Gripper Deloads?

[AdriaanRobert96]

So I am on week 7 of 12 of my volume phase with grippers and inevitably I’ve hit some sort of a fatigue so the past 2-3 weeks has been awful on my gripper training..

Most likely need to back off a bit which brings me to my question..

How are you guys going on about your gripper deloads, back off or whatever you might do as a “deload”?

As for myself it usually last a third of my time that I worked for, so if I work for 12 weeks I’ll make sure to have a deload of atleast 4 weeks where I’ll drop down in reps and or resistance.

How do you guys go about it or if you do something else feel free to share!

 

[Gripperer]

Can't advise you unfortunately, but I'll add that after hitting the #2 and then doing NOTHING with grippers for two years, beside randomly and unintelligently squeezing them with a bad set and poor effort, or maybe testing to see if I could still close the #2, I'm now going for the #2.5, which always felt impossible. 

My method at the moment is really minimal. Unbelievably minimal actually. Every few days I'm closing and holding the 1.5 and 2, attempting the 2.5, then closing and holding the 2 and 1.5 again. That's five hard "reps" in a pyramid fashion. I'm trying to concentrate on the skill/coordination factor and stave off injury by going low on the volume.

We'll see how it works out.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Gripperer

[AdriaanRobert96]

34 minutes ago, Gripperer said:

Can't advise you unfortunately, but I'll add that after hitting the #2 and then doing NOTHING with grippers for two years, beside randomly and unintelligently squeezing them with a bad set and poor effort, or maybe testing to see if I could still close the #2, I'm now going for the #2.5, which always felt impossible. 

My method at the moment is really minimal. Unbelievably minimal actually. Every few days I'm closing and holding the 1.5 and 2, attempting the 2.5, then closing and holding the 2 and 1.5 again. That's five hard "reps" in a pyramid fashion. I'm trying to concentrate on the skill/coordination factor and stave off injury by going low on the volume.

We'll see how it works out.

Sounds good for sure, especially focusing on those holds will make you gain strength even more so!

Also going up in a pyramid fashion will prevent injury very well  

Let me know how it goes, rooting for you pal

 

[DoctorOfCrush]

If you don't want to overcomplicate things, you could do the typical 1-2 weeks of easy, thoughtful reps at 40-70% of your 1RM. Alternatively, if your mesocycle progression allows for it, you could do more of wave loading approach: when you hit a plateau or workout where you cannot complete the work as prescribed, you move back down your progression 10-15% for your next workout and begin waving back up, hopefully making it further than the previous wave. 

[pancho_grip_lift]

1 hour ago, AdriaanRobert96 said:

So I am on week 7 of 12 of my volume phase with grippers and inevitably I’ve hit some sort of a fatigue so the past 2-3 weeks has been awful on my gripper training..

Most likely need to back off a bit which brings me to my question..

How are you guys going on about your gripper deloads, back off or whatever you might do as a “deload”?

As for myself it usually last a third of my time that I worked for, so if I work for 12 weeks I’ll make sure to have a deload of atleast 4 weeks where I’ll drop down in reps and or resistance.

How do you guys go about it or if you do something else feel free to share!

 

I usually workout in the range between 145 and 152, and do deload sessions once my performance drops. On deload sessions I do less volume with my lightest #3, 139

[dubyagrip]

I train as hard as I can, as often as I can.  Right now, once a week is the sweet spot for recovery between my all out sessions.  I'm dialing back my pinch and thick bar work for a few weeks so I can try to get 2x gripper sessions a week now that I closed my GHP8... I want that 3.5 cert more than ever.

I deload for an extra week if I ever hit a wall on progress and effort.

Edit: Deload means I do only enough reps on my trainer and extensor bands to get a pump 2-3x a week.

Edited April 8, 2023 by dubyagrip

[AdriaanRobert96]

18 minutes ago, DoctorOfCrush said:

If you don't want to overcomplicate things, you could do the typical 1-2 weeks of easy, thoughtful reps at 40-70% of your 1RM. Alternatively, if your mesocycle progression allows for it, you could do more of wave loading approach: when you hit a plateau or workout where you cannot complete the work as prescribed, you move back down your progression 10-15% for your next workout and begin waving back up, hopefully making it further than the previous wave. 

Hmm alright, love the feedback

Both sound very intriguing, altho I feel like the first sounds like less headache

Thanks

[AdriaanRobert96]

16 minutes ago, pancho_grip_lift said:

I usually workout in the range between 145 and 152, and do deload sessions once my performance drops. On deload sessions I do less volume with my lightest #3, 139

Sounds like something I usually do, altho I was being a little stubborn this time around.. it’s a little but about patience with these things aswell

[AdriaanRobert96]

11 minutes ago, dubyagrip said:

I train as hard as I can, as often as I can.  Right now, once a week is the sweet spot for recovery between my all out sessions.  I'm dialing back my pinch and thick bar work for a few weeks so I can try to get 2x gripper sessions a week now that I closed my GHP8... I want that 3.5 cert more than ever.

I deload for an extra week if I ever hit a wall on progress and effort.

Edit: Deload means I do only enough reps on my trainer and extensor bands to get a pump 2-3x a week.

Interesting way of deloading (no judgement) just different and as long as it works it’s great..

Don’t you feel like it’s takes some time to get back traction after the deload?

Especially going as low as the trainer?

[dubyagrip]

25 minutes ago, AdriaanRobert96 said:

Interesting way of deloading (no judgement) just different and as long as it works it’s great..

Don’t you feel like it’s takes some time to get back traction after the deload?

Especially going as low as the trainer?

Not at all.  I come back stronger.

I think there's a real problem with over complicating training.  Periodization can work, but old school never stopped working.

If you're losing strength after a week off, it is more likely psychological rather than physiological.

Edited April 8, 2023 by dubyagrip

[C8Myotome]

My current deload method is not having enough time to regularly train v_v

[Stephen Ruby]

I have only ever done planned deloads for grip before a contest where I will just take the week off completely other then blood flow work(extensor bands, stretching etc) or because of pain. 

 

I always have hit PR's on contest day so the deloads definitely help. I think it's wise to deload if your feeling any type of injury. Injury prevention is key in strength sports as an injury can set you back quite a bit. 

 

That said I do deloads with my regular strength training and Its every 4-6 weeks and I feel it keeps my body from getting injured. Generally this happens normally during a busy week and I can just get the the gym a few times like this past week. 

 

In general I think deloads are to help prevent injuries so listen to your body and try to stay healthy so you can keep training. 

[Fist of Fury]

Just grind it out and then take a few weeks off from grip. 

[Nuttgens]

I do grippers once a week and I guess sort of auto regulate a bit where if I am having a really bad session I’ll just cut a ton of volume out maybe just do like 3 sets and call it good and hopefully come back feeling better the next time. 

[AdriaanRobert96]

1 hour ago, C8Myotome said:

My current deload method is not having enough time to regularly train v_v

I feel for you, but I bet it works.. for me the hardest part with grippers is waiting for the next session

[AdriaanRobert96]

1 hour ago, Stephen Ruby said:

I have only ever done planned deloads for grip before a contest where I will just take the week off completely other then blood flow work(extensor bands, stretching etc) or because of pain. 

 

I always have hit PR's on contest day so the deloads definitely help. I think it's wise to deload if your feeling any type of injury. Injury prevention is key in strength sports as an injury can set you back quite a bit. 

 

That said I do deloads with my regular strength training and Its every 4-6 weeks and I feel it keeps my body from getting injured. Generally this happens normally during a busy week and I can just get the the gym a few times like this past week. 

 

In general I think deloads are to help prevent injuries so listen to your body and try to stay healthy so you can keep training. 

Sounds like a plan I usually do listen but for some reason I was being a dummy this time around.. I’ll definitely do a week off or just stay way below my usual grippers for a week or 2

For me it’s the fatigue more than anything  

[AdriaanRobert96]

34 minutes ago, Fist of Fury said:

Just grind it out and then take a few weeks off from grip. 

Yeah, I’ll probably go down to a lighter gripper for a week or two and let my hands recover well.. after my 12 weeks i’ll probably take a full week or 2 off and go slowly build up on my #3.5  

[AdriaanRobert96]

8 minutes ago, Nuttgens said:

I do grippers once a week and I guess sort of auto regulate a bit where if I am having a really bad session I’ll just cut a ton of volume out maybe just do like 3 sets and call it good and hopefully come back feeling better the next time. 

As long as it worksI have a hard time deciding what to do some times

Probably grind out the last 5 weeks but I’ll drop down to a lighter gripper and do sets of 10+ for a week or two then take a proper full week off before building myself up to the #3.5 peak.

Phew..

[AdriaanRobert96]

1 hour ago, dubyagrip said:

Not at all.  I come back stronger.

I think there's a real problem with over complicating training.  Periodization can work, but old school never stopped working.

If you're losing strength after a week off, it is more likely psychological rather than physiological.

Yeah you’re spot on with the old school methods  

Probably drop down a week or two to my #2.5 and slay a set of 10-15 reps during those weeks then after my 5 weeks I’ll probably get a full deload and peak for my #3.5