Gripper Training Advice

[Evan Raftopoulos]

Hey guys, I started training with gripppers a few weeks ago and now I'm about 12-14mm to clossing CoC 2.5 (measured with CoC key). It seems that I'm lacking the 4-5th finger stregth to get it done. I have the CoC 2 which I can close and I'm waiting for the GHP 5 and Super Master in the mail. I watched Paul Knight's video on youtube on how to set a gripper which helped a lot. I try to do isometric/end range holds, partial/ end range reps with the 1.5 and 2, and negatives with 2 and 2.5. Any other recommendations on how to close your challange gripper or develop 4-5 finger end range of motion strength? I have the 2 finger gripper imtug5 which I cannot fully close with 4-5 fingers yet, but I'm not sure if it's helping for closing the regular grippers. Last question, I train with grippers every single day (yes, I'm addicted). In your opinion/experience, do you think this is not optimal for strenght gains? Thank you in advance, I'm so happy to be here.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Evan Raftopoulos

[Bill Piche]

Strap holds is what I recommend at this point. Also, start working your thumb strength as well via dynamic thumb exercises such as clamp thumb closes.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

thank you for the recommendations!

I have the CoC silver bullet but haven't tried just strap holds. It makes sense.

what is the theory behind strengthening the thumb?

Evan

[Jüri Sankman]

Hey there!

Stop training every day, or you will hurt yourself soon and must be without grippers for few weeks, what is very hard.

Like Wannagrip said try strap holds and clamp closes.

J.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

Hey there!

Stop training every day, or you will hurt yourself soon and must be without grippers for few weeks, what is very hard.

thanks for the advice!

[Bill Piche]

thank you for the recommendations!

I have the CoC silver bullet but haven't tried just strap holds. It makes sense.

what is the theory behind strengthening the thumb?

Evan

The thumb pad is your backdrop for pulling against. It becomes a weak link if it cannot hold it's ground so to speak when closing a gripper. You want to build it up so that your overall thumb looks like a chicken leg because it is so thickly muscled.

[EJ Livesey]

Hey there!

Stop training every day, or you will hurt yourself soon and must be without grippers for few weeks, what is very hard.

Like Wannagrip said try strap holds and clamp closes.

J.

This isn't true. Just listen to your body. There are no rules or exact science to training.

The silver bullet is great. I have also experimented with pinching quarters between the legs. Try that see if it helps.

[Jüri Sankman]

Hey there!

Stop training every day, or you will hurt yourself soon and must be without grippers for few weeks, what is very hard.

Like Wannagrip said try strap holds and clamp closes.

J.

This isn't true. Just listen to your body. There are no rules or exact science to training.

The silver bullet is great. I have also experimented with pinching quarters between the legs. Try that see if it helps.

Yes, you are right, maybe he is one of the people who really can train every day and stay healthy and not hurt. Just most of us need some break.

Just thought that grippers every day will be painful soon.

J.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Jüri Sankman

[Evan Raftopoulos]

You want to build it up so that your overall thumb looks like a chicken leg because it is so thickly muscled.

haha, oh yeah I like that!

[Evan Raftopoulos]

This isn't true. Just listen to your body. There are no rules or exact science to training.

My fingers feel sore at the moment but it's hard for me not to play with the grippers. I'm kind of used to this soreness from bouldering/climbing. The good thing with the grippers is that you can warm up really well and progressively increase the resistance (Assuming you have a few grippers) and every movement is predictable. I imagine that the 'injuries' are more related to oversuse vs actually tearing something.

The silver bullet is great. I have also experimented with pinching quarters between the legs. Try that see if it helps.

thanks for the recommendations!

Edited April 12, 2015 by Evan Raftopoulos

[Evan Raftopoulos]

Just most of us need some break.

Just thought that grippers every day will be painful soon.

J.

That's very reasonable. I'm OK with soreness, but if it starts going beyong that then I'll try to take a break. I'd love to hear from people who've been through rehab from overusing grippers.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

this is also helpful:

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=43740

[hellswindstaff]

You can train everyday, the only thing is that volume needs to be regulated, and you will more than likely find that you need a week off every now and then. I would suggest ditching negatives in daily training, eccentric movements are very tough on connective tissue. Also, trite as it sounds listen to your body, if your joints are hurting then it's probably time to take a week or so off. Also, it's a very good idea to figure out some type of prehab exercise.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

You can train everyday, the only thing is that volume needs to be regulated, and you will more than likely find that you need a week off every now and then. I would suggest ditching negatives in daily training, eccentric movements are very tough on connective tissue. Also, trite as it sounds listen to your body, if your joints are hurting then it's probably time to take a week or so off.

thanks, I agree that the volume matters. For example, there is a big difference between a few tries of the challange gripper couple times a day (to see where you are) and doing a 30 min gripper workout. My training at this point is not consistent.

Also, it's a very good idea to figure out some type of prehab exercise.

I started using a theraputty for a few minutes, it's nice and soft and feels good on my hands when too sore. I also do finger stretches in different planes (I learned from playing the guitar) and I use the ironmind’s finger extension bands.

[FJM]

Just most of us need some break.

Just thought that grippers every day will be painful soon.

J.

That's very reasonable. I'm OK with soreness, but if it starts going beyong that then I'll try to take a break. I'd love to hear from people who've been through rehab from overusing grippers.

When i was in beginning of grip training i was doing grippers and lot of fat grips training on same days. Everything was fine but then started heavy dead lifting and that was too much. I got tendinitis to both forearms and was unable to close grippers for week. After that week i barely closed coc 1. My max before tendinitis was few reps with coc 2.

Moral of the story: Don't try too much at once.

Edited April 12, 2015 by FJM

[Justin Matney]

Just most of us need some break.

Just thought that grippers every day will be painful soon.

J.

That's very reasonable. I'm OK with soreness, but if it starts going beyong that then I'll try to take a break. I'd love to hear from people who've been through rehab from overusing grippers.

I wore my hands out in the first year I did grip training. My error was a mixture of wanting everything at once and heeding really bad training advice.

Within a few months of first touching grippers I was doing negatives with a COC 3.5 a couple times a week. It's a great way to hurt yourself long term. And on top of that, I was bending several times a week. Very stupid of me.

I wanted the GHP 7 cert, COC 3 cert, and to climb the mash monster ladder all at once, while bending 4 days a week. I ended up taking two years off, during which I didn't so much as look at a gripper, let alone touch it. My goals remained in the back of my mind everyday though. Lame as it sounds, about once a month I would have a dream about certing on the #3. But for the most part I put it out of my mind up until a few months ago.

I still have the same goals, but the big difference is I'm listening to my body now. When I feel the golfers elbow flaring up, I don't push it. That's my body telling me it needs rest, not more reps. My joints start feeling creaky, I stretch instead of train.

And it's no big deal. You just have to put it out of your mind. I only train when I feel like it, and I'm stronger than ever on grippers now. A big thing was having to stop looking at it like lifting weights. Building tendon strength is a different beast altogether than building muscle strength, and must be approached accordingly.

Now I train every 7 to 10 days, depending on how well my body heals from the previous workout. My workouts are short, sweet, and brutal, but also reasonable and practical, usually 30-45 minutes. No more 2 hour negative sessions, and I never train more frequently than every 7 days, and now my progress is better than ever and I'm stronger than ever.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

Just most of us need some break.

Just thought that grippers every day will be painful soon.

J.

That's very reasonable. I'm OK with soreness, but if it starts going beyong that then I'll try to take a break. I'd love to hear from people who've been through rehab from overusing grippers.

When i was in beginning of grip training i was doing grippers and lot of fat grips training on same days. Everything was fine but then started heavy dead lifting and that was too much. I got tendinitis to both forearms and was unable to close grippers for week. After that week i barely closed coc 1. My max before tendinitis was few reps with coc 2.

Moral of the story: Don't try too much at once.

thank you for sharing! sometimes the best way to learn is to actually go through something like this. But hopefully the pain goes away soon and lost strength comes back easy.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

I wanted the GHP 7 cert, COC 3 cert, and to climb the mash monster ladder all at once,

I can totally relate to that.

I ended up taking two years off, during which I didn't so much as look at a gripper, let alone touch it.

man, that sounds like a long time off. I hope that never happens to you again.

Now I train every 7 to 10 days, depending on how well my body heals from the previous workout. My workouts are short, sweet, and brutal, but also reasonable and practical, usually 30-45 minutes. No more 2 hour negative sessions, and I never train more frequently than every 7 days, and now my progress is better than ever and I'm stronger than ever.

I wish we could figure out the optimal parameters for grip strength gains for each individual, but I think a lot of it is trial and error. It sounds like you found what works best for you and that's great!

[Justin Matney]

I wanted the GHP 7 cert, COC 3 cert, and to climb the mash monster ladder all at once,

I can totally relate to that.

I ended up taking two years off, during which I didn't so much as look at a gripper, let alone touch it.

man, that sounds like a long time off. I hope that never happens to you again.

Now I train every 7 to 10 days, depending on how well my body heals from the previous workout. My workouts are short, sweet, and brutal, but also reasonable and practical, usually 30-45 minutes. No more 2 hour negative sessions, and I never train more frequently than every 7 days, and now my progress is better than ever and I'm stronger than ever.

I wish we could figure out the optimal parameters for grip strength gains for each individual, but I think a lot of it is trial and error. It sounds like you found what works best for you and that's great!

Thanks man. It was a long time to take off but it was much needed. There are tendons in my thumb that still ache occasionally from the damage I inflicted, but overall I feel much better now.

I started back slowly, moderate to high reps with my vulcan orange spring, then spent a few months re-mastering my COC #2. Only then did I break out the 2.5.

It's been 3 months since I started training again, and I can now shut my COC #3 with a training set with power to spare. This is the point where I get tempted to start doing negatives again, but I'm not going to. My goal is to try and master my #3 in the same way I mastered my #2. It may take a month, it may take a few years, but I'm not going to hurt myself trying.

[Jüri Sankman]

I do grippers 7-10th day too. Then I feel my hands are totally rested and like didn't touch grippers for month. And still slowly gaining strength.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Jüri Sankman

[Sam Radford]

I started the RRBT plan (hyperlink at bottom of Wannagrip posts) as i was about 6-8 mm from the 2.5 but could close the #2 for reps. Within a few weeks I managed to close the #2.5 but to get there their hands feel like they have been abused! Calluses develop quickly and you have to carry on through the discomfort but eventually this subsides and you feel stronger. I am still doing this training and feel the benefits. Also train extensors using the bands

[Evan Raftopoulos]

I got my ghp5 (from CPW, average rating 115) which was relatively easy to close. I forgot to add rating service though so not sure if it was an easy 5. I also got the Tetting Master (from Bill Piche, average rating 105 by CPW) and Super Master ( average rating 120, lower than average CoC 2.5=125). I could be wrong but it feels to me that the Master is harder to close than my GHP5 (and CoC2), and the Super Master feels more challenging than my coc 2.5, so kind of useless for helping me get to the 2.5. I noticed from CPW average rating data that the max Master was 116 and the max Super Master 138. So there seems to be relatively huge variability in rating. I guess the best way to prevent this is to try and get the grippers pre-rated.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

I also went crazy and got a Grand Elite EXT (since these will be discontinued and I love the extended handle) with average rating 197 ,min 187, and max 211.

http://cannonpowerworks.com/pages/grip-strength-ratings-data

The one I got however is 225! Not that it matters since it's way above my abilities but perhaps it's worth mentioning the big difference.

[Evan Raftopoulos]

this is my progress with my 2.5

I just added clicker reps to my training (with working grippers) that I saw in Paul Savage's training vids.

[Jüri Sankman]

Try to use hose clamp, fix it to parallel and try to close the gripper. I think you are able to close it like that. You don't waste your energy to setting the gripper.

When I was 5mm away from closing #2.5 I used same method, did single reps with hose clamp on from parallel. After 2-3 weeks #2.5 was closed with setting it with other hand.