3 Range Negatives

[Grippster]

Lately I've had this idea about doing negatives. Most negatives we do are done with grippers that we are anywhere from 1/4 inch to a full inch from closing. This helps us build strength for the close, which is the hardest part of any gripper. However, this doesn't train the middle and outer ranges of motion. So I thought, why not try negatives with a gripper that can barely be closed to parallel with 2 hands, and then a gripper that can barely be closed to even the halfway point with 2 hands. In this way, I believe you train more ranges of motion and build stronger hands overall which might make heavy lifts (blob or inch) easier. (ex. close #2 with both hands and do a negative hold, then a #3 hold at parallel, then say a GE at half close) Has anyone tried these types of negative holds?

[arande2]

I'm not sure, but I think Paul (Knight) has done parallel holds, although I don't know about the gripper difficulty.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

And I haven't because I don't have any hard enough grippers

[Guest indi]

i tried something like this over the past few weeks. ive only ever closed a 2.5 once, and that came about because of forcing the 2.5 shut with both hands and just holding it for timed sets. i moved ontot he 3, doing the same thing, and within 6 weeks or so ive seen a very big improvement in holds with the no3. at first the holds were close to parallel, but now theyre almost touching for the 1st set.

however, in trying the 2.5, i wasnt able to close it any easier on the 1 attempt i tried. so ive kept one day for the no.3 holds, and a 2nd day for negatives on the 2.5.

moral: holds with different widths will help improve in that range of motion.

[Grippster]

Just a suggestion, but I speculate that these types of negatives might make CC sets easier because it builds strength over a wide range of motion. I'm not really well enough yet to try these different ranges of negatives but I used to do a parallel hold with the BC400 before I eventually closed it and I think it would also carry over to thickbar training.

Oh, and just to add one more thing.. CC sets are a big deal these days when it comes to IM certifying because of the new rules so for anyone struggling to get a CCS close on a #3 it might help to do parallels on a #3.5 or a hard gripper like that.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Grippster