Saturday, December 31, 2011

GHP gripper review and Level 7 MMS close

I decided to do a quick video review of the new Gillingham High Performance grippers and attempt a close with the Level 7 at the end.  I had previously opened and closed the Level 5 GHP on the day I got them from the Gripper Superstore so I already knew that these are fantastic grippers.

These grippers are available at http://www.grippersuperstore.com/store.aspx?cat_id=26 and in my opinion are a great value and will be an invaluable addition to your gripper collection.



In my opinion these are the nicest grippers on the marked currently.  Wade Gillingham of the Gripper Superstore really did a fantastic job taking years of gripper training experience and incorporating the best of the best into these grippers.  Here's a highlight of some of the many features:

-Beautifully polished springs that come already lubed from the manufacturer
-Consistent handle mounting depth
-Sharper knurling on the palm side handle than the finger side so the gripper doesn't slip around but the fingers don't get torn up as much
-4 lines on the finger side and 1 line on the palm side.  These were put here to make it easier to adjust your          hand position in order to make the grippers more challenging but it also makes it easier to position the gripper the same way every time you use it.
-Very clear and easily legible markings on the bottoms of the handles which make it much easier to get on video without having to zoom in or change the angle until you get a clear view.

-The bottoms of both handles are actually rounded instead of beveled which is much easier on the pinkie.  I haven't done many closes with these grippers yet but can already tell this feature will be a major advantage during higher volume workouts since the pinkie usually gets pretty tender from the beveled ends of other brands of grippers.


Anyway, without further ado, here's the video review with the Level 7 MMS close at the end.

Bench and grippers

12/31/11


Bench
45x20
95x20
135x40 (PR)
Bench felt much better today and I don't feel like such a wuss because I got all 40 reps and still had a couple left in the tank.  My shoulders also felt great so I think I'll start adding some weight and doing some sets of 10-12.


Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x5
#1.5x2
#2x1

CoC#3x1
GHP#5x1
GHP#7x1
The reason I did grippers was because I wanted to attempt to close the GHP#7 at the end of the video review I did (will be a seperate post) and wanted to see if my right wrist would be up to it.  Fortunately it was and I got an MMS close with it.  No doubt I could have closed it from a much wider set but that'll have to wait until my wrist is better.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Dead reps

12/30/11


I decided to shoot for one more PR for the year and decided on deadlifts with 225 for reps.  Last time I got 20 and this time I pretty much just gave up at 26 because mentally and cardio wise that's about all I had in me today.  The goal is 40 reps at this weight so as long as I get a PR each time I'll eventually meet my goal.  My main limitation is conditioning so once I start hitting the S&C work it will make a HUGE difference.

DO Conventional Deadlifts (225x max reps)
135x10
185x3
225x26 (PR)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfTp6UVUOU

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Not really a workout but...

12/29/11


This wasn't really a workout but I closed enough grippers and moved enough weight that I should log it anyway. Daniel sent me 8 grippers to measure on the redneck gripper calibrator for his upcoming grip competition and I always take at least 3 measurements per gripper to make sure I get an accurate reading.  Then I have to basically do a one handed deadlift to move the weight stack to the scale, then one hand deadlift it back off the scale.  So basically I closed a Captains of Crush Trainer thru #3 and a GNC250 and GNC300 with both hands and some of them a couple times.  Then one hand deadlifted from 80-150 about 50 times.  It turned out to be a good workout but now my right wrist is wasted again...mainly from all the gripper closes.

Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x10
#1x5
#1.5x5
#2x3

Closed in this order both hands before I measured each one (plus my own #3 to compare to Daniels)
GNC300x2 singles
GNC250x1
Daniel's #3x2 singles
My #3x1
#2.5x1
#2x1
#1.5x1
#1x1
Trainer x1

The best umbrella EVER

For those who know me know that I've been a martial artist for most of my life.  I've also trained with the Japanese sword for many years.  I saw this picture and thought it was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time, not that the cops would necessarily agree if they saw me walking down the street wearing it.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wanna split the deck?

12/28/11


Daniel Reinard is hosting a grip comp in February in California and part of the medley is card tearing.  Since I've never tried it before I decided it was time to start training for it so I bought a bunch of cheap dollar store decks.  I didn't think I'd get through a full deck first try but figured I'd give it a shot...jokers and all.  I was surprised how easy it actually was.  Probably the toughest part was keeping them from slipping all over the place once I started the tear.  In this video I actually end up just twisting the final part but the first time I did it it was an actual tear.  I don't really have any technique, just grip and rip but it'll get cleaner as I practice it more.  Anyway, here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PsliUh5yS0

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Axle OH Press max day

12/26/11


Axle OH Press
20x10
65x5
105x5
185x1
205x1
215x0

I'm a bit disappointed with missing at 215 but I guess after so long of not doing any shoulder presses and the shoulder issues I've been dealing with anything over 2hundo is acceptable.  I failed with 215 when my lower arms got to parallel which is where the triceps start to really come in so at least now I know my weakness.  I haven't done any direct arm work in quite a while so I think I'll overcome this weakness pretty quickly once I start putting on the Gunz show again.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Tuggy

12/22/11


I bought a IMTUG 6 used from someone on the Gripboard so I decided to do a TUGGY workout at work.  I've repped my IMTUG 5 22 times and can't quite close my IMTUG 7 yet so I wanted to see how I could do with the #6.  I had to clean and oil the spring since it was dirty and rusty but still managed to smash it the first time righty and after a couple times got a couple closes with it lefty so it'll be a good stepping stone between the #5 and #7.

IMTUG's (superset #5 reps with #6 single attempts)
IMTUG 5
5,3,2,3,3
IMTUG 6
5x1-2 closes lefty, 4 closes righty (PR)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Supersetting deadlifts with tree trimming

12/20/11


I decided to superset axle deadlifts with hanging ornaments on the tree with my wife and daughter.  It went pretty well and I didn't even drop any :)

DO Axle Deadlifts (sumo) 531
105x5
195x3
240x5
270x3
305x9 (396)(PR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbU3RIzG0Ms


Deads is all I had time for today since I had a lot of running around to do before and now it's time for work.  I'm very happy with this since it ties the reps I did last week with 15 lbs. more weight so my grip must be getting stronger...I hope.  Next week is supposed to be a deload week so maybe I'll shoot for one last axle PR.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Shoulders and left hand grippers

12/19/11


Axle Overhead Press-531
45x10
65x5
115x5
130x3
150x12(210)


Narrow neutral grip pullups-FatGripz
3,3,3,3
I must be getting fatter since these pullups are harder than they've been lately

Defranco Shoulder Shocker
25 lb. plate, 15 lb. DB's
10,12,12 (PR)


Band Pull-aparts-green band
50,50

Shoulder dislocations-red band
15,15,15

Grippers-left hand only
Warm-up
Trainer x20-both hands
#1.5x10-both hands, right wrist started hurting real bad so stopped righty here
#2x5

MM1 replica (choked to 3/4") left only
5x1
No closes which was very surprising since I've closed this thing many times MMS.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

World's weakest bench???

12/17/11


Bench 
45x20
95x20
135x38 (PR) as sad as it is
My triceps pretty much gave up at around rep number 30 and I was only able to will another 8 reps.  I'm really pissed off that I couldn't get the full 40 reps with this weight.  The sad thing is this is technically a PR because with the exception of last week I've never done bench for this many reps before. The good news is that once I got warmed up my left shoulder didn't hurt at all.  I foresee a lot, A lot, A LOTTTTTTTT of tricep work in my future so I can eventually hit 225x40.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Squats...it's what's for breakfast

12/16/11


Let me start off by saying that I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning because it was the 3rd day in a row of barely any sleep.  I decided to go to the gym anyway for squats since my POS "power" rack is only rated for 300# and my last set was supposed to be 310 for max reps.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to eat because I was running low on time so that made me feel even weaker.  Needless to say I knocked out squats and left.  I still managed a PL squat PR but not one that I'm really happy with since I was hoping for at least 2 more reps.  At least it wasn't conditioning that was my limit today :)

PL Squats
135x10
185x5
225x3
240x3
275x3
310x9 (PR)(402)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Deadlifts and rain

12/13/11


It's a beautiful rainy day today and between that and deadlifts it just doesn't get much better than that!  Sumo Axle Deads felt great today but after the last set with 9 reps I just didn't have anything left in the tank to pull more than 385 conventional with the oly bar.

DO Axle Deadlifts-sumo-333
125x5
175x3
225x3
255x3
290x9 (PR) (376)
Last time I pulled on the axle I only got 270x5 so this is a HUGE PR for the axle reps.

DO oly bar conventional deadlifts
135x5
225x3
315x1
385x1
I was planning on going up to about 425 but I just had nothing left so I stopped here.

I ran out of time so I didn't get to do bent over rows or good mornings so I'll do them later this week.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Axle OH Press and grippers

12/12/11


I'm pretty happy with this workout today.  It was cold and rainy so I wasn't sure how strong I'd be so I just bundled up in sweats and got to work.  Last week I got 130x13 on OH Press and I'm happy that today I got the same amount of reps with an extra 10#.  It's still a ways from what I've done in the past but it's starting to come back so that's good.  It calculates out to about a 200 lb. max so that's decent and my left shoulder didn't hurt at all so that's even better.  I noticed that my sticking point is when my arms are about parallel to the floor which tells me my triceps are the weak point so I'll be doing a lot of tricep work since no doubt this will also be the weak point when I start benching with weight again.

I also got a little PR on the shoulder shocker by toughing out 11 reps on the last set with the 15 lb. dumbbells.  I never would have thought 15 lbs. would EVER feel heavy but these non-stop circuits are brutal and I always end up with a crazy pump in my shoulders and traps.


Axle Overhead Press-333
65x10
85x5
110x3
125x3
140x13 (200)


Defranco Shoulder Shocker
25 lb. plate, 15 lb. DB's
10,10,11 (PR)


Band Pull-Aparts-green band
50,30,20

Shoulder Dislocations-red band
15,15,15

Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x10,10
#1.5x10
#2x5

174# 3.5 (1" block set)
Got it down to 1/8" again but my wrist is so sore I couldn't really give it my all.  The set hurt and the squeeze was torture so I think it's time to back off grippers for the rest of the year.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Chokin' out more PR's

12/9/11


Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x20
#1.5x10
#2x5
#2.5x1

174# 3.5 (choked to 1")
10x1
8 full closes righty (PR), none lefty but several were very close

174# 3.5 (1" block set)
2x1
no closes either hand, down to about 1/8" righty

This ended up being a very gratifying workout.  I got a huge PR with this gripper choked to 1" since on Monday I was only able to get a couple closes with it set here.  On the 2nd attempt however, I hurt my right wrist again.  I exploded real hard into the close and something got tweaked in my wrist and it hurt pretty bad for the rest of the workout.  Obviously it didn't affect performance since about 6 of the closes were what I'd call Hulk Smashes.  It'll be interesting to see how I do with 1" block set attempts with fresh hands and a non hurting wrist.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Bench, finally...and grippers

12/7/11


My shoulders were feeling pretty good so I decided to try some very, very light benching to see how it would feel.  I just knocked out 3 sets of 40 reps to really get the blood flowing to them and keep the weight light and  it felt pretty good.  I also had the best pump in my boobs and triceps that I've had in a LONG time.

Bench
45x40
95x40
115x40

Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x20
#1.5x15
#2x5
#2.5x1

Rich 3.5 (choked to 3/4")
6x1-3 closes righty (PR), none lefty but pretty close
This is a big PR because last week I wasn't very close to closing this righty at 3/4" so I'm happy with this!

#3 (choked to 1") explosive singles with 2 second overcrush-45 seconds rest between reps
5x1 both hands.  These felt great and I was surprised how powerfully I was able to close this lefty.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Squats

12/6/11


PL Squats-555
135x5
185x5
225x5
260x5
295x12 (PR)-stopped due to conditioning, not strength


Axle RDL
95x10
115x10
135x10-stopped here because I was nauseous

Today I'm still sick and had no strength but decided to knock out squats anyway.  It's also really cold so I just couldn't keep warmed up but squats were still ok.  I kept waiting for my strength to give out on the last set of squats but I just kept rocketing out of the hole until my conditioning gave way again and I had to stop due to not being able to breathe anymore.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Boulders and grippers

12/5/11


I'm running another cycle of 5/3/1 using that protocol for the first power exercise followed by accessory lifts in the 8-10 rep range for hypertrophy.  I'm using 170 for my OH Press max this cycle which I think is a little low but it felt good on my shoulders and I'd rather go lighter than too heavy.


Axle Overhead Press-555
65x5
85x5
100x5
115x5
130x13

Defranco Shoulder Shocker
25 lb. plate, 15 lb. DB's
3x10 (PR)

Reverse Pull-aparts-green band
40,30,30

Shoulder dislocations-red band
3x10

Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x20
#1.5x10
#2x5
#2.5x1

174# 3.5 (choked to 1")
5x1-2 closes

#2.5 (choked to 1") explosive singles w/2 second overcrush
5x1


Sunday, December 4, 2011

DO Axle Deadlifts

12/4/11


DO Axle sumo deadlifts
105x5
195x5
285x1
352x1 (PR)
360x1 (PR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vs5txb2NB0


This wasn't meant to be a full workout today just a PR attempt.  Daniel decided to one up me after my 350# pull by pulling 351.8# so I had to try to set the bar higher.  It was only my 2nd time ever pulling sumo so my technique is still off a bit but it felt pretty good and plenty light.  Grip wise I think 360 is about my max for now but I'd like to get another 5 lbs. by the end of the year so I'll be hitting thick bar pretty heavy over the next few weeks.

Choke him out!!

12/1/11


Grippers
Warm-up
Trainer x20
#1.5x10
#2x5
#2.5x1

Rich 3.5 (choked to 11/16")
6x1-3 closes (PR)


174# 3.5 CCS
2x1-down to 5/16" R, 1/2" L-(PR)


I know I said that this month was going to be all choker work but I just had the urge to test myself CCS with my 3.5 and was happy to get it down this low.  I think last time I tried it was about 1" from closed so this is pretty good progress.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

November 2011 in review

Here's an overview of some of my PR's that I accomplished in November.  I started out with some good strength and conditioning work but managed to mangle my left shoulder pretty good at the beginning of the month so that took the wind out of my sails a bit.  It's feeling pretty good now though so hopefully I'll be able to consistently add more upper body S+C work soon.

The month started off on a huge positive with a successful certification attempt with the Mash Monster level 2!!  This is a great achievement as I've been looking forward to this for a long time.

Grippers
Mash Monster level 2
Rich 3.5 choked to 11/16"
Big Nasty #4 CCS down to 1"
#2 CCS x27 reps
#2 MMS x35 reps
IMTUG 5 x22 reps righty, 15 reps lefty

Pinch
BlobZilla with 27.5 lbs. on the deloader
2x35's+13.5 lbs. added

Thickbar
Rolling Thunder-172 lbs. lefty
DO Axle deadlift-350 lbs.

Weight lifting
PL Squats-285x10
High bar squats-225x25
DO deadlifts-225x20
Good Mornings-135x12

I'm hoping my left shoulder will be feeling good enough to start doing some reverse bending again this month.  I'll start with some 60D's and probably just try to work up to doing some light volume a couple times a week without doing the crushdown.  The crush is what really stresses my shoulders and right now is much stronger than my reverse kink so I think I'll be ok not doing it for a while.

I plan on really hitting several strength and conditioning workouts each week to start increasing my work capacity and cardio conditioning.  That was my limiting factor on squats and deads for max reps.  It'll also really help with the fat cutting.  I'm also hoping that my shoulders will be good enough to let me start some light db benching so I can start training bench again soon and attack those goals as well.