duckplus Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I'm sure someone on here can do this, but I haven't seen much talk of it... This challenge is from Convict Condtitioning 2, written by Paul Wade: Loop a thick towel around a pullup bar, grab it with one hand, and then hang for a full minute. The longest hold I've seen on youtube is around 25-35 seconds. Can anyone hold do this? I'm really interested in what one's grip strength would be like when they achieve the full minute. In Wade's book, he states that not only does the towel hang strengthen one's pinch and support grip, but because a towel is cushioned, you have to really squeeze it, which benefits your crush grip. Is this true? It seems specifically targeting your crush grip would help more, but then again, hundreds of years ago, heavy duty grippers weren't invented yet and I'm sure people's hands were plenty strong back then. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwwm Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 (edited) <p>There's already been a thread or two about this. There are a few people who train it. Do a search for 'towel' in the forums, and you will find the threads.</p> Edited January 5, 2013 by bwwm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckplus Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 Yes, I just read one of them.. It seems like it has promise. Any thoughts on crushing strength benefits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifesnotfair Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Yes, I just read one of them.. It seems like it has promise. Any thoughts on crushing strength benefits? A very strong guy told me that different towels make for huge differences though, he said in some towels he felt he could one-arm hang forever while on another one a few seconds was really tough. This was a 200#+ guy with a really strong overall grip just trying out a few different random towels he had at hand at home. So keep this in mind when comparing to other people: they may have a much easier/harder towel, so it's tough to set a standard. Also, a guy started a thread about this here a while ago, I forgot his nickname but was something like BionicMan2000 (????) or similar. Anyways, he showed a video of a pretty decent one arm hang off the towel, BUT, in it, he is seen twisting the towel a ton before hanging. If you twist the towel, you are making it more "solid" and similar to a thick rope or a V-bar or something that doesn't get reduced in diameter upon squeezing. I guess it is in the "spirit" of using the towel that one must not twist it endless times until it's rock solid, but actually let it hang naturally and just squeeze it as it is. Then what that book author speaks of (crushing to keep grip) makes sense. Just my two cents. And yes, as unbelievable as it sounds at first, towell pull-ups (in my case, using both hands of course!!) made my thumbpads very sore so they somehow train the thumbs a lot, which I wasn't expecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwwm Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 In the spirit of CC, it's a great exercise and fits well in the scope of that book. For grip sport, I think the closest thing that shows up in medleys are the strap lifts - where they take lifting straps and put them around the bar, and then the competitor has to pick the bar up by the loose ends. I have played around with these, and different straps can have a big effect on the poundage lifted. For example, my nylon ones are a lot harder because of their stiffness and slickness than the cotton ones I have. So much like Arturo states above, it comes down to the particulars of the material, how much chalk is used, how it's gripped, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Savage Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 That was something i was after a few years back, best i managed was 45 seconds each hand, bodyweight was around 250lbs. It's definately doable, pretty tough feat though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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