Latest Happenings
Wrestling season is still going strong as of this writing. We have two athletes competing right now at the state tournament, and had several of our guys place at districts and regionals. The team really did well this year and is only losing a few seniors.
We had the great fortune to head out to Columbus for the Arnold Classic again this year, and the highlight of the trip was dinner with Wendler and training at the Elite compound with Dave. The Elite Compound, as you have seen in all of the videos, is huge. Lots of intensity, every piece of equipment you could ever imagine and a lot of strong dudes hanging out training. Magnus Ver Magnusson stopped in with a smoking blond chick while we were training.
I had a chance to work with a safety squat bar for the first time with Dave, and if you don’t have one, get one!
The Arnold Classic was a little packed to say the least, and catching the first day of the strongman competition was great. I was able to pick up some really high quality kettlebells from American Kettlebells for a great price. I guess they didn’t want to haul them out of the Expo. After I paid for them, I had to haul them out myself, so I don’t really blame them.
Training has been going really well, and I’ve been drilling weightlifting recently with the help of a certified coach in the area. This guy is a freak of nature and ridiculously strong. I have a bunch of videos of him moving some serious weight. I have the club coach certification from the USAW, but that doesn’t mean anything. You need to drill, drill and drill the technique with someone who is proficient at the movements to really start to learn how to perform them and to teach them.
Combat Core is going to be released on March 17th, but since it is an e-book, it won’t be sold on Elite. You can check it out at CombatCoreStrength.com. At this point only a select few have been able to read it, and the response has been overwhelming. I’ve got a ton of testimonials already, so thank you to everyone. As always, I put a lot of effort into the manual and it feels great to hear the feedback.
Recent Q&A
Jim, your ideas are golden. This is why I seek your counsel on grip-related matters. I’m too broke to buy farmers handles for my baseball guys, but I want them to get some grip work in while they condition. My plan was to go to Home Depot and buy some five-gallon paint buckets, fill them with sand, and use the softball or baseball grip implement to connect the bucket to and have them perform farmer’s walks like that. Any suggestions on improving this setup?
Improvements
The handles for the five-gallon bucket are pretty small, so you can wrap a towel around each handle to increase the thickness and difficulty.
Or
Substitute their baseball gear bag (filled with equipment) for the carrying implement, grabbing the bottom of the bag to simulate a sandbag. This is much cheaper than buying buckets and sand.
Suggestions
If you are going to do the sand/bucket setup, after the farmers carry, smash their hands into the sand to do extensions right after the carry. (Most) everything they do is in flexion, and this will pay big dividends for their overall hand strength and health.
What amount of weight would you recommend starting off the guys with?
Fill it up.
Also, for their in-season conditioning, in an effort to break up the boredom of practice, I was thinking of adding in some sandbag carries, sledgehammer work, and things of that nature to improve conditioning as well. Do you have any favorite drills or a medley setup that you like to use?
Again, if you are low on funds, use their equipment bags for sandbags. You can fill them with gloves from the players. I think everything you are suggesting will provide the overload and subsequent adaptation for your players, but consider this…
Look at the movements you're prescribing and the majority of skills movements your players are engaging in.
Action and loading anterior to the frontal plane.
You would be very wise to incorporate pulls, extensions and external rotation movements across the entire kinetic chain. Also, soft-tissue work to the internal rotators (and for your pitchers special soft-tissue attention shoulder spent on their deceleration or plant side) and mobility work on the upper back, hips and ankles.
A very interesting point: Mike Boyle wrote a great article about baseball players that drives home my point. Both tennis players and baseball players execute explosive movements with lots of torque with their arms abducted and externally rotated. Yet baseball players display a much higher incidence of shoulder problems.
Why is that…?
Because tennis involves backhands….creating a balance.
One way Mike suggests incorporating more “reverse” horizontal or transverse abducted movements for your baseball players is to have them throw a simple Frisbee.
A great idea…
Maybe hippies would be great baseball players…
I'm working toward a goal of deadlifting 220 pounds on a 3-inch fat bar with a double overhand grip. Currently I can lift between 180-190 lbs in this manner. My training has been very simple: 8 singles for as much weight as I can handle, one day per week. Training-wise, I feel like there is probably a better way to be going about this. What kind of training protocol would you recommend for reaching my goal? Any suggestions regarding technique?
Double overhand grip strength, especially on an axle, is dependent upon finger strength and wrist strength. As always with thick bar training, the wrist should start flexed for the greatest strength potential to engage and maintain strength throughout the lift. With that being said, I would suggest two things:
- Supplement with some Rolling Thunder work
- We've had good success with thick bar wrist rolling (see picture). Slip a 4" PVC pipe over an Olympic bar in the power cage and attached a loading pin with rope. This will not only build serious finger AND wrist strength but also engage the shoulders and back. Remember to go both ways.
Just as a reminder, things like putting talc on your thighs and working dynamic sessions into your routine will also bring you closer to your goal.
Okay Smitty, I know the man to go to when I have a grip question. My problem is that I'm not seeing any progress from one week to the next. I did a 230 lbs farmers walk for 130 feet last week (after being a head case about it for the first two sets) but then, this week, I could only get 235 lb for 70 feet on my best run.
Other than farmers, the only grip work I do during the week are the Kroc Rows, and my lats give out way before my grip does on those, so I cant possibly be overtraining my grip, right? What do you do/how do you evaluate any grip problems you have and determine the solution for yourself? I'm not sure whether to add in holds, wrist roller, crusher, or sledgehammer wrist work. I don't want to overcomplicate it, but what I'm doing isn't working.
I know it's tough to figure something like this out over the internet, and I'm not asking for a quick-fix magical solution with Nationals less than 6 weeks away (although any direct exercise suggestions would be appreciated), but how do you and the rest of the Diesel Crew approach fixing a grip problem? More work, different exercises, or something else altogether?
I doubt this is a strength problem, but I do have a few unique suggestions for you. The most obvious points are:
1. Walk quickly – cover as much distance as you can before the lactic acid builds up and the strength goes.
2. Regulate your breathing – learn how to breathe while under load and bracing.
3. Strength – heavy rack, short ROM lockouts held for time build the support grip strength endurance that has solid carryover. You can actually set up the farmers on a high pin, usually about 4-6 inches from lockout, or use two Olympic bars.
With that being said, here are the suggestions:
Suggestion 1
Start keeping a training log when you do farmers and note distances.
For example:
Attempt 1: 230 lb Farmers – 50’
Attempt 2: 230 lb Farmers – 100’
Attempt 3: 230 lb Farmers – 150’
Attempt 4: 230 lb Farmers – 90’
Attempt 5: 230 lb Farmers – 75’
As you can see by this simple example, your physiological state peaked on your third attempt. If you monitor this closely, it can become very important at Nationals and will determine the intensity and duration of your warm-ups. This example would dictate that your farmers attempt should be preceded by a certain amount of attempts and at a certain intensity. Obviously this also changes determinant upon which event the farmers event falls, meaning less warm-up will be needed if the farmers events is 2nd, 3rd and so on.
Suggestion 2
Also, closely monitor the frequency, intensity and recovery throughout the next 6 weeks. Subsequent intense training sessions should not occur as you have to vary the intensity to allow for recovery and compensation. Your training state and ability to recover is also dependent upon rest, nutrition, and balance of strength training movements.
Suggestion 3
Utilize your wrists! Cocking your wrist when lifting and initiating the farmers walk will not only engage the musculature that cross the wrists but also force the wrists to initially take the load slowly transitioning to the fingers as time elapses.
Suggestion 4
Use the lats. Flexing your lats hard when lifting the load and continuously throughout the event, will pull in the upper back and shoulders into the movement - giving you greater strength and a further distance.
Suggestion 5
Offset your grip 1” toward to the back from center shifting the COG and mass of the farmers to your stronger fingers, i.e., the pointer and middle fingers. This one will be very beneficial.
Suggestion 6
Remember to chalk the back of your pointer fingers as they are the anchor point for your thumb!
Would you train the grip of a basketball player differently than with other athletes? The ball is much bigger in diameter than most balls/implements in other sports so I'm just wondering how you would go about that.
General grip training for all athletes is beneficial.
If you want to focus on basketball, a more direct approach would include some of the following considerations:
General Specific Movements
Repetitive wrist flexion – dribbling, shooting
Ulnar/Radial Deviation – passing, receiving
Some Quick GS Exercises: Plate Wrist Curls (dynamic wrist movement), Plate Curls (static wrist stabilization) Thick Wrist Roller, Med Ball Passing/Receiving, Sledgehammer levering (all angles)
Reverse Movement / Balance: Hand health and dexterity (and alignment of the carpal bones) is determined by the balance and flexibility of musculature and subsequent movements to develop this musculature.
Some Quick GS Exercises: Rubber Band/Rice Bucket/Outer Loop Extensions, Reverse Wrist Curls (dynamic wrist movement), Reverse Curls (static wrist stabilization).
Work your way up the kinetic chain and start improving the stability, tissue quality and strength of the musculature that crosses the elbows, shoulders, etc…
Impact Considerations
Impact of the wrist or fingers often occurs while guarding, passing, shooting or falling.
Extraction
Take a page from the Band Man: extraction with Jumpstretch bands is an excellent way to provide relief, recovery and improved flexibility from an injury to the wrists or fingers - or as an addition to your active rest days.
Note: Pay attention to your athlete’s everyday activities: i.e., position of hands while driving, long durations of typing, etc…Correcting these repetitive, short ROM activities will pay long dividends.