Levering Question

[coc3]

i am new at levering, and i was wondering what kind of routine would be good for levering or what site i could go to, to learn more about it. any tips would be appreciated.

[Scott Styles]

Here's some basics to start out with:

http://www.gripfaq.com/Forearm_Strength_Ex...ses/#LEVERFRONT

Not sure how much work you are looking to put into it, but I'd say an overhead or rear lever, a front lever, and side levers to each side will have you covered for wrist work.

[Matt Brouse]

That's a nice little site.

[Revtor]

Wrist work is of high importance!! And levering is a great exercise for it. Your wrists connect your grip to the rest of the chain (arms, torso) and without the ability to transfer your bodies power to your hands (through wrists) why even have grip strength anyway? (not a serious question) Also strong wrists support our hands structure and allow us to really apply our forearm muscular contractions all the way down to your fingertips.

Get a light sledgehammer, or even better (in my opinion) some sort of plate loadable shaft. I use a 2' piece of 1" wooden dowel, and load it with exercise plates (need collars). Mark the length of the shaft in increments, (mines marked in inches) these markings allow you to have some method to your training. Use enough weight so you have to choke up on the thing a good bit with your weakest movement (probably a front lever) so the thing can be used for all your levering without adjusting it. Front, back, side to side, overhead, etc

I do front levers mostly, and side to side also. For back lever motion, I use mainly a wrist roller, but the bar is also good at really hitting the underside of the forearm.

Dont forget to warm up!!! Lots of tendons and ligaments and small joints and bones to hurt with this one. Its easy to overload your wrists with this so start easy (choke down) and then once you're warm dig right in. You'll find a routine that works for you. Keep it methodical and you'll start inching your way down that bar.

hope this helps

~Steve

[TelegraphKey]

I can't add to that great advice at all. Here is the kind of lever routine I'm going to mainly stick to for the foreseeable future:

Front Lever Deadlift - Lever on floor with head in front of you. Choke up on handle as low down as you can (make marks with pen or tape to measure distance from handle's end). Bending over or kneeling down, stand up/straighten up, holding the lever straight out in front of you parallel to floor. Holding it straight & standing up with it is one rep. This is very hard to do with an 8 lb'er at the full end of a 31" handle (pinky side of hand on the very end of the handle.

Rear Lever - Basically the same thing as above, except with the hammer head pointed out back behind you instead of in front.

"Regular" Lever - Hold the hammer out in front of you at arm's length, head pointed straight up in the air. Lower the head down to your own forehead, carefully touch slowly, then, using only the wrist (obviously), lever it back to the starting position.

Side-to-side - Supination/Pronation - Hold the lever out in front, but with the head tilted to the side, parallel to floor. For example, hold it in your right hand, with the head pointed toward your left side, then lift it up to straight-up-and-down (supination); or with the head pointed the other way, to the right, then lift it to straight-up-and-down (pronation). Do opposite for the other hand. I find supination much harder than any other lift. Side-to-side levering seems to be most applicable to nail bending.

Edited November 3, 2006 by TelegraphKey

[mikebuck]

Here's some basics to start out with:

http://www.gripfaq.com/Forearm_Strength_Ex...ses/#LEVERFRONT

Not sure how much work you are looking to put into it, but I'd say an overhead or rear lever, a front lever, and side levers to each side will have you covered for wrist work.

That is a great collection of info you have put together. I like all the details on the contrast baths, just bought some buckets.

Also I like knowing the names of all of the levering movements.

Thanks,

Mike

[Scott Styles]

Glad you guys like the site. It's an ongoing work in process I add to or revise whenever the fancy strikes me. Figure in a couple years I'll have a relatively comprehensive free reference for someone new to grip to get up to speed quickly. The gripboard's got everything, but piecing together the basics from nothing must be tough.

[superfeemiman]

Glad you guys like the site. It's an ongoing work in process I add to or revise whenever the fancy strikes me. Figure in a couple years I'll have a relatively comprehensive free reference for someone new to grip to get up to speed quickly. The gripboard's got everything, but piecing together the basics from nothing must be tough.

Agreed completely. It's very hard to find all the different grip equipment and alternative exercises and crap in one place. That's a great site you've made.

[coc3]

thanks for all the advice fellas, very useful