I hope you had as much fun on Independence Day as I did.

Let me tell you a quick story about what I did yesterday.

My family always gets together on the 4th of July to play lawn games. Over the years, we have played bean bags, horse shoes, even ladder golf, but this year we played something different – Kan Jam!

For several hours yesterday afternoon I played Kan Jam. Kan Jam is a game where you throw a big yellow frisbee disk at black cylinder (the Kan) for points.

Sounds pretty stupid, but it’s a ton of fun.

The cylinder reminds me of one of those flat plastic sleds I used to sled on when I was a kid back in the 80′s, rolled into a cylinder shape. It has an open top in it and a slit in the side.

If you hit the “Kan,” or if your partner helps you in hitting the Kan or getting it into the Kan, you get points. If you throw it into the “Kan” via the top opening or the slit, unassisted, it is an automatic win. My partner threw it through the slit unassisted 3 consecutive times yesterday. This has to be a record somewhere.

Right now I want to tell you about what I feel will be an automatic win for my Gripper Training.

In order to keep my gains going, I have to constantly be tweaking my gripper training.

I network with some of the best grip competitors in the nation every time I compete in order to pick their brains about what they are doing differently that I might be able to steal and use in my own training.

One of the things I have been doing this year is what I call Gripper Drop Sets.

I first learned about Drop Sets when my primary focus for weight training was bodybuilding. Drop Sets involved hitting one exercise and then immediately moving to another exercise. I recently decided to try and apply this concept to gripper training.

With Gripper Drop Sets, I grab two grippers. One is on the heavier side and the other is on the lighter side. I hit the heavier gripper first and then immediately come in with the lighter one.

Here’s a short video clip showing you what I mean.

You can do this yourself with a pair of grippers, or even more than that. You can set up an entire line of grippers and just go down one after the other from heaviest to lightest or the other way around.

What innovative techniques are you working on with your gripper training? Post below in the comments and let me know.

You can check out even more posts about grippers by clicking here ==> Gripper Training.

All the best in your training,

-Jedd-

P.S. Did you see my Grip history post on Josh Hanagarne’s Blog? If not, check it out now: Napalm’s Grip History

P.P.S. If you got the newsletter I sent out yesterday, you saw that one of my ebooks is on sale right now for a patriotically low price. I will be sending out another one to let everyone know how quickly this sale is going to be ending, so make sure you sign up for it now.

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On June 20th, I went to Athens Georgia for the First Annual Woodall Grip Strength Challenge.

Below are some of the video clips from the contest.

Two Hands Pinch

The most common test of Pinch Strength is the Two Hands Pinch. The Two Hands Pinch is two 6 mm steel plates with rubber inserts between them.

The inserts are 6mm and 10mm and can be used to vary the thickness of the implement to allow the competitors to use widths that compliment the size of their hands.

There is a hole inside of the plates and inserts to allow for extra weight to be added on.

The objective is to grab the implement with both hands in a pinch grip and lift the implement high enough for the pipe to touch the cross bar 16.5 inches off the ground.

Here, I pinch 230, 240, and 245 pounds (on the second try).

This was by far the most I was ever pumped for a grip contest. The crowd was into it, the competitors were behind me, and I was feeling surprisingly well considering the woes I have been experiencing due to my thumb injury.

The next event was the Axle. The highlight of this event was Andrew Durniat breaking his own world record with a lift of 460+. He then went for 470+ and got it to knee height!

Next was the Rolling Thunder. Steve Gardener, Chad Woodall and Andrew Durniat all lifted ridiculous weight in this event.

The last event was the medley and it was sick. I had a rough time, but Chad got all but one implement, the shallow 45-lb hub. What a spectacle to watch.

After the event, we tried a few feats of strength. I did not do much because my back was killing me, but I did try my hand at the number 4 gripper that Aaron Corcorran brought. It is on the lighter end of the spectrum, but it still has a #4 stamped on the bottom, so getting it as close as I did gave me a good rush.

In this clip, several dudes try the number 4, but Steve Gardener actually closes two of them. Both Aaron’s and John Eaton’s which came out at 199 lbs. on a calibrator.

This was a great contest. I have more clips so make sure you sign up for our Feedburner email notifications so you don’t miss out when I post them. That is right up at the upper right hand side.

All the best in your training,

-Jedd-

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I have been trying many new things my gripper training recently, trying to spur some gains. Here is a short run down of things I have been trying:

Gripper drop sets – I make an attempt at a goal gripper and then immediately do a hold for time with a much lighter one.

Continuous handle cutting – I cut a gripper handle for beyond-the-range closes and every time I close it I shave more off.

Thumbless gripper closes – I attempt to close the gripper without assistance from my thumb.

I have never heard anyone speak about this type of close before, so I thought I would make a video to illustrate the concept.

I utilize my thumbs a great deal with gripper closes. I think this technique is going to help me out because my fingers are forced to put in the extra work.

Incidentally, all three of these techniques make me feel it big time in my last two fingers. I also encourage everyone to try the drop sets – they give you a huge forearm pump!

All the best in your training,

-Jedd-

P.S. Check out more Grip-related posts, by clicking here.

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Here is the Blob plus weight for a calibrated total of 74.95 lbs. At the time of lifting this weight and writing this post, it puts me in 2nd place, right behind Wade Gillingham with 77lbs and Richard Sorin with 74.25 lbs.

As you can see, this one didn’t come easy. Several times the string kept sliding off the blob, ending up in my hand instead of directly on top of the blob. I missed it almost 10 times (some of them I deleted). Finally, when I added duct tape to the top of the blob, it kept the strong in place so it wouldn’t shift around on me.

Keep checking back. I usually try to add a little more weight each weekend. Next weekend, will be with Rex and Paul at the Arnold Classic, so I am hoping to push the total a bit higher yet!

Anybody else going?

See you there…

-Jedd-

How to Build Muscle | Muscle Building Workouts | How to Lose Fat | Six Pack Abs

Here is the clip of the Medley at Metroflex.

Some of the implements you’ll see, 45 lb hub, 45 lb hub plus 15 lbs, Metroflex Inch Replica, two different 2-inch vertical bars, Blob, Blob plus 10 lbs, IM hub, Rolling Thunder, one hand pinch, and more!

-Jedd-

How to Build Muscle | Muscle Building Workouts | How to Lose Fat | Six Pack Abs