Grip training…

Sunday, 15 May 2011
20 mins, 97kg

WARMUP:
Gyro ball
Pipe-chain flail
[I made this up last night. Loop a chain around a capped pipe and spin. Numerous variations based on weight and girth of pipe, length and weight of chain, hand position and rotation speed, etc.]
Eagle catcher

CIRCUIT:

Midi red: 10, 8

Heavy red: 8, 6

CoC #1.5: 6, 6
[4 closes r.h., 3 closes l.h.; 3 closes r.h., 2 closes l.h.]

1" wrist roller: 10kg x 3

2" wrist roller: 10kg x 3

2" finger roll: 1kg x 1
[I made this up. Hold both ends of the pipe and roll with fingers. Gotta go light!]

Extensor-flexor levering: 15-15, 15-15 @ 1kg

Plate hold: 1kg x 1 min
[I also improvised this. Hold the plate on the head of the leverage bar. You can rotate, twist, tilt, etc. the bar, but I just held the bar level, which was an awesome pump.]

+++

Had a reality check recently: I've only been working on my #1.5 for two weeks and have only been "seriously training" my grip for a couple months. Ergo, I need to slow down a tad, keep my wits, and forestall injury. I was reading various grip training sites earlier and was struck by how frequently the phrase "after a couple/few months" was used. A couple months, not weeks! I trained my grip quite heavily last Wednesday and my forearms, especially my left hand, were tender for a few days afterward. Life didn't make things better. In one class the following day, for example, two little girls asked me to lift them up, which I did (sucker!), and my forearms were aching for a little afterwards. An hour or two later a coworker asked to see the #1.5. He couldn't close it and wanted to see me do it. So I did (sucker!), once for each hand. Cue forearm aching for a couple hours.

The next night I hung out with some guys at a pool hall and gave a gyroscope "power ball" to one friend as a gift, whereupon a few other guys wanted to play with it. I got into the fun too (sucker!) and after we left one guy swung by to check out my home-gym equipment. Naturally I showed him the grippers and he tried to close the #1.5. He got very close with his right hand but had no chance with his left hand. The upshot is that he asked to see me close it, so I did (sucker!), a couple times for each hand. Cue forearm aching once more! I think it was the hard negatives I have been doing the last few workouts which have overtaxed my tendons. When I get back to crushing, I will "settle" for maximum efforts, even if they're "partials".

Last week my gf surprised me with a CoC #2 as a "Mother's Day gift" she asked me to pick up upon delivery (sucker!). She joked that I would tear it open and try it, but I explained that I'm actually afraid of it. My tendons have been complaining since late last week so last night I soaked my wrists in hot water and then iced them for at least half an hour. I decided to train today so I could take Monday off before training at the gym Tuesday. I lacked a certain confidence today and kept things short. I will ice my wrists again tonight but will not do any crushing at all, apart from what's involved in my normal workout, for a week. Meanwhile I will do plenty of icing and stretching. The week after I will see about a crushing workout, but won't do any hard negatives or extreme stabilizing work. This is good, actually, since I haven't been put in check by an injury for several weeks, even months. Very humbling, which is a path to virtue, too! So it's time to slow my roll and keep focused on prayer and study as I actively recover.

On top of that, the next two weeks I am doing a recovery cycle at higher volume (a 12, 10, 8 rep scheme at 90% of last week's intensity next week and at 95% the week after). I made some solid gains in the past month on my pilot run of the Even Keel regimen, so now it's time to get my endurance back up. Maybe that can be a real cycle: 4 weeks of Even Keel followed by 2 weeks of active recovery and higher volume. I have also taken to jogging again and need to keep at training my core.

Stay tuned.