I’ve recently come to know that some people do not realize that I run another website called The Grip Authority, so I wanted to make a post here to talk about what the Grip Authority is, what you can find there, and also to share some feedback I have gotten from some of my subscribers I work with there.

The Grip Authority originally started out as a page where we talked about the benefits of Grip Strength training, since back when we first started speaking at seminars no one really knew what Grip was or why it would be important to talk about training for hand strength.

Now, fast forward about 8 years and all kinds of sites speak specifically about Grip Training and why it is important to do so.

Unfortunately, many of those sites provide the same recycled content, advice and exercises.

In the summer of 2009, I decided I was going to take Grip Strength instruction, Feat of Strength execution, and Grip Sport Preparation to a whole other level and began plans for turning the Grip Authority website into an affordable monthly membership site for those who wanted to work with me toward their goals.

I launched The Grip Authority in January of 2010. Since then I have covered a wide variety of topics that have included very common topics such as Gripper Training, Nail and Steel Bending, and many varieties of Pinch Training, plus other lesser known types of training such as Anvil Lifting.

Nearly 100% of the content I provide is by request of the subscribers in one way or another. For instance, with each new member, I ask them for their top three goals and with this information, I am able to provide content for them that will help them accomplish what they want to where Grip Strength is concerned.

For example, one of my most recent subscribers is a woman trainer from California who is gunning for the Big 6 Feats of Strength: Braced Bending, Non-braced Bending, Phonebooks, Cards, Horseshoes, & Nail Driving. I am preparing a coaching video specifically for her on her short steel non-braced bending technique.

Another feature that I have begun including on a monthly basis is a coaching call recording. I take questions from the members throughout the month and compile them for an mp3 that the members can download and listen to at their convenience. It’s all about helping them attain their goals.

TGA has very little Hair Metal content, unfortunately…

Now, not all of the stuff is made in direct response to what the members are looking for. Sometimes, I bring reports back from trips I take or seminars I do and share my experience, especially if I am training with someone and a technique I use is an eye-opener for them.

For instance, in a trip I took in July of this year, I was swapping stories with Richard Sorin and showing him some stuff with the Blob. I showed him some hand placement and training techniques that I use with Blob and Block Weight Training and afterwards Richard said, “I just learned more in 15 minutes about Grip Training that I have learned in the last 15 years.”

That was an awesome trip that I enjoyed immensely and to hear that I impressed the original Blob lifter with my knowledge made me feel great, so I instantly came back from that trip and shot video of the same techniques I shared with him and I called it “Things I Taught Richard Sorin,” so that my subscribers could benefit from it and put it from action.

I got some feedback on that segment from one of the members, Rick Giese, shortly after posting that segment.

This has proven to be a huge topic over time, because Block Weight Training is major aspect of many people’s training. Block Weight Training is one of the most beneficial (and yet simple) forms of Grip Training, and there are some things you can do to get a bit better grip on a Block Weight. This can lead to doing a few more reps in Block Weight Deadlifts or Cleans and can really increase your results.

Another of my most recent subscribers, Kyle Lapinsky, said after just a few days of being on the site:

If you are looking to improve your grip, I can help you get there. You can join today for just $7 at http://www.thegripauthority.com.

By now, I have nearly 100 posts on various topics and am able to get people jump-started toward their goals because I keep things much more organized these days. I also started a Private TGA group on Facebook a few months ago for the members to be able to react with one another, share PR’s they’ve accomplished, send in questions for coaching calls, and discuss training topics.

It remains a work in progress, but I am very happy with how it has progressed as well as how much I’ve been able to help people improve.

If you’d like to check it out you can sign up for a 10-day trial at http://www.thegripauthority.com.

Looking forward to working with you towards attaining your goals.

Jedd

With all of this talk recently about Block Weight Training, such as Blobs, Fatman Blobs, Fatman Clones, and the Iron Grip Monster, it can be pretty easy to think that you either have to spend an exorbitant amount of money in order to develop Grip Strength through block weight training, or you have to completely ruin one of your perfectly good dumbbells by cutting one of the heads off.

However, this is just not true. In reality you can get a similar open hand training response by training with the regular dumbbells you already have. This opens up a completely new chapter of Block Weight Training that I like to call Inverted Dumbbell Training.

Inverted Dumbbell Training

Inverted Dumbbell Training is simply lifting a dumbbell by standing it up on one end and then gripping it by the end in the air. This type of Block Weight Training allows you to use the dumbbells you already have without any cutting or other time-swallowing tasks.

How to Perform an Inverted Dumbbell Lift

The video below will show you exactly how to perform an Inverted Dumbbell Lift:

Key Points About Inverted Dummbell Lifting

• Dumbbells come in many shapes and sizes, and the paint job will also vary. Paint condition can be a huge factor in lifting a dumbbell.
• An attempt should be made NOT to put the fingers or thumbs into the numbering or lettering of the dumbbell in order to maximize the challenge, however, using the print on the dumbbell as a training means is fine as long as it does not become a crutch.
• Be careful with very wide dumbbells. Wide open hand positions can injure the thumb’s soft tissues, which can be very hard to bounce back from. It is best to thoroughly warm up the thumb in order to keep it safe.
• Watch out for your toes. Any block weight, and especially an inverted dumbbell can come slipping out of your hand quickly. Don’t break a toe.

Biggest Inverted Dumbbell Lifts

Inverted Dumbbell Lifting is not really an event in Grip Sport by itself, however, they have shown up in a Medley here and there. To my knowledge, a 55-lb Dumbbell is the largest I have seen lifted in this manner. That is what I lifted in the video above, but I am not yet able to dominate it very time I try. I know I have also seen Andrew Durniat do this on a different dumbbell, and I think Brent Barbe got it as well.

Application into Your Training

Because of my goals of complete Block Weight Domination, I tend to try to go as heavy as possible 90% of the time when I do this lift. Using this movement in an athletic program or a general hand strength improvement program is not necessary though.

It can be just as effective at building beneficial grip strength by performing lifts with a lighter dumbbell and then adding weight, such as a chain wrapped around it or attached with a magnet, and then performing reps, or doing hand to hand transfers, hulas, or figure 8′s.

As awesome as Block Weights are, and as much as I love them, that does not mean the only way to get those benefits is with Single Dumbbell Heads. Inverted Dumbbells will get you these results very well, too.

Any questions, leave a comment below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Looking for other ways to train for thumb strength specifically? I love Grip4orce Handles and use them frequently in my training. Check them out through the banner below.

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.

Now, here’s the story behind this Loading Pin.

In March of this year, I released Home Made Strength II: Grip Strength Edition, which shows you exactly how to build your own set of Grip Training tools from scratch, and one of the items was a Loading Pin.

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.

For more awesome ideas on how to build your own Grip Strength Training Arsenal, check out Home Made Strength 2 – Grip Strength Edition.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!

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

This week’s Grip Challenge can’t be any simpler.

It is a One Hand Deadlift using an Olympic or Powerlifting bar with a pronated Grip.

You must pull the bar to the position with locked knees and hips and an erect torso. You must then control it on the way down.

The biggest lift wins!! No hook grip allowed.

Here is a video demonstrating the lift.

Any questions, leave a comment below!

Otherwise, let’s get some submissions in here DIESELS!

Jedd