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.

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

Hello DIESELS!

I am writing a quick post because I have been working with David Horne, Grip Legend, on a project recently and it is all coming together, now!

I will be having a load of Vulcan Grippers sent to me next week!

If you are not familiar with the Vulcan Gripper, I will give you some information on it.

The Vulcan Gripper was designed by David Horne. It is a fully adjustable Gripper that can be set at strength levels ranging from around a Trainer / Number 1 Gripper from IronMind to way up above a #4.

There are a few adjustable grippers on the market, but this one is the preferred one by most serious Grip Strength practitioners because it replicates the force curve of a torsion spring gripper very well.

The Vulcan with a Torsion gripper on top – the handles match almost perfectly

For instance, the Ivanko Super Gripper and ViseGrip Gripper are adjustable, but their force curve does not match up to a torsion spring gripper. The Vulcan actually matches up very well.

There is another aspect of the Vulcan that I like in particular. The handles do not have any knurling. Because of this, you can do a LOT more volume in your training with it because your skin does not get pummeled by the knurling that is on most torsion spring gripper handles.

I was speaking with Paul Knight one time. Paul is a guy with one of the best Crushes in Grip Sport, and he said that the lack of knurling on the Vulcan actually made his knurled handle Gripper strength even better, and it makes perfect sense. Even with the lack of knurling, you still can get a good bite on the Vulcan handles, but when you go back to torsion grippers, you get even better bite!

The other advantage of the Vulcan, and this is perhaps the most important, is that you won’t need to buy so many Grippers in order to train a wide spectrum of strength levels. That can get pretty expensive, especially if you buy them one at a time. With shipping most grippers are about $30 apiece, so four of them bought separately is $120.

The Vulcan cost only $97, a substantial savings.

The Vulcans are being shipped to me next week. You can pre-order yours right now.

If you order by 8/6/11, you will get a free video showing how to train with the Vulcan Gripper for Complete Crush Grip Domination. This video will show you everything you need to know about adjusting the spring, getting a good set, progressing in crush strength, and how to set up your own program.

The Vulcan Gripper is also the gripper that is used in the World’s Strongest Hands Series, which starts up on August 13. With this contest becoming an annual endeavor, the Vulcan could potentially come a staple in many more competitions down the line.

The new Vulcan Gripper, the V2

The Vulcans that are coming are the new design, the V2, so if you are a Gripper Collector and already have a V1, you can add this one to your collection.

If you are wondering about whether the two versions function differently, they do not. The new Vulcan is simply laser-cut, so the look is a lot cleaner, but they both have the same smooth action and powder coat.

In fact, the V2′s are being used in the World’s Strongest Hands Series this year, along with the V1′s, so if you want to get in on the action, here is your chance!

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. If you need a lighter Spring, I have a small quantity of Orange Springs that are lighter than the standard issue Silver and Black spring. These are $19.99 plus shipping.

Hello DIESELS!

If you go to a website and it talks about Grip Training and how there are only three forms of Grip, you might want to go somewhere else for your information. The Wrist is extremely important in developing a truly strong grip, especially when you consider that Grip is everything from the elbow down to the fingertips.

With that in mind, this week’s challenge is the 25-lb / 10-kg Plate Curl for Reps.

The Plate Curl should a staple in the routine of any Grip Competitor, Strongman Competitor, and really any athlete who has to have strong, injury-free wrist and fingers in order to excel. Below are some of the reasons why plate curls are so important for athletes.

Benefits of the Plate Curl

• Wrist Strength – If you are used to hitting endless repetitions in the Wrist Curl, then this movement will be a welcome change for you. It trains the flexors to fire and maintain the joint angle in a static position, so it is a perfect complement to the more dynamic wrist training movement, the classic wrist curl.
• Finger Stability / Toughness – In order to keep the plate straight, the finger flexors must also fire intensely throughout the movement. Bracing the plate in this manner is very intense, especially for the 60-second time limit. This movement strengthens the fingers in this position and makes them more injury-resistant, so this movement is great for athletes who can not afford to have their fingers messed up.
• Thumb Endurance – While the wrist flexors are doing the majority of the work here, the thumb is also recruited heavily here as well as it is hooked over the rim of the plate. This long duration flexion will test the mental toughness of the competitors
• Wrist Stability – While the wrist flexors are used in order to keep the wrist straight during the movement, the extensors are also firing synergistically in order to keep the joint stable throughout the range of motion
• Complete Lower Arm Tie-in – The best Grip Training movements for athletes in sports other than Grip are ones that make the entire lower arm unit work together all at the same time. The Wrist Curl is one of those which accomplish just that, with movement at the elbow, static contraction at the wrist and thumb, and static to eccentric contraction at the fingers.
• Forearm Size – This movement is a great forearm mass builder. The entire forearm flexor acreage is put under load with this one so a great deal of stimulation takes place. Doing this regularly can blow your forearms up BIG TIME!

Video Guidelines

To submit a video, you must use the following guidelines:

• Title: “DieselCrew.com – Plate Curl for Reps”
• Tags: plate curl, wrist strength, grip endurance, finger stability
• Description: http://www.dieselcrew.com – Grip Strength Challenge – Plate Curl for Reps

Rules

Here are the rules for this week’s Grip Strength Challenge.

1. Take a 25-lb or 10-kg plate and support it on the flat, smooth side with the fingers. Hook the thumb over the lip of the plate in order to hold it in your grasp.

2. Begin with the plate in contact with your thigh. Keeping the wrist as straight as possible, curl the plate up towards the forehead and lightly make contact.

3. Perform this lift for 60 seconds, getting as many repetitions as possible. Hand switches are permitted, as well as chalk. Wrist supports of any kind are not allowed for this challenge.

DIESELS, I will be watching form like a hawk. Keep the reps strict as possible. Any throwing of the weight using the shoulder or thighs is not allowed. If you need to set the plate down or rest at the top or bottom, that is fine, but no body momentum on this one.

Scoring

Since different weighted plates might be used for the challenge, we will use the scoring system used in the Kettlebell Bottoms-up Press Challenge, as shown below…

You do not have to weigh your plate on a scale, but you do have to show what the plate is on camera (25-lb or 10-kg) as the 3-lb difference in plates will certainly make a difference.

If you are unsure of how to perform the Plate Curl for Reps, here is a video demonstration.

How to Perform the Plate Curl for Reps

That is all there is to it, DIESELS. I look forward to your submissions. God luck with the challenge, and remember to comply with the Video Requirements or else I will come to your house and Two Hands Pinch your throat, and NOBODY wants that.

Jedd Johnson

Find out the training methods I use
to continue to increase the Two Hands Pinch World Record
each and every year!