Tag Archives: Grip Training

HUBanero Training or Setting Your Grip On Fire

by James Fuller

Driving home from the 2013 Heavy Lift Championships, I realized I had a puzzle to solve.  How to continue improving my Hub lifting ability without the aid of Frank Ciavattone’s large hub Yorks? Remember, Frank’s hubs are the SAME 4  3/4″ across as on my 100 lbers!! Lifting by the hub is NOT at all like lifting a thick bar, pinch gripping a bunch of 10 lb plates or crushing a gripper to death. Hub lifting is uniquely it’s own. The performance is not straightforward as Al Myers can tell you.

4 Spoke Grip Nemesis

To Frank’s meet, I brought 2 45lb BEN Deep Dish plates. These were my Hub Lifting practice plates. The hubs are the same 3  1/2″ across as my York Deep Dish 45’s but have only 3 ‘spokes’.  The spokes are the risers on plates most people don’t notice. Near the lip or flange of the plate, they start low and and gradually get taller like a ramp until they merge into the hub.

I showed Al how to grab the hub with index and middle finger together while the ring finger is on the other side of the spoke. The thumb doesn’t seem to contribute much. The pinky ‘backs up’ the ring finger at best. From here twist hand INWARDS against the spokes, as if to unscrew the top off a pickle jar. Now pick up the weight. When I’m done training with these plates it is the ring finger(s) that feel the most stress/work. The twisting helps get my hands closer to the hub and effectively ‘shortens’ my fingers. As Al pointed out a smaller hand person has the advantage when it comes to Hub Lifting. The larger the hand, the more work that has to be done  by the finger tips alone.

My 4 spoke York 45’s give me nothing to twist against. The spokes are laid out differently and require me to pick them up ‘straight on’ by the finger tips. I can not lift them this way…yet. I need something lighter but with similar dimensions. I believe I’ve found a possible solution. I bought a couple of Fire Hydrant Nozzle Caps(FHNC) at a local Antique shop.

Comparison of Nozzle Cover: Gripping Lip (left) and Gripping Base (right)

These caps provide 3 different gripping ‘handles’ to train. The top is a pentagon. One fits a thumb and 3 fingers while the other fits a thumb and 2 fingers. Oddly, the smaller pentagon is on the heavier cap. The second ‘handle’ is a lip just below the base of the pentagon. The lip can only be picked up by the finger tips. The 3rd handle is the base below the lip. This is the widest part of the cap. One measures 4  3/4″  and the other is 4  1/4″.  One flares out much like a hub. The other  is straight and has finger holds. With hand over the pentagon, there’s more distance between the palm and the fingers, requiring more fingertip strength to pick up the cap. The insides are threaded so that I can attach a pipe and add weight.  The whopping cost for these caps were 10.00$. Some rattle can rust converter to keep the tetanus down to a minimum and I’m off to the races. I’m curious to see how training with these turns out. You certainly can’t beat the price. Remember, there’s nothing like fire hydrant parts to add fire to your training.

The Hub Lift Clean & Press

by Al Myers

James Fuller hub lifting an Old-style York Deep-Dish 45 lb plate, then cleaning and pressing it!

Last month at Frank’s Barbell Record Breakers  James Fuller did something that really impressed me.  Most of us know James by his secret forum identity only (61pwcc , ok – it’s not a secret anymore!!).  I first met him at the Heavy Lift Championships in York, PA in 2011.  James epitomizes an all rounder – he is constantly thinking of different lifting movements to incorporate into his daily training.  He is interested in ALL TYPES of strength.  Just watch some of his YouTube Videos of his training in his dungeon and you’ll see what I’m talking about!

Now what did he do that impressed me so much?  Well – even though he did several spectacular record lifts that wasn’t it. In fact, this strength feat was done as an exhibition lift that is not an official lift of the USAWA and thus is not a record of any kind.   It was him hub lifting an old style deep-dish York 45 plate, then cleaning it, and finishing off by pressing it.  That’s quite a grip feat.  James commented in the forum by saying, “I hub lifted one of Frank’s York Deep Dish 45’s and he in turn used MY York Deep Dish 45’s that I just got. Been wanting to Hub Clean & Press a 45er for awhile.”

I have a old York deep-dish 45 in the Dino Gym, and I’ve only seen a few lifters even lift it up by the hub.  I consider that a great grip feat and definitely puts a person in a “class of their own”.  Performing a Clean & Press by the hub is just unreal!  I just hope James shows up at the Heavy Lift Champs this spring in Walpole, as I’ll try to talk him into repeating this effort so I can see it first-hand!

Hey…Get a Grip

by Roger LaPointe

An Old Time Strongman curling a York 45 by the hub!!!

Check out this photo from the April 1941 Strength & Health Magzine. What you see is Tarzan Lunt, the weightlifting coach of the Harrisburg YMCA, curling a York 45 pound Olympic plate, by the HUB. Pretty cool.

Now, you want a good grip? Sure, the guy with a crushing hand shake is a jerk. Yet, wouldn’t it be nice if your grip were so rock solid that you had to deliberately NOT crush people’s hands? It’s not merely and issue of spending hours a day doing specific grip work. You have to have proper rest, recovery and variety in your grip training.

Today, I spoke with a juggler, who has been in the Guinness Book, about heavy juggling. He found that more than an hour a day with 5 pound juggling weights lead to tendonitis in his biceps tendon, at the elbow. However, 4 pounds was OK. Crazy. Right? Today, at 70 years old, he has found that he loves training with our solid wood Indian Clubs that weigh 1 1/2 pounds. Guys, that is really significant. Look up the weight for juggler’s clubs. Jugglers use materials that differ by ounces, the vast majority less than one pound in total weight.

Why are clubs important?

They develop wrist and forearm strength, combined with flexibility.  Then switch to something like grippers and thick bar work.

The JWC Monster Wrist Roller

by Thom Van Vleck

LaVerne Myers, of the Dino Gym, training on the JWC Monster Wrist Roller in preparation for next month's USAWA Grip Championships.

Recently, I made a monster wrist roller out of spacers from an old disc (farm implement that would bust up clods after plowing or aerate the ground).  These spacers look like giant spindles and are about 2″ in diameter in the grip.  I put three on a 1 1/4″ bar.  The two outside ones were for grip and the inside one was to roll up the rope which was attached to a vertical bar loaded with weight.   I was so pleased with it, I made one for Al Myers who then took it and improved up on the design.  I have to admit, Al’s is now better than mine, although I made some changes to mine based on Al’s ideas.

At any rate, I have been using it lately for my grip.  I use it just like a regular wrist roller but I set in in my squat racks  so that it take the pressure off my delts and puts all the emphasis on my forearms.  I try and get really aggressive rolling the weight up and use enough weight to really challenge me.  I pretend I’m trying to squeeze water out of a rock!!!!!

Wrist rollers are a great training tool, even if you don’t have a “Monster” one like me and Al.  If you come to either the Dino Gym or the JWC Training Hall, you will have to give them a try!  Grip has always been stubborn for me to make progress so any new toy adds new excitement to my training and for now, the Monster Wrist Roller is what’s new in my grip training!

WORKING MAN’S GRIP TRAINING

BY DAVE GLASGOW

DAVE GLASGOW IN FRONT OF THE FORGE THAT WAS USED TO HEAT THE DRILL BITS. DAVE IS USING THE 16 POUND SLEDGE HAMMER THAT WAS MENTIONED IN THIS STORY. THIS PICTURE IS FROM 1978.

FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER, SERIOUSLY, TRAINED GRIP, I THINK I HAVE A FAIR GRIP.   I AM CERTAIN I KNOW WHY!!  I SUPPOSE MANY WILL QUESTION IF THIS IS A TRUE “GRIP WORKOUT”, HOWEVER, I THINK THE STORY BARES TELLING, IF NOTHING ELSE.

MY DAD, JOHN, HAD A DRILLING BUSINESS THAT HE STARTED IN 1957.   I BEGAN HELPING POP FROM AN EARLY AGE.  WHEN I GOT OUT OF COLLEGE, (I DID’NT GRADUATE, BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY!), I WENT TO WORK FOR POP FULL TIME.   I WAS YOUNG, IN GOOD SHAPE AND I REVELED IN THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE JOB.

WE RAN WHAT IS CALLED A “CABLE TOOL” RIG THAT DRILLED MUCH AS A GIANT CHISEL DOES.  THE MAIN COMPONENT OF THIS DRILLING RIG WAS A STRING OF “TOOLS’, AT THE END OF WHICH WAS A GIANT BIT. DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE HOLE YOU WERE DRILLING, THE BITS COULD WEIGH FROM #200 TO A HALF TON OR MORE.  THE BITS WERE NOTHING MORE THAN HUGE CHUNKS OF STEEL WITH A SHARPEN END.  IT IS THIS “SHARPENED” END THAT MAKES UP THE CRUX OF THIS STORY.

IN ORDER TO SHARPEN THESE BITS, YOU HAD TO PUT THEM IN A FORGE, HEAT THEM UNTIL THEY WERE WHITE HOT, THEN, BEAT THE END WITH A SLEDGE HAMMER TO GET THE ANGLE (POINT) YOU NEEDED.

MOST OF YOU HAVE HEARD THE PHRASE, ‘STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT!!?’   THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAD TO DO!  TWO MEN WERE NEEDED TO DO THIS, WITH ONE MAN ON EACH SIDE OF THE BIT AND HAMMERED THE END WITH A SLEDGE UNTIL ONE OF THREE THINGS HAPPENED.   ONE- YOU COULDN’T BREATH; TWO- THE IRON GOT TOO COLD OR, THREE- YOUR GRIP GAVE OUT!

NOW, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS,  I SEE IT HAS RECENTLY BECOME FASHIONABLE TO USE A SLEDGE HAMMER FOR AN AEROBIC WORKOUT.  THAT IS ALL WELL AND FINE;  HOWEVER, WE WERE DOING IT TO MAKE A LIVING!! AEROBIC WORKOUT BE DAMNED!!

THROW INTO THE MIX; WE HAD THREE DIFFERENT WEIGHTS OF SLEDGES. TWELVE, FOURTEEN AND SIXTEEN POUND, THE SIXTEEN HAVING BEEN USED BY MY GREAT UNCLE FOR THE SAME PURPOSE BACK IN THE LATE FORTY’S.  AS YOU SEE, YOU COULD VARY THE WEIGHTS, REPS AND NUMBER OF SETS, JUST AS YOU WOULD YOUR REGULAR WORKOUT.

BY THE TIME WE FINISHED, I SWEAR, THERE WERE TIMES I THOUGHT MY FOREARMS WERE GOING TO EXPLODE! THIS WHOLE PROCESS WOULD TAKE ABOUT THREE HOURS FROM THE FIRST “BEAT” UNTIL YOU HAD THE FINISHED PRODUCT, TAKING ABOUT FIVE TO SIX “BEATS”, WITH ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES BETWEEN “BEATS”. THE NET RESULT BEING, FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, AND WELL INTO THE NEXT, YOU WOULD WALK AROUND WITH ‘POPEYE’ FOREARMS!

NOW, BEING YOUNG, DUMB AND FULL OF ….EAGERNESS,  I FELT IT UNMANLY TO USE ANYTHING LESS THAN THE 16#.  HOWEVER, AFTER THE THIRD “BEAT”, I WOULD RELENT AND CHANGE TO THE 14#, AS MY LUNG CAPACITY WAS NOT NEAR AS GREAT AS MY BONEHEADED PRIDE!!

SO, YOU BE THE JUDGE!! IS THAT A WORKOUT OR NOT??

I MIGHT ALSO COMMENT THAT MY POP, WHO WAS FARM BOY STRONG AND OIL PATCH TOUGH, WOULD OUTLAST MY BROTHER AND ME, THEN STAND THERE, CALL US “CANDY-ASSES” AND BURST INTO UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER AT THE SIGHT OF HIS OFF-SPRING GASPING FOR BREATH!!

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