I'm A Beginner Need To Know Some Questions

[Guest swollix]

I just started grip training I am 15.I currently do static holds with 40 lbs for 30 seconds at a time.

[chrisof4]

Welcome. I am also new to grip training, and I have found this site to be very helpful. Start with the FAQ's on this site. They answer a LOT of questions. If (when) you have more questions, ask away! I have found the fellow grippers to be very helpful.

Keep grippin!

Chris

[HAMMERHEAD]

What kind of static hold? Pinch? Thick bar? Grippers?

-HH

[Guest swollix]

Thick bar static hold.I don't have alot of money,so I can't be buying grippers,but I made a pinch block out of a 4x4.

[foggymountainmuscle]

Hello Swollix, I'm new here, and young, 17, but I guess I can't say I'm a beginner. Here's some advice that will save you alot of time and get you on the right track for strength gains early: Work on tendon strength. I believe this aspect alone is the difference between the strength of a boy and the strength of a man. I am also a low budgit trainer, I have made and substituded many types of professional equipment. If I purchase something, it is usually because I cannot implement it by my own means. You just can't by a thick barbell when you can wrap beach towels around a gym's barbell.

I'd be happy to dish out all my low bugit solutions using stuff you probably already have.

Do you have a sledge hammer, bricks, bucket, rope, towels, and/or chairs around your household? And what is the situation with your weights?

[Guest swollix]

I have all that stuff at home.I can probably make a lot too.

[Darco]

This seems Very Brookfieldesque.....

[foggymountainmuscle]

This seems Very Brookfieldesque.....

Yes, you are quite right, most of this stuff I came up with before I read The Gripmaster's Manual, but John Brookfield gave me alot more ideas and more to inprove on. In fact, look out for John Brookfield's grip tip of the month on IronMind.com, I don't want to rip off all his work, so I'm not going to recap his fine original work.

Sledge hammer is a great wrist developer, lever it up by flexing the wrist to the thumb side and pinky side, separately though. Pronate and suppinate your lower arm for the other exercises. You'll understand once you grab hold of the thing. You could also wrap a towel around the handel and turn it into more of a gripper exercise. Don't try to go too heavy too fast, these things can hurt, pace yourself. You may want to try tossing it from hand to hand as well.

A classic strongman feat is to pick up a chair from the very bottom of one leg and lift it perfectly level. Try this with various chairs at various hieghts from different legs, this sounds more like a wrist exercise, but you must squeez with all your gutso to get it to work.

If your buckets, like 5 gallon ones, have handles on them you can fill them with water and do finger lifting. Pad the handel with a towel. Eventually you could fill it with dirt. Go for reps, static holds, but remember finger lifting is hard, painful, and potientially dangerous. I'm up to 80lbs. hoping to get to a hundred soon on my middle finger.

Another good thing to do with the bucket is to try to pour/tip up a big bucket one handed. This really works the fingers, kinda in a hub grip fashion as the finger tips are working hard.

Bricks, this is directly from Brookfield, try doing curls, bent over rows, and overhead presses with a stack of bricks. Realize the overhead press is outstreached and never goes over your head. Use about 5-7 bricks stacked horizontally, you will have to keep them together with pressure from your chest and arms. Not only does this build functional chest strength, it's a great hand strength developer.

This is from Brookfield also, try to hold up brick(s) on the back of your fingers. Experiment with different angles and distances from your knuckles to find the best resistance. Check the placement to assure the workload is balanced amoung the fingers.

I got this next one from the Stacker product IronMind sells. Take one brick, and stack a few perpendicular on top of it on one side. Pick up this stack with one hand. Your fingers go under and your thumb on top. This works your wrist flexors with your fingers extended, I love the challenge of trying to get more bricks.

Fold up old newspaper and try to tear it apart. Push with one hand pull with the other, then twist apart. Hold on tight, tight as you can go, always, or else it just doesn't work.

In general, you can pad any handel or bar with a towel to create a thicker grip.

Bending metal is good work too, I found my flat bars from old knocked down telephone polls.

This should cover your lower arms pretty good. I find these exercises to be extremely enjoyable.