Pinch training Increases gripper strength

[AdriaanRobert96]

Alright so after going on back and forth with the pinch grip, I can pretty much say 99% that pinch grip does something to your gripper strength!

Had a period where I did fat bar/ fat gripz extreme work after grippers and now I am back to doing pinch grip work after my gripper training..

I can without a doubt say that every time I go back to pinching after grippers, my next gripper session progresses beyond belief!

Just a small disclaimer, I know isn’t guaranteed for everyone but more like what I experience.

So what happens here?

I trained for a month already on my “gripper volume” training period and not too much happens.. 

As soon as I got one pinch training in, I set new PRs on my next gripper training..

It’s just beyond me..

Of all accessory work I do, pinch is always what seems to carryover, what do you feel about this?

Any similar experiences?

Also feel free to follow my “Road to CoC #4” training log if you happen to give a damn

Thank you

Edited March 25, 2023 by AdriaanRobert96

[EmilBB]

That's interesting for sure, what size pinch block do you use and what does your reps/sets look like? I wouldn't mind trying it myself, I need to get more well rounded in grip anyway.

[AdriaanRobert96]

2 hours ago, EmilBB said:

That's interesting for sure, what size pinch block do you use and what does your reps/sets look like? I wouldn't mind trying it myself, I need to get more well rounded in grip anyway.

Yeah for sure man, give it a try..

I usually do it after my gripper workout and it looks like this:

My Pinch Block size is 45mm exactly, it’s a homemade out of wood, love the feeling of wood on grip stuff

Take about 80% of your 1RM and do 2-3 sets of 6 reps with that weight, I usually rest 5 min in-between sets.

Also a small note: I am trying to still be relatively fresh after the pinching, so I am trying to not go to crazy failures so to speak.

Goodluck fam, let me know down the road how it goes

[Gripperer]

 I can imagine a beefier and stronger thumb being useful, but that's a long term endeavour. Sounds like for you, the hand responds well in the short term, almost like the pinch training activates something. So that is interesting.

[AdriaanRobert96]

2 hours ago, Gripperer said:

 I can imagine a beefier and stronger thumb being useful, but that's a long term endeavour. Sounds like for you, the hand responds well in the short term, almost like the pinch training activates something. So that is interesting.

Yeah exactly, can’t explain it but it sure works and makes my crushing grip feel so much stronger.. so I’ll keep doing it for the next 2 months of my gripper volume work and see how it pans out

Thanks for tuning in, feel free to follow my Road to CoC #4 training log if you’re at all interested  

[dean_redzic]

Chez says the same thing

[AdriaanRobert96]

18 minutes ago, dean_redzic said:

Chez says the same thing

It’s crazy how that works, also finny how he mentions that thick bar and grippers go against each other.. 

Thick bar makes my gripper strength weaker but grippers make my thick bar stronger.. 

But as he mentioned, pinch really does something for the crushing grip

Another thing is, he said doing pinch a day or 2 before grippers helps.. I do it literally a whole week in between and it still has an effect.

Have to add that ballistic type gripper training a couple of days before bumps my gripper closing speed and explosiveness up by a lot actually..

Might be a biased opinion, but I can feel it

[Apneaa]

If you think about "setting" a gripper and the effect of knurling, you are essentially trying to close the gripper with a forward motion of the fingers, using the knurling to keep your fingers in that specific motion arc.

If you let the handle roll from the cup of  your fingers into your first phalange , then you have to close using a different set of muscles, which are of course also developped by the grippers but that are far weaker overall than what you can recruit in the "set" arc of motion.

I think most peoples that can close a 3 could close a 1 or even a 2 while letting it slide completly into the first phalange.

[Chez]

Yep. Pinch is the perfect primer for grippers training. I think it has something to do with stretching the fingers straight compared to curling them closed. 

[gripmaniac]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

Yep. Pinch is the perfect primer for grippers training. I think it has something to do with stretching the fingers straight compared to curling them closed. 

I agree with that.  Focusing on pinch and grippers with minimal (moderate intensity) thickbar / revolving handle training really worked for me. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that most grip comps involving grippers choose to make that the starting event.  

[AdriaanRobert96]

10 hours ago, Apneaa said:

If you think about "setting" a gripper and the effect of knurling, you are essentially trying to close the gripper with a forward motion of the fingers, using the knurling to keep your fingers in that specific motion arc.

If you let the handle roll from the cup of  your fingers into your first phalange , then you have to close using a different set of muscles, which are of course also developped by the grippers but that are far weaker overall than what you can recruit in the "set" arc of motion.

I think most peoples that can close a 3 could close a 1 or even a 2 while letting it slide completly into the first phalange.

Yup, this really makes sense, I can almost close a #3.5 and I can do that with even a #2.5, a tad hard tho