Quest For Gripstrength Starting With Gripper #3

[PeterSweden]

Technique is always important, especially in deadlifting.

I really like the "so you think you can deadlift"series on youtube.

There are so u think u can squat and bench too.

When my back was under controll (i hurt it when I was 16 and it still bothers me on and off) I started deadlifting.

I warmed up, lowered the reps as the weight got heaver and than I took a weight between 85-95% of 1rm and I did an all out set til failure.

That was it.

Deadlifted every other week.

Went from 170kg 1rm my first ever session to 240kg 1rm in 6 months.

So the program worked well.

I could never deadlift every week. It took 2 weeks to recover.. you might wanna try that if 531 doesnt work for ye

Edited February 24, 2014 by PeterSweden

[Geralt]

Thnx bro for the reply.

[Anthony C.]

Hey man, i didn't want to hijack roy's journal but just wanted to say, close grip decline bench is awesome for triceps, if you can get a spotter. Hits them like dips, without killing the shoulders

[Geralt]

Hey man, i didn't want to hijack roy's journal but just wanted to say, close grip decline bench is awesome for triceps, if you can get a spotter. Hits them like dips, without killing the shoulders

Thnx for the input, appreciate it. I don't have spotter, since I always train alone. When I do close grip bench (which I haven't done for a while now) I do it with an EZ bar however and with Fatgripz Extreme attached to the handles, that kills the triceps very well Decline close grip sounds good however, I can understand the unracking will be a problem when alone.

[Geralt]

today's training so-so.

No special earth shattering stuff with grippers. I've done a max attempt on DL and SQ earlier this week and did physical work yesterday all day so I was really pooped at the end of the day. So I expected not to be on top of my game. That said, I still got lots of nice #3 closes, also with 1.5" blocksets after doing MMS work. It's all settling in.

Not much to tell really, I've made up a good template to continue with the basic strengthtraining in a way that I think works nicely around my grippertraining, in which I need a relatively recovered CNS. Grippers are and remain strange beasts to work with.

[Geralt]

Chinups 3 x 4 (dead hang with explosive pulling up)

Barbell loaded on one side, barbell rows by attaching a chain to the weighted side, unloaded side in the corner of the wall.

Progressive loading up to 65 kg, 4 x 10 as strict as possible.

Dumbbellrows 3 x 8 20 kg;

Legraises 3 x 10.

forgot the mention I did squats yesterday, 75 % of 1rm.

[Joefrey]

Just keep up the hard work my friend !

[Geralt]

Thnx Joefrey! I want to be able to CCS #3's in the higher range. Progress is slow but going forward. Just a little bit of time.

[Geralt]

Busy week with the kid's birthday, other stuff and so on. I can notice that in my body, I'm feeling tired.

Tried grippers yesterday but they didn't feel right. Had a good night rest but today also no cigar.

Missed all CCS #3 attempts, even my 149 lbs one. The misses were not big at all, but they missed nonetheless.

Did some Ghp7 work, all singles @25mm blockset.

At some point I could get frustrated about that but not today. I just feel my body isn't on topstrength. In combination with daily life it's

too much. Next week will be less busy and I will do light gripperwork than. Week after that I will try CCS again. I am going to hammer CCS work more

and concentrate on that. I am strong enough to pull them off but unfortunately I cannot put my daily life with kids, work and all on hold to recover like I should.

[PeterSweden]

Life gets in the way of training, I know, it sucks!

[Geralt]

Life gets in the way of training, I know, it sucks!

Yeah man. On the other hand, training should enhance our lives and not be our lifes, but it would be nice to not have to plow through busy weeks when trying to improve on strength now and than

That said:

While sitting in the sun today after training, I decided to change my gripwork a bit. I am going to do grippers from now on every two weeks. I try to keep the Saturdays for that, since those are days i don't need to rush into my workouts. So that means I am going to focus on CCS work with grippers mainly because I know I have that power. The other week I will do other gripwork with thickbar, pinch, gripmachine, leverwork, wrists etc.

So no dramatic changes and I am not going to throw in everything but the kitchensink anymore. It's just a recovery thing I need to figure out. Upping the volume, even with lighter grippers isn't the solution here. This will work out just fine I think.

[Geralt]

Workout in the middle of the day works much better by far.

DL conv. 6 x 60kg, 5 x 100kg, 5 x 130kg, 3 x 2 x 160kg.

Switched to sumo, first time doing this, but it felt quite nice! Sumo: 4 x 10 @110kg.

I think I can handle much more weight this way, but it's too early for that, need to work my technique first.

Chin-ups from dead hang @ bw 4 x 4 as explosive as possible; (bw around 105kg)

No rows, my right elbow complains a little bit (old injury) and rows tend to aggrevate that. No problem, did some light volume for biceps and

arms were toasted.

Abs en leverwork for the wrists with dumbbell loaded on one side, working in all directions.

Wednesday if my work allows it squats and shoulders.

[Geralt]

The sumo work last monday has got my back sore for days this week. So kept other legwork light this week. Good choice to push DL work back to once per two weeks. I didn't plan to do gripperwork today, but I still keep testing every session what feels right. I go with the flow. I felt strong in the close with grippers however, which felt so good that I turned this session into a heavy negative session, a thing I rarely do anymore.

* Thoroughly warming up with leverwork for wrists;

* Forcing the 4 closed and keeping it closed as far as possible and than smoothly letting it out, without resisting too much x 2;

* IM#3.5 the same, got it pretty far without assistance. Nice. Compared to my 176lbs Ghp8 this gripper feels tougher in the close, wouldn't be surprised if it

would come out at around 180lbs.

* Choked mentioned Ghp8; closed! Pr.

* Many negative #3.5 attempts.

* Still managed to close my heaviest #3 (but just) from MMS afterwards which surprised me.

Brushed off my secret weapon to work with while resting up but when I was finished with the tsg's I felt I had done enough for the extreme heavy stuff.

Did some full ROM work with my plateloader (100 kg)

Increased weight on leverwork;

Wristcurl holds with dumbbell with Fatgripz Extreme;

I am not doing this frequently but this gave my hands a nice kick in the butt. After every negative performed I did rubberband stretches for my extensors.

Left hand is coming along nicely btw, did MM2 replica holds. Still can feel the remains of my tennis elbow however so got to keep this under control.

[Royz]

The sumo work last monday has got my back sore for days this week. So kept other legwork light this week. Good choice to push DL work back to once per two weeks. I didn't plan to do gripperwork today, but I still keep testing every session what feels right. I go with the flow. I felt strong in the close with grippers however, which felt so good that I turned this session into a heavy negative session, a thing I rarely do anymore.

* Thoroughly warming up with leverwork for wrists;

* Forcing the 4 closed and keeping it closed as far as possible and than smoothly letting it out, without resisting too much x 2;

* IM#3.5 the same, got it pretty far without assistance. Nice. Compared to my 176lbs Ghp8 this gripper feels tougher in the close, wouldn't be surprised if it

would come out at around 180lbs.

* Choked mentioned Ghp8; closed! Pr.

* Many negative #3.5 attempts.

* Still managed to close my heaviest #3 (but just) from MMS afterwards which surprised me.

Brushed off my secret weapon to work with while resting up but when I was finished with the tsg's I felt I had done enough for the extreme heavy stuff.

Did some full ROM work with my plateloader (100 kg)

Increased weight on leverwork;

Wristcurl holds with dumbbell with Fatgripz Extreme;

I am not doing this frequently but this gave my hands a nice kick in the butt. After every negative performed I did rubberband stretches for my extensors.

Left hand is coming along nicely btw, did MM2 replica holds. Still can feel the remains of my tennis elbow however so got to keep this under control.

Intense workout! Nice.

Where did you buy the plateloader and the secret weapon Geralt?

[Geralt]

The sumo work last monday has got my back sore for days this week. So kept other legwork light this week. Good choice to push DL work back to once per two weeks. I didn't plan to do gripperwork today, but I still keep testing every session what feels right. I go with the flow. I felt strong in the close with grippers however, which felt so good that I turned this session into a heavy negative session, a thing I rarely do anymore.

* Thoroughly warming up with leverwork for wrists;

* Forcing the 4 closed and keeping it closed as far as possible and than smoothly letting it out, without resisting too much x 2;

* IM#3.5 the same, got it pretty far without assistance. Nice. Compared to my 176lbs Ghp8 this gripper feels tougher in the close, wouldn't be surprised if it

would come out at around 180lbs.

* Choked mentioned Ghp8; closed! Pr.

* Many negative #3.5 attempts.

* Still managed to close my heaviest #3 (but just) from MMS afterwards which surprised me.

Brushed off my secret weapon to work with while resting up but when I was finished with the tsg's I felt I had done enough for the extreme heavy stuff.

Did some full ROM work with my plateloader (100 kg)

Increased weight on leverwork;

Wristcurl holds with dumbbell with Fatgripz Extreme;

I am not doing this frequently but this gave my hands a nice kick in the butt. After every negative performed I did rubberband stretches for my extensors.

Left hand is coming along nicely btw, did MM2 replica holds. Still can feel the remains of my tennis elbow however so got to keep this under control.

Intense workout! Nice.

Where did you buy the plateloader and the secret weapon Geralt?

They were al homemade Roy, sent you a PM through Gmail.

[1stCoC]

Sometimes a step back gets you two steps forward. Back off the negatives and partials . Full range, good stretching an rehab, if You want to close the three practice on the form and timing with the card. Don't fool yourself into an overuse injury or failure. Stimulate, don't annilahilate your hands.

[Geralt]

Sometimes a step back gets you two steps forward. Back off the negatives and partials . Full range, good stretching an rehab, if You want to close the three practice on the form and timing with the card. Don't fool yourself into an overuse injury or failure. Stimulate, don't annilahilate your hands.

Thank you mr. Sorin, appreciate very much you read my log. When I began using grippers I really overdid it, throwing everything in but the kitchensink. I did a lot of negatives and overtrained in volume. Took me quite some time to learn how my body reacts and began lifting weights also, which I had never done seriously. I rarely use negatives anymore but felt like my hands could take a beating yesterday. This is not something I plan to do frequently. Sometimes I just need a kickstart for getting myself over a plateau for 170lbs+ gripper. Been plowing away for a long time now at this and hope to certify this year if everything goes well. I could have went for the cert last year when I was really peaking in october but I didn't...Maybe I am just being hard on myself but I do not want to waste peoples time calling the cert in when it's a gamble for me.

With grippers it's easy to get frustrated sometimes for me. Strength comes in waves, doing stepbacks a lot. I am catching up however.

The card needs practise indeed, I want to be at consistent 3.3 / 3.4 level for settling the CCS in. It's a mental thing....

[Geralt]

A bit bothered by a light comeback of radial tunnel syndrome which I am massaging out of the way (no, not because of the negatives, I had it earlier and it's because of more heavy arm work).

Taking it easy this week.

Yesterday:

Stretching and deep tissue massage, light thumbwork;

Tonight:

Squats (light) 10 x 55kg, 8 x 75kg, 8 x 100kg, 5 x 100kg as explosive as possible; 10 x 85kg. Somehow although I can squat heavier, backsquats still remain a drill I truly dislike. Simply because I am not good at it haha yeah I suck, but hey

Pushups with pushupstands @ bw (105kg / 230 lbs) 4 x 10, pushups fairly close to each other so hitting the triceps harder. Slowly down, explosive up.

Ab wheel roll outs. Yeah they suck also

Rest of this week more resting up.

[Geralt]

Woke up this morning with a light headache. Still went in with the grippers but failed two #3 ccs attempts. Called it quits at that point.

Tonight after dinner did a short warmup and got in a couple of closes with my Elite (@169 lbs). So that's something I can live with.

[Geralt]

Still doing my training but didn't feel like posting lately. Have been cutting back in 'heavy' training and going on a more biofeedback approach. When I have energy, I train. I do this for fun and last months I was pushing myself to hard. Had to drag myself out of bed every morning. That says something I guess.

So, I train but more all over body and not to heavily focused on specific targets. That said, I still keep my eye out on certain lifts but everything comes more natural now.

Bought some bending material from David Horne to see where I am at this point, but I still concentrate my effort more on grippers before diving into bending.

I am taking more and more rest in between gripper workouts. Feels better.

[Geralt]

Splitting training up in CCS work with the Vulcan and MMS work with TSG's.

That way CCS works my sweep much better and the heavy MMS work will go to once per two weeks. This is a good spread.

Today: Warmup up to #3 wider set than parallel.

1 x level 13 CCS close;

2 x level 14 CCS close (singles);

3 x level 15 CCS, missed the 3rd by a little bit. Got my wife to film it since I needed my concentration on the close but due to fatigue the handle started to slip.

1 x MM2 replica 1.5" block set. Close/just missed, couldn't tell. Hands were getting tired. Wide sets are demanding for me.

Wristwork for extensors, standing with light barbell;

thumbwork with David Horne's thumbscrews, holds with Vulcan and orange spring.

[Geralt]

A short vid I made. Did most work without filming however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZE8WSFPHuY&feature=youtu.be

[Royz]

Nice work! Makes me wish I could start doing grippers again. ... stupid elbow.

[Geralt]

Tuesday: Close grip benchpress with thickbar;

Skullcrushers with EZ bar;

One handed tricep pulldowns with thick towel attached.

Ab wheel and legraises.

Thumbwork with thumbscrews attached on Vulcan with orange spring.

Tonight: Lots of sets barbell rows, got reminded of this exc. by the videos of Paul Savage and it works and feels great. My right arm has a little bit aggravated lowerarm/elbow which I can feel when flexing my bicep. It's an old problem and I need to be careful with it.

It doesn't affect my griptraining however.

Thumbwork with Vulcan and thumbscrews.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Geralt

[Geralt]

Did a lot of work around the house today but still wanted to do some gripperwork, since tomorrow I won't have time for that. One of the harder things to do is still leaving them grippers alone for a week.

Note to myself: Did a lot of pushing exc. this week and also today I did shoulderpresses for firing up the CNS. I am rediscovering the Vulcan gripper and

I noticed immediately when I got to the heavier sets that the combination kills my setting strength. With tsg's maybe not so much but the Vulcan is a beast to set.

After warming up:

Ghp7 @ 155 lbs MMS close;

Ghp8 @ 176lbs deep set closed (PR so to speak of);

Vulcan level 18 deep set closed, could have been a better close but I fumbled around with the set. Complete challenge for me. Need to work on that;

BBE @ 169 lbs deep set and hold for time (5 secs. at least, can't tell because of the intensity I squeezed with);

IM#3 few closes.

My strength quickly depleted but I think that's because of the other work I did today.