Terminal City Training Vancouver Personal Trainer Strength & Conditioning

  • Home
  • Barbell Club
  • TConline
  • Blog
  • About
  • Mountain Athletes
  • Contact
  • Rentals

Q&A: Developing Grip Strength for the Deadlift

5/30/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ryan, a member at my gym, sent me the following question. This is a very common inquiry.

Hi Al,

I was doing deads this weekend again and my grip strength over the double overhand grip definitely seems like a limiter.  I was practicing (or at least trying to practice) hook grip, but that'll probably take a bit before it helps a lot.

Are there any grip strength exercises you recommend to help with the deadlift? 
Thanks,
-Ryan


Hi Ryan,
Although there are all kinds of specialized grip implements available (there are a bunch at the gym) I think that the most useful approach to building overall grip strength would be to start using various types of thick handles.

At the gym we have a 2 inch axle barbell and a 2 inch chin-up bar plus a 2 inch vertical bar and a Rolling Thunder handle. Ask me about these next time you come in to lift and we can start working them into your training.

For when you are at other gyms you might want to think about buying a pair of Fat Gripz or wrapping a hand towel or cloth around a dumbbell handle in order to make them more challenging to hold onto. I have a pair of Fat Gripz that I can show you. They snap onto regular sized barbell or dumbbell handles.

A couple of other things:
- you can start to hold your last deadlift rep for as long as you can at the end of your final set.
-you can over-grip the bar when doing barbell and dumbbell exercises and chin-ups i.e. squeeze the bar harder than you actually need to.

Hope this helps,
​Al


0 Comments

Q+A: Press Woes

5/14/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Hey Al, 

I hope you're doing well, I miss seeing you and the crew. 

I think back in the spring you invited me to send the odd email with training questions so here goes. I seem to be in a press plateau. Probably typical. A few months ago I got through a 5/3/1 cycle with a 100 lb training max (TM), started a new cycle with a 105 lb TM and could only get 2 reps on the last set of 5s week. So I reset back to a TM of 90. I realized after the fact I probably should have reset to 85 (go back 3 cycles from the last cycle I actually finished) but anyhow that's what I did. Now I've worked back up to a TM of 100. Just finished the 5/3/1 day and managed to get 2 reps on the last set, but damn it was heavy. I am not confident in my ability to get much farther - maybe I could get through a cycle with a TM of 105 but 110 seems impossible from here. I would have thought that with a reset I would have gotten some more reps on the AMRAP sets as I worked through these TMs a second time, but I got no more reps (sometimes fewer) and it has not felt any easier. 

Switch to 2.5 lb jumps instead of 5 lb jumps? Reset again? Tread water? Something else entirely? Any suggestions welcome. I know the press takes patience but I could use a suggestion for what to do while I'm being patient. 

On the cycle I am just finishing (still need to DL), my bench TM was 150, squat was 165, DL is/was 230. Other lifts seem to be OK

Hi Will,

Good to hear from you and happy to help.

First read through this and make sure your technique is dialled:

http://www.terminalcitytraining.com/blog/common-problems-in-the-overhead-press

Secondly, yes I think that 2.5 pound jumps in your TM are a good idea.

Third, have you tried the Boring But Big variation? The idea is that after your main lift you reduce the weight in the main lift a fair bit and continue with the movement by doing 5 sets of 10. This would count as your main accessory movement though you would want to get in some chins/pullups/ or rows to keep the shoulders healthy. I would keep the 5x10 very light to start. Maybe just the bar at first and then adjust upwards if it feels reasonable. Try it for the press. It can be applied to other lifts as well but just do the press this way for now. You will want to consider increasing calories and protein to compensate for the extra work.

The idea is to try and move the lift forward with volume since intensity increases aren't working so well. 

Let me know how that goes. And, if you have more questions please ask.
Al
0 Comments

    Archives

    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    April 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2016
    April 2015
    April 2014
    June 2012
    April 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    August 2008

    Categories

    All
    Age
    Bc Championships
    Bench Press
    Bjj
    Bodyweight
    Bull Strength
    Charity
    Classic
    Coaching
    Deadlift
    Defranco
    Derby
    Diesel Crew
    Diy
    East Vancouver
    East Vancouver Strength Coach
    Elitefts
    Fedor
    Female
    Foam Roller
    Grip Strength
    Hardcore Gym
    Homemade
    Hub Pinching
    Ipf
    Joe Hashey
    Kettlebells
    Mma
    Olympic Lifting
    Olympic-style Weightlifting
    Powerlifting
    Prehab
    Press
    Prowler
    Pullups
    Q&A
    Raw
    Recovery
    Relative Strength
    Running
    Sandbags
    Sandbag Training
    Sled
    Sled Dragging
    Squat
    Strength
    Strongman
    Underground Gym
    Vancouver
    Videos
    Women
    Women Female Strength Training
    Women Strength
    Women Strength Training
    Yvonne

    RSS Feed

© 2010 Terminal City Training

Terminal City Training

East Vancouver, BC

email: [email protected]

www.terminalcitytraining.com

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.