Incorporating Grip Work into your Current Training Plan

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2 Incorporating Grip Work into your Current Training Plan I wanted to do a short write up here for the guys who are 100% happy with the current training plans that they are on and didn t want to veer too far from it, but at the same time wanted to do a little bit extra grip work due to all the benefits it can provide to their wrist shot, snap shot and even whole body development through the advanced strength training principle of irradiation. This crowd really only has two options, they can either: a) Throw in some grip work during their existing workout b) Throw in one exercise at the end of their workout Doing this, they can still follow the same plan that they are on completely while also not spending any meaningful additional time in the gym at all. If you re a part of this crowd, I still HIGHLY recommend you read the Understanding Grip Training for Hockey write up before going any further with this one as you need to know the rules for how many things you should be focusing on per training block and how often you should be training. Lighting the Lamp 2

3 We ll still need to attack all four categories of grip strength development with this approach to ensure maximal progress and benefits being seen out on the ice. Here s how I d set it up. Incorporating Grip Work During and After your Workout Adding grip exercises into your current plan right in the meat of your workout or after the workout can be a great way to save the most amount of time while still getting all the benefits grip training provides. Of huge importance when adding grip work into your current routine is to ensure minimal confliction between lifts. Put another way, you want to choose the grip exercises that are going to have the least amount (ideally, zero amount) of negative impact towards the others lifts that you re doing that day. For example, if you re doing deadlifts today, incorporating static barbell holds right beforehand is probably not the smartest thing you could do. Doing this, you can pre-exhaust the grip muscles that are going to be most dominantly activated during the deadlift and in turn decrease your deadlift performance. In this case, sledgehammer levering would be a much better choice. Additionally, I feel supersetting your grip work in with a movement is your best option here. It creates the least amount of additional gym time and if you do it right, allows you to properly recover for both your grip work and the movement you are doing. Lighting the Lamp 3

4 Here s how I d set up virtually all during your workout grip work, using the above deadlift + sledgehammer levering as the example. A1: Deadlift 2mins A2: Sledgehammer levering 2mins You perform 1 set of deadlifts, rest 2mins, perform 1 set of sledgehammer levering, rest 2mins, then go back to deadlifts and repeat for as many sets as you re doing that day. Lots of rest for both the grip work and the deadlifts. Since I m talking to a very large audience and am unsure of the exact programs you guys are using, I am going to only include the most commonly prescribed exercises in strength training and which grip exercises I would superset them with to enhance your grip strength. CRUSH WORK Crush work is best placed with your pressing exercises: Overhead press variations DB press variations Bench press variations Dips Machine press variations Lighting the Lamp 4

5 Incorporate any of these crush exercises supersetted with your press work into your routine 1-2x per week. All crush work 3-5 sets, 6-12 reps. Dumbbell crushers Crush grippers Plate crushers Towel chin ups (if the additional back work makes sense where you have it) Towel DB shrugs (if the additional trap work makes sense where you have it) PINCH WORK Pinch work is best placed with upper arm / delt exercises: DB biceps curl variations BB / EZ bar biceps curl variations DB triceps extension variations BB / EZ bar triceps extension variations Cable work for either the biceps or triceps DB lateral raises Bent over rear delt flyes Lighting the Lamp 5

6 DB front raises Arm / shoulders machine work Incorporate any of these exercises supersetted with your upper arm / delt work 1-2x per week. All pinch work is 2-4 sets with a weight challenging enough to be held/dropped between 15-30secs. One hand plate pinches Two hand plate pinches Hex DB holds Round DB holds STATIC WORK For the static work you can kill two birds with one stone in many exercises by simply adding either a thick bar or Fat Gripz. No need to super set here, simply use a thick bar or add Fat Gripz to any one of the following and perform your already prescribed sets and reps: BB / DB press variations BB / DB curl variations BB / DB shrugs BB / DB deadlifts Lighting the Lamp 6

7 Farmers walks (can be done with or without thick bar / Fat Gripz, this is static work already) sets with a weight challenging enough to be held/dropped between 15-30secs. BB holds (can be done with or without thick bar / Fat Gripz, this is static work already) sets with a weight challenging enough to be held/dropped between 15-30secs Wrist roller (4-6 sets of 3-8 reps all the way up and down) Thick rope climbing One arm row using the end (thick part) of the BB as your hand positioning LEVER WORK I like lever work done in two ways, either thrown in alongside your back work or added at the end of a workout. The caveat with the back work is that I only like it there if it s not a super grip intensive day. Meaning, if you have deadlifts, barbell row, chin ups and one arm DB rows already all in there on your back day, leave the lever work for the end of the workout or for another day. But if one of your back days only has one or two of those movement plus say some rear delt flyes and face pulls, you can easily get away with supersetting your lever work right in there. Lighting the Lamp 7

8 Lever work can be supersetted alongside (with the above caveat in mind): BB / DB rows Deadlifts Chin ups Seated cable rows Face pulls Rear delt flyes Low back extensions Machine back work Incorporate any of these exercises supersetted with your back work, or at the end of a back day 1-2x per week. All lever work is 3-5 sets of 6-12 reps. Sledgehammer levering EZ bar / Hammer bar levering Plate wrist curls BB / DB wrist curls BB / DB reverse wrist curls Behind the back BB wrist curls Lighting the Lamp 8