Longest Progression Gained Overtime

[Harrison]

Does anyone have any personal experience of making a long progression overtime?  I realize that is very subjective as going tom a CoC guide to a CoC #3 may not seem like much of a progression as going from a CoC #3 to a CoC#4.  But, does anyone have personal experience working their way up from a beginner gripper to one of the elite grippers? It seems most guys start at CoC# 2 or CoC #3 and stay around that area. I think it would be cool to read about someone's history starting from the bottom and working their way up to an elite level. 

Cheers

[DrBartlebee]

Reminds me of @Jared P  maybe not elite yet but working toward it.

[Jared P]

I'm hoping to be one of the few, in the coming years ahead.

I started training grippers on 7/14/21 when a CoC Trainer (rgc 52 lbs) arrived in the mail. I couldn't close it for about 3 weeks. So I started only being able to close the Guide and Sport. First closed the CoC 0.5 about 5 months later.

Now I'm about 10mm away from closing my 143 CoC 3.

2 years and 2 months, and have risen roughly 85 lbs rgc.

Ambitious goal is to certify on the CoC 3 before the end of 2024.

I started so low because I had never really used grip strength much in my life, as I worked in hospitality and customer service industries mostly, and only started seriously weight lifting in Dec 2021, and shortly thereafter started working manual labor. Now a lot of my workouts feature armwrestling lifts, and forearm and hand-focused exercises, and the growth and progress continues to steadily move upwards.

I'm not special. I don't take any supplements or enhancements of any kind. Just food. If I can make this kind of progress, most others can as well. Just takes hard work and consistency, like most things in life.

[Jermiah Merciconah]

This year has probably been my largest leap in progression in my whole gripper career, I've jumped from being able to deep set an easy #3.5 for one rep, To being about 10mm away from closing the #4, I attribute it to reigning in the constant 1 rep max attempts and focusing on building from the bottom up through submaximal volume, Only going up a gripper when i feel ready

[Harrison]

Quote

53 minutes ago, Jermiah Merciconah said:

This year has probably been my largest leap in progression in my whole gripper career, I've jumped from being able to deep set an easy #3.5 for one rep, To being about 10mm away from closing the #4, I attribute it to reigning in the constant 1 rep max attempts and focusing on building from the bottom up through submaximal volume, Only going up a gripper when i feel ready

 

Do you mind giving an example of your training? How you gauge your feeling of being ready for the next gripper? 

[Fist of Fury]

5 hours ago, Harrison said:

Does anyone have any personal experience of making a long progression overtime?  I realize that is very subjective as going tom a CoC guide to a CoC #3 may not seem like much of a progression as going from a CoC #3 to a CoC#4.  But, does anyone have personal experience working their way up from a beginner gripper to one of the elite grippers? It seems most guys start at CoC# 2 or CoC #3 and stay around that area. I think it would be cool to read about someone's history starting from the bottom and working their way up to an elite level. 

Cheers

This isn't true at all. Extremely few people start at #3 level. If they do they always had done some serious training before, whether it's years of hard manual labor or other types of strength training.

Some guys can close the #2 first time but the truth is, most people can't, not even gym people.

I'd say most adult men is probably between #1 and #2, whether they can close the #2 first time or not depends on how fast they can learn proper technique. To close it with poor technique you need to be very strong from othert types of training or just being very genetically gifted.

I think Paul Knight started at around #1 level and I think he trained for more than 10 years to reach the #4.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Fist of Fury

[C8Myotome]

I tried to get into grippers years ago and broke a plastic one and didnt discover CoC until 2 summers ago, started with TNS'ing a 2.5 my first day trying them as that was as heavy as I got, got a 3 a bit later and was almost TNS'ing it until someone told me to try setting it (I am pretty sure this was Jerome), then did my first CCS of a 3 my first time trying to set one. Since then have done a bunch of certs, in order I did 3xGHP7, 4x GHP7, MM0 R/L, CTD, MM1 R/L, CoC3, GHP8.

I'm now working on the GHP9 & CoC 3.5 certs

I've made most progress in my 2nd year after getting better at technique/programming, but it takes a ton of work to continue to progress at this level. Closed a light 3.5 about a year ago, only just recently closed an average rated one for the first time. I'm sure within the next several years I will accomplish a lot more. I've also been holding off doing MM2 until i am ready to do it with both hands.

I just tried to CCS a light 3.5 for the first time and was several mm off but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Also tried to 38 mm block set an average 3.5 and was 1 mm off. I've done an average CoC4 20 mm block hold before.

It's a fun time.

I am also 5'8" with 7.25" hands, 185 lbs.

Edited September 26, 2023 by C8Myotome

[Cannon]

5 hours ago, Fist of Fury said:

I'd say most adult men is probably between #1 and #2, whether they can close the #2 first time or not depends on how fast they can learn proper technique.

Can confirm from running grip gauntlet booths at powerlifting meets. The average healthy strong guy can typically close a #1 and is stopped dead immediately after that. 

I also took grippers into a corporate setting for a decade and those guys were real hit and miss on the #1. Some struggled with the Trainer. 

It is less likely to be gripper anecdotes but @climber511 shares on this topic often. 

[Vinnie]

I certainly consider my experience a "long progression over time" as stated in your inquiry.  I would say I went roughly from about just shy of a COC 2 to about just shy of a COC 3.5 in about 5 or 6 years.  Pretty slow but steady progress with pretty slow but steady work.

I am 178 pounds, 7.5 inch hands, 54 years old.  When I first ordered grippers in 2016 (at 47 y.o.), I had never worked out at all and I am a lawyer who never did hard work with my hands.  So I was green and undeveloped.  I bought the 1, 1.5, and 2. I did not know you could "set" a gripper by starting to push the handle with the other hand, so I was closing from very wide.  I would not say I was doing strict TNS, because I definitely used the other hand to position the gripper so it felt comfortable to me, but I did not actually use that hand to start pushing the handles.  With that method, I closed the 1 and 1.5 right away, and almost the 2; it took about a week to close the 2.  It took me several months to build up to the 2.5, and then another year or so to build up to a 3, by which time I was aware of setting although I still tended to start a little wider than mash monster.  I hurt my elbow a bit very early on, I think from overtraining (sometimes every day, because I really wanted to get to the next harder gripper), and I backed off for a while during that time and came back more cautious.

My first number 3 close was RGC 145 in early 2018, and I got my MM0 on that gripper.  By around late 2019 I was able to get one rep on the GHP7 with the 38mm block, and was into the low 150s RGC with MMS sets.  Got MM1 somewhere around there.  BY mid-2021 I was into the low 160s RGC with MMS set and got MM2 that summer, and started training wider specifically in pursuit of the IM COC 3 cert.  Also MMS closed my first light COC 3.5 (RGC 165) around then.  November 2021 I got the COC 3 cert; I was closing low 150s with credit card set consistently (so yes I took a chance, as I probably would have failed the cert with a very hard COC 3, although I do tend to do well under pressure).  2023, in comps I have closed 165 with a 20mm block set and 160 with a 30mm block set, so I am probably close to my best right now (maybe a little off because I definitely dropped off after the COC 3 cert and have slowly crept back up recently), and I am thinking about trying to push for 170 MMS and then maybe GHP 8 cert if I keep progressing.  For all of this time from 2016 to now, I am not an aggressive trainer and I have never consistently trained anything but grippers.  Grippers I tend to train once to twice a week, and with that I am somewhat consistent but not aggressive.  And as you can see from above, my progress has also been consistent but not aggressive.  Except for the very early elbow pain, I have never since hurt myself with grippers or had to lay off for injury reasons.

  I would say that except for the few months in 2021 that I was very purposefully working on credit card set closes for the COC 3 cert, I have never been religious about training -- I make little pushes when I am into it for a few months, then I just kind of maintain where I am by light workouts often enough to keep me from slipping too far backwards.

Cheers,

Vinnie

Edited September 26, 2023 by Vinnie

[Vinnie]

1 hour ago, Cannon said:

grip gauntlet booths at powerlifting meets

That sounds fun.

I once saw some guys from a gym at a street fair with a rolling thunder.  They had it at maybe 100 pounds, and they said anyone who can hold this for a minute gets three months free membership.  I walked up and I was like oh, cool, and they were like you wanna try?  They were kind of looking like I was in for a surprise.  After I did it they were the ones who were surprised, and I confessed that I train grip.  I didn't take the membership either, I was just playing with them.  It was fun.

[Alawadhi]

6 hours ago, Fist of Fury said:

This isn't true at all. Extremely few people start at #3 level. If they do they always had done some serious training before, whether it's years of hard manual labor or other types of strength training.

Some guys can close the #2 first time but the truth is, most people can't, not even gym people.

I'd say most adult men is probably between #1 and #2, whether they can close the #2 first time or not depends on how fast they can learn proper technique. To close it with poor technique you need to be very strong from othert types of training or just being very genetically gifted.

I think Paul Knight started at around #1 level and I think he trained for more than 10 years to reach the #4.

This is true. Very less people can close a #2 their first time, never mind the #3. Some might say oh but you can find this and that person, yes because I know where to look. But, I will even go beyond fist of fury and say many people at the gym is maxed out at the #1. I am not talking about the niche strongman/powerlifting gym. Go to a typical commercial gym which is everywhere. There will be people closing the 1 but more people who can't close the 1 granted they are not setting it the correct way.

The late Paul Savage couldn't close a #1 and with many years of training he closed a #4.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Alawadhi

[dubyagrip]

4 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

That sounds fun.

I once saw some guys from a gym at a street fair with a rolling thunder.  They had it at maybe 100 pounds, and they said anyone who can hold this for a minute gets three months free membership.  I walked up and I was like oh, cool, and they were like you wanna try?  They were kind of looking like I was in for a surprise.  After I did it they were the ones who were surprised, and I confessed that I train grip.  I didn't take the membership either, I was just playing with them.  It was fun.

I would love to stumble onto someone trying to hustle or offer me fabulous prizes in what they consider to be improbable feats of strength.

[Cannon]

10 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

That sounds fun.

I once saw some guys from a gym at a street fair with a rolling thunder.  They had it at maybe 100 pounds, and they said anyone who can hold this for a minute gets three months free membership.  I walked up and I was like oh, cool, and they were like you wanna try?  They were kind of looking like I was in for a surprise.  After I did it they were the ones who were surprised, and I confessed that I train grip.  I didn't take the membership either, I was just playing with them.  It was fun.

It was fun. My big crowd pleaser was the 45 hub because powerlifters know plates and move them around often. Nobody could ever budge the 45 hub and then skinny ole me would do it with weight added.  

[climber511]

1 hour ago, Cannon said:

Can confirm from running grip gauntlet booths at powerlifting meets. The average healthy strong guy can typically close a #1 and is stopped dead immediately after that. 

I also took grippers into a corporate setting for a decade and those guys were real hit and miss on the #1. Some struggled with the Trainer. 

It is less likely to be gripper anecdotes but @climber511 shares on this topic often. 

I started Grip around age 55 (2003) - overall I'd say I peaked somewhere between late 50s to early 60s so progressed slowly for 4 to maybe 6 years - I had a long history of hard work behind me and decades of general lifting.  Held onto those levels until middle 60s (more in some events than others of course).  I did my last contest at age 70 and was pleased with my results - down from my best of course but not as much as expected.  I'm hosting the Yol Bosun Grip Comp Jan 14th of 2024 - I am 75 now and curious what I might do in a competition setting.  I have a climbing trip coming up very soon and then it is my intension to actually train hard for that contest.

For you Gripper guys - I closed the #1 and #2 first time I touched them and firmly believe I could have closed a 2.5 if such a thing had existed then - this was before I heard of the Grip Board so not much of a "set".  I can't remember how long before I closed a #3 but it was a while.  Best block set close was a 156# in a comp - best choked to parallel close in a comp was 191.8# (done 2 years in a row)and best training was 195# COC#4.

I seem to have a sort of natural ability for the Euro - but I have also worked very very hard with my technique on it.

[Cannon]

Thank you for that @climber511

I did some mining and dug up multiple GB threads where people are discussing their start on grippers. In a lot of cases you'll know the names and where they ended up.  

Expectations When You First Tried A Heavy-duty Gripper...

Grippers First Time Trying

What was your gripper training starting point?

First Gripper You Closed.

Who Started Where?

Genetic Freaks (more about stumbling on grip phenoms)

Grip strength of average gym rat (this is a great thread)

Average Grip

[C8Myotome]

I could definitely see the casual/commercial gym thing vs people only being able to close a CoC 1, in commercial gyms it can be rare to see people benching 225 or more for example.

I spent several years going to a really hardcore family-owned non-chain powerlifting/strongman friendly gym that would host PL meets, in-house strongman personal training, has atlas stones, yokes, power racks, deadlift platforms with band attachments, goblets full of chalks, chains, axle bars, saxon bar, giant tires to flip, people walking around with world/national/state records right and left, the spot WWE stars come to train when they're in town, people sniffing ammonia and wearing singlets everywhere...at this kind of gym you could probably just walk around and find people who could close a #3 on their first try if you showed them how to set, etc.

That in reference to my experience at commercial chain gyms where they dont even let you use chalk, squat racks aren't adjustable, you get asked to not deadlift loud or to deadlift on yoga mats to make it quieter, there's like 3 squat racks and then 80 machines etc, dumbbells go up to only like 70 lbs...yeah it wouldn't surprise me that people in this environment aren't strong enough to close a CoC 1.

 

[DrBartlebee]

6 hours ago, dubyagrip said:

I would love to stumble onto someone trying to hustle or offer me fabulous prizes in what they consider to be improbable feats of strength.

I've had daydreams about this before . Someone on FB marketplace was selling an old #2 and the listing said he'd knock off 10 dollars if you can close it. I don't need another 2 but I wanted to just to see his reaction haha.

[Alawadhi]

6 hours ago, C8Myotome said:

I could definitely see the casual/commercial gym thing vs people only being able to close a CoC 1, in commercial gyms it can be rare to see people benching 225 or more for example.

I spent several years going to a really hardcore family-owned non-chain powerlifting/strongman friendly gym that would host PL meets, in-house strongman personal training, has atlas stones, yokes, power racks, deadlift platforms with band attachments, goblets full of chalks, chains, axle bars, saxon bar, giant tires to flip, people walking around with world/national/state records right and left, the spot WWE stars come to train when they're in town, people sniffing ammonia and wearing singlets everywhere...at this kind of gym you could probably just walk around and find people who could close a #3 on their first try if you showed them how to set, etc.

That in reference to my experience at commercial chain gyms where they dont even let you use chalk, squat racks aren't adjustable, you get asked to not deadlift loud or to deadlift on yoga mats to make it quieter, there's like 3 squat racks and then 80 machines etc, dumbbells go up to only like 70 lbs...yeah it wouldn't surprise me that people in this environment aren't strong enough to close a CoC 1.

 

This is exactly what do I mean. The problem is the majority of the gyms are those commercial type gyms.

And true, those family owned strongman/powerlifting gym are the best place to train and find really strong people.

[Harrison]

Thank y'all for all the great posts. This was motivating and very entertaining. 

[Jermiah Merciconah]

On 9/26/2023 at 4:52 PM, Harrison said:

Do you mind giving an example of your training? How you gauge your feeling of being ready for the next gripper? 

So typically what i'll do is i'll do grippers after a good bench press, Something that warms the grip up without taxing it too heavily, Warm up on the 2 to warm up the movement pattern itself and ensure good gripper placement usually 5-8 reps on that, Then i'll jump straight to the 3.5 and do that for as many reps as i can, Usually trying to target 5+ reps, Then i'll go down to the #3 and try for a rep target of between 6-8 reps, Do that for 2 sets then i'll jump down to the 2.5 and do the same as the 3 but i'll do that for 10-12 reps, Thats typically how i go about it and i'll do that twice a week until that block is over and then i'll drop the frequency back to once a week and drop volume and increase RGC to peak for a PR gripper close