Dufisthenics

Yesterday my set of three grippers showed up, a 100 pound, 150 pound and 200 pound resistance set.  I always assumed using a gripper was stupidly simple, put it in your hand and squeeze the damn thing.  Well when I told Lou about my purchase he said I needed to make sure I knew how to “set the gripper”.  He sent me this link as a reference.   Watching the video made something I thought was very simple into something much more involved.  Some of the logic was lost on me. For example why it would be advantageous to squeeze the gripper with your off hand so the handles are parallel before doing your work sets.  It seems like allowing the gripper to expand fully followed by you retracting it fully would give the most bang for the buck.

So anyway last night while watching tv I did one set with each gripper.  With the 100 pounder I was able to squeeze out 10 reps without much issue.  However when I grabbed hold of the 200 pounder I could only get four not so great reps with my right hand and a weak 1.5 reps with the left.  I always felt my grip was stronger on my left side but the gripper work proved the opposite, weird.

The instructions for the gripper said you shouldn’t over train them, only doing 2-3 times a week.  I could see it being a shortcut to tendonitis if you went nuts.  I expected my forearms to be killing me today but they don’t feel bad at all meaning my next session needs to be more intense.

At the gym I did a mix of movements but got sidetracked by a lot of jaw work talking to a couple of my buddies.  It happens.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

20 pull ups

60 second wall handstand

Seated dumbbell bicep curls – 25lbs x 12

Bodyweight dips x 20

Seated dumbbell bicep curls – 40lbs x 8

Bodyweight dips x 20

Seated dumbbell bicep curls – 50lbs x 4

Bodyweight dips x 20

Smith machine shoulder press – 135lbs x 8, 155lbs x 5, 175lbs x 1, 135lbs x 7

Standing dumbbell shoulder shrugs – 70lbs x 10, 75lbs x 10, 75lbs x 10