3 Days A Week?

[GatorGrip]

CNS-central nervous system

The vertebrate central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. These lie in the midline of the body and are protected by the skull and vertebrae respectively. This collection of billions of neurons is arguably the most complex object known.

The central nervous system along with the peripheral nervous system comprise a primary division of controls that command all physical activities of a vertebrate. Neurons of the central nervous system affect consciousness and mental activity while spinal extensions of central nervous system neuron pathways affect skeletal muscles and organs in the body.

Overtraining

A physical and metal state which occurs due to excessive frequency, volume, or intensity of training, resulting in fatigue (which is due also to a lack of proper rest and recover).

Here is a very good article covering the Who, What, When and Where of Overtraining:

Here's how to deal with a new problem ­ the 'unexplained underperformance syndrome'

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archiv...g-syndrome.html

[Shenandoah]

Great link, Gator!

Thanks!

[kyle102887]

Yes, that is far too much direct forearm work.

You think so? I do levering and wrist curls and all the stuff at least 5 days a week......I don't get very sore though and yes the workouts are intense.....so maybe genetics allows me to do so.....all I know is that it's not to much for me sometimes I feel like I need to do more.

[steelbiceps]

I've never done the KTA, but from what I gather, it's intense, has little rest, and works very well for a lot of people. So, if that's any indication, three times a week isn't overkill for grip work.

[Jeremy Sipple]

Central nervous system

Kurt

interesting concept of training grip everyday.

[rying]

Totally depends on what you're doing. Spending 40 minutes doing 9 different exercises for low reps and long rest between sets is not going to be too much. I've been doing the following routine for a little while for fun and to balance everything out--and with good gains and no pains! Takes a little over 30 minutes and I train almost daily.

One hard set of 5 reps on each exercise, 3 minutes between exercises, train 3-6 days/week:

grip machine, wrist curl, reverse curl, front lever, rear lever, supination, pronation, dynamic thumb, finger extension.

Lots of variety without overtaxing anything.

Doing 40 sets of wrist curls for 15 reps to failure with one minute between sets will do bad things to you in a hurry!

[StalwartSentinel]

I've never done the KTA, but from what I gather, it's intense, has little rest, and works very well for a lot of people. So, if that's any indication, three times a week isn't overkill for grip work.

It isn't. You can't do KTA for the rest of your gripping career. Your hands and forearms won't take it and you will stagnate. KTA is meant to SHOCK your muscles into growing stronger. No matter which road you choose, you will always need to change and adapt your routine once in a while, in order to get to the next level.

Yes, that is far too much direct forearm work.

I think 3 days of 40min direct work would be too much, but people are different, it would run me into the ground. For me to go hard on grippers, pinch, and do forearms it doesn't take 40min and I have backed down to 2x per week and saw some good gains.

About bringing up SQ, BP, etc while gripping. From my experince, say you are going hard on KTA, and you are trying to bring your bench and squat up with high 85-95 percent of max, I crash and burn on everything with grip going first in a few weeks. If you want to bring up your overall body strength, cut back the grip work and it will go up. If I want to focus solely on grip, I will need to slack my weights back down.

My strength overall and grip is slowly climbing now and my entire workout takes 15-20 minutes somedays and 30-45 on others, throw in 30 minutes of grip/forearm work 2x per week and I am done.

Shenandoah, that depends. Are you still sore from the prior workout when you begin the next one? When you reach a certain level it may not be possible to train that often during the week and at times I found that I made my best grip gains training every 7-10 days. The rest of the time I spent reading about the PR's the jerks here set and it made me want to cut my recovery short, but the wait was always worth it.

And I mean jerks in the nicest way possible.

Listen to these guys!

[steelbiceps]

I've never done the KTA, but from what I gather, it's intense, has little rest, and works very well for a lot of people. So, if that's any indication, three times a week isn't overkill for grip work.

It isn't. You can't do KTA for the rest of your gripping career. Your hands and forearms won't take it and you will stagnate. KTA is meant to SHOCK your muscles into growing stronger. No matter which road you choose, you will always need to change and adapt your routine once in a while, in order to get to the next level.

Well, I meant the KTA as the KTA is meant to be done -- in other words, for about 6 weeks, then with an off or slower period. Sorry. That wasn't clear in my post.

I was thinking of comparing it to another muscle group -- say, chest. I couldn't handle three 40-minute chest days a week, although I know guys who do it (and who may be overtraining). On the other hand, I make good progress with one 2-hour chest day per week. No matter how hard I hit a muscle, a week seems to be enough time to bounce back.

Of course, chest to forearms is apples to oranges. Nobody would seriously advocate a KTA type of program for the chest, with 5 or 6 days straight. Forearm muscle is at least more everyday than chest muscle.

[Clay Edgin]

Also keep in mind that guys like Big Steve train all day, every day and are incredibly strong.

[Shenandoah]

What is KTA?