Intro And Seeking Advice

[BrianHunhoff]

Hi everybody!

This is my first post on the gripboard. I am 47 with fairly long arms and average sized hands at 215 pounds body weight. I am somewhat new to the world of hand strength training. I became frustrated with a bench press stuck for three years at 325, so I began experimenting with pinch grips and Rolling Thunder pulls about a year ago, training them twice a week. It's nice to be making GAINS again!

I have so far managed the following PRs, which tops everybody at my gym except for a 320-pound dude with much larger hands. He has stayed just a bit ahead of me on the Rolling Thunder, although I can best him at pinch gripping. (I would not want to weigh 320, but I would love to have those huge mitts of his! He easily overlaps his thumb and index finger when he grips the Thunder handle and can pull 185.)

Anyway, my PRs so far:

1. pinched 4 10s for 65 seconds (right hand) and 54 seconds (left hand)

2. pinched 2 10s in each hand for 3:15 simultaneously.

3. pinched 2 25s for 52 seconds (right hand) and 44 seconds (left hand)

4. pinched 2 35s for five seconds (right hand) and 1.5 seconds (left hand)

5. pulled Rolling Thunder 175 pounds (right hand) and 165 pounds (left hand)

6. clamped a No. 1 COC shut for 40 seconds, but have not ordered a No. 2 yet.

My next goals are to pull 180 with the Thunder (which I believe I WIll get soon), pinch 5 dimes, pinch 3 25s, pinch 2 45s and close a No. 2. Which of these are not realistic?

My "newbie" questions are:

1. If I were to trim 10 pounds of body weight, but continue training hard, would that significantly affect my hand strength?

2. I am concerned that my average-sized hand is simply not big enough to pinch 5 dimes or three quarters. Any opinions on that? Can average genetics be overcome with diligent training?

3. How long realistically (ever?) should it take me to go from pinching 2 35s to pinching 2 45s. I cannot budge 2 45s at this point.

4. It seems like my hands feel "strong" only about every third or fourth workout. Is this normal? Some days I can pinch 2 25s for more than 40 seconds, but on other days I can only hold them for 20 or 25 seconds. For some reason, they feel very slippery about 2/3 of the time. What causes this variation?

5. I am 47. Is hand strength -- unlike bench pressing, etc., something you can continue to grow stronger at in your 40s and 50s, or will I be hitting a wall soon?

6. Am I concentrating too much on endurance with those pinches in excess of 30 seconds?

7. How do you build a stronger thumb for pinching?

8. My hands are too smooth. Is there a way to "grit" them up to get better traction on the pinch plates?

Any and all tips will be appreicated. Thaks in advance!

Big Brother.

[TelegraphKey]

Hi, BB, hopefully others will give better responses than me, but here are some ideas of mine:

1. If I were to trim 10 pounds of body weight, but continue training hard, would that significantly affect my hand strength?

I don't know, but I don't think so, at least after awhile. Grip seems to be "the great equalizer" among people of all sizes; size doesn't correlate very well to grip (except maybe the WSM roaming mastodons).

2. I am concerned that my average-sized hand is simply not big enough to pinch 5 dimes or three quarters. Any opinions on that? Can average genetics be overcome with diligent training?

I think many here will say YES! That many "small" guys have gotten very far with sheer work.

5. I am 47. Is hand strength -- unlike bench pressing, etc., something you can continue to grow stronger at in your 40s and 50s, or will I be hitting a wall soon?

I think you can keep going. Others around here have.

7. How do you build a stronger thumb for pinching?

Have you tried pony clamps or the Titan's Telegraph Key? These are for dynamic work, but also pinching thick objects works the thumb, for static work.

To me, the most impressive of your goals stated above would be pinching 2-45's, while closing a #2 CoC is relatively much, much easier. That's how it seems to go on average.

Hope you get more good responses. Good luck & have fun!

[Teemu I]

1. If I were to trim 10 pounds of body weight, but continue training hard, would that significantly affect my hand strength?

No. Weight loss effects hand strength less than total body strength.

2. I am concerned that my average-sized hand is simply not big enough to pinch 5 dimes or three quarters. Any opinions on that? Can average genetics be overcome with diligent training?

Proper training can take you anywhere with hand strength. Don't worry.

3. How long realistically (ever?) should it take me to go from pinching 2 35s to pinching 2 45s. I cannot budge 2 45s at this point.

Only you can find the answer for yourself. Seems to me like you are well on your way.

4. It seems like my hands feel "strong" only about every third or fourth workout. Is this normal? Some days I can pinch 2 25s for more than 40 seconds, but on other days I can only hold them for 20 or 25 seconds. For some reason, they feel very slippery about 2/3 of the time. What causes this variation?

Do you use chalk?

5. I am 47. Is hand strength -- unlike bench pressing, etc., something you can continue to grow stronger at in your 40s and 50s, or will I be hitting a wall soon?

You can continue to develop your hand strength for quite a long time. There are many fine examples about this and you don't have to look them any further than this board!

6. Am I concentrating too much on endurance with those pinches in excess of 30 seconds?

Yes. If you can hold the weight for over 5 seconds, you should add weight. I would add weight if I can hold it for 3 seconds.

7. How do you build a stronger thumb for pinching?

With pinching itself and what helps is dynamic thumb work with pony clamps or machine like TTK.

8. My hands are too smooth. Is there a way to "grit" them up to get better traction on the pinch plates?

Your hands will harden up along the way as you train. Go heavier with your pinching.

Your goals are realistic. You should definetely get coc #2 and while you are at it you might as well get #3. You'll end up buying that anyway..

Train hard and good luck!

[steelbiceps]

Get that #2. You're more than ready for it, and it'll toughen up your hands, too. Also, I notice you have a lot more emphasis on open hand / thick handle stuff. Some more tight crushing would complement that nicely.