Strength regressing on CoC's

[gundecker]

Hi all,

I've been training to try and close a No.3 CoC. I have seen some tremendous gains but now, I can't even close a No. 2.5 CoC anymore, whereas I used to be able to close it for 2-3 reps. Here's what I've been doing.

Weeks 1-3 once per week

Warm Up
Working Sets: 3 sets x 5 reps on No.2
Assistance: 3 sets of Hub Holds for time usually 10 seconds
Assitance: Titan's Telegraph Key 3 sets of 8-10 reps with each finger

Each week, I will increase the rep on the gripper working sets by one but decrease the number of sets by one. By the third week, I am doing one set of 7 reps.

Is this too much volume? Any insight or advice is much appreciated.

[Daniel Evans]

Before we disect the situation is that the very same #2.5 that you used before?

[gundecker]

sorry for the late reply...yes, it is the same No. 2.5 that I used before.

[Daniel Evans]

If you aren't far off closing the #2.5 after being able to close it for 2-3 reps in the past then you'd probably benefit from doing a deep set (assistance with the second hand to as much as bringing handles to parallel) and simply using less assistance as you progress.

I noted that you performed hub and titans telegraph which is a grip method in itself as opposed to "assistance" to the crush (which might be limited). With that in mind you might be suffering from fatique from working the pinch.

Long term, other methods are beneficial but short term they can be draining on resources. To give you an example; many find that working thickbar and grippers optimally is absolutely impossible.

Pinch grip has it's firm place though maybe lay off it for a bit and focus on the crush then re-introduce it later so you can establsh a base of judement for the crush alone?

Work the pinch back in and note any decline in crush performance from there..?

[Jason B]

How long have you been training like this? Grip training and the muscles that perform it are no different than anything else, they need rest and deloads. If you've been training your grip maximally for several weeks in a row now you might just need a week with a little less intensity and then give it a go after some rest. Because the muscles are small they can be trained hard frequently, but remember you use your grip in all exercises, so it's easy to overreach.

[gundecker]

Again, sorry for the late reply!!

I have been training like this for about two months or so. I've never done any type of grip work other than what I get out of deadlifting.