The Grip Bible ~ Grip it and Rip it!

[Gaoshang Xiongshou]

03/13/09 Grip

Captains of Crush
100x10
195x10/7 (right/left )
140x12x2
100x50
IMTUG No. 5x8x2 ring+pinky

E-Y-H Bands
red x20
blue x20
yellow x30
green x30
white x50

[robert da strongman]

good stuff.
dont sweat the 7.


hehe have my grippers in my lunch bag....

[Gaoshang Xiongshou]

I just like to be the same on both sides... some days, it happens... some days, it does not.

I am going to need chalk for the No. 3 though, and I was hoping to do it without.

[robert da strongman]

I just like to be the same on both sides... some days, it happens... some days, it does not.

I am going to need chalk for the No. 3 though, and I was hoping to do it without.

yeah chalk helps a lot.
rethinking playing tonight...farmers walk tomorrow

[Gaoshang Xiongshou]

Should I just go ahead and get chalk now while I am still training for the close?

[robert da strongman]

Should I just go ahead and get chalk now while I am still training for the close?

yeah you might as well.
get used to how much you need.

[Skeptic]

I work out with my 15 year old son. How do I know when we've had a good end-of-week grip session?

When he says "Dad, can you shake my shake for me? I can't hold the shaker."

[robert da strongman]

good workout when i have to steer my car with my forearms

[GameofInches]

Has anyone chocked a gripper before? I want to choke mine, but not sure how to clap it down. Any ideas?

[robert da strongman]

a strap wrench??

or cargo strap?

[Sistersteel]

Thick Bar Pull Up

Another easy (and cheap) way of building grip strength is with thick bar pull-ups. This version requires two short pieces of pipe to slip over the pull-up handles on most power racks. The pipe can be purchased at most hardware stores for a few dollars. Again, we’re trying to tax the grip here, so explosive reps are the goal.

[Sistersteel]

Leverage Bar

Since grappling sports are very dynamic, training the hands for grappling must be as well. The pulling and twisting of your opponent will test your grip at various angles, so I recommend using of a leverage bar of some sort. Leverage bars are not hard to make; with a little creativity, they can be improvised pretty easily. In the picture, I am using a loading pin with a small weight and a secure collar. A small sledgehammer will also work well. Aside from pronation and supination, be creative and use various angles and patterns at which you feel weak.

[Sistersteel]

Wrist Roller

You may have done (or still do) these with the arms held out and in front of you. Stop! This is a forearm exercise, not a test of shoulder endurance. If you’re interested in training your forearms hard, do it the right way. Straddle two benches or boxes and let your arms hang straight down as shown. Use heavy weight, and do lower repetitions. Be sure to roll it up with the wrist extensors and the wrist flexors (some call this “forward” and backward”). Rollers of various diameters can be used. Pictured is a roller I made from PVC pipe.

[Sistersteel]

Grippers

For many sports, grippers will be of limited use. But they can assist in sports such as hockey, where a tight grip will afford the player better control of the stick. There are various quality grippers on the market, and it may take some searching to find which level of resistance you need.

[robert da strongman]

ASC Will Feature the IronMind® Grip Challenge by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2009 IronMind


ASC’s Dione Wessels and IronMind’s Randall Strossen are teaming up to put grip contests front and center by featuring them at American Strongman Corporation’s “Live” events across the country.


Strongman contests and the Rolling Thunder® have a long and rich history, and Odd Haugen’s Beauty and the Beast contests are where it all started: The 2000 Rolling Thunder World Championships was a kickoff event in a Honolulu sports bar the night before the strongman competition began. That’s four-time World’s Strongest Man winner Magnus Ver Magnusson getting ready to pull, just to give you an idea of the talent pool at these contests. Randall J. Strossen photo.


“Testing your grip strength provides a natural challenge and it’s fun, so Dione and I thought, why not take advantage of the ‘Live’ platform to showcase the IronMind Grip Challenge,” said Strossen.

“At IronMind®, we’re big believers in the KISS principle,” Strossen said, “as in ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid,’ so we wanted to feature events that are universally-known, with well-established standards of excellence. The two events we are going with are the Rolling Thunder®, for maximum weight, and Captains of Crush® grippers.”

“We’re running grippers the way stones are done in strongman,” Strossen continued. “A tougher gripper always wins, but reps rule below that. So, anyone who closes a CoC No. 3 beats anyone who only closes a CoC No. 2, for example, but 14 reps on a CoC No. 2 beats 12 reps on the No. 2.”

“This is a big departure from the way gripper events are usually run in grip contests, which just focus on the hardest gripper you can close,” Strossen explained, “but one of the problems with that is too many people end up with the same score. We think this is better because it will help clear the air about who really is stronger than whom, plus it will be a lot more interesting for spectators.”

“The whole concept of ‘ASC Live’ is to reach out to the American fan base,” Dione Wessels said. “What better way to reach out and touch our fans than with the Ironmind Grip Challenge? Testing your grip strength appeals to a lot of people and the IronMind Grip Challenge will feature fan participation, as well as top strongman competitors. And this isn’t just for people who train in gyms - blue collar fans across the country work with their hands and some of these guys have really strong hands, so by pairing up with ‘ASC Live,’ the Ironmind Grip Challenge will probably find the next grip-strength star in our ‘Live’ audiences. This is a great way to reach out and touch the fans and this is a great way for fans to get a handle on what the ASC athletes really do.”

“IronMind will be providing prize packages in the first-of-its-kind competitions, with ASC and IronMind pairing at ‘Live’ events through August. The IronMind Grip Challenges will be taking place in at least six events across the country.”

Stay tuned for more details, and for more information on ASC Live, please check the official ASC website.

Incidentally, don’t think you have to be a man to compete in these contests: “I have a stronger grip than a lot of guys,” said Dione Wessels, who won the women’s class at the 2003 U.S. Rolling Thunder National Championships . . . held in conjunction with Jim Davis’s 2003 X-treme Strongman American Championships.