jjfighter Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Hello, My name is Matt, I am new to this board. Thank you for letting me be involved here, I look forward to learning and hopefully contributing. I am a grappling martial artist, I say that because I do a variety of grappling arts (ju-jitsu, bjj, submission wrestling). I am also into strength training, and have been for the past 4 years. I found that it has greatly increased my abilities on the mat. Over the course of these past few years, I've noticed that I just have "average" hand strength for a grappler. Recently, I happened to train with a pipe installer of some sort. He worked with wrenches all day. When we rolled, his hand strength and grip were insane. To a point where it actually annoyed me and I had to change the focus of my game. Ever since then I've been trying to improve my grip. I also used to train with a top collegiate wrestler who got to work with Cael Sanderson (Olympic Gold Medalist). He said that when Cael grabbed you or got a hold of you, it actually hurt because his grip was that strong... that's just awesome. I was hoping some of you guys could point me down the right path or critique what I have been doing. I bought CoC-T and CoC #1 a while ago. I read a few FAQs here and bought the Mastery of Hand Strength and CoC Book as well. They just got delivered yesterday and I'm dying to read them over. Here is what I have been doing. (I just had shoulder surgery 2 months ago, so I have been recovering from that which has been putting a limit on my training) Sumo Deadlifts - thickbar. -I am doing about 3 warmup sets, and then just 5 reps, pyramiding up till I can't get 5 anymore. I started with a double overhand grip. Once I got above 225, I was losing the grip quicker. My right hand is still weaker from the surgery even though I am right-handed. After that I lose my grip, I switch to an under-over and continue going up. Towel Pulldowns -Wrapping a towel around the pulldown handle and doing them that way Hammer Curls -5x5 going heavy Plate Curls -Taking a plate (using 10lb plate for reps after hammer curls) just "curling" it using fingers and wrist CoC Training -I have them in my car and bring them with me to gym. I haven't given myself a dedicated training cycle to this yet. I just bang out about 3 working sets with the #1 after I warm up a bit on the T. So, what do you think I could improve on? My hands, wrists and forearms feel worked and decently sore a lot. Especially after thickbars. My total goal is to make people "fear my grip" and when I grab a hold of someone, they can't get me off. Thank you, I look forward to your responses. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoC#3 Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 welcome to the gripboard, start with grippers, you can do reps with the #1 til you can't close it anymore or you could try holds with the #1 try and overcrush the handles until they open. then do thick bar deads, try and do 3 sets or 3 reps here you can also try thick bar holds behind the back (if ok on the shoulder) this will stop you from 'cheating' by bracing it against the legs. towel work is a good idea, useful as it is similar to holding a gi (similar material). You could do some towel hammer curls aswell with a towel through the hole in a 45lb plate, for example. don't neglect pinching, i used to when i first started grip and it has lagged since but is improving now, get some ordinary plates like a pair of 25s turn them smooth sides out then put some chalk on your hands and lift away. when this gets easy move up to 35s try doing something like this 3 times a week to start with but always do grippers first if you do thick bar first your grip will be too tired and you won't be able to give grippers your all. good luck check out some of the articles in the faq section and happy training! Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teemu I Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Welcome to the board! Thickbar is good. As Sam already mentioned, pinching is one thing you could (and should) add to the mix. For your sport (and for anyone in general) I do suggest that you get yourself some block weights. Grippers are my favourite but despite that I do think that nothing beats blockweights for good gains on the overall hand strength. My hands have felt strongest when my block weight strength has been highest. You have the Mastery of Hand Strength which is a good start for a good knowledge base of grip training and as you will find out, Brookfield speaks very highly of the block weights. He is not kidding, various exercises with them tax your grip in ways nothing else does and they bring surprisingly fast gains on the overall hand strength that helps with everything else grip related. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalachiMcMullen Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 (edited) I actually have a few friends who train MMA and ju-jitsu is one of their disciplines as well. We've sparred a few times and I lost every one but if it came down to the ground game, I could get away pretty easy and he couldn't. He asked me what I did and I ended up showing him and a few others the wonderful world of grip A lot of them saw progress in the first 2 weeks when they started training some of the exercises I showed them. What THEY told me they like the most, and what they think helped them the most they told me "Thickbar Thickbar Thickbar and Pinch Pinch Pinch!" Those two should be #1 on your list and neither should be 2 or less. With martial arts or MMA, once you hit the ground you want control over your opponent. Grippers are great but the actual closing motion of the gripper isn't what will help YOU in martial arts. Like Sam suggested, do some "overcrushes" with your tougher grippers. What I like to do is put a dime between the handles and time myself until the dime drops. You could also hang a weight on a strap or belt and pinch it between the gripper handles for a strap hold. Thick bar will help make your hands strong when they have to squeeze in an open position like holding an ankle, wrist, arm, etc. Pinch teaches the entire hand to flex and puts major emphasis on the thumb. The thumb is 50% of the hand and, as John Brookfield correctly stated, strong thumbs=strong hands. Edited April 10, 2008 by MalachiMcMullen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerryg Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Welcome! The Diesel Crew has some great grip videos on youtube! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=68011F82592A6442 Also they have some great articles! http://www.dieselcrew.com/Articles.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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