Optimal Gripper Routine

[Charles]

I have been thinking of this for a while now, and many would be interested. The question is: What type of training routine would present the fastest gains? Through my logic on the subject you'll need to provide a way in which to build on the stimulus built from previous workouts; allow yourself to train with maximum load - and avoid over training. So, from these observations, the workout, to be optimal, will have to be performed on a day-to-day basis - preservation of stimulation - and rested long enough so your crush can provide absolute effort. These are the reasons, to what I believe, why quite a lot of fellow gripsters progress plateau after they reach #3 level of strength....may also be a mental barrier?

Analyzing many workouts from a large variety of logs, it's quite apparent that many behold the self belief of individuality... in that their body will only make gains to " What works for them" - or because a consistent #3.5 shutter trains in certain ways, if they train in similar fashion, they too will become #3.5 shutters. These representations of false logic, and notions only serve to hinder your true potential. For example, a certified #4 closer, Dave Morton, advocated the repetitive closure of a Trainer too failure. To be honest, a trainer would provide nowhere near the load to provide increases in strength level for someone of #4 level - nor a #3 for that matter. Another name that comes to mind.......Kevin Bussi. Reading an article on BB.com after his successful MM5 certification, he describes a massive marathon attempts on a #4 gripper only once a week!

Such a routine would be too taxing for the ability to provide the absolute effort requirement, and muscle stimulus would of diminished of that period of time.

Understanding the factors of training for max progression; the fact is we are all human and our bodies only grow strong through stress and load placed on it, here's a routine that I have devised:

Monday: 2 closes of a gripper around 75% of your max. Squeeze with every bit of energy you have for an over crush - 5 seconds( Goal Gripper).

Tuesday: Same warmup as Monday, but attempt something heavier then your goal gripper.

Wednesday: Deload, with a couple of singles with your goal gripper.

Thursday : Rest

As you get stronger, your capacity to provide effort will begin to diminish. When this occurs, take 2 days off - but do not over extend your rest periods. By saying " Absolute max", that means squeezing with all 100%. You should notice strength gains over each cycle. However, I do not advise beginners to follow this, as your hand are not prepared for it. For the grip newbies, I would start out performing max reps on a gripper you feel relatively comfortable with, step up to the next level, do the same for a while until you reach a sticking point. At that level, you should be ready to advanced.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Charles

[Charles]

Yeah, I've found that bracing the wrist while attempting a gripper also helps to enhance gains

Edited September 13, 2008 by Charles

[mobsterone]

This sounds and looks like it could easily go the way of the HIT/Hardgainers/logic of Mike Mentzer forums, discussions and debates.

You, for example, choose to argue that those who have been successful are, in fact, wrong in how they trained. In other words they became successful (getting 3's and 4's) in spite of their mistakes. Yet they and others are all you have to draw upon for information.

There is also the usual mistake of thinking the way grip strengthening works falls close enough to typical muscle training. Yet others, including myself, have mentioned several factors which should not be ignored.

1) Repetitive action 'teaches' the brain the best pathway. Words like 'sweet-spot' etc are used. Basically I will, for example, try to remember precisely how something felt when I did a PB then try and repeat that feeling. There is, if you like, skills training. In the same way that a dart player would practise over and over again to get him or herself in exactly the right position each and every time working on accuracy, stance and so on there is some support to doing the same with a gripper. I do agree that repping a 1 to exhaustion sounds more of an idea but some articles by the big closers should not be read as statements of how to train but what they did - right or wrong. They might have been experimenting and not mentioned that in the story.

2) CNS recovery. The smaller muscle groups, esp those of the hand and forearm do not stress the CNS like a full body routine. While we can grit our teeth, pass out as per a GGC contestant (holding his breath no doubt) and really put some effort into what we do gripper training will never overdo the body's ability to recover like 20 rep squats and so on.

3) Connective tissue, tendon strength and leverage. Gripper training is by it's very definition a short range of motion movement. 2 and 3/4-inches at best using a TNS on a standard width gripper. That many, including those you've already mentioned, then shorten the movement somewhat (setting) means that a decent enough percentage of what we do with grippers is down to leverage (big or small hands) as it is anything else.

4) Time scales and rep ranges. The most ardent of HIT freak will argue about rep ranges and recovery. They neglect to appreciate 3 things. 1 and2: that hardly anyone really goes outside the average in sets and in reps. 3: that you are dealing with the cream as it were. You've chosen to look at the freaks of the sport.

5) It's unlikely that you can learn from someone who trains grippers every day when most feel they do ok on 2 times a week. You'll learn nothing from a guy that does 50+ reps when most do well on 12 and so on. You CAN learn from freaks but and I've said this before, THERE IS NO MAGIC SET NUMBER OF REPS, SETS OR TRAINING SCHEME.

Using myself as an example you might learn application of effort, mental focus and so on. I might be very good and pushing you, myself and others around me. I might be the best at rousing 'coach' style speeches to get the juices going. But if you looked at my log when I'm going hard on grippers (torsion or Vulcan) I seem to have settled on 7 single attempts. Why 7 - god knows? I just chose the number.

Having sold a fair few e-books and read other grip guys articles, logs and so on the numbers are, to be frank, all over the place. I have been asked by buyers and fellow grip nuts on forums to 'tell me how many sets and reps I should do'. I could come up with some arbitrary number... 12 x 4 and providing they worked damned hard I'd probably get 50% saying it's great and 50% saying it didn't work for them. I've books and magazines going back to the turn of the century and writer after writer would choose a number from their heads. They KNEW that the reader needed this guidance. That said reader would feel short changed if a set number scheme was not produced.

More recently some studies have looked at best rep and set ranges. Over the past 20 or so years we've seen a more constant set of figures produced as 'ideal' or the norm. Under 8 = strength, 8-12 muscle and 12+ endurance. But what if you're having a great day - should you stop? Or a crappy day - should you carry on?

I'm amused by your idea of a routine above. It seems to suggest that you rates of recovery etc are constant. That's BS right there. Our minds know what day of the week it is, our bodies do not. There is no 'if it is Tuesday I must be ready to kick ass' from your hand. The only reason we have set days is to do work. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Train when you are ready to kick ass. If that's three days on the trot so be it, if it's once a week so be that too (ahem).

Having the target and drive to get there helps but there will be those that shut 4's and those that do not. But we can all do better and learn to push ourselves. I can and have taken guys up a level in one session. It's the old 'if I trained with Ronnie' analogy. They applied themselves more, with me pushing them, not because of some secret I gave them or some smell in the air I breath but because they had a greater expectation of themselves. It's worked for me too with ours (Horne and McKinless for example).

Do not look for a rep and set range. Look for application of effort over any other thing.

Edited September 13, 2008 by mobsterone

[taekwondo911]

that is a great subject to talk about but I think that what will work for me doesnt necessarily have to work for you or others

everyone is different...

EDIT: I didnt read the whole thread as usual

Edited September 13, 2008 by taekwondo911

[Charles]

that is a great subject to talk about but I think that what will work for me doesnt necessarily have to work for you or others

everyone is different...

EDIT: I didnt read the whole thread as usual

That's one part of the false notion which I pointed out. We may all be of different heights, skin tone, hair color, etc. However, when it comes to the bodies ability to adapt and generate strength, there is only a universal theory - and that's resisting maximum load placed on it.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Charles

[Charles]

You theoretically only need to perform one attempt on a gripper to reap full benefits.

[Charles]

As I said, what's the use of going for multiple attempts? More then 2 attempts will dull the effort you are able to put in. More is not better, strength building is not economics.

[gripmaniac]

You theoretically only need to perform one attempt on a gripper to reap full benefits.

I seem to remember Nathan Holle being quoted as saying he'd just do a few maximum singles . . . .and managed to make good progress.

Patience and consistent gripper training with appropriate cycling (and breaks) will get you places - unless you're in a hurry that is.

I don't believe it's possible to design an optimal routine that everyone (for their relative strength) could benefit from.

[gumpster]

I don't believe it's possible to design a "one size fits all" gripper routine. People vary too much. Any routine that has worked for someone else is bound to work for others if they're willing to put in the effort and follow it. Some may be more efficient than others but it all depends on too many factors to control. One could spend years testing out different routines trying to find one that works best for them.

If Dave Morton said he did trainer closes until the sun went down and he made progress - good for him. It might not work for everyone but I can't knock it if it works for him. If I gave you a pocket knife and told you to cut down a big tree you might think I was crazy. If Dave Morton were given a pocket knife there would be a tree laying on the ground in a week.

[Charles]

I don't believe it's possible to design a "one size fits all" gripper routine. People vary too much. Any routine that has worked for someone else is bound to work for others if they're willing to put in the effort and follow it. Some may be more efficient than others but it all depends on too many factors to control. One could spend years testing out different routines trying to find one that works best for them.

If Dave Morton said he did trainer closes until the sun went down and he made progress - good for him. It might not work for everyone but I can't knock it if it works for him. If I gave you a pocket knife and told you to cut down a big tree you might think I was crazy. If Dave Morton were given a pocket knife there would be a tree laying on the ground in a week.

Ok, lets use reason and common sense. Suppose you rep say ....... a #3 for 12 reps. Ask yourself, was it necessary to train in that style? Why didn't you opt for a lighter gripper and performed 15-20reps, or even gone alitte heavier and done just only 8 reps: Don't you notice some inconsistency with this pattern? Wouldn't it be much more beneficial to of grabbed a heavy gripper and apply your full crush on it under just one attempt - you are putting your hand under those conditions which trigger strength gain.

I would love Jedd to comment on his thoughts.

Edited September 13, 2008 by Charles

[gumpster]

Some people have trained a few days and closed a #3 and others have gone 5-10 years before getting there. I'm going on 1.5 years now and I still haven't closed a #3 (outside of a choker). I haven't ever followed the training routine of anyone else. I just did what felt good to me and I made progress. Maybe with a certain routine I might have closed the #3 by now (or not).

I started gripping and only had a #2 which I could close to parallel. It took me 6 months before I got it closed. I never was able to train on an easier or harder gripper - only the #2, but yet I made progress. I trained 6 more months using only the #2 and closed the #2.5 on my first try. I'd be willing to bet that one could train using a gripper easier (say #2 or #2.5) than their goal (say a #3) and achieve that goal without ever using the goal gripper to train with. I might have been able to close the #2 earlier than 6 months if I had a trainer or #1 to use - I'll never know. It's just as possible that had I trained on the trainer and #1 that it could have taken me a year to close the #2. I used the tools available, figured out what worked for me and stuck with it. Hard work and dedication got me to close the gripper.

[taekwondo911]

Some people have trained a few days and closed a #3 and others have gone 5-10 years before getting there. I'm going on 1.5 years now and I still haven't closed a #3 (outside of a choker). I haven't ever followed the training routine of anyone else. I just did what felt good to me and I made progress. Maybe with a certain routine I might have closed the #3 by now (or not).

I bet you that you are now alot more experienced and knew what didnt work for you, so lets say if you had that info in the first place you would progress alot faster, but the problem is that you cant get this info from anyone but you so you had to waste some time like everybody did.

[Blackdog]

This sounds and looks like it could easily go the way of the HIT/Hardgainers/logic of Mike Mentzer forums, discussions and debates.

You, for example, choose to argue that those who have been successful are, in fact, wrong in how they trained. In other words they became successful (getting 3's and 4's) in spite of their mistakes. Yet they and others are all you have to draw upon for information.

There is also the usual mistake of thinking the way grip strengthening works falls close enough to typical muscle training. Yet others, including myself, have mentioned several factors which should not be ignored.

1) Repetitive action 'teaches' the brain the best pathway. Words like 'sweet-spot' etc are used. Basically I will, for example, try to remember precisely how something felt when I did a PB then try and repeat that feeling. There is, if you like, skills training. In the same way that a dart player would practise over and over again to get him or herself in exactly the right position each and every time working on accuracy, stance and so on there is some support to doing the same with a gripper. I do agree that repping a 1 to exhaustion sounds more of an idea but some articles by the big closers should not be read as statements of how to train but what they did - right or wrong. They might have been experimenting and not mentioned that in the story.

2) CNS recovery. The smaller muscle groups, esp those of the hand and forearm do not stress the CNS like a full body routine. While we can grit our teeth, pass out as per a GGC contestant (holding his breath no doubt) and really put some effort into what we do gripper training will never overdo the body's ability to recover like 20 rep squats and so on.

3) Connective tissue, tendon strength and leverage. Gripper training is by it's very definition a short range of motion movement. 2 and 3/4-inches at best using a TNS on a standard width gripper. That many, including those you've already mentioned, then shorten the movement somewhat (setting) means that a decent enough percentage of what we do with grippers is down to leverage (big or small hands) as it is anything else.

4) Time scales and rep ranges. The most ardent of HIT freak will argue about rep ranges and recovery. They neglect to appreciate 3 things. 1 and2: that hardly anyone really goes outside the average in sets and in reps. 3: that you are dealing with the cream as it were. You've chosen to look at the freaks of the sport.

5) It's unlikely that you can learn from someone who trains grippers every day when most feel they do ok on 2 times a week. You'll learn nothing from a guy that does 50+ reps when most do well on 12 and so on. You CAN learn from freaks but and I've said this before, THERE IS NO MAGIC SET NUMBER OF REPS, SETS OR TRAINING SCHEME.

Using myself as an example you might learn application of effort, mental focus and so on. I might be very good and pushing you, myself and others around me. I might be the best at rousing 'coach' style speeches to get the juices going. But if you looked at my log when I'm going hard on grippers (torsion or Vulcan) I seem to have settled on 7 single attempts. Why 7 - god knows? I just chose the number.

Having sold a fair few e-books and read other grip guys articles, logs and so on the numbers are, to be frank, all over the place. I have been asked by buyers and fellow grip nuts on forums to 'tell me how many sets and reps I should do'. I could come up with some arbitrary number... 12 x 4 and providing they worked damned hard I'd probably get 50% saying it's great and 50% saying it didn't work for them. I've books and magazines going back to the turn of the century and writer after writer would choose a number from their heads. They KNEW that the reader needed this guidance. That said reader would feel short changed if a set number scheme was not produced.

More recently some studies have looked at best rep and set ranges. Over the past 20 or so years we've seen a more constant set of figures produced as 'ideal' or the norm. Under 8 = strength, 8-12 muscle and 12+ endurance. But what if you're having a great day - should you stop? Or a crappy day - should you carry on?

I'm amused by your idea of a routine above. It seems to suggest that you rates of recovery etc are constant. That's BS right there. Our minds know what day of the week it is, our bodies do not. There is no 'if it is Tuesday I must be ready to kick ass' from your hand. The only reason we have set days is to do work. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Train when you are ready to kick ass. If that's three days on the trot so be it, if it's once a week so be that too (ahem).

Having the target and drive to get there helps but there will be those that shut 4's and those that do not. But we can all do better and learn to push ourselves. I can and have taken guys up a level in one session. It's the old 'if I trained with Ronnie' analogy. They applied themselves more, with me pushing them, not because of some secret I gave them or some smell in the air I breath but because they had a greater expectation of themselves. It's worked for me too with ours (Horne and McKinless for example).

Do not look for a rep and set range. Look for application of effort over any other thing.

Very well explained!....appreciated! I learned a lot.

[mobsterone]

Cheers. It seems others have decided to debate it away anyway.

[boland magyar]

This sounds and looks like it could easily go the way of the HIT/Hardgainers/logic of Mike Mentzer forums, discussions and debates.

You, for example, choose to argue that those who have been successful are, in fact, wrong in how they trained. In other words they became successful (getting 3's and 4's) in spite of their mistakes. Yet they and others are all you have to draw upon for information.

There is also the usual mistake of thinking the way grip strengthening works falls close enough to typical muscle training. Yet others, including myself, have mentioned several factors which should not be ignored.

1) Repetitive action 'teaches' the brain the best pathway. Words like 'sweet-spot' etc are used. Basically I will, for example, try to remember precisely how something felt when I did a PB then try and repeat that feeling. There is, if you like, skills training. In the same way that a dart player would practise over and over again to get him or herself in exactly the right position each and every time working on accuracy, stance and so on there is some support to doing the same with a gripper. I do agree that repping a 1 to exhaustion sounds more of an idea but some articles by the big closers should not be read as statements of how to train but what they did - right or wrong. They might have been experimenting and not mentioned that in the story.

2) CNS recovery. The smaller muscle groups, esp those of the hand and forearm do not stress the CNS like a full body routine. While we can grit our teeth, pass out as per a GGC contestant (holding his breath no doubt) and really put some effort into what we do gripper training will never overdo the body's ability to recover like 20 rep squats and so on.

3) Connective tissue, tendon strength and leverage. Gripper training is by it's very definition a short range of motion movement. 2 and 3/4-inches at best using a TNS on a standard width gripper. That many, including those you've already mentioned, then shorten the movement somewhat (setting) means that a decent enough percentage of what we do with grippers is down to leverage (big or small hands) as it is anything else.

4) Time scales and rep ranges. The most ardent of HIT freak will argue about rep ranges and recovery. They neglect to appreciate 3 things. 1 and2: that hardly anyone really goes outside the average in sets and in reps. 3: that you are dealing with the cream as it were. You've chosen to look at the freaks of the sport.

5) It's unlikely that you can learn from someone who trains grippers every day when most feel they do ok on 2 times a week. You'll learn nothing from a guy that does 50+ reps when most do well on 12 and so on. You CAN learn from freaks but and I've said this before, THERE IS NO MAGIC SET NUMBER OF REPS, SETS OR TRAINING SCHEME.

Using myself as an example you might learn application of effort, mental focus and so on. I might be very good and pushing you, myself and others around me. I might be the best at rousing 'coach' style speeches to get the juices going. But if you looked at my log when I'm going hard on grippers (torsion or Vulcan) I seem to have settled on 7 single attempts. Why 7 - god knows? I just chose the number.

Having sold a fair few e-books and read other grip guys articles, logs and so on the numbers are, to be frank, all over the place. I have been asked by buyers and fellow grip nuts on forums to 'tell me how many sets and reps I should do'. I could come up with some arbitrary number... 12 x 4 and providing they worked damned hard I'd probably get 50% saying it's great and 50% saying it didn't work for them. I've books and magazines going back to the turn of the century and writer after writer would choose a number from their heads. They KNEW that the reader needed this guidance. That said reader would feel short changed if a set number scheme was not produced.

More recently some studies have looked at best rep and set ranges. Over the past 20 or so years we've seen a more constant set of figures produced as 'ideal' or the norm. Under 8 = strength, 8-12 muscle and 12+ endurance. But what if you're having a great day - should you stop? Or a crappy day - should you carry on?

I'm amused by your idea of a routine above. It seems to suggest that you rates of recovery etc are constant. That's BS right there. Our minds know what day of the week it is, our bodies do not. There is no 'if it is Tuesday I must be ready to kick ass' from your hand. The only reason we have set days is to do work. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Train when you are ready to kick ass. If that's three days on the trot so be it, if it's once a week so be that too (ahem).

Having the target and drive to get there helps but there will be those that shut 4's and those that do not. But we can all do better and learn to push ourselves. I can and have taken guys up a level in one session. It's the old 'if I trained with Ronnie' analogy. They applied themselves more, with me pushing them, not because of some secret I gave them or some smell in the air I breath but because they had a greater expectation of themselves. It's worked for me too with ours (Horne and McKinless for example).

Do not look for a rep and set range. Look for application of effort over any other thing.

Very well explained!....appreciated! I learned a lot.

i second that

[mobsterone]

Charles is, of course, welcome to debate for the sake of it but will either end up with 1) a routine which combines the averages of others, 2) (like all other routines) uses the best of others (such info is out there now) or 3) will argue a point for the sake of it as many do. I already disagree with the ''1 rep is enough as a test/to build strength'' which has been suggested.

[honk]

Exellent post Mob!

Best in a while on the Gripboard.

[menace3000]

It all comes down to what types of training your body best responds to. Although there are a couple constants like body adapting to the stresses imposed upon it, how this occurs for various people is often quite different.

In lifting usually people find success by mixing 3 main approaches: Frequency, Volume, Load/Intensity.

I personally dont do well on frequency or volume approaches. I am an all out type of person. Why? trial and error over the years. Have I tried other approaches when things were stagnating? yes I have and I got results as well.

Problem often comes down to not just how you train but how your body recovers from that type of training. For example you may get the best results from a frequent volume based approach with moderate load however your body does not recover sufficiently enough to make progress. Yet a second based approach of infrequent high load sessions produces second best gains but you can recover much better and can sustain it to make long terms gains.So after evaluating various approaches and your body's ability to respond and recover, you rightly decide that second approach in my example although not the most effecient, in perhaps short term or even as a whole, your body can keep up and thus the approach that should be used.

Gripper training is quite different for a lot of reasons that mob pointed out. I would not be able to train consistantly if I used similar techniques on big lifts. Forced closes, negatives, etc are all very hard on the hands and body even though it's just a small relative area of the body....if those techniques were to be done for big lifts it would no doubt lead to overtraining.

Periodization is often the best way to keep consistant long term gains within parameters that work best for you.