesting to try to put it into effect next time I play with them. I'll probably use the 20k to learn with.

[gerryg]

Scott,

do you own any grippers above the coc#2? If yes, why don't you train with them?

[Scott Styles]

Gerry, I do own a BBSM and BBGM. I'm not currently training with them for 2 primary reasons:

1. I fear injury. I messed up the middle finger knuckle on both my hands during KTA. It was still strong, but it would make a grinding when I pushed the straight finger towards my palm. I think that was a result of the negatives and it is still slowly going away. I feel safest sticking with a gripper just above the one I can close as my max effort. I don't want to cause any permanent damage to my knuckles.

2. Progress on the grippers is not my primary goal. I have a much better chance of improving my grip contest placings by bringing up my lifts other than grippers. I also feel my thumb and wrist work has more untapped potential. I've been maxing at the #2 for almost a year now and don't expect that to improve if unless my overall body strength does. The only reason I do grippers first is that they don't seem to impact my performance on the other grip lifts, but doing the other grip lifts first destroys my gripper work.

[Scott Styles]

06-17-2006 - Workout XX of 80 - Got Some Activity

Cardio: I walked around an outdoor mall for about an hour, probably about 2 miles.

Shoulder Rehab Progress

I think I made an exciting breakthrough tonight. The most visible problem with my shoulder is that when I move my arms into the bottom position of a bench press while standing, the entire structure of the shoulder drops as I retract my arm. This includes the insertion of my trap on my neck, as well as the actual shoulder capsule. If I hold a bar horizontally with both hands while doing this, there is a very significant angle in it.

Today in the mirror, I was doing this, and decided to try to keep my shoulder high as I retracted my arms. I guess I was imagining how cool it would be if the freaking thing worked right. To my suprise, a muscle on the top of my collar bone / scapula started burning. I don't know if it was my trap or supraspinatus or what, but I went with it. 12 reps later and the region on my right side was fatiuged. So I got my hollow bar and did 2 more sets. Just plain standing shoulder retractions.

Now, there is a muscle running from my neck to my shoulder that is pumped and tight. It feels like its job is to pull my shoulder up and back, exactly the motion I do when I manually "pop" my shoulder into place when it hurts!!!

I'm really excited about this and interested to see if / where I am sore tomorrow. Assuming nothing wierd happens, I'm going to start doing this practice daily until the motion becomes natural with the hollow bar. From there, I will need to determine some sort of progression scheme. Hopefully it will culminate in me flat benching again with zero shoulder pain and proper ROM on the joint.

[Scott Styles]

06-20-2006 - Workout 9 of 80 - Full Body at World Gym

I've been running on a sleep deficit lately. Laid down at 10:15 last night, didn't fall asleep until 11:15. Probably only got 6.5 hours of sleep. I was feeling exhausted going in to the gym this morning.

Warm Up: Walk a couple blocks over to CVS to try and replace the gym lock I forgot. No luck, but the woman at the front desk of the gym let me borrow one from lost and found.

Front Squats

BWx5

45x5

95x5

95x5

These are getting better. I will repeat this weight next time.

Standing Dumbell Press

8x25

7x40

5x40

Didn't feel too strong on these today. Fought for my reps.

Romanian Deadlifts

8x135

8x185

8x185

Brought in some chalk and used it for my grip. Seemed to help. No one at the gym really cared.

Supinated Pulldowns, Shoulder Width Grip

8x100

8x150

They "fixed" my pulldown, but now it's all screwed up. The cable is too long and the movement isn't smooth any more. I guess I'm going to be using this new one from now on. It kinda bummed me out and I was feeling sick from the heat and lack of sleep, so I skipped the second set.

Machine Rear Delt Flys

8x40

Decided it was time to call it a day. I was exhuasted.

Stretches

Low Back

Once I was on the mat to stretch my back, I just didn't feel like getting up. I rested there for about 10 minutes, then got up to shower.

Overall, this workout wasn't too great. I've been having trouble falling asleep at night. It really impacted my workout. I think it might be a sign I need to back the weights down a bit and focus on conditioning for awhile. I could return to my upper/lower split, drop the weights down a bit, do a little more cardio, and stop forcing the food down for a month or three. I'll see how the rest of this week goes, then make a decision. I was hoping to at a minimum hit a strength peak for the Michigan Grip Invitational, but I might not have planned for that correctly.

[Scott Styles]

06-20-2006 - Workout 10 of 80 - Grip Work at Home

Planned to try grip work in the evening today again, after last week's success. Unfortunately this week I am sleep deprived, and today we found out that the my fiancee's 16 year old family dog is getting put to sleep tomorrow night. He's lived an extremely long and pampered life, but it's still upsetting. We spent some time tonight talking about all the fun memories we have of the dog. He was her first real pet at 8 years old, and I've known him for about 9 years. We'll miss him.

Grippers - Ladder up/down through: #T, #1, BBSA, BBM, Easy #2, Hard #2.

RH: Closed everything through BBM up, everything through BBM down

LH: Closed everything through BBSA up, everything through BBSA down

All things considered, this went fine. I wasn't using chalk since I was going through my closet for the grip stuff I am selling and didn't want to chalk up all my clothes.

Climber511 TTK - Two Handed

5x10

5x10 (no pointer finger)

3x15

3x15 (no pointer finger)

3x17.5

3x15 (no pointer finger)

FAILx20

These felt good. The TTK is definitely improving my pinching strength. The shoulder height platform is great for preventing cheating.

Overhead Levers - Climber511 Loadable Sword (On Platform)

1xEmpty

1x2 Washers

1x4 Washers

1x6 Washers FAIL

1x5 Washers

1x4 Washers

Got 'em done. Made a little progress lefty. These are hard.

That's it. Skipped finger extensions. No shoulder work today, I'm not sure what to do. My shoulder hurt worse on Monday, so practicing bench press motions while standing probably isn't the solution. Will keep thinking about. My lower back's also feeling a little tight tonight. I'll probably switch up the Romanian Deads for something else for awhile.

The more I do full body strength training, the more I think the only secret is to consistently do it for a long period of time.

[Scott Styles]

Change of Plans

3 minutes before I was supposed to get on the train for this morning's workout, I decided to change out of my workout clothes and skip it in favor of kettlebell work tonight. That's a sign.

I think it's definitely time to back off. After Tuesday's workout, my shoulder bothered me significantly up until this morning, when it is finally feeling better. In around 3 months my romanian deads went from 2x12x95 to 2x8x185. That's a big change, and I think they've peaked in the near term. I'm also sick of eating and getting winded very easily. So, this is what I'm gonna do:

1. Scale back the intensity of my weight work, but increase the reps and number of exercises

2. Favor strength exercises that will reduce or place different strain on my shoulder

3. Focus very strictly on my form with the strength exercises

5. Train 4 days a week on an upper/lower split. Grip work 2x a week. Kettlebells and DDR as desired.

6. Slowly ramp up the cardio by a minute per workout day, maxing at what my workout time allows

7. Stop making it a point to eat calorie dense foods.

I'll do this for 1-3 months, until I'm feeling ready to push hard for strength again. My body needs a rest.

[Scott Styles]

06-20-2006 - Workout 11 of 80 - 20k Kettlebell Work at Home

20 Minutes of Kettlebell Work

Carry the Kettlebell down 3 flights of stairs and up one

Pick it up 10 times

2 hand swing it 10 times

1 hand swing it 10 times, 5x w/ each hand

Clean it, swing it, switch hands at top - repeat 6x, alternating hands between swings

Dead Snatch it

Bottoms up press it

Snatch it, swing it, switch hands, Snatch it, swing it PR

Press it 3x per arm

1 legged calf raises - BWx10

Clean and press it

Do some 2 handed swings

That's more or less what I did. Doing real snatches instead of dead snatches is new for me and a PR of sorts. I stopped because my lower back was tired.

Cooldown - 1.5 mile walk

Overall, this was an enjoyable workout. The other thing that was nice, was eating less today. I had a lot more time at work without eating all day long. I felt much more prepared to do this workout as well.

[Scott Styles]

The last workout was on 6/23, whoops.

06-24-2006 - Workout 12 of 80 - Grip Work at Home

Warm Up: Over the course of the day I walked about 4 miles. It was freaking hot, but I had stuff to do, and have no car.

Grippers

1x#T

1x#1

1xBBSA

MISSxBBM

My hands felt thick and heavy from walking in the heat. There was no grip strength. I decided to call it a day and plan to do better in the upcoming week.

[Scott Styles]

This cycle is over.

In talking to my fiancee tonight, it came to light that I've been complaining about shoulder pain daily. A lot of the trouble I've been having falling asleep relates to getting my shoulder in to a comfortable position. I have a visible disfunction in the joint during certain movements. Yet, I persist in lifting weights and not seeing a doctor, in hopes of stumbling on the magic exercise.

It's stupid, I have medical insurance. I can afford anything not covered by medical insurance. I have the names of 2 good doctors in my area. I'm going to suck it up, accept that I need to stop lifting while I figure this out, and go see a doctor. It might mean I cannot participate in some grip contests this year, but a functional shoulder is more important. My only real reason for not seeing a doctor was "well, he'd probably tell me to stop lifting and doing grip work until the shoulder is rehabbed." Dumb.

For the record, weights brought up my kettlebells. They did nothing for my bending or blobs. Thanks to those who provided their support and advice during this cycle.

[gerryg]

I hope you rebound quickly Scott! This log is my #1 read on the board!

[Wes]

Yeah Scott, I hope your shoulder isn't anything serious.

[Scott Styles]

Thanks for the support guys. I got the insurance stuff figured out and have an appointment scheduled with one of the top sports medicine orthopedic surgeons in my area in late August:

http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/DeptWebs/ortho/tonino.htm

With my insurance, the first visit will cost me all of $35. Hopefully I can get a diagnosis. I feel foolish for waiting the last 6 months to try to figure it out on my own. I just made it worse. Physical therapy is a little pricey if I go that route. I have to pay the first $1000, then I pay 20% per session for an additional $2000.

This means no weights or kettlbells untill at least the fall. I should still be able to do grippers, ttk, finger extensions, dex balls, and formulator. Supporting grip work is out. Sucks as I was looking forward to the 2 grip contests, and I just got the Steve Cotter Kettlebell Enyclopedia in the mail this week. Getting started back up with the weights will be a real pain too. I don't think it makes sense to keep training through this though.

On the bright side, I will have ample time to earn my PMP certification while I'm sitting around. That should lead to a bump in pay that helps offset the physical therapy costs when they come up.

[Scott Styles]

Shoulder is feeling better, new cycle here:

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=20110

Still working on that PMP...