Malice's Grip Training

[Malice]

I decided to start a training log here. I also train my whole body 3-4 days a week and train muay thai 3 days a week as well but am only going to put grip related training here. I'm new to grip specific training so any advise or comments are more than welcome.

I started working with grippers in mid/late March and have progressed fairly decently. I own both RRBT and KTA but have been using a routine that I've used in the past for other lifts. When my progress slows then I'll give KTA a shot. I also just recently started working with the Blob50 and Rolling Thunder and am now struggling a bit figuring out how to include those without overtraining my hands.

My primary goal this year is to cert the #3, secondary goal is to lift the Blob50 and tertiary goal is to lift #190 on the RT which I believe will have me ready for the easy level of the grip gauntlet. I want to try it at the Arnold in 2011 so I have a lot of work to do.

Right now I can easily close the FBBC 3X with smooth steel handles and am about 1/4" from closing the 2.5. I can lift my Blob50 with 12.5lbs on the deloader and can lift 137.5 on the RT.

I've been keeping a log of my gripper workouts since I started my routine a couple weeks after I got my first grippers so my log will start there and I'll update it a couple times a week or whenever I get the chance.

[Malice]

I basically do a "grease the groove" type workout with grippers where I do several singles throughout the night at work and superset band extensions and dynamic thumb with a pony clamp. I try to rest at least 10 minutes between singles so I don't fatigue my hands at all. As you can see the first week or so the training is a bit unorganized cuz this was when I was figuring out what I was doing.

4/7/10

#1.5-22-all full closes

4/8/10

#2-10-got 2 full closes. I accidentally grabbed the #2 instead of the 1.5.

4/9/10

#2 (choked)-10-all were full closes! Hands were a little sore but not enough to hinder anything.

4/10/10

Supposed to be a rest day but went to a friends house and was showing him how to set the grippers and did a few squeezes with the #2 and #2.5.

4/12/10

5/8" handle SA-16-did eight sets of doubles

4/13/10

#2(CCS)-12-eight full closes!

4/14/10

#2(choked)-12-all full closes

4/15/10

#2(CCS)-10-no full closes. Hands very weak

4/16/10

#1.5(micro x5)-10-filed the handle between sets 7 and 8 to make it more challenging. I'm going to start resting more. Will work grippers 2 days on/1 off/2 on/2 off

4/19/10

#2(CCS)-10-all full closes!

4/20/10

#2(choked)-2-hands strong and choked was too easy so switched to micro closes x3. Did 8 sets of micro closes.

4/23/10

T4(micro x5)-did 5 sets and decided to attempt as many singles as I could throughout the night. Managed to get 65 mainly in 5 rep sets due to time limits at work. HUGE improvement considering 2 weeks ago I only got 2 full closes in 10 attempts.

4/26/10

#2.5(CCS)-10-not even close to full closes. Hands still very weak from Friday's 65 closes with the #2.

4/27/10

#2.5(choked)-4-stopped after 4 sets. A lot of pain in left arm. I think the 2.5 is too much right now so will switch to the 5/8" handle BBM for power workouts.

4/28/10

T3(10x10)-10-all full closes. Decided to work with a lighter gripper with highter volume to give my left arm a break until the pain goes away. Also going very light in the gym.

4/29/10

5/8" BBSA(5x5)-Tough but felt good! Hands weak from yesterday's 10x10 which I think is too much volume.

5/1/10

T3(5x10)-felt good

5/8" BM(CCS)-10-got 4 full closes! I've never closed the 5/8" BBM so I'm very happy with this. I didn't intend to do a workout with it but decided to try a squeeze after the 5x10 since my hands felt good. After closing it all the way I had to make sure it wasn't a fluke and that turned into a full workout hahaha.

5/3/10

5/8" BBM(CCS)-10-8 dull closes! Hands hurt bad on first 2 closes but got a bit better later. Right hand hurt every close and left hand felt much stronger than right tonight.

5/4/10

Blob50

2 hands-6

+10lbs x1

+20lbs x3

5/8"BBM(choked)-10-8 full closes. Better than I thought considering I did a blob workout prior. Hard to get a good set with the narrower handles choked.

5/6/10

Blob50

Build deloader so weight represents how much weight is on the deloader for single hand lifts. I find that I need several warmups before I can lift much.

30x2,25x1,20x1,17.5x3,15x1,13x0,15x1

FBBC 3X(MMS)-10-5 full closes with both hands! Felt great considering blob workout prior. I couldn't close this gripper at all yesterday.

5/7/10

T4(mirco x10)-10

5/10/10

Blob50

35x1,30x1,25x1,20x1,17.5x1,15x1,12.5x1(PR),10x0,20x3

T5(CCS)-8-no full closes. Hands real weak from blob workout earlier. Couldn't close the gripper past parallel last 3 sets so stopped early. I need to re-evaluate my blob workouts so I don't compromise my gripper work.

5/11/10

#2.5(choked)-1-hands VERY sore today. I think I overworked them on Sunday figuring out how to get good gripper vids using the FBBC 3X. I'm going to rest today and Wednesday and resume on Thursday. Also going to lower volume on blob workouts and see if this helps.

[Malice]

5/13/10

I decided that since I'm going to add blob and RT every week I'm going to cut grippers back to 3 days a week and do them on the same days as blob. RT will be on alternate days.

Blob50(weight on deloader)

20x2,17.5x1,15x1,12.5x1,10x0

Grippers

#2.5(choked)-10x1-no full closes but much closer tonight. Hands felt great and I think lower blob volume earlier made a huge difference in how they felt.

5/14/10

Rolling Thunder

#115-10x1-decided to go light due to hands being a little tight

5/15/10

Blob50(weight on deloader)

22.5x1,17.5x1,15x1,12.5x1,10+FBBC 3X gripper(about 1lb)x1,10x2(PR),8x0(2 attempts) got a couple inches of air

Grippers

#3.5(negatives)-3x1

#2(overcrush x5 seconds)-3x1

Thumb

pony clamp-5x1

[Malice]

I'm starting KTA so from now on gripper specific stuff won't be listed here except for PR's. I'll have a log in the KTA forum though.

[Malice]

5/18/20

Blob50

25x1,20x1,17.5x1,15x1,12.5x0(2 attempts)

I'm a bit disappointed with this workout. As I suspected would happen when I started doing KTA my pinch is going down. Not surprising at all but a big disappointing just the same. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away and if nothing else when KTA is over I should be able to close the #3 AND lift the Blob50.

[Malice]

5/20/10

Blob50

My hands felt good and strong today but, alas...was not the case. I could barely budge it off the ground with 15lbs on the deloader. KTA is starting to make itself known hahaha. My next Blob workout is after a rest day with grippers so we'll see how that one goes.

35x1,25x1,20x1,15x0(2 attempts)

[Malice]

5/23/10

Blob50

25x1,20x1,17.5x1,15x1,12.5x1,10x0 (2 attempts but did clear a few inches both times),negatives x4(picked it up with both hands and let go with the off hand)

45 York blob

cleared the ground about a foot with each hand without using the deloader.

All in all a good blob workout even though no new PR's. I'm happy cuz I finally felt like I had some strength in my hands for this.

I've been laying off RT since starting KTA but just can't keep myself from blob work since I feel like I'm getting so close to lifting the dumb thing

[Malice]

I decided to max on barbell bench at the gym today even though I have only been doing DB bench since I started working out again about 5 months ago. My goal was to get back to 3hundo again this year but I hit that today so now the goal is 350 by the end of the year. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone I trusted to spot me today and all the trainers were with clients so I just did it myself with no spotter. 300 went up pretty well and I think I probably had another 10-15lbs in me but didn't feel like risking it without a trusty spotter. I didn't feel "in the groove" since I haven't been doing barbell bench so that number will go up itself as I start doing it more and get the "groove" back. Now I just have to go up another hundo and I'll be where I was 12 years ago when I stopped lifting. Oh how the mighty have fallen hahaha. If I wasn't living in this stupid condo I'd set up a bench and grease the groove for a couple months then get my real max but oh well...I'll get back there eventually and am not in a hurry.

[Malice]

5/25/10

Blob50-My hands needed a lot of warmup today so I did 25 on the deloader 3x before dropping weight.

25x3.20x1,15x1,12.5x1,10x0(2 attempts)

Negatives x3

[Malice]

5/29/10

Hands seem to be getting used to the heavy gripper workload and somehow seem to be recovering faster than ever. They felt great after yesterday's rest day and I managed to set a PR with the blob50 today by lifting 8lbs on the deloader to full deadlift with the left hand. I also managed a full 5 second negative with the right hand from full deadlift to the ground.

Blob50

25x1,20x1,15x1,12.5x1,10x1,8x1(PR)-full deadlift lefty and to knee height righty. It took 3 attempts but finally got it!!

Negatives x3

[Malice]

6/1/10

Blob50

25x1,20x1,15x1,12.5x1,10x1,8x0(got about a foot of air both hands)

Didn't do negatives this time cuz I ran out of time and had to go to work.

RT

I didn't plan to do RT but when I got home from work I saw it sitting there with 100 lbs. and decided to do a couple pulls. Well, the hands felt great so I added 10 lbs. and next thing I knew I set a new PR with the left hand!!

100x5,110x5,115x3,120x2,125x1,130x1,135x1,140x1,142.5x1,145x1,147.5x1,150x1,155x1,157.5x1 lefty (PR),160x0(got about an inch of air lefty)

[Malice]

Time to update the grip log.

My daughter got hold of my notebook and tore the pages out up until June 21st but I have my TTK workouts still in my phone.

6/10/10

TTK

15 lbs (Kinney style)-15 holds

6/13/10

TTK

12.5 (pinch grip)-20 holds

6/21/10

Grippers

#2.5 (choked)-10-no full closes but all were very close

6/22/10

Grippers

#2.5 (choked)-10-no full closes. Close like last workout

6/24/10

Grippers

#2.5 (MMS)-10-no full closes but all attempts were very close. Very happy with this workout!

6/25/10

Secret Weapon

30x10 sec/35x10 sec/40x5 sec/45x5 sec/50x3 sec/55x5 sec/60x5 sec/65x5 severe negatives

6/27/10

Grippers

#2.5-10-no full closes

6/29/10

Grippers

#2.5 (MMS)-14-got 9 full closes righty and 3 lefty!! Best workout yet!

7/1/10

Blob50

10 negatives

Grippers

#2.5 (MMS)-10-10 full closes righty and 7 lefty!! This was unexpected because my hands were smoked from Blob50 workout before work. Tried a MMS close with the #3 after workout and got to within 3/8"-1/2" righty and about parallel lefty. I knew it wasn't going anywhere lefty as soon as I started squeezing cuz the left hand was smoked.

7/3/10

Secret Weapon

40x10 sec/50x10 sec/60x5 sec/65x5 sec/70x10 severe negatives. Went up 5 pounds from last workout so I'm very happy with this.

RT

125x1/135x1/145x1/155x1/160x0/145x9-I stopped lefty on the first 145 attempt due to slight pain in left bicep and didn't want to tempt injury

TTK

12.5 (pinch grip)-10 holds. Went up to 15 lbs and did 10 negatives with pinch grip.

7/6/10

Blob50

10 negatives

Grippers

#3 (choked)-10-no full closes but all within 3/16" with 3 at 1/8". Only worked right hand cuz I bruised several knuckles on my left hand over the weekend and can't even close the Trainer lefty.

7/8/10-Vulcan lvl 11-(MMS)-5 full closes. Switched to CCS-5-no full closes but sweep feels much tougher than 2.5 which is about the same strength at close. This was the first workout with the Vulcan so in actuality I did closer to 30 closes with it just trying different levels out. I really like the Vulcan and am going to use it as my CCS workout since the sweep is harder than a torsion gripper at the same RGC level.

I've been using teh Fat Gripz for all deadlifts at the gym to add some thick bar and help increase RT numbers. I felt a pop a while ago in my lower right bicep doing RT and have been paranoid that it'll turn into an injury so my RT workouts have been sporadic. The plan is to start doing RT once a week along with Fat Gripz deadlifts on a different day to get thick bar work in twice a week.

[bencrush]

Good workouts man! Congrats on the RT PR too!

[Malice]

Good workouts man! Congrats on the RT PR too!

Thanks brother!!

[Malice]

7/11/10

Secret Weapon

40x10 sec/50x10sec/60x10sec/65x5sec/70x5sec/72.5x10 severe negatives

I really like the Secret Weapon. It seems to have good rollover to grippers for me. Ever since I started using it my close strength has gone up pretty quickly. I was planning on doing TTK as well but after the SW workout I did my first bend with 1/4x7 HRS and I didn't feel like blasting my hands anymore after that. I'm thinking about working bending twice a week if my manos will handle it along with everything else. I just need to decide which days a week to do it.

[Malice]

7/13/10

Grippers

Vulcan lvl 12 (22mm)-5x1-Smashed all 5 which is awesome because last week I couldn't even get one close on lvl 12!!!

Lvl 13 (22mm)-5x1-didn't get any closes but came real close. I'm happy with how I did stepping up to the next level. This level MMS feels about where my #3 does at the close.

I was planning on using the Vulcan as my CCS gripper since the sweep is so sick but there's a WSH contest coming up in August in Tucson and I figured I'd get used to setting at 20ish mm. My normal MMS set is a little over 1" so it took a bit of getting used to not wrapping my fingers too far around the handles with the closer set cuz it made it harder to close. I don't have a 20mm block right now so I just grabbed a piece of metal at work that measured at a hair over 22mm and used it for the set. I figure until I make a 20mm block setting a little wider is better than narrower. I also forgot to take my pony clamp for thumb work and am too tired after a LONG night at work to do TTK or sledge levering. Maybe I'll hit TTK tomorrow as well as Blob but it's the wife's birthday so we'll see what happens.

I ordered a wrist developer today so when that shows up I'll be adding that to the grip log too.

[Joefrey]

Nice job ! Keep it up !!

[Malice]

Nice job ! Keep it up !!

Thanks brother!

[Malice]

7/15/10

Grippers

Vulcan-lvl 13(20mm)-3-no full closes and hands hurt real bad for some reason.

lvl 11(CCS)-8-all full closes and were solid. Hands didn't hurt as much.

Also did band extensions and pony clamp for thumb.

[Malice]

Since my hands were so sore on Thursday I decided to take the whole weekend off to let them recover. I also wanted to get back on a Mon/Tues/Thurs/Friday grip schedule again and make sure to add RT and Blob50 back in consistently as well as sledge levering and bending. The wrist developer should show up this week so I'll do that for one of my bending workouts for now and actual bending on the other workout. Once my hands and wrists are toughened up and more used to bending I'll incorporate actual bending into both workouts.

[Malice]

I woke up with my lower back super sore so I didn't do RT today like I was planning. I wasn't even able to go to work. I did manage a gripper workout though and I'm happy with it.

7/19/10

#3(choked)-10x1-no full closes but most were within 1/16" which is the best I've done so far.

[Joefrey]

Nice work!

I didn't believe in choker work before I tried. Keep up the hard work and take care of your back !

[Malice]

Thanks brother!

[Malice]

7/20/10

I grabbed the 2.5 today to do a vid of closing it and ended up having to close it about 15 times each hand before finally getting the lighting and angle right so that's my gripper workout for today. I might take the #3 to work tonight and throw in 5 attempts but we'll see how the hands feel later. Right now they're kinda tired.

[Malice]

I ended up taking the #3 in to work last night after all. I took the choker off to start working the set with it.

#3(MMS)-4x1-no full closes but got to within 1/4" on all attempts. This is the best I've done without a choker and with smoked hands so I'm very happy with this.