Im New To Grip Strength, Where Do I Begin?

[nasterpiece]

I started using tension grippers when i was very young, i used to "borrow" my dad's old tension gripper all the time. After a few years i had a stronger grip than most of my firends and i realized i had could close the gripper while my friends could not. Needless to say the gripper was lost a few years back and about a year ago i got an urge to buy a new one. So i bought some from the store and started using those, and then i realized it felt like i was wasting my time because they wernt hard to close at all. So i went to sports chalet and bought the biggest ones i could find that went up to 50 lbs. Those were the biggest ones i had ever seen at the time so i bought them. N E ways those sucked too, and i went on the internet and started doing research and found Captain's of Crush and i was opened to a whole new world of crushing power. But the COCs were a little to expensive for me so to make a long story short, i bought a 100 lb MD Gladiator grip which was 10 bux, and used that till it was easy to do 30 times on each hand. Then i just recently bought the 150 lb and the 200 lb. I can rep with the 150 lb and i can close the 200 lb only about five times. Compared to everyone else on this site thats pretty weak, but i figured it was good for a 150 lb 17 yr old new to the hobby anyway (i hope). So heres my workout everyday, i do the 150 lb 20 times on each hand times 3. Then i hold the 200 lb in each hand till exhaustion. After that i usually just walk around with my 100 lb and take it everywhere and just constantly squeeze it. I know im probably doing many things wrong and i was hoping someone could give me some advice on different excersizes or something. Im open to any suggestions.

[luuc]

Buy yourself some stronger grippers, doesn't have to be an expensive brand.

Try to read as much as possible on this board, maybe buy the KTA program (http://www.cyberpump.com/ktaprogram/) because that will help you a lot.

Also, try to do thick bar exercises, pinching, and other grip exercises.

You should train your antagonist, you are only training your closing power, but for good hand health you should train the muscles that open the hand (with bands or so).

(All that gripper repping is no good for you right now)

You posted this in the wrong forum by the way.

Edited August 30, 2008 by luuc

[Jedd Johnson]

Lots of good articles on Grip strength:

DieselCrew.com

StraightToTheBar

[matthcarl]

David Horne's First Workout For Beginners worked for me.

[TravisRush]

You don't need to spend a lot (or anything) if you want to improve grip. My friend, who is also on the GripBoard, goes to riverbeds and finds rocks of all shapes and sizes, and uses them for pinch work. Best of all, they are free! Don't be afraid to be innovative and create your own stuff!

When I found this site, I was about the same as you. I could not even close the CoC #1. Now, after over a year of training and learning, I am somewhere between a #2 and #3. Keep working hard...as long as you are progressing in some way, it's fine!

My final suggestion for you is to set a few goals. A few short-term goals will help you get to a larger, long-term goal. Make sure you keep up with this workout log and put each workout in here. In a few months, look back through the pages and pages of workouts and you will see the improvement!

Good luck and don't give up!