From The Ashes......resurrecting My Grip

[1stCoC]

Straight talk from a man that has been there. I met Rick a "the night of strength" get together and there were some weights flying. The atmosphere and fellowship was amazing. If I recall correctly that was a night he went for the #4 cert in front of Dr. Strossen. I did not catch the trial as it was in another room off the main area. Rick was ready but things didn't come together that night. Rick not happy but shrugged it off and went to tearing into Blobs and everything else in the room as a grip stalwart would. This is not a perfect world and while many question the" rules" I think in the long run they were done in an effort not to punish but standardize a feat of merit. No one asked me exactly how it should be done but as in any sport or game I guess you go by the rules or devote your time to something else so ,we just have to get on with it. I guess I will have as I threatened last night to hand a credit card on a string around Ms. D' s neck when she trains grip so the combination of skills can be trained to get a legit close on a 2.5.

Getting back to Rick I take pleasure in seeing him in action as well a being a person who guides his own destiny.

[1stCoC]

Listening to my body has resulted in the shoulder rotator group calming down and the right arm becoming more stable. Grip has calmed down with stress as well got a set each with a wide stroke TNS style of 1.5 for a set of 15 with each hand. That is not much but a better balance between the right and left hands, no residual pain and really better functional strength in my left hand. I did hit the pops gripper during 5 adding weight sets with red bands in place in rep sets of 12. That finger tip full range claw gripping is the ticket! For the first time in really 3 months I am feeling more like my "old" self .

[climber511]

Listening to my body has resulted in the shoulder rotator group calming down and the right arm becoming more stable. Grip has calmed down with stress as well got a set each with a wide stroke TNS style of 1.5 for a set of 15 with each hand. That is not much but a better balance between the right and left hands, no residual pain and really better functional strength in my left hand. I did hit the pops gripper during 5 adding weight sets with red bands in place in rep sets of 12. That finger tip full range claw gripping is the ticket! For the first time in really 3 months I am feeling more like my "old" self .

Good news - keep up the good work. It will be interesting when this is all over to read the actual workouts you have done and are doing to rehabilitate yourself. Seeing what "the old dog" did can no doubt teach the "new dogs" a lot about overcoming adversity.

[1stCoC]

I guess the largest part is mindset. As we get older no matter how much we hope to offset the fact our body still wears. To work hard and lift less is a huge let down for the moment and complicate it with an injury or two thinks get bleak at times. I guess we really don't have anything to prove no matter where we are in the flow of our life and if the sharing and enjoyment are there when the work is done it is all worth it. Perhaps if you set a benchmark or spark interest in others it is far better than a trophy or a moment of fleeting victory at least more good things will happen. Being active and involved is the key.

[1stCoC]

Looking forward to a good training day ahead. Walking and deep breathing this weekend with mild continued stretching of shoulder area. Numbness is mostly subsided and the control of my right arm and shoulder is much better. Tested on my Dyno and had two back to back readings at a bit over 180 right handed.Blood pressure has been good ,eating cleaner staying away from the gluten and having more raw vegetables. Body weight remains about 255.

[ChrisJames]

Well done Richard !

You can't keep a warrior down !

Your one of my inspirations ever since I read about you in David Hornes grip encyclopaedia . You'll be back braking records before you know it x

[1stCoC]

I have followed Chris for quite a while and his strength runs deep. I always have looked forward to meet him and see the strength he so easily demonstrates in varied feats. I wish the pond was not as wide and good men of grip Chris, David Horn, and Laine Snook could have the opportunity to be appreciated by all those here in the US.

To see Chris do the feats at about the same weight as Goerner was purported to weigh is like watching a Superman reborn. I thank him deeply for the inspiration and good will.

[Kashtan]

With respect to Mr. Sorin: two world record holder.

[1stCoC]

What a great end to a full week in training! Many thanks for the picture! I was fired up and off to the gym training extra hard."The Nightmare" Sorinex Tee shirt was good to see again as well. All our people could talk about was the FOREARMS!!!!!!!

Hit a steady week of training 4 days working legs and the injured upper back area. Plenty of finger tip choke squeezes on Pops gripper followed by TNS rep work on grippers. Rowing with dumbbells, full stretch thick bar lat pulls, and high light lever rows is getting that base much more stable to help my grip work. I tried a set of holding my wrist steady with a fingertip and was able to do 20 consecutive TNS closes with a 1.5 right handed . This tells me the hand function is getting better and the emphasis needs to be in the stabilizer muscles.

I have an idea.... if anyone is interested to put really unique general strength and training gems that I collected during a rare interview at the Giants NFL training center with master coach Johnny Parker hosting from Russia legendary coach Gregory Goldstein. His methods , insight ,and expertise was amazing. If interested I can start including his priceless ,insightful quotes. There was training information and statistics I had never read or heard anywhere else.

[Rick Walker]

Richard,

Thanks for the kind words. We did meet at NOS, but actually met the first time in 2003 right after Wade Gillingham certified me on the COC #3 under the old rules. The person you are referring to is Heath. He was the one who attempted his cert under Randy with the #4 and was denied.

[Forever]

What a great end to a full week in training! Many thanks for the picture! I was fired up and off to the gym training extra hard."The Nightmare" Sorinex Tee shirt was good to see again as well. All our people could talk about was the FOREARMS!!!!!!!

Hit a steady week of training 4 days working legs and the injured upper back area. Plenty of finger tip choke squeezes on Pops gripper followed by TNS rep work on grippers. Rowing with dumbbells, full stretch thick bar lat pulls, and high light lever rows is getting that base much more stable to help my grip work. I tried a set of holding my wrist steady with a fingertip and was able to do 20 consecutive TNS closes with a 1.5 right handed . This tells me the hand function is getting better and the emphasis needs to be in the stabilizer muscles.

I have an idea.... if anyone is interested to put really unique general strength and training gems that I collected during a rare interview at the Giants NFL training center with master coach Johnny Parker hosting from Russia legendary coach Gregory Goldstein. His methods , insight ,and expertise was amazing. If interested I can start including his priceless ,insightful quotes. There was training information and statistics I had never read or heard anywhere else.

Nice workouts I'm reading and inspirational., keep going

[1stCoC]

Rick is right that weekend was a sea of a thousand strong faces and weights flying around. As I mentioned the certification thing with the 4 was in another area and the people that were involved were a room apart. I seem to remember the air time the Original Blob was given and some block weight combinations getting tried and I still try to locate pictures taken with you clamping down.

I am ready for another good week of training, something must have happened last week because I still feel it. I will be gathering my Goldstein notes and trying to include them with my progress updates as a way to get some sage advice to folks that will use it. Getting better is what it is all about!

[1stCoC]

A good training night. A fair crew of the silverbacks were in the gym Cyborg, House, Adrian his champion Highland games wife who still plays with the #2 and 67 year old SWAT trainer Shack .

I put in the volume in with the upper body mostly sets of 4 in the big lifts and 8 in the dumbbell stuff. I finished my upper body / rehab with a pretty unique setup to fully rehab and strengthen the entire shoulder girdle "small muscle groups". I hook to some outriggers that attach to our Base-camp rack hole system a pair of parallel bands set at low chest height. I stand in between them and grasp the center of the bands and stand into a shoulder press position. I press the now stretched bands overhead to full lockout in either alternate style or together. This simple exercise rehabs the shoulder , prevents injury, strengthens the torso ,and is the best finisher/ warm down I probably have ever used in this area. I make it a bit nicer by running the bands through a pair of thick handles made of plastic to give a more comfortable grip and prevent band wear. I mention special exercises to you for two main reasons. The body functions as a chain unit and weakness in one area gives rise to problems in another( grip) and second we are so overtrained in one groove of power just working a little out of the groove unsupported really helps lower and heal the problems of nagging overuse injuries. I am amazed how many strong presses have tried this with the smallest of bands being used and exhibit no initial stability at all. Talk about wide eyed stares after they try this one!

I have secured the Goldstein notes and will start including them in future posts. They will be in no particular order just straight from the man as tidbits of pure brilliance. The statements will be taken directly from my hand taken notes at the meetings and are his and hopefully they will be understood, reflect the times ,and give insight on what to do and when to do it.

[1stCoC]

Last night was upper back and leg training night. My reps were upped by one, and as I was hoping the stretch band pressing is starting to kick in and it was the first night I have kept the reps the same and increased my one arm rowing weight. The high lever arm rows off the rack were used as further rehab the rotator group. Curls are coming back as well to round out the entire arm and upper back working together.I was able to increase the dumbbell weight by 15lbs. Squats a solid 6 sets of 5 .I will train grip today followed by stretching and aerobic conditioning. Wednesday has always been an off day but I am trying to break the week ala Goldstein into "smaller bites "not just big meals. I have rested well from gripping last week so it will be a high intensity session tonight. I will test my dyno strength today.

First tip from the Goldstein papers.........absolute natural grip strength peaks at age 22.

[climber511]

What a great end to a full week in training! Many thanks for the picture! I was fired up and off to the gym training extra hard."The Nightmare" Sorinex Tee shirt was good to see again as well. All our people could talk about was the FOREARMS!!!!!!!

Hit a steady week of training 4 days working legs and the injured upper back area. Plenty of finger tip choke squeezes on Pops gripper followed by TNS rep work on grippers. Rowing with dumbbells, full stretch thick bar lat pulls, and high light lever rows is getting that base much more stable to help my grip work. I tried a set of holding my wrist steady with a fingertip and was able to do 20 consecutive TNS closes with a 1.5 right handed . This tells me the hand function is getting better and the emphasis needs to be in the stabilizer muscles.

I have an idea.... if anyone is interested to put really unique general strength and training gems that I collected during a rare interview at the Giants NFL training center with master coach Johnny Parker hosting from Russia legendary coach Gregory Goldstein. His methods , insight ,and expertise was amazing. If interested I can start including his priceless ,insightful quotes. There was training information and statistics I had never read or heard anywhere else.

Richard - I tried a Google search for Goldstein but didn't find much. Please give us a link or at the least the short quotes you are speaking of - Thanks

[Hubgeezer]

First tip from the Goldstein papers.........absolute natural grip strength peaks at age 22.

Bah! That was half the age I was when I got my first IM CoC gripper...

[1stCoC]

The Goldstein notes were hand taken by a small group of top coaches and interested people that had the man flown in .We all agreed to the split the cost of the 2 day private clinic. Coach Parker that now has 4 Superbowl rings to his credit thought this the the man with the answers at that time. Several famed coaches were there and a book was later written by one partly based on what was explained in those two days. It was a personal quest of a few to somehow get the best resources available at that time. I am using my private notes and of course everyone has an opinion but I wrote down what he said. There were about a dozen-15 present. This might be common or uncommon stuff now or as the years progressed were disproved. All I know a dozen others and I benefited those two days.

[1stCoC]

The Goldstein meetings were spawned from Coach Parker making several trips to Russia in the 80s to work with the coaches of the gold medal winners on the Rusian weightlifting team. Our meeting dates way back . The date from what I remember was 1986 after the giants Superbowl win. Goldstein was the top coach at the time for all those throwing world records overhead. Parker said linemen had a job that required( like most grip) a short explosive burst of energy so his studies were drawn to weightlifter training assessment and training. Russians said at the time about training and competing" same, same". ( train as you compete).

[1stCoC]

Had a good training session again getting good volume and about 80% max intensity on bench along with high intensity singles on squats. The Dumbbell rowing done very full range and correctly continues to rebuild the base for grip. I have jumped 20lbs. in the last two weeks feeling the rear arm on my right improve on the positive and in particular on the negative holding stable and negative lowering phase. Grip dyno test remained a shade over 180. Stretching becomes more and more an issue of value and importance.

Goldstein tip....lungs grow to age 16 and have the capacity of 20x that of a newborn. Nervous system learns technique easily so showing rather than telling is better at a young age.

[1stCoC]

Worked the upper torso a good bit with doubles in the bench,sets of 10 in lying dumbbell press, standing band shoulder press, dumbbell rows lighter sets of 10 and finished by rigging light bands to to stretch my overhead arms in a standing position to loosen that shoulder area. Like grip training you want to hit the joint fron all directions of support , collateral muscles ,and vary the intensity in a wave like effect.there was a bunch of gal stone lifting and great dynamic grip work doing 270 lb repeated sets of farmers walk for the gals. ( Adrian and Ms. D)Turns were included to improve balance and resist torque better. This is in preparation for the Pleasanton Highland Games " the big one" that they will attend. My left wrist was swollen quite a bit so the weights in the Pops gripper were lighter as well as the spring grippers. A lot of the pain we experience in our arms is irritation of the facia around the muscle sheath. Being slow to heal the Armaid is use to rehab this problem as well as the blessed blessed Epsom salt baths. I will squeeze the Dyno this morn to keep my progress monitored.

Goldstein tip: Since normal peak of grip strength is about 22 the use of straps for the hands is not suggested until after this age to allow hands to fully develop. Hanging by the hands on a bar with light swinging motion is a great reverse deload , stretch and general hand conditioning method.

[1stCoC]

Back for a good training session from the singles and doubles to volume sets of mostly 5. I usually do about 8 sets with 5 being at "work weight". Flipped and did singles in the grippers with TNS getting 7 trials at the 2.5. Did better with the helping dominant right hand than with the left. Squeezed on a #3 and just remembered the good times. Went to Pops gripper upped the band strength to 4 light reds and one purple short band ( whew) I went up in a choke /dynamic pinch /fingertip position. I added a 10 lb plate each set after starting at 30lbs of plates. Hard and tough but very productive .Lots of rear deltoid stretching afterward to calm rotator area. Epsom salts did help swollen left wrist as well.

Goldstein tip: Flexibility is :amplitude of movement. It is better to acquire and maintain this at an early age or it will disappear. Train flexibility at the beginning and end of training session.

[1stCoC]

Cheated last night and took a solo trip out to the country to celebrate opening day of deer season. Unusually cool day and deer were everywhere ( saw the most ever in one day in my life 48 with 22 bucks 8 point or better) that aside I did find some valuable feedback from my recent training.Walking ,breathing , and stretching paid off but still found in trying to climb and move in out of power zone or normal joint positions was very weak. Training the collateral muscles a must! My hands , biceps ,holder and arms cramped even moving into slightly over normal range positions. A great lesson learned to keep all training in balance. Back in the gym tonight though. I think grip and general strength will continue to improve putting these observations to work.

Goldstein tip: Speed brings speed, don't do a large volume of speed work and train in intervals not over 5 minutes as not to loose the CNS stimulation. Usually not to exceed 10 attempts.

[Guest Squat More]

You ever do any bow hunting Richard? I am a treaty Indian under the Canadian government, my hunting season is year round. No deer where I live, but a good number of moose to be harvested, nothing beats a good moose steak.

[1stCoC]

Moose is the best game meat I have tasted. I have tried some exotic things. Lion .....tastes like chicken....really it did. The outdoors is a great balance and deload for the stress of indoor strength training.

Grip went well last night. TNS closes up to the 2.5 and plenty of finger tip pops gripper. I tried a few of the finger tip closes with the hand along the gripper bar almost like a gripper close movement. It felt really good.

I did sneak back to the #3 and if I steady my thumb base I can get the house 3 down a fair ways to about 1/2". I would like to see those handles touch again!

[1stCoC]

Another trip to the doctor but with a great twist. Bodyweight down 32 lb.Total and bad cholesterol down 85 points each ,blood pressure lower than in past 45 years. Breathing, reasonable diet, walking, well balanced workouts,stretching, massage, and trying to focus on getting back has done a good bit . The body will heal under favorable conditions. Perhaps regaining health and a bit of grip will continue!

I urge you all not to wait until the Kryptonite arrives to know we are not Supermen. Take better care and enjoy life and its goodness longer!