Grip training has been the corner stone of my program for years. Grip training has been my fascination, my hobby, my life in some ways.
In the past, I would work with a block schedule of rotating different grip events over 2-3 week blocks. The idea was you are limited on how many lifts you can get better in at any given time. A typical block would be something like nail bending + axle lifting, two weeks later it would be one hand pinching + card tearing. I had read over and over this was required, and I never questioned it.
Well I was wrong.
Over a year ago, Frankie taught me the foundation of Perpetual Progress, and the Gym Movement Protocol. I taught Gym Movement to all of you in Grip and Rip 2.1. I said this will teach you to break a personal record every day. I said I would teach you to program for yourself better than you have before.
The starting point is you have to be willing to question all aspects of a program to find all missing pieces. You have to leave nothing protected, nothing sacred.
Since then I have made tremendous progress in all areas of grip- bending, tearing, levering, pinching, crushing, and support. I am making progress in all areas every workout. In a given workout I will work 4 to 5 grip drills, this is now 5 days a week.
In July I focused my grip training on the 2 hand pinch, the Horne Wrist Developer, and the Vulcan gripper. My gripper volume has increased from 7-10 reps a workout to over 100 on some days. My working level for reps has went from singles with a #3 and triples with a Grand Master to sets of 5-7 reps with level 14 and 15 with the vulcan. I am averaging over 400 reps with my grippers every two weeks.
My Axle deadlift is the best it has been, both for volume work and for max weight.
I have pulled 350 lbs in the 2″ Vertical bar, and will break 375 before the end of 2010.
No “back off weeks” for a year.
No “de-loading” for a year.
No off-season for a year.
Just PR everyday.
This month I will be releasing a new grip DVD, which will teach you the foundation of grip training as well as how to program it in to your fitness program.
The third leg of Worlds Strongest Hands is this morning, I am excited to see what I can do after this last month of training.
What I need to know from you right now- What is your grip training goal? What do you want to learn about?
{ 3 comments }
I think beginners, intermediate and advanced grip DVD’s for sure
I think the one you are about to release is a fantastic beginners DVD, I think next up should be targeted at those guys already involved in grip and cover some of the more harder things, like tearing cards, yellow pages, bending steel etc. The things that are awesomely cool but a bit more of a challenge and more risk involved.
I concluded that certain tasks in landscape construction which I’m studying over here would be way faster and easier to do with leveraging and pinch grip strength. I have a big ass pinch grip block from FBBC and I’m waiting for grip training apparatuses from Ryan, so I’m good to go. One type of stone we have to handle weighs 30-50 kgs and are usually carried by two people using very awkward scissor-shaped tool. I’m sure I’d be able to carry two of them simultaneously if I increase my pinch grip strength enough.
Adam great job
i am going to share with you a just one of the many reasons i train with gym movement. long story short last two weeks for me have been a shit show, fallen behind everywhere mainly because i went from day 6am shift to night 12am shift, 3 shift whatever. with this change i pick up a much more intense work load. i work maintaining rails for trains very demanding work lifting heavy shit with horrible leverage positions working in railroad ballis or stone is like working in quick sand it sucks, spiking railroad ties (nothing like hitting a tire very little give in the ties whatever. add to this the duties of being a proud father sleep is at a minimal sleep being one of the only thing you cannot go without and when you do it does not mess you up it fucks you up. Thanks to the knowledge that has been instilled in me and my ability to adapt i am still moving forward. the reason i wrote this little mini series is because in my training last night it saved me probaly 4 grand in lost wages maybe a few months of optimal training a major backslide probally the most defeating, but instead i came out with a slightly tweaked hamstring rather than a tore or ripped hamstring, it happened to me once never again it sucks, annoying, lingering injury. so i go in test out goal movements got good range increase started the time clock hit 75 reps long cycle with 20kg bells in 10 minutes 23 seconds huge pr d,i,v . so next up was lunges hit 20 in a row stopped at the first sign of tension, stood up maybe 10 seconds later i felt a slit tear /slash pull. and do not be a fresh prick and say way would a movement that tested well cause any pain because i will say it did not cause me any pain if i ignored my bodies feedback and done two maybe 3 more reps we are talking about a torn hamstring for sure thats pain i would have lost an awful lot for 3 more reps, worth it you do the math. so what if i was following some ones elses shit, or had someone telling me to do one more when they know shit about my sleep, my nutrion , workload, or i read in a book 23reps is the goal number have to hit 23 they going to cover my morgage, feed my family, run around with my kid, NO. At the time i most needed it Gym movement came through for me, last year i would have tore my hamstring in half. There are know magical movements but there is a way to test movements it takes about 4 seconds to do and it does not mislead you. so instead of me telling everyone i limp around because i love working hard and pushing myself to the limit and i torn my hamstring in half because i am a knob and i heard something 1 time about someone said no pain no gain, i will be back in the gym tomm getting better and back at work tomm night making money, because when the first sign of tension set in i stopped . life movements, gym movements all move movements , hamstring or 3 more lunges i thank the gym movement team for putting me in charge of my results and well being and following the up to date feed back my body provides.