Glitch Likes Grip Training And Bending Stuff

[Glitch]

Hi!

This training log is for motivational purposes, both mine and perhaps yours; I aim to achieve three certifications which are a long, long way away and may never even happen, but one can dream.

These certs are the infamous Ironmind certs; Bending the red nail, certifying the Captains of Crush #3 gripper and also certifying on the Crushed-To-Dust challenge.

My current shape leaves a lot to be desired, but I try to provide occasional videos and status updates during my journey. Also I will, most likely, be attempting other certifications from other organizations along the way. I am also open to any suggestions, so if you have some certifications in mind which I could give a try on someday, please do share!

So what am I currently able to do?

Regarding bending, I have certified on the Horrido 4.8 bolt, DO style. I am currently training with 7" HRS stock at 5/16 inch / 8mm diameter, bridging my way closer to the red nail. I am also dabbling with DU and Reverse styles, having bent Ironmind blue nails with all three styles. I am also interested in training Heslep style, one pad style, perhaps even others when the time comes. However, braced bending is something I have little to none interest in, so that is something I will not be pursuing.

Regarding the CoC #3 and the CTD cert, I have closed a #2 MMS style. I am currently training primarily to be able to CCS a #2, and thusly making progress on the CTD cert. I can lift around 20 kilos with the IM Hub, however not consistently. My biggest weakness is the Rolling Thunder, which I only recently bought and have lifted only 46kg with it.

Nonetheless, my journey will never be really about the certs, but more about keeping myself in good shape and having control over my overall health via these exercises that I enjoy doing. I have Type 1 Diabetes with some really annoying quirks and maintaining my blood sugar is my number 1 focus in physical health. The certs are really just there to provide motivation and to have something to "go for", so to speak. That doesn't mean I value them less; that means that I enjoy the journey as much, if not more than the destination.

As usual, thank you for reading this and hopefully, if you've reached this far, you'll enjoy the process as much as I do.

[EmilBB]

Good luck with your goals! I think having small goals is important, so for the grippers portion I would suggest trying the RB cert from Germany. It's kind of like the MM cert, except you're only allowed to do TNS. Other than that, everyone uses the exact same grippers like MM. Which a lot of legends have closed, just to name a few: Jedd Johnson, Wade Gillingham & Paul Knight.

The lightest on the ladder is the RB210C which is rated 93, it feels lighter than 93 because it's super narrow (55mm spread). So you can probably do that one now, or at least in the near future. The cert is also "free", you only have to pay the shipping both ways. Just contact Simon on his instagram if you're interested: https://www.instagram.com/german.grip/

Here's the list of people that have closed each RB gripper: https://www.oldschoolstrengthclub.de/Zertifikation/RBGripper

 

Edited September 13 by EmilBB

[Glitch]

Progress as of 25th of September, 2024:

Took a few days off grip just to let my left arm heal from some nerve pain I've been experiencing. The pain only occurs when cutting steel bars with bolt cutters, so I have to find an another way to cut the bars (I've seen too many videos of people getting hurt from angle grinders, even with goggles, that... I'd rather do everything manually with a saw lol). Anyways, the CTD progress...

Rolling Thunder: Results have been same. 45 kilos is the median right now, sometimes I can get more up and sometimes less. I have to start structuring my grip exercises better and overall do more research on this.

IM Hub: Increased my PR from 20,9kg to 21,2kg. Still nowhere close to being able to consistently lift 20 kilos, but slow and steady etc.

CoC #2 CCS: I can again, though only after warming up my whole body properly, MMS close a #2 uh... 3 times out of 5? Depends a lot on how well I set it, gotta work on that consistency in this as well. If I set it well I can close it easily, even keep it closed for 5-10 seconds without a problem. If I set it badly, it's good if the handles get within one centimeter from each other. Consistency is key.

Bending training is going well, my right shoulder and left arm have gotten some well needed rest, and I feel fresher again. I sent a certification attempt video to Horrido few hours ago, in which I bent a 4.8 bolt One Pad style. Hand toughness has definitely improved, and with that my pain tolerance as well. Super pleased to get that one done, now all it needs is confirmation that it has been accepted. Or denied, should something be wrong in the video.

Overall feelings as for now: RT needs a ton of practice. Hub is going fine, seeing some progress and was glad to close a #2 again semi-consistent-ish-kinda-okay. Bending is still a priority as for now, the Red Nail being the main objective (just training for bending it is sufficient now, certifying is a different category altogether). As for the CTD and if I get there, the #3 CCS, I would love to use the excuse that I have 7 inch hands and that the RT / CCS closes are just not fair for me and blah blah blah... But then I tell myself: Grip harder. That's the reality. Some challenges suit me better and some suit me worse. Gotta make do with what I've got.

So as usual, onwards! Every day is a blessing and no matter whether there is progress or not, as long as there is fun in the journey, it is all worth it.

[Luke Blackwell]

3 hours ago, Glitch said:

So as usual, onwards! Every day is a blessing and no matter whether there is progress or not, as long as there is fun in the journey, it is all worth it.

   That's a great outlook. Just follow the program, enjoy the journey, and you WILL reach your goals

[Glitch]

Nearing the monthly update time, my progress and goals have changed slightly.

First, the positives; I finally conquered the infamous Ironmind Red Nail. Albeit it took 21 minutes, triple pads and crush pads in the end... it was within 2 inches (1.914 to be exact) ...it was there barely lol

Next step is naturally getting the red nail with single pads (preferably Ironmind pads), but I'm continuing with singles from now on. I just tried the red nail with fresh hands and managed not only to remove a callous from my finger, but barely got a dent in the red nail with only the Ironmind pads. So there is a lot of practice needed there.

Another positive is finally learning some technique on the RT; watched a few videos and put them into use with fresh hands today, got 43,2 kilos up consistently, could have maybe gotten a few kilos more but I decided to take a small win from that.

However about the negatives; I did train with the IM hub today and got really, really frustrated training with the CTD cert rules, which basically means having to wipe the hub before each lift; this way of practicing is not fun because you are putting full gripping force into a donut-like object that feels like it is coated with butter and a touch of olive oil. I can barely lift 15 kilos consistently with the wiped hub, but when I give the hub a generous chalk surface, I can consistently lift around 24 kilos, with my PR being 27,4 kilos. So I will not be training with the CTD cert rules in the future.

Also I'll be putting all Ironmind cert training on hold for the foreseeable future as well; The gripper certifications are fine in my opinion (albeit some proper adjustments should be made to prevent cheating), I don't see much issue with the CTD cert either apart from having to wipe the hub completely free from chalk (If anything, I'd increase the hub weight to be 30 kilos but a chalk surface being allowed on the hub, also a #2.5 gripper CCS instead of #2 if we're going there). However, I have long disagreed with their Red Nail cert policy, and the new rules that were applied a few years ago did not help change my opinion (still no rubber bands for safety, having to keep the pads touching in the middle etc). I'm fully accepting that this sounds like a beginner crying about the toughness of certing and overall a "git gud" issue, which it partially naturally is because I lack the strength to bend the red nail that way, but it is my decision. I'd rather have fun with training than make it something I dislike because of someone elses rules.

TL;DR: Small progress on my training here and there (red nail mostly, with bad technique tho), but I won't pursue Ironmind certs specifically anymore. If I ever get to the level where I could do them, then I'll consider it again, but that is a huge, HUGE if. Currently I am nowhere near any of them, so I won't pressure myself with them.

[dean_redzic]

There are a few other bending certifications out there (horrido, eat chalk get big, bend sport Canada, steel bend Russia etc) with better rules. You could focus on them for a while

[Glitch]

5 hours ago, dean_redzic said:

There are a few other bending certifications out there (horrido, eat chalk get big, bend sport Canada, steel bend Russia etc) with better rules. You could focus on them for a while

I have actually done two certs for Horrido so far (4.8 with DO style and One Pad), ECGB and BSC are planned when I get enough money saved to buy the steel I want from both (living in Europe has its downsides in this case, the postage and customs are very... unfortunate to say the least).

In regards of gripper certs, I am very happy about the new Mash Monster (the previously mentioned RB gripper certs sounded cool, but TNS closes aren't really my thing with these 7 inch hands). Especially since they're considering sending a few packages to Europe, so having them in circulation with substantially more forgiving shipping costs is super, super cool from Cannon.

I was a bit too harsh on the Ironmind certs on my previous post, it is mostly that I want to focus on the fun side of training from now on, without taking any pressure from explicitly training to lift 20kg with a wiped hub and so on. I'm sure that with training, my overall grip strength will improve and thusly I can check every once in a while how the hub feels without chalk as well, and how my bending translates to the cert rules etc. Time will tell. Right now I am super into the RT training, even with small hands the thing is a blast to train with!

Also I'm considering making a baseline PR list of the "commercial" grip tools I have (be it Ironmind or other manufacturers, nothing self-made or custom stuff etc), which I'd update with these posts. Makes following progress much easier.