This is me messing with my Elite today. I am still hit and miss, some days i get a good close, other days i miss. The important part is when i miss, it looks more like this and less like this below

This above video is from 30 April 09, I think this is the week I got the Elite. I am pleased with this progress thus far. I currently work my grippers twice a week. Hard to label it “work” compared to effort i see from guys like Ben Edwards but it is more than i gave them before.

Some things which have been very successful

1- Grippers are trained first thing for the workout. If the first rep is bad, i do not train them for the day. My test is my easier #3 right now, if i miss a rep after i warm up my hands i leave them alone.

2- Grippers are not trained during blocks that include a lot of hand lifting, V-bar pulling, or Rolling Thunder work. I find the combination of grippers plus fat bar work is low yield for me.

3- Practice your set, over and over. Your set is the most important element of the squeeze. If the set if bad, the close will not happen.

Some things that have been road blocks.

1- Grippers are a very specific groove. The only thing that will improve tough gripper closes is tough gripper closes.

2- Reps. You have be smart with your total volume. Repping an easier gripper will not do much for your max close. In 2007 I could close my #1 for about 35 reps nonstop. Now i doubt i could hit that, but i have closed every #3 i have touched in the last three months. So repping it out is pointless.

3 Recovery. My never ending battle to figure out how much is enough and how much is too much with the particular training combo i use. I have no one to call on in this arena because i do not know anyone else who is working in a similar lane as i am. Observations from the gripboard is most of the great gripper guys do little else in the way of training, very few combine with steel bending. Out of the benders, none of the other guys who bend at the level i do also are doing lots of kettlebell and barbell work. So i have to figure out a lot of things.

This month i will put up some full closes with the elite here on the page. Than on to the COC #3.5…..