Beginner Grip Training Video Series

We are getting deeper and deeper into this series on Beginner Grip Training Methods. We’ve looked at entry-level plate inching, some of the aspects of gripper training, and even a thick bar training method you can do in just about ANY GYM. Now, it’s time to look at a way beginner grip trainees can work on developing their wrist strength.

Basic Sledge Hammer Movements for Wrist Strength

Sledge Hammer Levering can put a lot of torque on the wrist, and if you go too heavy, too soon, you can experience undue pain from the drills. In the video below, I show you some things you can do right now, as a beginner grip trainee, that are safe and entail less risk.

I hope today’s installment in the Beginner Grip Training Series has been helpful.

If you’ve got additional questions on developing your grip strength, be sure to leave a comment below, or contact me directly.

Either way, I look forward to hearing from you.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

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The Wrist Developer

The Wrist Developer is a training tool designed and sold by David Horne’s World of Grip and from time to time sold here at DieselCrew.com. It is a spring-loaded device that is used to strengthen the position of Reverse Style Nail and Short Steel Bending.

The Wrist Developer is aptly named because it certainly builds strength and stability in the wrists. On top of this, it also can help you build improved strength throughout the upper body, depending on how you use it.

The Wrist Developer has been around for many years, but there still remains quite a bit of confusion around it. To help clear up some of the misunderstandings about how the device works and the methods to train with it, I put out an all-encompassing Training Video/DVD in 2012 => How to Train with the Wrist Developer. This video shows you how you can use the WD as a way to increase your general wrist strength, bring up your reverse bending, as well as strengthen your entire upper body.

As you can see, with the variety of ways the Wrist Developer can be utilized and the many ways it can be used to bring up each skill (wrist strength/stability, reverse bending, upper body strength) it is a very good investment and takes up very little room, as long as you understand its proper use.

Here is a quick run-down of some of the most common questions I get or find being asked.

Common Wrist Developer Training Questions

How is the Wrist Developer Used?

The main objective of the WD is to grip the handles with one hand in front and one hand behind, as in the grip taken on a nail or steel bar when using the Reverse bending Technique. From there, the handles are moved together so that the loading bars separate, stretching the spring. The repetition is complete or the attempt is “good” when the guard on the back of the device touches the rear loading arm.

How Are the Levels of the Wrist Developer Determined? How is the Wrist Developer Spring Adjusted?

With the Black spring, or equivalent, the lowest setting is called Level 3. You then move the rear spring hook up one notch to get level 4. For level 5, you move the rear spring hook back down one notch and then move the front spring hook up one notch. For level 6, you move the rear spring hook upwards again to get Level 6.

So, every time the spring is on equal notches in the front and back, your spring level is a multiple of 3 => 3,6,9, etc.

Here is a video demonstration of how the spring hooks are moved in order to get level 3, 4, 5, and 6 (and beyond).

Video Demonstration: How the Wrist Developer Spring Levels are Changed

Is it acceptable to glue the suede wraps to the handles? They tend to slip a lot.

For the purposes the Wrist Developer even in a grip contest and for Wrist Developer records lists, glue on the handles is not permitted. What is permitted is suede wraps with rubber bands wrapped tightly around them.

Slippage is definitely something to contend with when training on the wrist developer. One of the things I show in the Wrist Developer DVD is how to get the wraps on there as tight as possible using wrapping strategies from nail and steel bending which comply with WD performance standards.

The good thing about having the wraps against the bare steel and paint of the WD handles is that it forces you to squeeze the handles hard, which actually will help you exert more force into it. This will lead to better overall strength bending performance. But like any technical lift, it takes time to perfect.

Adhesives, glues, etc., are not permitted in competition or for records purposes, but certainly they can be used as a training method. If you have no desire to compete or measure yourself against others who have tested themselves on the WD, then by all means, use whatever you want to keep the wraps in place. Just keep in mind that if you get used to tapes or glues on the handles, you will see a drop in performance on the WD.

Can the Wrist Developer be Used to Train Double Overhand or Double Underhand Bending Techniques?

While the Wrist Developer can be used with the hands in the positions of DO and DU bending, the size and shape only permits these techniques in a limited way. You can certainly accomplish variations of Double Over and Double Under with the WD, but it is very cumbersome.

Is the WD Effective at Developing Strength for Reverse Bending

Yes, it certainly can be, but it depends on how you use it. There are distinct differences in how to use the WD, depending on your actual goal. This is the information that makes the WD Training DVD so valuable.

If you own a Wrist Developer, I can help you maximize your training results with it, through the use of my video. Many people do not realize just how technical of an event the Wrist Developer is, but are amazed how much stronger they can get on it with just a couple of easy technique modifications and slight changes to their approach.

In addition, you need to use the WD in the way it is meant to be used for your specific goals. If you want to perform well in a competition setting with the WD, knowing the proper means of force production with it is imperative. Also, if you are using the WD to save on the amount of bending stock you have to go through, it only makes sense to use it in the manner it was meant to be used for building your wrist strength for Reverse Bending. While there is cross-over from both techniques, you will get your best results from specific training.

For more information on what is covered in the Wrist Developer DVD, click the banner below. This video comes in both Digital and Hard Copy Versions, depending on what your viewing preference is.

All the best in your WD training,

Jedd

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Wrist Developer Training and Technique Tips for Maximum Performance on the WD

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The Blob, one head from a 100-lb Old-style York Dumbbell, is one of the most widely recognized challenge objects in all of Grip Sport.

The term “Blob” was coined by Richard Sorin, of Sorinex.com. As he related to me, he was finishing a gym install at a YMCA and the owner asked him to clear out the broken York Dumbbells that were laying all over. To do so, he bent over and picked each one of them up in a pinch grip until he came to the half 100 pounder. He couldn’t manage to lift it, so he dedicated himself to developing the grip strength to lift one with a pinch grip.

Isn’t that freaking awesome? Even though most likely NO ONE before him had ever tried to lift block weights like this, when the challenge presented itself, he took it on full team ahead. INSPIRING.

Recently, there was a challenge that was discussed that involved curling the Blob. Specifically, it involved first deadlifting the Blob and then curling it strictly with the back against the wall.

Like Richard Sorin many years before, I took this challenge on.

Now, I am no stranger to Blob Curling.

Many years ago, I had completed a very loose curl of the Blob. I stood up with it in my hand and with momentum, continued the curl up to the completed position.

However, there really is no comparison between that and a strict curl with your back against the wall. I knew I had my work cut out for me, but I went after it anyway, just to see what I had in me.

Here are the clips from the first workout where I went after the Blob Curl.

Blob Curl Against the Wall Attempt

Having tried strict curling in the past, I could remember the pain I would feel when trying to move the Blob through the sticking point, so i was kind of dreading it. Here was my attempt.

This feat felt so freakin’ hard, I could barely believe it. In the video, you saw where it was moving smoothly and then all of a sudden it just shut down and I couldn’t move it any further. Although I came nowhere near completing the lift, the good things was it really didn’t hurt that bad.

As I have said before, during that period of time in 2004-2005, I suffered a couple of cases of really bad upper forearm and wrist pain due to poor training choices, too much volume, etc. So, I am wondering maybe the pain I was feeling back then was no necessarily due to trying to curl the Blob, but rather, just from the injuries I was dealing with.

Blob Curl NOT Against Wall

After having such a hard time getting any real height on the Blob with the back against the wall, I decided I would try curling it free-standing.

Although the movement of the Blob was very slow, I didn’t really experience any pain here, either. This was the confidence booster I needed. I had no proven to myself that I had the strength to perform the curl. It would now just mean tightening up the form a bit.

Second Try – Blob Curl Against Wall

A few days later, I tried the Blob Curl Against Wall on more time. This time, not only did I have the confidence from being able to curl it out away from the wall, but I also had a partner that day. J.T. Straussner, one of the best benders in the entire world, has been living only 25 minutes away for about 5 months, but we never realized how close we were until a few weeks ago. He came up and I gave the Curl another go.

During the attempt, it felt like my shoulder came off the wall. I wasn’t sure if it would count or not, so I tried it again. That is why I hit it twice.

Jon Vance commented on the video, “Dude that has got to be one of the sickest feats ever with a blob.” I don’t know about all that, but it is definitely one of the hardest things I have done with the Blob. I literally have to put in an all-out effort on every attempt I make on it.

Now, this is really only the beginning. The next progression, should I attempt it, is to be able to perform the Strict Curl with each hand. At the time of the video, I was still very tentative to put in that kind of effort with my left hand, which is the one that was experiencing the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome symptoms. I haven’t tried this since then, so I am not sure what I have at this time.

Naturally, once I can curl a Blob with each hand, then I would try an Alternating Curl with one Blob in each hand. This would be attempted first free-standing, and then eventually up against the wall.

But before any of this can happen, I need to figure out why the eccentric portion of the lift is so damn hard! Right now, as the Blob nears my thigh on the eccentric portion of the lift, I lose total control of it.

Now, of course, to get the benefit of this training, you do NOT need to use a 50-lb Blob. Instead, just use any block weight that you have and just curl it.

The great thing about this lift is that the block weight will work the fingers and thumbs thoroughly, and when you curl it like this, the wrist and forearms are hit hard too.

Plug Block Weight Curls into your next training session and let me know what you got and how they felt. Come back and leave a comment.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!

Some pretty good submissions this week, DIESELS! The numbers came out pretty close. In fact, i’d say this is the closest the results have ever been. No one really blew everyone out of the water, in fact last place was only 6 reps behind first place – AWESOME!

Check out the results below.

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Josh Dale: Score = 22 x 22 = 484

Josh not only busted out 22 reps with zero hand switches, but he also busted out what look to be the biggest biceps in this week’s competition.

Josh’s score doesn’t do justice to how impressive his performance was. As you can see, Josh never switched hands, hitting 22 reps with just one arm. Crazy. Also, he used a 10-kg plate so he lost points each rep because of the 3-lb difference. What you have to keep in mind though, is that Josh did this all after a full arm wrestling practice, making his performance even more impressive. Nice job, Josh!

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Mike Turpin: Score = 25lbs x 20 = 500

Mike continues to put out entertaining videos, having fun each week. Finishing last in this tight group is nothing to be ashamed of.

A little recognition goes out to Mike and Paul – both are training for a major Powerlifting meet and they continue to take the extra time out of their schedules in order to submit videos for the challenge! Awesome job, Mike!

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Paul Tompkins: Score = 25lbs x 22 = 550

Paul is a BRUTE – there is no other way to describe him, except for he is also probably the calmest brute I’ve ever met. He just lines up the challenges and then quietly mows them down. He and Mike T. have been hitting Grip feats in between the challenges and sending them to me, chomping at the bit since there was no challenge last week. They didn’t want to lose their edge.

If you look in the background of this video you see another fine member of the Diesel Universe, Niko Hulslander, who although has never submitted a Grip Challenge video, I have personally trained with him and I think he could be very good. He has also contacted me about holding a Grip Contest with him at his gym sometime in the future, so watch out for that, especially if you are in the South Western part of Pennsylvania!

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Rick Walker: Score = 25 x 23 = 575

Leave it to Rick Walker to get surgery in the Spring, and do next to nothing in the weight room for 2 solid months and then go down and hit 23 Plate Curls with a 25 in between sets of shoulder presses. Awesome.

I believe this is also Rick’s first submission for the Grip Strength Challenge – not too shabby coming in third place and only two reps behind McIntyre who has won many of the challenges. Could it be that we have found McIntyre’s weakness – wrist strength and stability? Good job Rick! Looking forward to more videos when you have time, buddy!

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Kevin Greto: Score = 25lbs x 24 = 600

Judging by the video, Kevin appears to be training at Iron Sport Gym in Glenolden, PA. This makes me extremely jealous because I have read that this is one of the last truly hardcore gyms in the state of PA and my buddy Pat Povilaitis and I have talked about going there to train for years and just never scheduled it to make it happen.

Kevin had a lot of hand switches in his video, I’d estimate he would have gotten enough to win this challenge if he would have had one less hand switch and pushed out a couple more reps prior to switching. However, I understand his training paradigm and he does not force reps. Keep on gripping, Kevin – looking forward to seeing you here for World’s Strongest Hands 2011.

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Josh McIntyre: Score = 25lbs x 25 = 625

Josh was one of the Wild Card Qualifiers for Nationals through the Wild Card Challenges leading up to Grip Sport Nationals. I was so looking forward to a clash between him, Mike Turpin, Jason Steeves and Daniel Reinard. I am hoping we can see these guys all square off sometime down the road in an actual Grip Competition.

As you can see, Josh won this challenge, leading Kevin by one rep and thus 25 score-pounds. However, you could really see that Kevin clearly lost a few reps with his hand switches. This could be a very interesting duel down the line as well!

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Check back soon guys for the next challenge!

All the best in your training!

Jedd

Hello DIESELS!
Some pretty good submissions this week, DIESELS! The numbers came out pretty close. In fact, i’d say this is the closest the results have ever been. No one really blew everyone out of the water, in fact last place was only 6 reps behind first place – AWESOME!
Check out the results below.

---

Josh Dale: Score = 22 x 22 = 484
Josh not only busted out 22 reps with zero hand switches, but he also busted out what look to be the biggest biceps in this week’s competition.

Josh’s score doesn’t do justice to how impressive his performance was. As you can see, Josh never switched hands, hitting 22 reps with just one arm. Crazy. Also, he used a 10-kg plate so he lost points each rep because of the 3-lb difference. What you have to keep in mind though, is that Josh did this all after a full arm wrestling practice, making his performance even more impressive. Nice job, Josh!

---

Mike Turpin: Score = 25lbs x 20 = 500
Mike continues to put out entertaining videos, having fun each week. Finishing last in this tight group is nothing to be ashamed of.

A little recognition goes out to Mike and Paul – both are training for a major Powerlifting meet and they continue to take the extra time out of their schedules in order to submit videos for the challenge! Awesome job, Mike!

---

Paul Tompkins: Score = 25lbs x 22 = 550
Paul is a BRUTE – there is no other way to describe him, except for he is also probably the calmest brute I’ve ever met. He just lines up the challenges and then quietly mows them down. He and Mike T. have been hitting Grip feats in between the challenges and sending them to me, chomping at the bit since there was no challenge last week. They didn’t want to lose their edge.

If you look in the background of this video you see another fine member of the Diesel Universe, Niko Hulslander, who although has never submitted a Grip Challenge video, I have personally trained with him and I think he could be very good. He has also contacted me about holding a Grip Contest with him at his gym sometime in the future, so watch out for that, especially if you are in the South Western part of Pennsylvania!

---

Rick Walker: Score = 25 x 23 = 575
Leave it to Rick Walker to get surgery in the Spring, and do next to nothing in the weight room for 2 solid months and then go down and hit 23 Plate Curls with a 25 in between sets of shoulder presses. Awesome.

I believe this is also Rick’s first submission for the Grip Strength Challenge – not too shabby coming in third place and only two reps behind McIntyre who has won many of the challenges. Could it be that we have found McIntyre’s weakness – wrist strength and stability? Good job Rick! Looking forward to more videos when you have time, buddy!

---

Kevin Greto: Score = 25lbs x 24 = 600
Judging by the video, Kevin appears to be training at Iron Sport Gym in Glenolden, PA. This makes me extremely jealous because I have read that this is one of the last truly hardcore gyms in the state of PA and my buddy Pat Povilaitis and I have talked about going there to train for years and just never scheduled it to make it happen.

Kevin had a lot of hand switches in his video, I’d estimate he would have gotten enough to win this challenge if he would have had one less hand switch and pushed out a couple more reps prior to switching. However, I understand his training paradigm and he does not force reps. Keep on gripping, Kevin – looking forward to seeing you here for World’s Strongest Hands 2011.

---

Josh McIntyre: Score = 25lbs x 25 = 625
Josh was one of the Wild Card Qualifiers for Nationals through the Wild Card Challenges leading up to Grip Sport Nationals. I was so looking forward to a clash between him, Mike Turpin, Jason Steeves and Daniel Reinard. I am hoping we can see these guys all square off sometime down the road in an actual Grip Competition.

As you can see, Josh won this challenge, leading Kevin by one rep and thus 25 score-pounds. However, you could really see that Kevin clearly lost a few reps with his hand switches. This could be a very interesting duel down the line as well!

---

Check back soon guys for the next challenge!
All the best in your training!
Jedd

Last week’s feat was the Slim Lever (Demonstration Video).

Check out the submissions below and please leave a vote in the comments section below for the one that you feel is most impressive. Voting will go on until Noon (EST) on Monday, May 23! (Please only vote one time per person)
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This week’s feat was the Sledge Hammer Deadlift. This is an awesome movement for strengthening the hands and wrists for bending.

There was one submission this week – Andy Thomas, and he took care of some serious business!

Check it out:

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DIESEL MINDSET – Part I

I was recently asked by one of the members at TheGripAuthority, what I do to stay motivated. What do I do if I fail at a lift. How do I keep going? How do I cope with failure when trying to get stronger?

Failure is a part of lifting. It happens and you can’t let it bother you.

I fail all the time. If I stopped my workout every time I failed, I would probably never finish a workout. I miss on Log Press, Farmers Lifts, Gripper attempts, Pinch Lift attempts – you name it and I generally fail on it at least once a workout.

Before I broke the record in the Two Hands Pinch, I must have failed in competition at least 4 times (it feels like it was 20 times, but it wasn’t). For each competition, I trained for months on end, traveled all over the country, had people I didn’t even know pulling for me to break it, contest promoters invited me to stay at their house so their wives could cook me a home cooked meal so I didn’t have to eat fast food. This was all to give me the chance to break the record and I failed multiple times.

I’d often feel bad because I let those people down when I missed the mark, but I’d keep it in mind that I had a lot of people behind me along the way, even if they weren’t there with me for each workout.

I train alone and have no one to push me to go downstairs and get going. I don’t have anyone here on a day-to-day basis to yell at me to get my ass in gear. It’s up to me. I just keep going, even though it is hard.

Whether you train Grip, Strongman, Powerlifting, Olympics Weightlifting, Kettlebells, Feats, etc, it’s all hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it – “The Hard” is what makes strength training great.

Sometimes, I think I get stronger because I don’t give up when I fail.

Sometimes, I think knowing that I am coming so close to success is what drives me to either get it on the next try, or the next try, or the next try…or I will get it the next time I train it.

But I don’t give up just because I miss it the first time.

Years ago, Clay Edgin, a fantastic Grip strength competitors from 2003 to 2006 (no longer competes), said that when he converted over to Strongman he always made sure to try a PR lift in Overhead Lifts (Log, Axle, etc.) at least 12 times because he felt he needed that many attempts for his mind and nervous system to be geared up enough to get it. He even put up a video showing himself missing time and time again and then finally getting a PR overhead Push Press after nearly a dozen misses.

When was the last time you tried something 12 times before finally getting it?

I think there might be something to this. I don’t have any research, just experience…

A few weeks ago I was training the Wrist Developer and failed on like Level 6. So, instead of giving up, I worked back down a level or two and began adding rubber bands along with the spring to work near Level 6, just to get the feel of the additional tension, and I ended up getting Level 6 when I tried it again.

Here’s the video…

Earlier this week, I had a very similar experience, although it was a bit different.

I was training the Wrist Developer again and missed Level 8, my current best performance on the Wrist Developer, which I did at Leg three of World’s Strongest hands.

It just didn’t feel right. The equipment felt heavier than normal. The joint felt like it was encrusted and wasn’t working properly, and I’d already done a ton of wrist work, so I began to wonder if I’d be able to get it.

Since it felt so damn hard, I backed off to Level 7 again, and to my surprise that felt much easier. Although Level 8 felt freakin’ impossible, I knew going in that I could get Level 7 because I’d been owning it for quite some time.

What happened next was crazy.

A lot of people don’t know this, but I speak Spanish. I have a crappy accent, and so I tend to keep conversations short, but I can make out alright if I need directions in a city or something like that.

For whatever reason, I started doing this positive self talk in my head in Spanish, and before I knew it I was speaking out loud. Rattling it off started getting me pumped, so I kept going and before I knew it I was yelling at myself to get Level 8. I felt much more awake – more PRIMED – than I had before, like the blood was pumping through my forearms and hands better.

The Wrist Developer felt lighter now, and sure enough I hit Level 8.

Then I hit Level 9 – a HUGE PR!!!!

I managed to get all of this on camera, and have been trying to upload it all week, but the sound has been messing up when putting it on YouTube. Finally tonight it came through right, so I wanted to share it with you all here.

I’ve been pumped up all week about this, and I wanted to share it with you along with part of my mind set in regards to my training. I think this can be applied to just about any training program, regardless of your goals.

Next time you fail, and you will, dust yourself off and try it again for me. Try micro-loading like I did with the rubber bands, or try whipping yourself up into a frenzy. Maybe even try the 12 Attempt Method. And even if you don’t get it after repeatedly trying, you’ll be building yourself up for the next time you train and maybe you’ll get it then.

Whatever you do, don’t just give up and quit – that’s the biggest mistake you can make.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Check out more videos on my YOUTUBE CHANNEL < = Go Now!

Ultimate Forearm Training for Baseball | How to Bend Nails | How to Tear Cards | Feats of Grip Strength Explained | How to Build Your Own Equipment | How to Lift Atlas Stones | The Sh*t You’ve Never Seen | Sled Dragging for Athletes | The Road to the Record DVD