Don’t Give Up Just Yet.

[Tom Black]

Well, like a few others I decided to at least try and train under the new IM rules. I have 7.25” hands so I am definitely effected by the new rules. For those who have not trained the new set width you might want to reconsider after reading the following.

On my first day of real training under the new rules I found myself missing the #2 by a hair for a few attempts (arrgh). As I posted earlier I dispensed with the credit card itself fairly quickly, going instead by “feel” as to the right starting distance between handles. After maybe 5 sets with the #2 I started to barely close it (keep in mind I can close the #3 with a deep set so this was discouraging). No doubt others discovered the same thing and reported negatively in the IM news thread.

Once I found myself at that stage I decided to try my Master gripper. This is Gripper is vintage ~2000, and is probably the same as a Super Master now (well, that’s what I gather from recent postings). At any rate, it’s certainly a lot harder than any #2 I’ve tried (which is around 8 different #2’s). I hate to admit it but my first attempts were pitiful. I’m only going to disclose that I was about ½” away because it’s critical to understand how quickly I adapted. On the second day in a row of training I noticed that I got about 1/32” closer with each new attempt and by the end of the day I was down to 1/8” (and this with a sore hand and forearm). Resting for a day I was even closer, only about 1/32” away. Then, today I had sort of a revelation. Basically, I feel that I haven’t really got any stronger, my hand/mind coordination is just improving for the new positioning of the gripper. Frankly, the initial sweep of these grippers in really not that challenging. I know I could close this Master before the rule change with a 1” set so the difference is only a subtle adjustment in the way the force is applied. I have always been in the camp that the close is the hardest and I’m proving it to myself now, quickly going from the handles a long way out to just touching. Point is, my closing strength is there, I’m just re-tapping into it. Today I closed this gripper as per the new rules, but just barely (1/2” inch of gain in less than one week).

In conclusion, when I first tried the Master gripper earlier in the week I felt I was plunged backwards months/years in my training, but with less than a week of adaptation I’m quickly making up lost ground. After a longer rest I know I will grind this gripper shut and move onto closing the pda361, the next gripper up that I have.

Message for those who decided not to train this way- if you’ve tried the credit card set a few times you’ve no doubt seen that your results are far off what you’ve done compared to deeper sets. Do not be discouraged, however, because your strength in the deeper sets will cross over with some practice, and no, it will not be months, but only days or a few weeks.

Carry on.

[odin]

Great post Tom. I had a similar experience that I wrote about in my training log. I have average-sized hands and never did get very good at using the set. The adjustment was/is not as big a deal for me as it is for those with smaller hands who have used a deep set for a long time.

Edited March 19, 2004 by odin

[austinslater]

Great post Tom!

[Mikael Siversson]

I think you may have missed the main arguments against changing the rules. What you describe has a couple of implications. If many on this board manage to close the #3 with credit cards in hand, IM will be back to square one, with too many new CoC write ups in Milo. I think it is crucial to understand the real reason behind the changing rules. Imagine a few years down the line with lets say a three-fold increase in people using IM grippers (the sport is gaining at a fast rate) and dozens of new CoC's every quarter even with the new rules. IM would them have to either change the rules again, drop the #3 certification alltogether or omitt the write up in Milo. The whole certification process is only working well from an IM logistical point of view with a handful of certifications for each issue of Milo.

[Bill Piche]

Have any MILO's?

I do. Check the # of COC's from March of 1998 until March 2004. Plot the number in the March issue even as just a one year increment.

I think you might see part of the reason for the rule change.

[Tom Black]

I think you may have missed the main arguments against changing the rules. What you describe has a couple of implications...

Missed the argument! How could anybody miss the argument, only the #1 thread all time on the Gripboard! Please be aware that I was not very happy about the rule change, I'm just trying to move on and deal with it. Maybe if I didn't say anything then maybe the numbers of people training for the cert would have dropped, but eventually people will experiment a little and would have determined the same thing as I did this week.

The numbers of new certs is certainly growing, and no doubt IM may have to make smaller and smaller write-ups, maybe just a list with no pictures, there should be enough room for that. I think even with my observation the numbers of people certifying will be less, just not as much less as many people have been thinking.

[Clay Edgin]

We can speculate about the reason why the rule changed or draw our own conclusions, or we can actually use the reason that Randy Strossen provided. The rule change was made to eliminate the deep sets that were being passed on certifications. We all know that setting a gripper very deep makes it easier to close, and IM is trying to get back to the spirit of the challenge by making people work harder for certification.

[austinslater]

Clay well said. After having time to digest the whole situation I can understand why Randy did it and I think his explanation is sufficient. The timing might be wrong but I think it was the right thing to do.

Austin

[tspinillo]

Thanks for the technique tips Tom!

Clay, you make perfect sense.

T

[Tom Page]

In conclusion, when I first tried the Master gripper earlier in the week I felt I was plunged backwards months/years in my training, but with less than a week of adaptation I’m quickly making up lost ground. After a longer rest I know I will grind this gripper shut and move onto closing the pda361, the next gripper up that I have.

Message for those who decided not to train this way- if you’ve tried the credit card set a few times you’ve no doubt seen that your results are far off what you’ve done compared to deeper sets. Do not be discouraged, however, because your strength in the deeper sets will cross over with some practice, and no, it will not be months, but only days or a few weeks.

Carry on.

Great post Tom. I was wondering as of late why we haven't heard much from you. Do you think that adapting to the credit card set will hinder the deep set, have no effect or may help when one desides to use the deep set technique? And are you setting it deep and then opening your hand to "credit card" width or just setting it wide with a little help from you other hand?

Tom

[Tom Black]

You haven't heard much from me of late because my wife and I have a 7-month old baby. I'm not getting a lot of sleep

Kinney obviously did a deep set in that he suggested negatives, I have a small clip from the video (from powerlifting video mag) and he suggests pushing against your leg and doing the negative. Point is that this is related to the deep set. When I first started doing that I found myself closing the gripper that way as I approached closer to its strength. Kinney also did an actual close with the wide, almost no set, because that's the way he closed the #4 in the video. Thus he trained both ways.

In my new training I'm setting the gripper to the widest point that it feels comfortable. If I had 8" hands that point might have been 2 1/8" but for me it's around 1.5". I then let it out to credit card width. I've been experimenting with setting it to a little closer to 2"as well.

[OldGuy]

The Gripboards' own MM certification may well slow down IM certifications, doing IM yet another favor.

[Jonathan McMillan]

Congrats Tom Black! I'm planning to hand the wife the #4 in the delivery room, think it'd be cool to know the first women to shut the damn thing

I'l state it again if you look at Kinney's training as he laid it out in ironminds little booklet it looks like he trained in a way that split the emphasis in the training:

1. the finger side of the crush with his grip machine

2. negatives with the grippers and handle the back pressure or thumb side.

Jon@han

[bseedot]

Well said, Clay. Technique in setting a gripper has improved drastically and reached a level of proficiency that IronMind didn't expect.

BC.

[RSW]

I suggested to Randy that he consider requiring us to center our hands on the handle, or at least keep our entire pinky on the handle, but he thought that would be too hard.

IMHO, hanging 3/4 of my pinky off the end of the handle gives a much bigger advantage than a deep set, and is also against the spirit of the original challenge. The poundage estimates for closing the IM grippers are based off weights applied to the center of the handle, not somewhere between the center and the end.

This is also where the current rules penalize large handed people. Guys with big hands have the center of there hands much closer to the middle of the gripper and, thus have to apply more force to close the gripper than a small handed person.

[OldGuy]

This is also where the current rules penalize large handed people. Guys with big hands have the center of there hands much closer to the middle of the gripper and, thus have to apply more force to close the gripper than a small handed person.

I have found this and other drawbacks to having a large hand. It is not all good!