Top Grippūl Workouts for Hand Endurance and Contact Strength
Beast Fingers Collegiate Athlete, Rheana Cordero performing Grippul workout. Image Courtesy of KorperForce
There are many threads online that ask about Grippul workouts, and how to progress safely with the Grippul to maintain or improve gains in endurance and contact strength. We will talk through a few workouts. Mind you, these workouts are optimized for using one Grippul in a lifting position, in the third thread, on the 15 degree edge (however if 30 degree is more comfortable, use that edge).
Grippul for Hand Endurance
For endurance we recommend training at no more then 50% of your 1RM. So if your max Grippul is 100lbs, then train at 50lbs for this workout. Here the focus is more sets, and more reps. You will do 7 Reps, and 3 Sets, hold time is 20 seconds, 1-2 times a week. 5 minutes between sets, and 60 seconds between reps. Remember to use no thumbs, and use the open or half crimp position. You should get a nice forearm pump.
Grippul for Contact Strength
For contact strength, it's very similar to the endurance Grippul sets, but now you are training at 80% of 1RM. So if your max Grippul is 100lbs, as before, then you train at 80lbs. Fingers can get a little stiff from this training, so once a week should be sufficient with your other workouts (Grippul endurance, and climbing). You will do 7 reps, 4 second holds, 2 sets. 3 minutes between sets, 10 seconds between sets. Both hands. Remember to use no thumbs, and use the open or half crimp position.
Blood Flow Restriction with the Grippul
Using blood flow restriction training with the Girppul can be very beneficial, especially when nursing injuries, and wanting to do well below max loads. This workout protocol allows you to train at 10-30% of your 1RM, and recuperate or get a nice endurance boost from the training. For BFR, we use an arm cuff, occluded over the bicep at no more then 90mmhg. So say your 1RM is 100lbs, you would train between 20-30lbs in weight. The nice thing about BFR is your weight doesn't have to be heavy. You can train with 10lbs and still get a vascular and hormonal response from the training, accelerating protein synthesis. Owens Recovery Science, and also KAATSU, both recommend that to get the best benefits from BFR training, is to occlude for at least 15 minutes to get the benefits. Though it seems quite long, the best gains from BFR are researched to be under this duration. Check out this great article on by Tyler Nelson, and how he uses the Grippul for occlusion training.
One thing we like to do with our athletes, is to switch up the training mid duration, since you are under occlusion for 15 minutes per arm. So between Grippul sets, we'll throw in some forearm curls, using the same 20-30% of 1RM principle, and mix those in with the Grippul sets to get even more of a pump. Here is a little clip of one of our athletes performing the full workout. The idea is to do as many sets as you can within those 15 minutes, and take your breaks when you need.
Training Pinches with the Grippul
Training pinches with the Grippul is pretty easy to set up. We've seen a couple arrangements online that work well using slings, but we prefer to set a permeant cordalette on the Grippul that stays all the time, as shown here.
Training with pinches, you would use the same endurance/contact principles mentioned above. First figure out your 1RM, and then begin your percentage based training. You will find you can be very flexible with the workouts, and be creative yourself!