Gripalooza

[DrBartlebee]

First post in my training log, doing this to keep me accountable. I also hope that some of my thoughts here will help folks starting out as I am definitely still learning. 

Big goals for this year are the #3 cert and Red Nail. I also really like pinch work but I don't have a specific goal there. If I get the #3 I'll probably also go for the GHP 7 cert. I have one #3 which I am a few millimeters away from closing, and I am in 60D nail bending territory. My best performance with the 2.5 is 3 block set closes in a row. 

I have known about grippers for a while but haven't started taking them seriously until January this year. I got the #2 for my 16th birthday and closed it out of the package, so I think I have some decent potential. I'm 25, 6'3/191cm, and 200lbs/91kg. Exactly 8 inch long hands, 3.5inches wide. 

I very recently started bending, in the last month or so. It's taken me a little to get the DO technique but I recently had a breakthrough. More on that below.

Today's workout:

Warmup by doing some bear crawls and wrist stretching. Making sure my wrist is engaged gives me more power and has been preventative against injury. I also like to use my powerball for a couple minutes on each hand. I don't always, but today I also did some sand work, about 5 minutes each hand. 

Click my #1 and #2 a few times in each hand.

2x attempts at the 3, got pretty close. The picture is from the second attempt, the first was a little better.

2x overcrushes with the 2.5. I try to hold it for about 5 seconds. 

3x6-7 GHP 5. Not sure the rating but it's a little harder than my #2.

The gripper work felt like garbage so I just did some cool down reps with my #1 and moved on to bending.

As I said above, I've been having a hard time figured out how to position my hands for DO. I bent some 5 inch 1/4 CRS double underhand with single IMPs to warm up, then wrapped some suede over them and moved on to 6 inch 40Ds. The ones I have are hard enough that I can't DU them, so I tried hitting them DO. No dice, which was frustrating because I definitely felt I'm strong enough to bend them.

I hit some 4.5" 30D nails I have to get volume work in. I am actually able to do these pretty easily with DO because of how the nail naturally sits in my hand at that length. Instead of positioning the pads such that there is some metal showing between them, I cover the entire nail with the pads and bend from there. It's kind of a dumb epiphany, but I realized that this is how I needed to be holding the longer nails. I was trying to flex with my wrist rather than push down on the end of the nail through the wrap. 

I decided to cut down a 60D nail to 4.5 so I could test my theory. Sure enough, at that length it absolutely melted. My hands were really tired at this point so I didn't want to risk hurting them by finishing it off, but I managed to get it down to about 45 degrees just sweeping. 

Overall bad day for grippers but great day for bending. 

 

 

[John Knowlton]

nice work

welcome 

[DrBartlebee]

I was right about my bending form; today was a good day for bending and pinch. 

Warmed up with a couple 40D nails and bent 5 galvanized GripRite 60D's DO, and 1 especially hard 60D that came in an order of suede/leather wraps from @devinhoo.

Thanks again, loving the wraps!

I had more in the tank but my pointer fingers were starting to hurt so I moved to pinch.

Pinch grip is kind of an ancillary goal for me because it's numbers driven like weightlifting. Something about the mystique of closing a specific gripper I have, which there is only one of, is more appealing to me than lifting a universal weight. Hard to explain. There are some cool milestones like blobs and pinching 45's together, among other things, but I'm not super focused on it right now. If I get more serious I'll buy a real block and loading pin, for now I have a janky rig that I frankensteined together on the cheap after a trip to the hardware store. Picture included. IYKYK.

I lift the weight onto a platform and set it back down for 1 rep.

40lbs: 1 set Rx5, Lx5

42.5lbs: 1 set Rx5, Lx5

45lbs: 1 set Rx5, Lx5

47.5lbs: 5 sets Rx5, Lx5

50lbs: 1xR, 1xL. 

47.5 felt so good that I decided to just PR with all the weight I have in pancake plates, which is 50 pounds. Time to buy more weights. 

Although grippers are kind of my main goal right now, lately my tendons have been feeling really bad after a few sets, so I'm laying off them for at least a week. It's deceptive because my hands feel strong during the warm-up but then quickly start having issues. I'm certainly not an expert but I've been trying to rehab by:

Doing very high reps with a soft foam rehab ball I got from REI a few years ago, meant for rock climbers (100-200 reps per hand, a few times a week). Goal is to get blood flow to the hand. It's helped with acute pain in individual fingers so hoping it will help if I have some tears going on.

Using the Powerball for a few minutes per day on each hand

Massage gun

Sand work

Going for ~30 minute walks/bike rides. I get the best blood flow in my hands after a morning ruck, I figure the extra blood can't hurt.

Staying the hell away from grippers and not closing the hardest gripper I can close to make sure I can still do it even though I really want to.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by DrBartlebee
Wrong size pictures

[John Knowlton]

Home made gym equipment,way cool

[DrBartlebee]

Hands felt better today. I took a week off and did all that stuff I said above, lo and behold, it worked. I also got some 1.5 inch steel balls to rotate in my hands. It works really well to get blood flow going, plus it makes your hands/forearms look all cool and veiny.

Went for a ~12 mile bike ride with the gf. Came back and did:

Grippers:

1x2 GG5

1x2 #2.5

3x1 #2.5

1x7 GHP5

2 Strap Holds per hand with #2. This is something I read in the Grip Master's manual by JB. I cut off a piece of belt and put a carabiner through it, then attached that to a 5 gallon bucket handle. I close a gripper over the strap and hold on as long as I can. I put all my bending scrap in there so there's probably around 5 lbs in it, but gets heavier every week.

2 Strap Holds per hands with #1. I do this kind of like a drop set, gets a good pump.

As many reps as I can with #1, closing the gripper as fast as I can. I've been reading about motor unit recruitment speed and thinking about how it can relate to gripper training. Training your neurons to fire faster can recruit more muscle fibers at the same time, theoretically. So squeezing really fast, even with lighter grippers, will supposedly increase net force output without adding more motor units or muscle fibers.

As many reps as I can with #2, same thing.

Bending:

I wish my gripper training were progressing as quickly as my bending. I guess that's how it goes.

I warmed up with some 1/4 inch hex bolts from Menards. Strangely I couldn't find any grade 5 bolts there, these are just "zinc plated" from GripFast. They just say NY on the top, I assume they're grade 2. 

Bent 3 60D's with IMPs and suede wraps together, then 4 60D's with just suede wraps, which is a huge improvement. Last week I couldn't bend one nail in suede wraps, and I managed to do 4 this week. I would have done more if my pointer fingers hadn't started hurting so bad.

I hear Grade 5's are supposed to be the next step after 60D nails so I'll grab some of those next.

 

[John Knowlton]

nice work

[Jared P]

Awesome stuff! Some interesting training variations with the grippers that I may have to try.

[DrBartlebee]

Summarizing grip stuff from the weekend. Grippers on Saturday and Bending on Sunday

Grippers:

Heavy session, I spent some time working on setting. I went back to the lab and watched some videos I had seen when I started with grippers, like this one by Jedd Johnson. I think my raw crushing strength is at or a little above a Coc #3 because I can close narrower grippers with similar ratings quite easily, but never the 3. Specifically I worked on walking my fingers down while holding the handle with my setting hand. I think it went well, it's just hard to practice with the heavier grippers because the setting finger gets tired out quickly. Here's what I did:

1x4 #2.5 (PR, got a really good set)

1x2 #2.5

3x1 #2.5

 

Bending:

I broke my leather wraps in today. Up until now I have just been using the suedes and IMPs. I really like using them, they're softer than the IMPs but more rigid. 

Bent four 6"x1/4" grade 5 bolts and three 60Ds in the leathers. I'm not sure if the G5's were much harder than the 60D's. They're definitely springier, but to kink it's pretty much the same. I also bent my first 60D nail in IMPs. Ouch (but another PR)!

The PR got me pumped up, so naturally I tried to bend my Red Nail for the 10th time. No dice, but I must be getting closer. If progress keeps going like this, I imagine I'm only a few weeks away. I'm only training grippers and bending once a week because of how it destroys my hands, but this frequency has given me the best progress so far. 

Next week I'll try bending some 6" 1/4" grade 8's and 5/16" grade 2's.

[DrBartlebee]

Grippers were last Thursday and bending today:

 

Grippers:

Good session, I (maybe?) stumbled onto something that will help my performance. I usually exercise around 5-6 and then eat dinner. I've been doing that for most of my life. Today I ate dinner and wasn't feeling it, so I waited until like 10 and started warming up with my 1. It felt like a toy. Same thing with the 2. I did a bunch of really fast singles with the 2.5, and it felt like the 1 on an off day. I also didn't have any joint/tendon pain, just muscle fatigue. I made an attempt at the 3 because I was feeling really good but missed it by a tiny bit again, which is the closest I've gotten since the beginning of this thread. My only guess is that eating dinner and then hanging out for a few hours calmed my CNS down and restored my muscles. In any case, I'll be doing some more nighttime gripper workouts to test the theory.

 

Bending: 

I rode 15 miles out on my bike yesterday and one of the inner tubes popped, so I ran/walked 15 miles back in like 90 degree heat. I got pretty severely dehydrated but still managed to do ok today . I bent some 1/4" zinc plated steel to warm up, 2x6" and 2x7", and then 3x60D nails. Main workout was the grade 8's and 5/16 grade 2. I haven't really hit a barrier yet in the bending progression until now. Those grade 8's are BRUTAL. I made two attempts, the second I was able to get closer because I went really fast. They're so springy that I can't get them bent far enough down to lace my fingers together and crush the rest of the way. There's a small transition point I'm not able to get past. The 5/16" bolt was just disgusting. It's grade 2 but also zinc plated. It took me probably 30 minutes to get it to where it is in the picture, between resting and rewrapping. Still exciting, I'm sure I'll be able to do better next time.

[DrBartlebee]

Grippers/Pinch on Monday and bending today.

I'm really trying to dial in on the #3. I'm visiting my family next weekend and it would be cool if I could show my dad a close. I feel like I'm right there-probably next training session will be the one. It seems like the biggest factor for me is having enough blood flow in my hands before I do an attempt. Since I don't get great circulation in my hands, for me this means going for a really long walk, or a run/bike ride. Kind of annoying but that's the only thing that seems to do it.

This log is nice for keeping perspective on my training, because often it feels like I'm not getting much stronger with grippers. When I started this about a month ago my absolute best was 3 block set closes with the 2.5. Now I could probably do about 5 wide set closes if my goal was to PR there. In December of last year I had to get pumped out of my mind just to close it once for the first time. All things considered, it's pretty good progress, but so hit or miss with finding the right conditions that it doesn't feel like it sometimes.

Grippers: 

I'm only doing heavy work trying to peak soon. 

1x4 #2.5

2x3 #2.5

1x2 #2.5

2x1 assisted #3 negatives. I set and close the #3 as far as I can and just push it the rest of the way with my other hand and hold that.

1x1 GG5

2x1 #2.5

Pinch:

All lifts are each hand. I'm lifting it onto a higher platform now (a tall ottoman instead of a big folded up sherpa blanket )

1x5 40#

1x3 42.5#

4x1 45#

Hands were pretty tired after the grippers.

Bending:

4x60D's, 2xG5's, 1x5.5" zinc plated 1/4" CRS to warm up. Workout was mostly the 5/16" grade 2. I got a lot closer this time, and did it faster (15 minutes instead of 30). Today's attempt is at the bottom of the picture, last week is above. I'm still using double wraps. I kinked a grade 8 after but wasn't able to get it farther than last week. I think my crushing strength is holding me back on these harder bolts. I've always been stronger with pulling but not so much with pushing. Next week I'll probably get the grade 2, not sure about the grade 8.

Just for fun, I made an attempt to kink a red nail in double wraps at the end. It's not enough to show on camera but it did put a very slight bend in it. Enough so that it wobbles when I roll it. Exciting stuff...

[matek]

2 hours ago, DrBartlebee said:

Grippers/Pinch on Monday and bending today.

I'm really trying to dial in on the #3. I'm visiting my family next weekend and it would be cool if I could show my dad a close. I feel like I'm right there-probably next training session will be the one. It seems like the biggest factor for me is having enough blood flow in my hands before I do an attempt. Since I don't get great circulation in my hands, for me this means going for a really long walk, or a run/bike ride. Kind of annoying but that's the only thing that seems to do it.

This log is nice for keeping perspective on my training, because often it feels like I'm not getting much stronger with grippers. When I started this about a month ago my absolute best was 3 block set closes with the 2.5. Now I could probably do about 5 wide set closes if my goal was to PR there. In December of last year I had to get pumped out of my mind just to close it once for the first time. All things considered, it's pretty good progress, but so hit or miss with finding the right conditions that it doesn't feel like it sometimes.

Grippers: 

I'm only doing heavy work trying to peak soon. 

1x4 #2.5

2x3 #2.5

1x2 #2.5

2x1 assisted #3 negatives. I set and close the #3 as far as I can and just push it the rest of the way with my other hand and hold that.

1x1 GG5

2x1 #2.5

Pinch:

All lifts are each hand. I'm lifting it onto a higher platform now (a tall ottoman instead of a big folded up sherpa blanket )

1x5 40#

1x3 42.5#

4x1 45#

Hands were pretty tired after the grippers.

Bending:

4x60D's, 2xG5's, 1x5.5" zinc plated 1/4" CRS to warm up. Workout was mostly the 5/16" grade 2. I got a lot closer this time, and did it faster (15 minutes instead of 30). Today's attempt is at the bottom of the picture, last week is above. I'm still using double wraps. I kinked a grade 8 after but wasn't able to get it farther than last week. I think my crushing strength is holding me back on these harder bolts. I've always been stronger with pulling but not so much with pushing. Next week I'll probably get the grade 2, not sure about the grade 8.

Just for fun, I made an attempt to kink a red nail in double wraps at the end. It's not enough to show on camera but it did put a very slight bend in it. Enough so that it wobbles when I roll it. Exciting stuff...

Great work, I also like bending for volume. 

Yeah, G8s are tough, the diameter is very misleading 

[DrBartlebee]

Thanks man!

[DrBartlebee]

Went to the UP (upper peninsula of Michigan) for some camping this past weekend. Had a great time, I love messing around in the woods. I didn't bring an axe so I ended up using a big rock to bust up some dead trees I ripped out of the ground for firewood . Fun whole body workout haha.

My Standard Iron and Gold were waiting for me when I got back. @Cannon they're sick, it's awesome to see Standard up and running again. It's also cool to finally have rated grippers, these are my first!

Did grippers today:

3 big attempts on the #3, no dice. They were definitely closer than any previous attempts but not quite there. My stamina has gotten better though-normally I can only get one good attempt and then my strength drops off. These were all more or less at the same level.

3x1 Standard Iron 136

1x2 #2.5

I think today was a big day. Not a crazy session as far as volume or anything, but my mental felt way different. Maybe it was closing the Iron, which I thought was going to be a lot harder, or just how much stronger I've gotten recently. For other #3 attempts I've done, I've felt like if I get really lucky with a good set and conditions are just right I could maybe close it, but today I really believed I could. I actually think I might have if I had warmed up better. I went right into the attempt after a very quick warm up with a #1 and the Gold, because I didn't want to tire myself out. We hope for next time.

Here's a video of the Iron close:

 

[DrBartlebee]

Bending today. I've done grippers recently but I don't really want to do a workout report until I've closed the 3. 

Pretty brutal workout today. I focused on crushing since that seems to have been the weak link stopping me from getting grade 8's and 5/16 grade 2's.

It went pretty well, I managed to get one of each crushed down after sweeping them in a previous session. The G2 was hard but the G8 was really nasty. I ended up having to cut the head off of it to get a tight wrap on both ends. Super proud of progress since last time, looking forward to putting both parts together and getting them in one go. 

[Blacksmith513]

8 hours ago, DrBartlebee said:

Bending today. I've done grippers recently but I don't really want to do a workout report until I've closed the 3. 

Pretty brutal workout today. I focused on crushing since that seems to have been the weak link stopping me from getting grade 8's and 5/16 grade 2's.

It went pretty well, I managed to get one of each crushed down after sweeping them in a previous session. The G2 was hard but the G8 was really nasty. I ended up having to cut the head off of it to get a tight wrap on both ends. Super proud of progress since last time, looking forward to putting both parts together and getting them in one go. 

You'll get it soon. Your making great progress.

[DrBartlebee]

Been away for a little bit because I was training for a physical fitness employment test. I was still training during, but didn't want to update because I was focusing on other things and the gains were pretty small. I took a week off to rest for that test which was last Friday, and came back a lot stronger on grippers.

Big PR: I ordered a choked #3 from CPW (149 RGC) and closed it yesterday from a block set for 3x1. I didn't get a video but will make sure to next session.

The #3 I've been training with is a different story. I am definitely strong enough to close it now, but the skin on my hand keeps getting in between the handles haha.

It looks like this:

Does anyone know how to prevent this? I must be bunching the skin up when I'm setting it but not really sure how to avoid it. 

[slazbob]

1 hour ago, DrBartlebee said:

Been away for a little bit because I was training for a physical fitness employment test. I was still training during, but didn't want to update because I was focusing on other things and the gains were pretty small. I took a week off to rest for that test which was last Friday, and came back a lot stronger on grippers.

Big PR: I ordered a choked #3 from CPW (149 RGC) and closed it yesterday from a block set for 3x1. I didn't get a video but will make sure to next session.

The #3 I've been training with is a different story. I am definitely strong enough to close it now, but the skin on my hand keeps getting in between the handles haha.

It looks like this:

Does anyone know how to prevent this? I must be bunching the skin up when I'm setting it but not really sure how to avoid it. 

I get that when I use a filed gripper. You can put a piece of tape on the part of your hand where it catches. It does work. Only about an inch wide and maybe inch and a half long does the trick for me.

[Nuttgens]

31 minutes ago, slazbob said:

I get that when I use a filed gripper. You can put a piece of tape on the part of your hand where it catches. It does work. Only about an inch wide and maybe inch and a half long does the trick for me.

I used to get that but now I start with the gripper set higher towards my fingers then when I start squeezing it it kinda slides back into that spot but the skin stays tight and stretched when it’s on that position if that makes any sense to you haha.

[slazbob]

2 hours ago, Nuttgens said:

I used to get that but now I start with the gripper set higher towards my fingers then when I start squeezing it it kinda slides back into that spot but the skin stays tight and stretched when it’s on that position if that makes any sense to you haha.

Yes, haha it does. Usually depends on the angle of the file too; if I have to turn the handle to the opposite side to have it more to the inside, that helps too. 

[John Knowlton]

Did you pass your physical fitness test? Not sure what to do about the skin that bunches up between the gripper handles. Maybe set the gripper more forward in your palm.

Edited July 19, 2023 by John Knowlton

[DrBartlebee]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try those out, I'll do anything to feel the handles touch on this thing .

2 hours ago, John Knowlton said:

Did you pass your physical fitness test? Not sure what to do about the skin that bunches up between the gripper handles. Maybe set the gripper more forward in your palm.

I sure did  it was a little awkward because I tested with two other people who didn't pass. There were a couple running tests which were hard because I haven't been training that recently but we got it done.

[DrBartlebee]

Bending today and grippers last Friday. 

Grippers: Not as good of a session as on Monday but still pretty good. I got a video of closing the #3 choked to 30mm:

I did a MMS attempt of my other 3 after warming up, and missed. 5x1 of the choked gripper. I'm going to try out a new cadence for gripper training: Friday-Monday-Friday-Friday-Monday and repeat. I think I need at least a week of recovery to not have the fatigue pile on, but I can get another two working sessions in spaced at three and four days apart. At my most rested I can definitely get the non-choked gripper but need to work on not bunching up the skin on my hand.

Bending: I'm pretty sure I haven't bent anything since my last bending-related post a month ago. I packed up most of my stock, and it's sitting in a uhaul pod in Colorado right now until we move so I just got some 1/4" and 5/16"x6 grade 2 bolts from Menards. I also had a bright 60D so I warmed up with that and the smaller bolts.

In my previous post I was really proud to crush down one 5/16" grade 2 that was already bent, and that took me ~20 minutes to do. Today I did THREE in one go, each under 10 seconds. I was blown away, I wish I'd had my grade 8's to see how I would have done with those. Great day.

 

[DrBartlebee]

Happy to break my 2 month hiatus to say I finally, FINALLY closed my #3 from a little bit wider than a MMS. FINALLY!

It hasn't actually been that long of a journey since I started training for it seriously, but it's something I've been thinking about for over a decade, ever since my dad told me about the certification.

I don't have a video because the person filming me stopped recording right before I closed it for some reason, but I'll try to get that soon. Honestly I'm not sure when it'll be, my tendons are tired haha.

I'm also happy to start posting again; it felt pointless updating when I didn't get it because that's all I was focused on. I think it took longer than I was expecting with the move and adjusting to the altitude in Colorado.

My goal is to get a CCS on the 3 before the end of the year. I doubt the cert will come in 2023, but looking forward to that soon. I also don't think the red nail will happen before then  I've gotten kinda stuck from doing grippers so much, maybe I'll spend more time on that though.

Yeehaw

 

[DrBartlebee]

I actually have this video: 

As you can see, it's pretty bad, and I don't show the number in it. But toward the end it actually looks closed, despite all the shakiness and blurriness. Before this attempt I felt it shut for a few seconds, just didn't think it was going to happen so I didn't film. Here I couldn't be sure if it felt shut or not, maybe just barely.

[John Knowlton]

Nice work