[kool bubba ice]

Any serious weight lifters here? Personal best? Much like Headphones, I got another obsession recently, building grip strength.. Actually there's a very small but hardcore community of 'grippers.' Own lingo & terminology. & prep is like a faith to them & take it as serious as a audiophile hearing the slightest grain in the upper mid range of a hi end headphone..

But this hobby is much cheaper, but takes more dedication & some moments of physical pain.. Good kind of course..

captatinofcrunch.com has a lot of info & products on the subject. They have their own line of grippers.

Their COC 4 hand gripper is the equivalent of crushing a brick. Only a few people in the world are certified as being a number 4 gripper.. One is the world famous strong man Magnus Samuelson. He did his cold (no warm up) & the gripper was straight out of the box, so it wasn't 'seasoned,' relaxed springs.. The COC also seem to be the most accurate in terms of gripping pressure.. I believe the COC 4 has 365-380lbs of tension. They even have half way grippers like 1.5 etc.. I bought the Hand Gripper HG150 which is termed as intermediate on their site.. The strength are 100/150/200/250/300/350 & the Special edition HG400.. From what I gather, the HG line is a bit easier, & less accurate with their measurements. I just bought the HG brand cause I didn't hear of COC before then. There are others out there.. There are also 'vice grips' & 'wrist rollers' to help build optimal finger/hand/forearm strength along with rubber bands for the forearm extensor muscles, much like audio, balance is key.

I got my HG150lb on the 23rd of Sept.. Doing 40-50 reps is too high to gain that real crushing grip.. Bought the HG200lb last week.. Much tougher.. 13-14 reps max, but, I go to the extreme & over trained a bit, but I use my hands & work all day lifting TV's, furniture, putting out product, so I was getting fatigued & not healing properly.. I have noted how much easier is my job is with a stronger grip.. My current goal is to get reps with the HG250. Long term goal is the HG350 & maybe the COC 3.

These goals will be much easier to obtain then my audiophile goals, which would cost me thousands instead of hundreds.

My personal best bench press was 450. I was 19 back in 91. Behind the neck press, free weight, 375lbs. Same age. One good thing about training your hands, they seem to adapt quickly to stimulus.. I also been a certified PT since 97, but was more for personal knowledge then as a profession..

 

[atothex]

Damn son how much you weigh?

 

[mattcalf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atothex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Damn son how much you weigh?

In my head, it was Terry Tate reading that post to me.

 

[strid3r]

Been powerlifting for 4-5 years now, on and off. My personal bests are 375 squat, 325 deadlift, and 215 flat bench. I'm 5'11" and weigh around 180. The gripper thing is new to me. I can't see myself getting into it, but it's interesting nonetheless.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strid3r /img/forum/go_quote.gif Been powerlifting for 4-5 years now, on and off. My personal bests are 375 squat, 325 deadlift, and 215 flat bench. I'm 5'11" and weigh around 180. The gripper thing is new to me. I can't see myself getting into it, but it's interesting nonetheless.

You should. Will improve your deadlift.. First thing that weakens is your grip. On the flipside dead lifting does help your grip to some extent..

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atothex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Damn son how much you weigh?

I weighted around 250lb at 19.. 5'10.. My max in competition is 440... Very strict rules..Feet must be on the platform at all times.. Butt on the bench, no arching...1 second pause when the bar touches your chest..

 

[apatN]

Nope. And doesn't look like something I feel like getting into. I do some occasionally weight lifting though and have a Powerball.

Also, I swim 2-4 times per week.

 

[Ub3rMario]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strid3r /img/forum/go_quote.gif Been powerlifting for 4-5 years now, on and off. My personal bests are 375 squat, 325 deadlift, and 215 flat bench. I'm 5'11" and weigh around 180. The gripper thing is new to me. I can't see myself getting into it, but it's interesting nonetheless.

I bet you could get your bench wayyyyy higher. I'm 5'7, 135 lbs and went from benching 135 to 200 (maxing) in about 3 months. No supplements/roids just consistent routine. Then again my friends always said I had an abnormal amount of chest strength for my body weight/size.

 

[dallan]

I used to, max benched was 300 lbs when I weighed around 140 so more than twice my weight. More recently, six years ago, max probably around 280 but weighed about the same. Stopped lifting five and a half years ago and started doing yoga, hard switch over, did it for four years rigorously. The combined stress of yoga and surfing gave me shoulder issues that I just seem to have recovered from. So now gentle yoga, surfing and need to get back into some less intense weight training.

Edit-all free weights, no supplements just healthy eating, alot of chicken breast during weight period, then became a vegetarian during yoga period, now eat fish as well though. Still no red meat or poultry, just fish and veggies.

 

[strid3r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ub3rMario /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bet you could get your bench wayyyyy higher. I'm 5'7, 135 lbs and went from benching 135 to 200 (maxing) in about 3 months. No supplements/roids just consistent routine. Then again my friends always said I had an abnormal amount of chest strength for my body weight/size.

I've always had mediocre chest strength, but I also dislocated my elbow a couple years ago from kickboxing which did not help. My incline bench has never been the same, and my flat bench has not improved much as a result. I think I could improve if I really put a lot of effort into it, but it is not high on my list of priorities. Ironically enough, my decline bench has had no negative impact at all and I can hit about 220.

BTW, you "little" guys are great to watch putting up huge weights at the gym. Always amazes me when one of you start pulling up 315 deadlifts like nothing (somewhat common at college gyms).

 

[Ub3rMario]

Oh man i'm sorry about your elbow injury! Those are the worst. I used to have a bad case of tennis elbow and it prevented me from lifting for a while but now i'm better.

Yeah it's kinda fun being a smaller guy and lifting a lot. Makes me feel strong haha. However, I guess it's nothing compared to what those big dudes can lift hahaha.

 

[kool bubba ice]

I used to train with a fellow who could put up 565 weighing 198lbs.. A true marvel. Physically, he looked above average, but power was through the roof.. Drug tested too.. Another lifter did 440 weighting 148lbs.. The bench record is now 1,100 or 1,200lb..

 

[atothex]

All with shirts I assume?

 

[MoodySteve]

This thread's a nice reminder of having fallen off the wagon...

In the peak of my fitness (age 20) I was repping 220 on the bench for 4 sets of 6, which predicts a max bunch somewhere around 250-260. I never went for the one-rep max because I'd injured my shoulder in high school doing that and didn't want to put myself out of commission again. I weighed around 160, I figure. I did squats on and off, probably never more than about 300 lbs, and didn't do deadlifts at all.

Lately I prefer punching bag workouts to intense strength training, but I do miss the strength.

Bubba - 450 lbs on the bench?! Respect, man - that takes some serious dedication and raw power. I can't imagine a 1200 lb bench press - that seems like it should be beyond human limits.

 

[3X0]

I'm semi-intense. I'm not trying to gain a lot of mass, just to be strong.

To that end, I SRM 225 on the bench press. My squat is pitiful since I have poor knees, so I rep 10x 160 or so (trying to get it up to 250 reps). I run a personal best 4:50 mile time. I focus on lots of body weight exercises, like 10x pull-ups and 15x dips with a 45lb attached via belt. I'm 5' 7" and weigh 150lbs. 19 years old here.

I don't imagine myself improving much, even though I've only been going through my routine for a little over a year. I imagine if anything I'll only try to keep these maximums while dropping a couple of pounds.