cool exercise?

[Nathan Say]

I just got my Milo courses in the mail. Calvert says that tossing a dumbell from hand to hand is really good for the grip. Grab a dumbell by the handle & lift it off the floor & toss it to the other hand without letting it drop. I tried it with about 50lbs & I thought it worked ok.  

[Guest woody36]

Nathan,

          I do my catches on a 1"diameter vertical bar,last

couple of weeks i've been doing the warmups with two

fingers up to 70lb,but it really tears down on the fingers,

that said,i find it unusual and like the exercise.

[3Crusher]

Try tossing a York blob from hand to hand.  That is an experience in itself.  Totally fries the lower arms.

[Roark]

Woody,

Do you use the original Calvertical bar...?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Tyrannosaurus Dave]

You may find this hard to believe but I once worked out with a guy who tossed a dumbbell hand-to-hand OVERHEAD.  And it wasn't one of those sissy chrome jobs, either.  I saw him do it with 85 pounds.  Hard to imagine what he thought he was developing with this exercise.

[Nathan Say]

Arthur Saxon used to toss 315 or some silly weight like that from hand to hand overhead. I don't think you'd have to crush as hard doing it overhead, but it might work the wrists more than if you did it between your legs.

[Tom Black]

I think the exercise is even better with a thick handle.  I've used a 2.5" handle, usually at the end of a workout.

[Roark]

Nathan,

From Health & Strength Mar 1906 comes the story of

when Arthur Saxon invited people to bring ANY bell to

his performance and he would lift it- limit was 325 lbs.

Probably he meant lift it in the bent press. A panorama

of bells was brought, and Arthur did indeed toss 315 lbs from his right hand to his left hand. (he may have done more, I

didn't check)

Anyway, "One man was foolish enough to bring a bell

weighing 265 lbs. This Arthur juggled with by throwing it from

one hand to the other overhead, and it proved quite a plaything in the hands of even Kurt, the youngest man of the trio, of whom nothing has yet been heard."

I think sometimes these numbers are tossed about with no

vivid recognition how much is involved. 315 is of course three

45s on each side of the bar. Place that high in the power

rack, and simply try to hold it straight armed!

[Guest Jeff Roark]

Them Saxons was freaks! I think it was truly genetic with them. They're training was exotic or anything as far as I can tell. They did alot of one hand stuff and almost all of it overhead work with the bent press being the core of their routine. I also read where they liked to toss heavy weights to one another... the first plyometric routine.

[Clayton]

I've tossed plates back and forth, pinch grip style, and like everyone else said, it really hits the forearms pretty hard.  I like to do the tosses as a finisher.

Jeff, are you still working the bent press?  If so, what kind of weights are you up to?