ran into a bit of a problem today. the past month or two have been my first proper time doing deadlifts (i’m preferring stiff-legged), and as such, every time i add weight, it’s a new pr. i did 225x5 today just fine, but the second set, my grip was about to give after two reps, and the same happened when i tried again for more on a third set – only two reps.
after reading what fajing said about hitting his grip max before his pull max, i started to figure that this problem for me will get worse, not better, unless i do something about it.
the question is, what is a david to do about it? i’ve been on the same ptp cycle since i started, waved back a couple times after some undesired periods off, and i feel i can pull at least another 30 before this cycle calls it quits. my back is making happpy progress, but my grip, mainly in my off-hand (obviously) is going to give me un-joy unless i do something about it.
I had the same problem, then I took 8 months off deadlifting to use k-bells and the thick handles improved my grip significantly.
Personally, I use a hook grip, until I go for PR, then, if things are shaky, I use straps. My last max on deadlift, for instance, I pulled 456 without straps, then pulled a pr for 471 with straps, mainly so I wouldn’t have to worry about my grip while maxing. Using this cycle (always lift my last PR without straps, then PR with them) has worked nicely for me.
Make a home made clubbell and do a couple workouts with it a week. You really have to grip it to stabilize the club. They’re really cheap and easy to make.
I’ve always had relatively weak hands so I use straps for some of my heavier lifts. I also did tons of wrist and hand stuff at the end of a workout just to try to keep up.
Well if you weren’t hitting failure or discomfort with your hands before, then you are only really just now starting to train them. Have you tried switching hands between sets? That seems to help. Your grip recovers pretty fast, so I’m thinking that it is because you are deadlifting frequently on PTP. I have had many occasions where I had to take 2-3 days off from pulling just to let my grip recover.
I always have more grip problems with long sets than with reps of 3 or less, so you might want to do more singles, doubles etc.
I’m surprised that you are surpassing your grip with a straight-legged pull. One other thing you could do is to do moderate squat work before you deadlift. That would pre-tire your legs and back. I’m seeing that in the future for myself.
I guess you have to specifically work on your grip strength. I would recommend that you brush off the dust from your Captain crushers, wrist roller, and etc. By the way, I would not recommend the home made clubbells. However, if you are cheap or cant afford thr real thing, then make one at your own risk.
Farmer Walks, but also consider Power Shrugs, alternate hands,and swaping grips.
With Shrugs you can load with larger amounts then that you DL,work all grips then proceed to DL.
But in general all break downs of O lifts will help Bar grip for obvious reasons.
I’m surprised that you are surpassing your grip with a straight-legged pull. One other thing you could do is to do moderate squat work before you deadlift. That would pre-tire your legs and back. I’m seeing that in the future for myself.
wouldn’t pre-tiring myself out be counterproductive to making larger gains in how much i can actually pull?
as my squatties are pretty craptacular right now, i’m doing 5x5 to work on form, particularly on the bottom end of the lift. so i don’t take away from my deads, i do deads first (right after bench), then squatties.
as far as doing a straight-legged pull, my form with that is miles ahead of my form on a standard dead, so i’m sticking to straight-legged to get my p-chain nice and toasty. when i’m feeling strongeri may switch back to standard, but i’m liking the straight-legged stuff more than normal anyway.
as far as clubbells, i don’t have the money to spend on the supplies, much less on one of sonnon’s videos or clubs. i’m getting married a month from wednesday, and even if i could spend money on fitness stuff, i have other things i’d rather buy first.
Yeah, I know, I guess I’m cheap, poor and like to take risks.
didn’t NWA have a song about you? something like … strawberry? :eek:
Rubby, I train grip twice a week pretty heavily. I reach failure on double pronated, then switch to alternate grip for the rest of my cycle and haven’t reached failure on that (or come close). I’ve got some straps if I ever do (unlikely unless I start lifting like AndrewS, Ford or fa_jing).
lol @ abodo. My CoC is in my desk drawer… painful.
First of all, good luck with the wedding, Rub. My year anniversary is coming up in a few months. So far so good.
Secondly, I apply to the philosophy of “you’re only as strong as your weakest link”. While all top powerlifters and most oly guys train with straps to ensure their prime movers get the most work possible, they have different goals than you or I. They want to get stronger in a couple lifts while we want to be strong overall, healthy, and able to perform athletically. That being the case, I always recommend strapless lifting and letting your grip catching up with your prime movers. Doing extra grip-only workouts some time during the day will help too. Things like farmer walks, CoC squeezing ;), wrist roller, thick bar barbell/db/kn work, towel dead hangs for time or pull-ups, etc. Just 15 minutes 2-3x/week for a month or so would work wonders and help bust through a plateau.
Homemade clubbells are a great idea too. Scott Sonnon even posted an article in his CST magazine (or discussion forum) a while back on how to create safe homemade ones. If you can’t track it down on his site, let me know. It wouldn’t surprise me if he removed it from his site since he can’t profit from it. I’m sure I have it saved on my harddrive some place. It will take some digging though.
Pretty sure that’s the homemade clubbel page. I believe Sonnon posted it on his discussion forum or on his Q&A on MMA.tv maybe a little over a year ago. To paraphrase his words they were “While nothing can be a substitute for a real clubbell (insert trademarks here), this is the best thing I’ve seen and I’d recommend it to somebody who could not afford one.”
Mo Lung, I am sorry if you were offended by the post, but I was being frank. If what I wrote was not true, then I am wrong. However if I wrote was was true, then I am being honest. I know many people who make their own products due to economicall reasons. Now if I was poor or cheap which I was back in my college days, then I would no doubt make my own make shift exercise tools. But make no mistake, you can make your own beers, sodas, or whatever but it will never be the same quality as the original. Perssonally, I am not against home-made clubbells, but if you want to go deeper, heavier, and have safe CST workout, then it would be “ideal” to have the real thing. Ford, is right Sonnon had recommended a make shift clubbell for those who could not afford it and maybe he deleted the intel on how to make one because of economical gain? I dont know, but it is a business and he aint selling crap in my opinion when it comes to clubbells.
I just want to make one thing clear. I CAN afford to buy a clubbell or two if I wanted to. The reason I made one and still recommend making one is because I’m not in the habit of just throwing money at a new piece of equipment without first knowing if the equipment will be benficial to me.
