Octogen Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 (edited) Ok after reading about all the incredible feats of strength being put up by the rest of the gripboard i've decided to lay out my training program for comment, advice and criticism. Background- I'm a personal trainer and I work a full time shift work job as well so my training is broken up into lots of small sessions throughout the week. I used to lift fairly heavy but I don't have the time or inclination to hit the gym for long workouts anymore so i've been working mostly bodyweight exercises and doing a lot of road cycling to increase my cardio fitness. Current grip levels - I can close the #1 with either hand for 4 reps with only a very shallow set. I can get the #2 down to 1/4 inch using the new rules. Haven't tested my pinch grip yet because I don't have the equipment but I plan to fix that soon. My goal is to close the #2 for 3-5 reps with either hand then think about closing a #3. I'm also keen to try a bit of bending and will hopefully get some stock this week. Any comments welcome Edited March 27, 2004 by Octogen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted March 29, 2004 Author Share Posted March 29, 2004 29 March 2003 First attempt at bending Today I went to the local hardware store to get some bending stock. All I could find was some 6mm steel rod (was hoping for some easier stuff) and some 150mm x 5.6mm nails and 1/4 x 6 inch bolts. I tried to bend 7 and 8 inch lengths of the steel but it was a bit too hard for me and all i could do was put a small kink in it. then tried the nails and again they barely moved. finally tried a 9 inch length of the steel and managed to finish it off. tomorrow I will try to get some easier stock. To all you guys putting away grade 5 bolts and short lengths of 1/4 RESPECT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisof4 Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Congrats on starting your log! I look forward to reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FbaLLPlaya_53 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Congrats man, this is just the beginning! Train hard with bending and gripping and you will see results you never would have dreamed of! Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted March 30, 2004 Author Share Posted March 30, 2004 30 March 2004 Bending Went out and bought some 5mm (approx 3/8) stock 7" x 1 very easy 6" x 2 again very easy 5" x 2 a bit harder but finished off in about 40 sec each 4 1/2 " x 1 This was fairly tough for me but got it crushed down to under an inch In between i tried another 8 inch length of the thicker stock and couldn't budge it. Then i measured it! the first stock i bought is closer to 7mm than 6 mm which would explain the difference in difficulty So i think i'll bend 5" lengths for volume and 4 1/2 for intensity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffPeterson Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Are you sure it's 3/8 stock. You could easily do cut redsif you can bend a 4.5 3/8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted March 30, 2004 Author Share Posted March 30, 2004 (edited) sorry that should have read 5mm (approx 3/16) not 3/8 I don't work much in imperial Edited March 30, 2004 by Octogen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooinabc1 Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 If you want faster gain then forget the no set rule for now and get stronger using the set rule. If you set close the #3 for reps of 12 or 16 then you can no set it the #3 no problem. Do not make mistakes in your training. Also use Strap Holds that is 1/8 to 1/16 inchs thick. And get the KTA program ASAP. Question how reps can you do using the setting gripper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ostlund Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 Looking forward to reading your log. Keep bending with the 3/16" for a little while so you can build up good base strength on bending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 31 March 2004 Todays bending 3/16 - 6" x 2 3/16 - 5" x 4 3/16 - 4 1/2" x1 Grippers #1 3 sets of 3 closes each hand #2 2 x negatives each hand (felt a bit weak after bending) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 01 April 04 Gave grip training a rest today. Was planning on doing some other training but some idiot in senior management decided to to sell our factory to another company and the proverbial hit the fan. I spent all day in meetings and listening to rumours of strikes and redundancies. All I managed to squeeze out were 3 sets of one legged squats, 3 sets of one arm pushup practice and 4 sets of chinups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 3, 2004 Author Share Posted April 3, 2004 02 April 2004 Only did a little bit of bending today before I got interrupted. 5mm x 5" x2 5mm x 4 1/2" x2 I can really feel the bending work in my forearms and hands so i'm going to rest over the weekend and then start building up again next week. Also did 8 sets of pistols, chinups and one arm pushup practice through out the day at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 3, 2004 Author Share Posted April 3, 2004 03 April 2004 Gave bending and crushing a rest today but had a bit of a play with some thick bar holds since i got a bit of 2 1/2" pipe from work on friday. Its not a rolling thunder but if you grab it right the pipe and weights (on a chain) put plenty of stress on the thumbs and wrist so i'll be adding that to my workouts. Only other training today was 45 minutes on my road bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 4, 2004 Author Share Posted April 4, 2004 (edited) 04 April 2004 No grip work today, letting my hands and forearms recover from my first bending workouts. Other exercise 45 min recovery ride on the road bike. back to grip training tomorrow Edited April 4, 2004 by Octogen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 6, 2004 Author Share Posted April 6, 2004 06 April 2004 Bending 5" x 5mm x 3 4 1/2 " x 5mm x 3 Crushing #1 2 x3 reps each hand #2 2 x negs each hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 07 April 2004 Bending 6" x 5mm x 1 4 3/4" x 5mm x7 The 5mm stock under 5" is getting easier but i'm going to have to start doing grippers first, after bending I can't even close the #1 I'm also blowing through my stock fairly quickly so i'll have to buy some more and see if i can get something to bend in volume thats not too expensive Other stuff 45 min high intensity road ride GTG training with one arm pushups, pistols and chinups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 10, 2004 Author Share Posted April 10, 2004 10 April 2004 Bending 5" x 5mm x1 4 1/2 " x 5mm x 8 got some 1/4" round stock but I can only kink a 7" piece I may have to go back and do some other wrist strengthening like sledge hammer work before I can attack the 1/4" stock and nails Other training Downhill mountain biking 2 hrs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 18, 2004 Author Share Posted April 18, 2004 18 April 2004 After a very slack week of grip training i'm back on track. I've decided to focus on sledgehammer levering and bending for the moment although I may include one or two crush workouts a week Todays bending 5" x 3/8 x 1 warmup 4 1/2 " x 3/8 x1 7 1/2" x1/4" x 1 This is the first piece of 1/4" stock I have been able to bend without bracing against my leg etc 4 1/2" x 3/8 x 3 5" x3/8 x 1 Sledge levering 10lb sledge front lever each arm 3x @ 9" 3x @ 8" Rear lever each arm 3x @ 14" 3x @ 14" wrist rotation each wrist 3x @ 4" 2x @ 6" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikael Siversson Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 5" x 3/8 x 1 warmup4 1/2 " x 3/8 x1 Pretty good. Light years ahead of Terminator, Shrug etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Clearly he does not mean 3/8", and has converted incorrectly from mm. Most likely it is 3/16''. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Share Posted April 19, 2004 Dammit! I keep getting that wrong I think i'll stick to metric from now on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 21, 2004 Author Share Posted April 21, 2004 21 April 2004 Bending HRS 5" x 5mm x 1 7"x 6.25mm x 2 (new PR) 4 1/2" x 5mm x 4 4" x 5mm x 1 Finished up with some sledge levering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted April 30, 2004 Author Share Posted April 30, 2004 01 May 04 I've been horribly slack with keeping my training log here so i'll just summarise some bending progress 27 April 04 6 1/2" x 1/4" HRS (PR) 5 1/2" x 5.6mm galvanised nail (PR) 01 May 04 6" x 1/4" ungraded bolts x 2 (PR) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octogen Posted May 29, 2004 Author Share Posted May 29, 2004 After bending a few nails and bolts I thought I was doing OK until I started getting really bad pain in my right hand. To cut a long story short for a couple of weeks i've had to really back off bending because I was barely able to kink anything tougher than 7" x 1/4" HRS Anyway last night I got back into a bit of bending. 2x 150 x 5.6mm nails 2x 6" grade 2 bolts The bolts went down very easily and there was no residual pain so I think I am ok to start upping the volume in my quest for tougher metal. I've got some IM blues turning up tomorrow and I will see if I can do one of those as a benchmark. After that my main bending goal will be to bend a grade 5 by the end of September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infojunkie Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 Looks good, keep it going. This might be a good way for me to start things off as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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