If you’re interested in Grip Training, you are going to need a Loading Pin.
There’s just about no way around this fact.
These imperative items can be bought on-line easy enough and they will be shipped to your house within a few days.
The Ninja Star Tattoo left Mike’s Bank Account Punched Out
But if you are strapped for cash and broke worse than Mike Tyson, then you might need to pursue another option, because these things can be pretty expensive…
Grip Strength Tool: The Loading Pin
One of the tools that many people who train for Grip Strength routinely use is a Loading Pin. This is used in order to put the weight plates on and then it is connected with a carabiner or S-hook to whatever implement it is that you are using for that session.
There are many types of Grip Training Tools that use Loading Pins:
Rolling Thunder Handles
Hub Lift Devices
Vertical Bar Devices
Pinch Block Devices
One Hand Lift Device
…And the list just goes on and on.
I literally have like 4 loading pins in my gym. Some of them ALWAYS have weight on them because I keep my warm-up weights for certain lifts, like the Rolling Thunder right on them.
Other Loading Pins get used for other specific purposes, such as loading pins of different heights that I use for changing the distance I pull.
Because Loading Pins are so important, I want to show you how to build your own loading pin for NOTHING compared to the prices often seen on-line.
Hundreds of people gobbled up this On-line DVD (you download it to your system, kind of like Netflix, only you keep the video and can watch it whenever you want) and started making their own stuff and saved a bunch of money while also arming themselves with the tools they needed to turn their hands into legal weapons.
One guy who picked up the product and really took action building the stuff was Justin Burns. He went through the list of equipment like a windstorm and built most of it right away.
Then a few days after he bought HMS2, he emailed me and shared with me an even easier way to build your own loading pin.
I asked him if he’d be willing to share the plans with the Diesel Universe, and he wholeheartedly obliged. Check it out…
How to Build a Loading Pin
Equipment Needed to Build a Loading Pin
10 inch nipple (1.5 inches)
1.5inch cap
3/8 eye bolt
1.5 inch floor flange
Steel epoxy
Tools Needed to Build a Loading Pin
Hand drill
3/8 drill bit
Pliers
Procedure for Building a Loading Pin
1)First thing you need to do is take the cap and find the center of it, then using your drill, make a 3/8 hole (if you have a vise this would be the best time to use it)
Once that is done, take your eye bolt, put some of your steel epoxy on the threads and put the eye bolt through the cap, tightening the nut with your pliers to make the two pieces one unit
2) Take your 10 inch nipple and your floor flange and put the steel epoxy on the threads of the nipple and then twist the floor flange onto the nipple
When that is done it will look like this:
3) Thread the two assembled components together and you’re done. You have yourself a loading pin no welding needed.
BAM! There you go, DIESELS.
It can’t get much easier than that. Now, if you don’t have a drill, then call around to your friends and find somebody that has one. Think of somebody who’s really handy and builds stuff a lot. This is a snap for them.
Go buy them a beer or bring them those video tapes you borrowed a while back and before you leave ask them if they can help you build a loading pin. Chances are they love building stuff so much they will jump at the ability to pull their tools out.
After three long months, World’s Strongest Hands Series 2011 is complete.
In case you are not familiar with WSH, it started in 2010 with a 4-leg series of contests for a cumulative score. This year was the second time it was held, and there were three Legs you could attend to accumulate as high of a score as possible.
The Legs were held on August 16, September 11, and October 8 and on each leg there were 4 events. The Vulcan Gripper and the Two Hands Pinch were held on each leg and then each event was rounded out by two out of three possible Grip Topz apparatus, the Shallow Hub, the Stub, and the Half Penny.
After the dust settled, I am proud as hell to be able to say that I finished number 5 in the Open Class (over 82.5 kg bodyweight). This was a complete surprise to me, as my first two legs went very poorly, especially in the Two Hands Pinch, due to extremely humid conditions, and my standing going into Leg 3 was down around number 10.
Here are the top 5 in the Open and Light Classes:
At Leg 3, the events were Vulcan Gripper, Two Hands Pinch, Hub and Stub. Below are write-ups and video clips from each event.
Vulcan Gripper
Going into Leg 3, my top close in competition and in training was Level 17, but with the fortune of a good quick set on my third attempt I was able to hit an all-time best PR on the Silver / Black Dip Spring with a Level 18 close.
Below, is a quick video of several of the attempts from all of the competitors. Take note, as you watch the video and you will see, Jim Storch, USAW-certified Olympic lifting coach, competing in his first ever Grip Contest after many years of competition in Olympic Lifting and Powerlifting.
Two Hands Pinch
At Leg 1 and 2, the humidity conditions were repulsive for the Two Hands Pinch event. At Leg 1, I had forgotten to run the dehumidifier and at Leg 2 I ran it but it was so hot out and with so many people in such a small place, the Pinch Plates felt soupy.
I vowed there would be no humidity issues for Leg 3!
Prior to the Pinch event, we assessed the inside feel versus the outside feel and with a slight breeze and comfortable temperature, we decided to open the garage doors. Soon, the Two Hands Pinch device began to feel like its old self.
Instead of grabbing it and thinking you were trying to pick up a freshly caught Pickerel, it felt gritty and rough like so many contests of the past where the Pinch Gods looked down on me and smiled.
After the coin flip to see whether 54-mil or 58-mil would be contested first on the Pinch, we got started. The 54-mil group went first and many guys put up their first ever numbers on the European Adjustable Pinch device. One athlete, Sean Kovacic, traveling from Ontario Canada, got his first taste of Pinch Pr and Pinch Pain, as he posted a personal best, while also watching the apparatus slip out of his hands with absolutely no warning at all.
Soon, it was time for the 58-mil group. I chose to take part in this group for the first time ever, since my first competition on the 2HP since 2005. Shortly after Leg 2, I saw in training that 54-mil just was not feeling right. Testing out 58-mil brought about numbers about 20-lbs higher, so I continued training on it for the next several weeks, one time posting a legal lift in training of 240+ lbs which general means I am good for well over 250-lbs in competition.
For my first attempt, just to be safe and make sure I got on the board, I started out light at 235-lbs. That familiar feeling of radiant tension pulsating through my body as I compressed into the Pinch and continuing as I levered it up through action at the hips came back and I knew it was going to be a good day. I immediately requested 15 more pounds for my second attempt and 250-lbs felt just as good as I brought the Euro up to the target bar and controlled it back to the floor.
On that pull however, I had something happen that I have never had happen on the Two Hands Pinch before – I ripped the seat of my pants out. I opted not to change them, figuring that the rip would not phase me on my second try. A new record-weight of 265-lbs exactly was loaded on the device and I made my way to the platform. However, upon lifting the implement clear of the ground, I heard another loud rrrrrrrrrrrriiip, which slightly threw me off and the massive 265 came crashing back to the ground.
Now it was time for re-grouping. Now it was time for a wardrobe change. I sprinted from the gym, through the lower level of my mansion, up the many flights of stairs and up to my dressing room. There, my hair stylist was taking in some Angry Birds on her Smart Phone. I asked her to leave so that I could change into some sweats and she took off, flinging yellow birds at green pigs.
Now, when it comes to competition attire, my friends, I do not take things lightly. The shorts I was wearing that ripped were the off-white cargo pants that I was wearing in June when I went to Sorinex and in July when I set the record at 120-kilos. These dockers have become rather special to me, so in losing them to a wardrobe malfunction, I knew I had to choose wisely the pair of shorts or pants that I would go into battle with for my last attempt.
I knew there could be no other pair of competition pants to choose than my amazing fleece sweat pants which I was wearing when I first broke the record in 2009 and when I broke it again last year at World’s Strongest Hands 2010 Leg 4.
After pulling on these loyal threads, I took a breath to mentally prepare, told my hair stylist she could come back to her table, and marched back down stairs to the Den of Iron where I would make my final attempt.
As you can see, I came very close to completing the lift. I have watched this clip over and over and the only technical flaw I can pick out is that my speed to the cross-bar slowed tremendously. This tells me I need to do more speed work in my training, which is one of the things that has helped me tremendously over the years. In fact, I show a lot of this speed work in my DVD, The Road to the Record. It’s amazing that the same handful of tactics have continued to pay off for so many years.
Below are some of the attempts that I got on film of the other competitors. As you will see, the Two Hands Pinch is one of the most exciting events, and one that the crowd often gets the most crazy about.
You’ll also see, above, Daniel Reinard set the first of his World Records of the day for his weight class, 82.5-kg and under.
Shallow Hub
The next lift was the Shallow Hub, which is one of the Grip Topz. Normally Hub Lifting is a weakness for me, but with this device I have had some pretty outstanding results. I have been able to move my numbers up at each leg, and I even took a shot at the World Record on this lift, although I did not get it.
Daniel Reinard, from San Francisco, actually set a new World Record in this lift in the 82.5-kg and under class as well.
Stub
Testing Key Pinch, an ultra narrow form of pinching where the thumb squeezes against side of the index finger, the Stub is a piece of +/- 5/16″ steel roughly 1.5 inches long. It is very difficult to get a grip onto, but I think I have figured it out, as I showed my members at The Grip Authority, when I first started training heavily with them.
As you can tell, Leg 3 of WSH was an awesome experience. With the conditions nearly perfect for both humidity and temperature on a normally unpredictable Fall Day, many competitors were able to set new PR’s on multiple events.
For me, the next competition will be December 10th, 2011, at the Gripmas Carol in Zanesville Ohio. I have already begun training specifically for the event, and am ratcheting the intensity of my Two Hands Pinch training up a couple of notches because I am gunning to move the record up again, since I will not have the pressure of having to run the contest to any degree, like with WSH.
Also, I plan on continuing my focus on Gripper training for the next couple of weeks as I would like to have another go at the MM3, which I am all paid up for but have not tried since November of 2009, I believe.
If you competed at World’s Strongest Hands, share your experience in the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you!
All the best in your training.
Jedd
P.S. Check back later in the week for more video clips of some additional feat of strength challenges that we tried later on following the event!
P.P.S. The methods I used to break the record on the Two hands Pinch have continued to work over the years. If you want to jack up your thumb strength and get your own run for the record started, check out this documentary and employ the techniques yourself!
Check out this video from ESPN Sports Science, showing Gray Maynard, UFC Fighter.
Especially look for the Grip Strength Measuring Device that they use in the video, called a dynamometer.
The Dynamometer
The device that Maynard squeezes in the video is called a dynamometer.
While I am sure that Maynard has a fantastic Grip, one thing to take note of is that the numbers that come off a dynamometer can be very dependent on the set-up you use.
For instance, the way the handle is positioned, whether you set it properly, and how your arm positioned, can all have an effect.
Handle Position
The dynamometer (at least the one I used for years) has an adjustable handle, so you can test grip strength at very wide and very narrow settings.
Setting the Dynamometer
Positioning the handles properly in your hands can enable to pull a much bigger number on the device.
Arm Position
Whether your elbow is at your side or straight out in front of you as well as whether you keep your forearm in neutral or if you supinate during the squeeze can dictate synergistic muscular involvement during the crushing action and have an effect on the number you get.
I don’t want to take anything away from Maynard in regards to his Grip. All I am saying is that with a different test of grip strength, the comparison could have been much different. Obviously the dude’s grip is fantastic or else he would not be able to move up the rope that quickly.
I am glad to see something like Grip Strength get a focus in such a main-stream program.
Hopefully next time they test grip strength, they will use some torsion spring grippers or even the Vulcan Gripper for the Gripper Training.
Speaking of Gripper Training, I need to update you on the Gripper Training DVD I have been working on…
Gripper Training DVD Update
I have been working my ass off on the Gripper Training DVD, which I started talking about several weeks ago.
I had said before that I was close to releasing it, but as I went through it, I realized a few things…
I realized that there was more to be shot.
I wanted to cover more detail on Gripper training for you.
I wanted to give more viewpoints and more angles.
I wanted to make it seem like you and I were in the same room, training together, like I am coaching you to a new PR.
This thing is getting to be pretty damned AWESOME, and I know you are going to love it once it comes out.
In fact, while I wrote this quick post, I even thought of a couple more things to include in it.
It’s no mystery that I obviously love Grip Training. I do it every single day I train as long as I am injury free (and sometimes I still do it anyway if I am hurt, I just do something else).
My love for developing Grip Strength spilled into a love for competing at Grip Strength in 2003 and my obsession is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon.
Now, even if you do not love Grip Training yourself, you have to agree that having a strong Grip is an advantage, whether you obsess over grip training like me or not.
Advantages of a Strong Grip
Stronger, Heavier Lifts
With stronger hands and a better grip you can lift more weight in pulling and rowing exercises, you can handle more weight in pushing movements like the bench press, and you can control more weight in lifts the squat. Stronger Hands = Bigger Lifts
Better Endurance / More Reps / Better Progress You are limited in many case by the number of reps you can perform in an exercise. Imagine how much your progress would grow if you could do more reps in all lifts? One aspect that holds people back is their grip. Their grip fails or slips and they end up losing reps and cutting sets short. This is a bad equation only made worse by using the dreaded 6-letter word STRAPS.
Better Performance in Sports
Many sports depend on having strong hands and wrists: Baseball, Wrestling, Football, Rugby, Tennis – even soccer performance is increased by having strong thumbs for passing the ball back into play. With weak hands, you take a back seat to others on the court, field and mat.
Stronger Resiliency Against Injuries
If you do consistent work for the hands, wrists and forearms you build up strength and become resilient against injuries. You can take more bumps at a high intensity level and continue to play at a high level. If an injury does take place, the stronger athletes bounces back quicker. Unfortunately, the thumb is often neglected, which results in the incapacity to return to play which is something I will be covering later on this week.
These are just a handful of the benefits from having a Strong Grip, but I have found in my recent travels that some people are confused about what it takes to develop a strong grip.
Grip Training Myths
I believe in Bigfoot, but not in the following myths…
Grip Training Myth #1 – You Need a Ton of Grippers
First off, you do not need two dozen grippers in order to develop a strong grip. Having a bunch of them is a hell of a lot of fun if you want to have the ability to make small jumps in gripper strength increases, and it is a must if you plan to compete (unless you have the Vulcan Gripper), but if you are looking to just build massive grip strength for the advantages listed above, a couple of Grippers will do you just fine.
Grip Training Myth #2 – You Need a Huge Variety of Griplements
Next, you do not need a bunch of Griplements (specialized Grip Training Implements) to build a strong grip. Even though I have more Griplements than you can shake a stick at, and continue to look for opportunities to buy and build grip training equipment to expand my collection, you can by with a just a handful for variety.
Grip Training Myth #3 – Grip Training Takes a Lot of Time
Finally, you don’t even have to add time to your workout in order to develop a monster grip. You can simply replace some of the things you are already doing with more grip-intensive pieces of equipment.
And that is what I want to show you today – How to Implement Grip Training without Adding Extra Time to Your Workout. In order to do this, we will use a couple of simple Grip Training Concepts…
Grip Training Concepts
Grip Training Concept #1 – Evolution of the Movement
One of the principles in the Diesel Method is to go beyond the normal limitations of a movement and evolve it into something more challenging in order to increase the demands and as a result make you stronger and a better athlete.
There are many ways to do this, but one such way in order to bring about a more Grip Strength intensive training effect is by modifying the equipment used.
In the example below, instead of using normal equipment such as Powerlifting and Olympic bars, we will use Sandbags and Axles, which require a much more open-handed position and make the lifts more difficult to perform and more demanding on the hands, thus increasing Grip Strength.
Grip Training Concept #2 – Integration
Integration means that instead of just working the Grip in isolation, such as with Grippers or by pinching Block Weights to develop grip strength, we will be working much of the body all at the same time with the hands still being targeted heavily.
One way to accomplish Grip Training Integration inexpensively and effectively is with a Sandbag.
Benefits of Sandbag Training
The Sandbag is an excellent piece of training equipment. Specific models are sold on-line, such as the Ultimate Sandbag (you can get one here through my link: Ultimate Sandbags), or you can make your own sandbag from a duffel bag like I did years ago.
Aside from being versatile (sandbags last a long time), they also enable you to train with speed and explosion, and they work the grip.
Speed and Explosion – You can throw Sandbags around without mercy. This enables you to develop serious power and strength. Performing Cleans and shouldering movements with the sandbag also trains triple extension, a powerful movement pattern involving the ankles, knees and hips, which is found in many sports and is often trained with the Olympic lifts.
Grip Strength – Depending on where you grip the sandbag, you can bring about different levels of Grip and Forearm Strength. For instance if you grip it with an open hand like a bear hug or monkey grip, you will work your fingers, thumbs, wrists and forearms all the way up to the elbow. This is the best way to go about it for the Grip Training effect. You can grip the handles if you wnt to, but in my estimation, that takes a lot away from the benefits of the lift.
Metabolic Effects – Because Sandbag Training involves so much musculature you ended up torching a lot of calories and hitting your conditioning as well. Since it is so much fun, you don’t mind breathing so hard you burn your throat or the aching of the glutes because you know you are throwing around serious weight like it is a rag doll.
Benefits of Axle Training
The Axle is really nothing more than a long thick bar. Axles are sold at many on-line locations. The prices can be scary at first, often in the hundreds of dollars, but they come specialized with collar fittings and sometimes knurling. These additional features make them more expensive.
You can actually make your own out of just a pipe and it will get the job done. Joe Hashey and I show everyone how to make the most awesome Axle ever known to man in our Home Made Strength DVD as well.
What’s great about Axles is the fact that anything you can do with a barbell you can do with an Axle, you just can’t do as much weight or as many reps because the thicker grip tests your hand strength more.
Implementing Grip with Little Special Equipment and Zero Extra Time
One of the things I have been doing more of lately is back-to-back sets of lifts. It allows me to get more work done in a shorter period of time so I can spend more time working on Grip.
I told you I was obsessed.
Below is a video clip where I perform Sandbag Shouldering with Bent Over Axle Rows in a back-to-back fashion.
For this set, I performed 4 shoulders to each side followed by 8 reps in the Bent Over Row. The set itself is not that long, but the cardio demands far exceed normal set, plus you get the benefit of direct grip strength and forearm work while working the rest of the body as well.
If you are wondering about the rest of the workout, this combination was actually Part II. Part I was Pull-ups and Pull-aparts and Part III was Side Rows and Face Pulls. I would have liked to have done Deadlifts first or at least somewhere in the workout, but testing for it wasn’t going well, so I switched on the fly.
I also did a bunch of Thick Bar Work after all of this and got several good singles in the Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift, which i got on video but have not edited yet. Hopefully I can get to that soon.
I hope this article has been helpful in pointing you in some directions you can in order to implement grip strength training. A lot of the information out there leads one to believe you have to all this stuff with a bunch of excess equipment and spend a lot of time doing it in order to develop a grip that would scare the likes of Fritz Von Erich, but that just isn’t the case.
If you have any questions, please let me know by leaving a comment below.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
Click the image below to get the New Ultimate Sandbag
For this week, the Feat in the Classic Strongman Feats Tournament is Phone Book Tearing.
Here’s a summary of how the contest will run and how to perform the feat:
Need more info? Here you go…
Here are the rules for this week’s challenge.
First off, there is to be absolutely NO POPPING used. The Tear MUST BE DONE using the widely recognized legitimate means of phone book tearing called the Grip and Rip method, popularized by Dennis Rogers.
Second, the objective is to tear the phone book lengthwise, and for the most part parallel with the spine of the book. The angle of the tear may in fact change move toward or away from the spine, but the objective should be to go from the top of the book and end at the bottom of the book.
Third, bracing is permitted, as this is often done by even many of the best performing strongmen today, and I would imagine most of the Classic Strongmen of the past as well. However, this must be done in a manner that remains in the spirit of the feat.
How the Event will be Scored
The primary way this challenge will be scored is by a page count of the book. A clear shot of the pages should be taken on video of each section of the book, in order to get a solid count. For instance, many books have a white pages section, yellow pages section, and often a blue (governmental) pages section. All of these pages can be counted and added together in order to get the highest count possible. The total will be used as the base count.
Page counts will be rounded down into groups every 100 pages. So if the total comes to 1256 pages, then the book will be considered a 1200-pg book. To be considered a 1300-page book, it must have at least 1300 pages. If only one tear is put through the book, then 1600 beats 1500, beats 1400, etc.
Aside from the page count, the number of lengthwise tears will be the next factor. Multiple tears can be executed on the book, as long as they are fully completed from the top of the book to the bottom of the book. Cornering and notching the book will not count toward a store.
For instance, if two people tear a 1500-page book, and one person tears two slits the entire way through the book, then the person who tears the two slits will beat out the other person who only tears one slit.
However, since page count will be the primary factor, meaning if someone tears a book that is 1800-pages in half and another person tears a 1200-page book twice, the person who tore the bigger book wins.
Because multiple tears might be attempted, time will not be a factor, just as it has not been a factor in past weeks, so if you think you may be able to tear your book into multiple slices, then go for it, because whether you finish it in one minute or ten minutes, the time does not get factored in.
