Paul's training log

[Paul Wood]

Thought it’s about time I started a log here. I’ve had one on Dave Draper’s site for a while now, but can’t get on there any more at work. Fortunately I can still get on here and the gripboard! Plus the people there mostly don’t know what I’m on about when I talk about grip exercises.
I’m training for all round strength, but am not doing any lower body training at the moment due to a knee injury. Which is a shame as I was progressing nicely towards my goal of a 400lb deadlift by xmas. I’ll be doing 2 gym sessions a week Monday and Thursday, and probably some extra grip stuff on Saturdays. Been training roughly 5x5 for a while now, but that got a bit stale so will be doing higher reps initially.
Recently experimented unsuccessfully with the KTA gripper routine, all I gained was a finger injury. Looking forward to doing more all round grip training. Dusted off the rolling thunder last week for a few sets and my forearms were aching for days.
Intention is roughly:

Monday:
Press
Grippers
Chin or pulldown
Pinch
Triset curl, plate curl, skullcrusher
Wrist roller
Ab roller

Thursday
Row
Bench press
Rolling thunder
Chin / dip superset
Wrist curl
Calf raise
Reverse cable curl / pressdown superset
Side bends

Saturday
Neck work
Bit of bodyweight stuff
Pinch or hub or 3” bar
Grippers
Levering
Titan’s telegraph key
Formulator

Will see how it goes and may reduce the weekend stuff a bit. Comments / constructive criticism welcome.

[Paul Wood]

Monday lunchtime work gym:

Warm up on C2 rower, crunches
Press: 10x35kg, 2x10x55
Grippers: 10T, 5#1, 5#1.5, 1#2, few missed attempts pda262, #1.5 inverted, #1.5OC
felt a bit off today.
Wide grip pulldown: 10x30kg, 10x60, 10x70
Pinch: There’s some old 56lb scale weights in my work gym, fiddled around with those a bit. Too wide for me to pinch across the top just yet. Also did some plate pinching.
EZ Curl: 10x25kg, 10x35, 10x40
triset with plate curls: 10x5kg, 2x8x15lbs
and skullcrushers: 10x25kg, 10x35, 8x40
Supported 2.5” wrist roller: 10kg both ways, 3 sets of 20kg both ways.
Never done them supported before, makes a big difference. Could have done more, but not sure how much more my pvc / rope setup could take.
External cable rotations: 3 light sets

[twig]

Nice to have you on board.

[Steve Gardener]

Most of the lads here go mad training at the weekends and ease off, if a little, on the Thursday session.

[Paul Wood]

Any stuff I do on a weekend has always tended to be a bit ad hoc due to life getting in the way. Going climbing instead this saturday, but the grip will get plenty of work from that.

[alan]

I've got to agree with you about the climbing. I gave (indoor) bouldering a go a few years ago because it appealed to my HIT training philosophy. My dad was a good climber in his day, so I thought his genes coupled with my years in the gym would make climbing a breeze. WRONG!! I didn't realise the amount of finger strength needed, something that's not really developed on a powerlifting routine. It was humbling to watch schoolgirls climb rings around me and have to "retire" after a few weeks with my tendons strained to the max. It was enjoyable climbing the overhangs and roof sections and certainly adds spice to grip training.

[Paul Wood]

Hi Alan, yeah it's no coincidence climbers often have great grips. There's the endurance aspect as well, which often isn't addressed in grip training. I'm 15 stone, so not huge but bigger than most climbers and it can certainly be brutal on the fingers. The idea is to use your feet to take as much stress off the fingers as possible, which is easier said than done!

[Paul Wood]

1/11/07 Thursday evening

Bent over row: 10x20kg, 10x50, 2x10x60
Incline DB press: 10x35lbs, 10x55, 10x77, 9x80
Rolling thunder (not including handle + 2” pin): 10x20kg, 10x41.25, 10L9Rx41.25
Chin ladder: 1,2,3,4,3 done with partner, only resting long enough for him to do his reps. Tough!
Dips: 10,10,7
Calf raises: 15x195lbs, 2x12x330
Wrist curls: 12x20kg, 2x10x40
Reverse cable curls: 10x60lbs, 2x10x96
ss
Rope pushdowns: 10x120lbs, 2x10x144
Pulley crunches: 15x168lbs, 2x12x216

Will keep rows the same and try to use less ‘thrust’ on the last few reps. Press will go to 80lbs for both work sets. Will try going up to 42.5 for rolling thunder and wrist curls.

[Paul Wood]

5/11/07 Monday evening

Hyperextensions
Press: 10x20kg, 10x40, 8x57.5, 7x57.5
Grippers: lame, forearms were still shot from climbing on Saturday.
Close grip pulldowns: 10x90lbs, 10x150, 10x195
Wide grip pulldowns behind neck: 10x150, 8x150
EZ Curl: 10x25kg, 10x35, 8x40
ss
Skullcrushers: 10x25, 2x10x35
Hanging leg raises: 2x8
Leg ext: 12x15kg, 12x25, 12x35
ss
DB SLDL: 10x55lbs, 10x77, 10x60
Knee felt fine on these. Going for some physio in a couple of weeks so will lay off any proper squatting or deadlifting till then.

[Paul Wood]

6/11/07 Tuesday lunchtime work gym

5 mins C2 rower
5 mins bike
Two circuits of v-ups, burpees with clap press up, ab roller, Turkish get up with 25lb db
5 mins elliptical
Stretching

[Paul Wood]

9/11/07 Friday evening

Thursday’s training ended up on Friday due to going to watch the xmas lights switch on in Manchester, a fairly underwhelming experience.

Hyperextensions, crunches
Bent over row: 10x20kg, 10x40, 2x10x60
Incline DB press: 10x40lbs, 10x60, 2x10x80
Rolling thunder: 10x20kg, 10x42.5, 10L 7+3Rx42.5 last lefty rep dodgy, righty did the 3 extra rest pause.
Chins: 8
Wrist curls: 15x20kg, 2x10x42.5
Dips: 16
Calf raises: 15x225lbs, 12x330, 10x450
Reverse cable curls: 10x72lbs, 10x96, 10x108
ss
Rope pushdowns: 10x120lbs, 2x10x156
DB side bends: 10x60lbs, 2x10x90

10/11/07 Saturday afternoon

Did some pinch flipping rocks whilst gardening.
Bodyweight squats
Cable overhead pulldowns 3x15
Front pulls 15, 12, 15
2 hand pinch: 3x10sec static holds with 2x50lb plates
‘Run the rack’ grippers, i.e. drop sets
7lb sledge levers to face, front levers, front lever lifts
Titan’s telegraph key, thumbs on top: 15x5kg, 2x15x8kg
Sledge rotations, finger walking.

[Paul Wood]

12/11/07 Monday evening

Hyperextensions, crunches
Squats: 10x20kg, 2x10x50 nice and light, just testing the knee again.
Grippers: 10T + 5 inverted, 5#1 + 3 inverted, 1#1.5 + 1 inverted, 1#2, 5 click reps #2, RB260N BFNs, OC#1.5, 8#1.5, inverted OC#1.5
Press: 10x20kg, 10x40, 8x57.5, 7x57.5
Chin / pull ups: 5/5 5/3 5
Skullcrusher: 10x25, 2x10x35
Plate curl: 10x5kg, 7x7.5kg (5+2.5), 3x10kg
Pinch: 3x5kg high pulls, few attempts at 4x5kg, 2x10kg hand to hand passes, blockweight tossing, flipping.
Formulator ext: 10x5kg, 7x9kg(5+4), 8x7.5kg(5+2+0.5)
Formulator flex: 10x10kg, 10x15kg(3x5), 10x18kg(10+2+2x0.5)

[Paul Wood]

13/11/07 Tuesday lunchtime work gym

5 mins C2 rower, kept 500m split around 1:50
5 mins bike
Chest expander front pulls
Neck raise lying on bench 2x10x15lbs front and back
Three circuits of Turkish get up with 25lb db (10), burpees with clap press up (10), ab roller (10 from knees), lunges with 15lb dbs (20)
Chest expander ‘shoulder shimmys’
Stretching

[Paul Wood]

15/11/07 Thursday evening

V-ups, light cuban press+ shrug
Bent over row: 10x20kg, 10x42.5, 2x10x62.5
Incline DB press: 10x40lbs, 10x65, 10x85, 10x77
slight spotter assist to get last rep of top set
Rolling thunder: 10x23.75, 10L8+2Rx43.75, 10x42.5
Might start using a bit of chalk on these, hands start to get sweaty doing higher reps.
Chins: 9.5
Calf raise: 15x240lbs, 12x360, 12x420
Wrist curl: 15x20kg, 2x10x45kg
Deadlift: 8x70kg, 8x100, 5x140, 8x100 last set semi sumo.

[Steve Gardener]

As per my RT tips - keep the hands as dry as possible rather than chalked up. So use it but rub it well in.