One of the great things about Gripper Training is that there is a nearly endless variety of training methods you can do with grippers as long as you get your imagination going a bit.

If you have trouble thinking up cool and interesting variations in your gripper training, just think about a more conventional form of training and apply it to your gripper work.

For instance, one common method of increasing the number of reps and sheer volume you do in your regular strength and muscle building training is Drop Sets. This is where you perform a certain number of repetitions in a lift, and then once you come near to or actually hit the point of failure, you set the weight down and perform more repetitions with a lighter weight.

Drop Sets are also a great method for pre-exhaustion. The set is broken down into two or more parts with the earlier portion(s) of the set being used to pre-exhaust the part of the body doing the work and thus making the later portion(s) harder than normal.

For instance, in the Deadlift, you can hit a set number of repetitions with a starting weight, and then pull a plate off the bar and continue.

Here is an example of how to do Drop Sets with the Deadlift. Also make sure to check out the cool Lumberjack Beard that I am sporting. You will get a good close-up at the end.

In this case, I did not wait until I hit or came near to failure. I had the drops already planned. Either way will work fine for increasing the volume you are performing with grippers. Also, by the time I began lifting 135, my hands and posterior chain were thoroughly pre-exhausted and I had to put in more effort and drive in order to finish the set how I wanted.

The very same concept of Drop Sets can also be performed with Grippers.

In order to do this, you will need at least two grippers. One of them will be “heavier” and the other one will be “lighter.”

In this video, I perform a Gripper Drop Set, first hitting a filed Elite Gripper, then hitting a lighter, #3 gripper.

Normally, that #3 would go down no problem, but because I already attempted the Elite gripper and performed a static hold near the end range, I was pre-exhausted and it made the #3 gripper somewhat harder to close than it actually is.

This technique is especially useful if you have only a limited number of grippers in your collection. The lighter grippers will seem tougher to close and you will have to work harder to make the handles touch.

You can also set this up so that you do the lighter gripper first, followed by the heavier gripper. For instance, if you only have a #1 and a #2, you can perform a pre-exhaust set with the #1 gripper and then move to the #2. If you are currently closing the #2 when you are fresh, after pre-exhausting with the #1, the #2 will feel somewhat more challenging to close.

If you want to take this method even further, you can use a whole series of grippers and run down the table in almost a medley-type format.

Other variations for your gripper training include modifying the set depth used, the period of time holding the gripper closed, the number of repetitions with the grippers, etc.

Like I said at the beginning, the only thing limiting you in your gripper training is your own imagination. There’s no reason to ever get completely bored with grippers.

There are always more ways you can challenge yourself.

For more gripper training variations, check out the following posts:

• Common Gripper Questions
• How to Set a Gripper
• Advanced Gripper Training Methods
• My Complete Gripper Video PlayList on YouTube

Also, if you are really serious about your Gripper Training, then you need to pick up my On-line DVD called CRUSH: Total Gripper Domination. With over 2 hours of training instruction, you will increase your awareness of what is possible with grippers and see new progress moving up the gripper ladder.

All the best in your training,

Jedd Johnson

DIESELS,

First off, I am sorry for the lack of new posts lately. I have been distracted lately with many things.

Some of them, are just plain life issues that catch you off guard from time to time. For instance, my long-time friend in life and business, my Explorer, decided to finally leave me and go a completely new direction, so I had to spend two days researching vehicles. I ended up buying a Nissan Rogue, and it has been awesome.

I’ve also had two amazing trips in the last 3 weeks. The first was my first Strongman Performance gig, where I worked as a carnival strongman as part of a 4-act circus show. It was a great time, I learned even more about the feats of strength I do and teach, and it was great watching all the youngsters enjoy themselves.

Lift, Hold, and Control Seminar Group: Dan Creter, Jan Dellinger, Sarah Shafer, Jedd Johnson, Rebecca Klopp, Paul Tompkins, Stephanie Lewis

This past weekend was the Lift, Hold, and Control seminar at Vision Fitness of PA, home of Garage Ink Powerlifting. My friend, Niko Hulslander, invited me down to his gym to speak and it was great spending some time with him and getting to know him more as well. The attendees had a great time and they learned a lot. It was my privilege to have in attendance a well-known member of the strength world, Jan Dellinger, author of The Dellinger Files. Jan worked at York Barbell for years and years and was once assistant editor of Muscular Development Magazine.

So, now that I have my feet under me, I want to share a video with you that I put up on YouTube a week or so ago.

Grip Training: How to Train Crush and Open Hand

I always welcome comments and questions on my YouTube videos, and I have been getting lots of good ones. Recently, one of my YouTube Subscribers asked a question along the lines of “What is the best way to work Crushing Strength and Open Hand Strength at the same time?”

At first I responded by telling him that it couldn’t be done, simply by definition of the two types of grip strength. To understand what I mean, here are the definitions of these two types of grip strength.

Crushing Grip: Dynamic force produced by the hands and fingers, whereas the fingers move inward toward the palm, as in making a fist or closing a gripper.

Open Hand: Static force produced by the hand and fingers where no overlap of the fingertips and thumb can take place, as in lifting a Blob or thick handled dumbbell.

So, as you can see, by definition, these two categories of grip strength somewhat cancel one another out, especially when you consider the following:

1. Crushing is almost always dynamic in nature. Gripper closing involves movement. Even crushing down on a kettlebell handle in a Bottoms-up Press manner, while the movement is minimal, it is still taking place in order to control and adjust to the balance of the kettlebell.

2. Open Hand Training is almost always static in nature. With wide plate pinching, the thumb and fingers squeeze onto the outsides of the plates, but no movement takes place beyond this. The same is true when lifting the Inch Dumbbell or other thick-handled challenge bar.

However, as I thought more and more about this question, I realized that I was being too closed-minded. I was only considering very basic forms of Grip Strength Training, and I was leaving out many other forms that do have the potential to work both aspects of gripping ability. I was really pigeon-holing myself and looking at the question with tunnel vision.

Here is the video that I made in order to address this:

How to Combine Crushing and Open Hand Strength Training

This video will show you some examples of both Open Hand Training and Crushing Strength.

So, as you can see, it can be very, very easy to accomplish training the Crushing aspect and the Open Hand aspects at the same time with Bi-Polar Training, you just have to do each hand separately. Plus with the right equipment you can come very close to training the hands to crush without the benefit of a closed hand by using the Grip 4orce Handles.

There are other ways to accomplish this Hybrid form of Grip Training that have come to me since then. One such way is with Sandbags. When performing heavy sandbag lifts, as you clench the material on the body of the bag (using the handles they have would not count), the action of the fingers digging in would entail a degree of dynamic crushing (Crush Grip), while the hand stays open (Open Hand).

In most cases, Sandbag Lifting, especially when done with a large bag, will fit into another category of grip that is often not discussed, called Monkey Grip. Monkey Grip is when the orientation of the hand puts the fingers and thumb on the same side of the implement being used, instead of opposing one another in convention Pinch and Open Hand lifts.

We will go into more detail on Monkey Grip training later. For now, mull over what I talked about in today’s article and video, and as always, if you have a question, make sure to leave a comment. Also, if you can think of other ways to combine Crushing and Open Hand training, post them as well. Believe me, there are lots of them.

Want more detailed instruction to take you to your Grip Training Goals? The answers to your questions await you at my coaching site, TheGripAuthority.com. With hundreds of entries over the course of nearly three years of operation, it is the world’s most complete Grip Strength instructional Site. Join today for just $7 and let’s start working together toward your grip training goals.

What have you got to lose? Join today.

Jedd

I am running a 24-hour contest to choose a winner of my new DVD, CRUSH: Total Gripper Domination.

You can enter the contest for free, and there is no purchase required.

All you have to do is write out an essay of 100 words or more telling me why you should win the free copy of the DVD and I will make a selection and announce the winner tomorrow, during Monday Night RAW.

This video will describe the process in more detail.

You must post your comment in the comment section below.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd