DevilErik's Training Log

[DevilErik]

Today's workout:

Warming up:

Vulcan V2 orange spring 1-1 

 

 

Golden grip 300 LBS gripper:

4 attempts: I am SO close I am like 10mm away from closing it.

Vulcan V2 orange spring;

4 No Set singles: 6-7 PR!! Got all 4

 

Tried my pony clamp again for the first time in weeks.

3x20 no elastic bands these felt great!

 

Recovery:

 

Thumbless extensor bands:

3x reps to failure 

2x holds to failure

 

These feel great thanks again for the tip @mcalpine1986!

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by DevilErik

[mcalpine1986]

19 minutes ago, DevilErik said:

Today's workout:

Warming up:

Vulcan V2 orange spring 1-1 

 

 

Golden grip 300 LBS gripper:

4 attempts: I am SO close I am like 10mm away from closing it.

Vulcan V2 orange spring;

4 No Set singles: 6-7 PR!! Got all 4

 

Tried my pony clamp again for the first time in weeks.

3x20 no elastic bands these felt great!

 

Recovery:

 

Thumbless extensor bands:

3x reps to failure 

2x holds to failure

 

These feel great thanks again for the tip @mcalpine1986!

 

Great session. No problem im glad i could help. I believe that the thumb is not meant to be move against resistance like that with some peoples hand anatomy and that causes problems like it did with me and you. 

I do quite a lot of volume with thumbless and ive never had problem and the pump is crazy, yet when using the thumbs i barely got a pump.

[DevilErik]

7 minutes ago, mcalpine1986 said:

Great session. No problem im glad i could help. I believe that the thumb is not meant to be move against resistance like that with some peoples hand anatomy and that causes problems like it did with me and you. 

I do quite a lot of volume with thumbless and ive never had problem and the pump is crazy, yet when using the thumbs i barely got a pump.

Thanks man I appreciate it.

I am starting to believe that as well.

My hand never got a pump from extensor work until now.

My pinky pad is tiny compared to my thumb pad.

The pinky pad pump from thumbless extensor work is insane though so it's probably going to start growing now.

Edited February 4, 2022 by DevilErik

[mcalpine1986]

15 minutes ago, DevilErik said:

Thanks man I appreciate it.

I am starting to believe that as well.

My hand never got a pump from extensor work until now.

My pinky pad is tiny compared to my thumb pad.

The pinky pad pump from thumbless extensor work is insane though so it's probably going to start growing now.

Yeah some can get away with it but we cant.

Yes its weird it pumps the pinkie pad so much but i love it. I only switched to thumbless a few months ago but mine has grown for sure. Its really noticable so im sure in time you will as well.

[DevilErik]

Just now, mcalpine1986 said:

Yeah some can get away with it but we cant.

Yes its weird it pumps the pinkie pad so much but i love it. I only switched to thumbless a few months ago but mine has grown for sure. Its really noticable so im sure in time you will as well.

I love it as well.

Hopefully mine is going to grow as well my pinky pad seems to be pretty stubborn but then again I don't really train the other aspects of grip right now.

I am saving up for a loading pin, a good pinch block, a good rolling handle and plates so hopefully I will be able to get those within a few months.

Training my pinch grip would definitely contribute to pad growth as well.

[mcalpine1986]

33 minutes ago, DevilErik said:

I love it as well.

Hopefully mine is going to grow as well my pinky pad seems to be pretty stubborn but then again I don't really train the other aspects of grip right now.

I am saving up for a loading pin, a good pinch block, a good rolling handle and plates so hopefully I will be able to get those within a few months.

Training my pinch grip would definitely contribute to pad growth as well.

It will indeed. Pinch is my fave aspect of grip and i find out of all the types of grip training that pinch variations build the hand the most. 

Check out my workout log on here called "getting back to grip"

I do allsorts of pinch at different widths.

100mm steel block

76mm ironmind block

70mm plate pinching

60mm steel block

57mm flask

25mm key pinch

I bought a 6mm steel plate for pinching recently that is brutal.

I believe once you get your handa stronger through pinch and thick bar your gripper strength will take off. Pinch especially heavily works  and builds the extensors and help keep the joint in balance.

[DevilErik]

1 minute ago, mcalpine1986 said:

It will indeed. Pinch is my fave aspect of grip and i find out of all the types of grip training that pinch variations build the hand the most. 

Check out my workout log on here called "getting back to grip"

I do allsorts of pinch at different widths.

100mm steel block

76mm ironmind block

70mm plate pinching

60mm steel block

57mm flask

25mm key pinch

I bought a 6mm steel plate for pinching recently that is brutal.

I believe once you get your handa stronger through pinch and thick bar your gripper strength will take off. Pinch especially heavily works  and builds the extensors and help keep the joint in balance.

I will check it out!

Damn that is awesome.

I really want the 6mm steel plate and the 100mm block.

I will get the 60mm pinch block as well but I have no idea whether that will be "normal" width for me or not.

My hand are pretty large.

I have heard that before.

I like all of them including things like keypinch.

I am gripper specialising right now but I don't want to be a gripper specialist in the future.

I really want to be more well rounded I don't mind grippers being my best "lift" but I really want my thickbar and pinch to be strong as well.

 

 

[mcalpine1986]

44 minutes ago, DevilErik said:

I will check it out!

Damn that is awesome.

I really want the 6mm steel plate and the 100mm block.

I will get the 60mm pinch block as well but I have no idea whether that will be "normal" width for me or not.

My hand are pretty large.

I have heard that before.

I like all of them including things like keypinch.

I am gripper specialising right now but I don't want to be a gripper specialist in the future.

I really want to be more well rounded I don't mind grippers being my best "lift" but I really want my thickbar and pinch to be strong as well.

 

 

Im the opposite really. Ive never properly trained grippers apart from.the last few weeks. With grip i like to be a jack of all trades ans fairly decent at everything not just 1 thing. Im still fairly new to it though.

Its all good training but i mainly focus on the 60mm range and im strongest at that. My hands for my size are decent at 7.75" long and 9.5" wide but i also do well with plate pinching at 70mm wide but hand anatomy and make up plays a big part on what suits you with pinch.

I believe wrist strength is very important and also bicep strength and im very much into heavy thick bar curls to train that. You need strong upper arms to keep it in balance with the forearms. Many gripsters neglect bicep work. Im not talking about high volume high rep bodybuilder stuff im taking heavy low rep bicep work with axles, rolling handles and Thick dumbbells and stuff what make your whole arm strong. 

Anyway i hope my workout log can give you some ideas.

[DevilErik]

1 hour ago, mcalpine1986 said:

Im the opposite really. Ive never properly trained grippers apart from.the last few weeks. With grip i like to be a jack of all trades ans fairly decent at everything not just 1 thing. Im still fairly new to it though.

Its all good training but i mainly focus on the 60mm range and im strongest at that. My hands for my size are decent at 7.75" long and 9.5" wide but i also do well with plate pinching at 70mm wide but hand anatomy and make up plays a big part on what suits you with pinch.

I believe wrist strength is very important and also bicep strength and im very much into heavy thick bar curls to train that. You need strong upper arms to keep it in balance with the forearms. Many gripsters neglect bicep work. Im not talking about high volume high rep bodybuilder stuff im taking heavy low rep bicep work with axles, rolling handles and Thick dumbbells and stuff what make your whole arm strong. 

Anyway i hope my workout log can give you some ideas.

I like grippers but you don't really need them.

I would like to be a jack of all trades as well but considering the fact that I can nearly no set a no.3 but haven't really been training pinch and thickbar probably means that my grippers will always be my best but that's alright.

I will probably start training pinch and thickbar twice a week as well as soon as I get my loading pin.

Twice a week is the best frequency for me I don't know whether or not it will be too much though.

Otherwise I will probably do pinch and thickbar twice and grippers once.

my hands are 22 cm which is like 8.66'' long.

yeah I need to figure out what's best for my hands I have tried plate pinching in the past but I am not a fan.

I love wrist strength and I use a sledgehammer for that but I need to get back into it.

I am pain free now so I can probably get back into levering soon which is absolutely love.

I had to quit my regular training due to health problems and my biceps have never been strong we will see haha.

The low rep bicep stuff is interesting I have only really done 5-20 reps sets in my life though which isn't strength in my opinion so I am pretty weak lol.

I will definitely check it out man I hope so too.

Edited February 4, 2022 by DevilErik

[DevilErik]

This is not a recent video but I still wanted to post it here.

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by DevilErik

[SkyHeart]

11 hours ago, DevilErik said:

This is not a recent video but I still wanted to post it here.

 

Thats a cool looking sledge hammer

[DevilErik]

2 hours ago, SkyHeart said:

Thats a cool looking sledge hammer

Thanks! I love it it is has knurling as well which is pretty damn awesome.

[SkyHeart]

14 minutes ago, DevilErik said:

Thanks! I love it it is has knurling as well which is pretty damn awesome.

that is a nice bonus!

speaking of knurling, i noticed that if i chalk my grips/hands too often, it irritates the palms and reduces the frequency that i can comfortably make attempts, so i decided maybe i should just chalk up for PR attempts or when im feeling especially warmed up, and all other times just doing 50 - 80 percent of effort in varied angles to condition my fingers. 

[DevilErik]

10 minutes ago, SkyHeart said:

that is a nice bonus!

speaking of knurling, i noticed that if i chalk my grips/hands too often, it irritates the palms and reduces the frequency that i can comfortably make attempts, so i decided maybe i should just chalk up for PR attempts or when im feeling especially warmed up, and all other times just doing 50 - 80 percent of effort in varied angles to condition my fingers. 

I have the same thing haha but I usually just rechalk after every attempt.

I do rip my skin every single workout out even with my adjustables which are both smooth handled grippers without knurling lol.

I also don't really do warm ups I can close a trainer and jump straight into max work or even attempts which are above my max.

I used to do warm ups on grippers but they would affect both my closing strength and my recovery in a bad way so I gradually dropped down to lighter warm ups until I didn't need them anymore.

Edited February 5, 2022 by DevilErik

[Blacksmith513]

1 hour ago, DevilErik said:

I have the same thing haha but I usually just rechalk after every attempt.

I do rip my skin every single workout out even with my adjustables which are both smooth handled grippers without knurling lol.

I also don't really do warm ups I can close a trainer and jump straight into max work or even attempts which are above my max.

I used to do warm ups on grippers but they would affect both my closing strength and my recovery in a bad way so I gradually dropped down to lighter warm ups until I didn't need them anymore.

yeah I find warm ups with grippers sorta counter productive.. But I do better with grippers when my hands are warmed up... If that makes sense. I have one of those ironmind eggs which was expensive but i love it. I do squeeze that to warm up and it doesn't fatigue the hand. 

[DevilErik]

2 hours ago, Blacksmith513 said:

yeah I find warm ups with grippers sorta counter productive.. But I do better with grippers when my hands are warmed up... If that makes sense. I have one of those ironmind eggs which was expensive but i love it. I do squeeze that to warm up and it doesn't fatigue the hand. 

Well I guess you are supposed to ramp up to a max like you would in powerlifting to prevent injuries but my tendons are so conditioned that it doesn't help anymore.

I would still recommend people starting out to either ramp up to a max or do a good warm up before maxing.

I just close a 100 lbs unrated gripper for 1 rep lol which is basically useless but I am used to it.

I have learnt that conditioning your tendons is way more important than progress when you first get into grip training I have learnt this the hard way.

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by DevilErik

[mcalpine1986]

20 hours ago, DevilErik said:

I like grippers but you don't really need them.

I would like to be a jack of all trades as well but considering the fact that I can nearly no set a no.3 but haven't really been training pinch and thickbar probably means that my grippers will always be my best but that's alright.

I will probably start training pinch and thickbar twice a week as well as soon as I get my loading pin.

Twice a week is the best frequency for me I don't know whether or not it will be too much though.

Otherwise I will probably do pinch and thickbar twice and grippers once.

my hands are 22 cm which is like 8.66'' long.

yeah I need to figure out what's best for my hands I have tried plate pinching in the past but I am not a fan.

I love wrist strength and I use a sledgehammer for that but I need to get back into it.

I am pain free now so I can probably get back into levering soon which is absolutely love.

I had to quit my regular training due to health problems and my biceps have never been strong we will see haha.

The low rep bicep stuff is interesting I have only really done 5-20 reps sets in my life though which isn't strength in my opinion so I am pretty weak lol.

I will definitely check it out man I hope so too.

You have huge hands and i reckon you will do very well in thick bar lifts and pinch. I bet you could fully encircle the whole of a 60mm rolling handle. 

I seen you sledge vid, very good. Its great for the wrists as we all know.

I look forward to seeing you start thick bar and pinch. With handa as big as yours i think you would make light work of blobs for example.

Edited February 5, 2022 by mcalpine1986

[Blacksmith513]

38 minutes ago, DevilErik said:

Well I guess you are supposed to ramp up to a max like you would in powerlifting to prevent injuries but my tendons are so conditioned that it doesn't help anymore.

I would still recommend people starting out to either ramp up to a max or do a good warm up before maxing.

I just close a 100 lbs unrated gripper for 1 rep lol which is basically useless but I am used to it.

I have learnt that conditioning your tendons is way more important than progress when you first get into grip training I have learnt this the hard way.

 

Yes, tendons are very important. Except for the wrist tendonitis a few months back and some minor pain starting out, I've been pretty lucky. I think years of construction have helped.  I also find its very hard for me to get a pump in my forearms unless I use a wrist roller and even then I can't get one most of the time. 

Grip training has also made working easier too. I was jackhammering, over head with a small gun for the last two weeks, cutting through 80 year old old rebar, moving 300lbs-800lbs steel beams, climbing up and down staging. Real physical work, hands and forearms never got sore or tired once.

[Blacksmith513]

1 minute ago, mcalpine1986 said:

You have huge hands and i reckon you will do very well in thick bar lifts and pinch. I bet you could fully encircle the whole of a 60mm rolling handle. 

I seem you sledge vid..very good, its great as wrists as we all know.

I look forward to seeing you start thick bar and pinch. With handa as big as yours i think you would make light work of blobs for example.

yup he's gonna make those weights his bitch!

[DevilErik]

Just now, mcalpine1986 said:

You have huge hands and i reckon you will do very well in thick bar lifts and pinch. I bet you could fully encircle the whole of a 60mm rolling handle. 

I seem you sledge vid..very good, its great as wrists as we all know.

I look forward to seeing you start thick bar and pinch. With handa as big as yours i think you would make light work of blobs for example.

I hope so I have trained with fatgripz before but only for a few weeks the same goes for pinch so I can't really say I have ever really trained thickbar or pinch.

Thanks man yeah it's awesome.

I would love to get blobs but it is impossible to get them here in the Netherlands and shipping is insanely expensive.

[DevilErik]

1 hour ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Yes, tendons are very important. Except for the wrist tendonitis a few months back and some minor pain starting out, I've been pretty lucky. I think years of construction have helped.  I also find its very hard for me to get a pump in my forearms unless I use a wrist roller and even then I can't get one most of the time. 

Grip training has also made working easier too. I was jackhammering, over head with a small gun for the last two weeks, cutting through 80 year old old rebar, moving 300lbs-800lbs steel beams, climbing up and down staging. Real physical work, hands and forearms never got sore or tired once.

I have had wrist tendonitis as well apparently it's my pony clamp that caused it.

I used it again yesterday for the first time in weeks  and I woke up with pain in my wrist so no dynamic thumbwork for me anymore lol.

I am also going to stop doing extensor work for now and use sledge finger walks instead just to make sure extensor work isn't what's causing it either.

I hate pumps lol I also dislike the wrist roller.

That's impressive man.

Grip training has helped me with my coordination.

I used to have terrible hand eye coordination but it has gotten a lot better since I started training grip.

Edited February 5, 2022 by DevilErik

[DevilErik]

22 hours ago, mcalpine1986 said:

Im the opposite really. Ive never properly trained grippers apart from.the last few weeks. With grip i like to be a jack of all trades ans fairly decent at everything not just 1 thing. Im still fairly new to it though.

Its all good training but i mainly focus on the 60mm range and im strongest at that. My hands for my size are decent at 7.75" long and 9.5" wide but i also do well with plate pinching at 70mm wide but hand anatomy and make up plays a big part on what suits you with pinch.

I believe wrist strength is very important and also bicep strength and im very much into heavy thick bar curls to train that. You need strong upper arms to keep it in balance with the forearms. Many gripsters neglect bicep work. Im not talking about high volume high rep bodybuilder stuff im taking heavy low rep bicep work with axles, rolling handles and Thick dumbbells and stuff what make your whole arm strong. 

Anyway i hope my workout log can give you some ideas.

I just checked out your log your training looks awesome man I see lots of triples and singles which happen to be my favourite rep ranges for grip haha.

You also weren't kidding when you said that you do tons of volume haha.

I also like the fact that you combine your grip and upper body stuff.

[DevilErik]

Tried some sledge levering again today for the first time in weeks.

Radial deviation: 1 single

Ulnar deviation: 1 single

Pronation: 1 single

Supination: 1 single

Wrist curl: 1 single

Reverse wrist curl: 1 single

I haven't lost any strength and I am pain free WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO.

Edited February 5, 2022 by DevilErik

[Blacksmith513]

1 hour ago, DevilErik said:

Tried some sledge levering again today for the first time in weeks.

Radial deviation: 1 single

Ulnar deviation: 1 single

Pronation: 1 single

Supination: 1 single

Wrist curl: 1 single

Reverse wrist curl: 1 single

I haven't lost any strength and I am pain free WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO.

That’s awesome!

[SkyHeart]

12 hours ago, DevilErik said:

I have the same thing haha but I usually just rechalk after every attempt.

I do rip my skin every single workout out even with my adjustables which are both smooth handled grippers without knurling lol.

I also don't really do warm ups I can close a trainer and jump straight into max work or even attempts which are above my max.

I used to do warm ups on grippers but they would affect both my closing strength and my recovery in a bad way so I gradually dropped down to lighter warm ups until I didn't need them anymore.

Hm.. maybe the ripping of skin is due to the dryness of the chalk rubbing on your palms over and over, which temporarily reduces skin elasticity. it almost happened to me a couple of times which is why its my guess (well also what i read up on about frequent chalk use )  

i agree about warm ups. if i do just a little, or a couple of very easy sets, its okay, but more than once i tried working up to my max with several sets gradually getting more difficult, but then found once i thought i was ready, it just.. part of my hand and cns fuel was already spent. slightly discouraging at times xD