The Woggle's Grip Workout for Wrestling

[The Woggle]

Hello. I am 5' 9" @ 155-160lbs, and I am 20 yrs old.

I used to be into lifting very heavy weights and powerlifting back in high school and in my first year of college, but now, I have seen the light. I didn't start wrestling until a few months ago, and when I first started, I was amazed at how great technique can overcome great strength. I soon realized that being able to bench, squat, deadlift a lot (while it can be a nice advantage) means little in grappling/fighting. Strength is, of course, a must in any type of contact sport, but when it comes to grappling, it is near the bottom of the list of priorities. Technique, endurance, and power (in that order of importance) is what I have found to work for me in my training.

In terms of 'functional strength', I have found that a strong grip is a key factor in grappling. It's almost funny when I wrestle a huge guy that can lift a ton of weight, but he can't get out of my grip, no matter how hard he pulls or tries. Can't get out of someone's grip??? Where's your 355 bench now??? Grip advantage = control, regardless of how much you can box squat or deadlift. So, I figured if I was going to keep up my strength training, I have no choice but to focus on functional strength training. I have decided to reduce the amount of weight lifting by a large amount, and to focus on grip training, along with some bodyweight exercises.

I find that real heavy lifting puts unnecessary strain/wear n tear on the joints and is a good way to hurt yourself if you are combining it with grappling/MMA.

I will be doing military press, but that's all for weight lifting. For grip, I will also be holding onto heavy barbell also to train my grip, and I will also be doing the wrist roller (2.5 inch thick handle), the Hardy Handshake gripper, pinch grips and body holds, too. I will be doing some levering, as well.

For bodyweight exercises, I will be doing pushups, pull ups (overhand and underhand) and dips. I will also be running and sprinting, and doing sit ups/abs.

Any advice or tips would be greatly apprectiated, as I am rather new to grip training. Here's what my routine will look like for grip training.

MONDAY
Hardy Handshake
Wrist Roller (2.5 inch thick handle)
Levering
Run (distance)

TUESDAY
Wrestling
Abs

WEDNESDAY
Gripping Heavy Barbell
Pinch Grip
Run (distance)

THURSDAY
Wrestling
Bodyweight exercises (and Military Press)
Abs

FRIDAY
#2 attempts
Body Holds

SATURDAY
Sprints
Abs
Distance

SUNDAY
meh

EDITED, I will start trying to work grip 3 days a week now rather than 2. So I spaced the exercises out a bit more.

 

[Bubble Boy]

Cool. I practise judo, so I'll be watching your log pretty intently. I've been easing into grip work a bit myself. I am friends with a guy who was a pitcher for the Oakland A's in 1994. He did a shitload of grip work. When he came out of the league his forearms looked like someone had shoved a tennis ball under his skin.

I'll be pulling for ya bro.

And with that I shall now stop clogging up your log!

 

[The Woggle]

Cool. I practise judo, so I'll be watching your log pretty intently. I've been easing into grip work a bit myself. I am friends with a guy who was a pitcher for the Oakland A's in 1994. He did a shitload of grip work. When he came out of the league his forearms looked like someone had shoved a tennis ball under his skin.

I'll be pulling for ya bro.

And with that I shall now stop clogging up your log!

haha, that's cool man. I got mad respect for judo, btw. Thanks for the encouragement. Tomorrow I'll start posting. Let me know how you progress, too.

ps hey is your name from that Seinfeld character 'the bubble boy'?

 

[Masakatsu Funaki #1]

On your spare time, squeeze a tennis ball or get one of this grip things. I also do wrestling along with Judo and found that good to do when I was bored. Also I would advise climbing the rope. Rope climbing is a must for good grip strength in my opinon. When I am climbing rope, I mean legs straight out (so that you cant use them) only using your hands and good grip. It is very hard the first few times, but you get use to it. I usually climb up and down around 3 times. You will feel worked out just from going up and down 3 times trust me. (I usually do a bridge workout before I climb the rope, so that also contributes to me being tired) Good luck, and remember to invest in a cheap tennis ball.

 

[The Woggle]

On your spare time, squeeze a tennis ball or get one of this grip things. I also do wrestling along with Judo and found that good to do when I was bored. Also I would advise climbing the rope. Rope climbing is a must for good grip strength in my opinon. When I am climbing rope, I mean legs straight out (so that you cant use them) only using your hands and good grip. It is very hard the first few times, but you get use to it. I usually climb up and down around 3 times. You will feel worked out just from going up and down 3 times trust me. (I usually do a bridge workout before I climb the rope, so that also contributes to me being tired) Good luck, and remember to invest in a cheap tennis ball.

Yeah, that's a good idea, and I got plenty of them tennis balls, so I'll try that in my spare time. About the rope thing, that's a real good idea, too. I would if I could, but I have no idea where I would do that... none of the gyms I have gone to around here have ever had a rope... after I do my grip workouts, I do sets of just hanging onto a pullup bar for as long as I can hold onto my own bodyweight... I know that's not the same as rope climbing, but meh... if I ever find a place to climb a rope, I'll definitely climb it.... Thanks for the tips.

 

[The Woggle]

THURSDAY:

Wrestled from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Went well. After wrestling, I went to the gym and did:

Military Press (barbell):
10 x 95 (warm up)
6 x 145
5 x 145
4 x 145

DipssupersetPull-ups(overhand wide-grip)supersetFront Neck Bridges
20 dips / 10 pullups / 30 seconds
20 dips / 9 pullups / 30 seconds
19 dips / 8 pullups / 25 seconds

GRIP WORK
Barbell Holds superset Push-ups
365lbs x 10 seconds / 30 pushups
405lbs x 10 seconds / 30 pushups
405lbs x 9-10 seconds / -------------

This went better than I thought it would, so next week I'll go up to 425 or higher...

Pinch Grip (2 25lb weights (both were 2inches wide each))
5 seconds right / 5 seconds left
5 seconds right / 5 seconds left
7 seconds right / 7 seconds left

This was literally the first time I have ever done these, ever... so the first couple of sets were kind of awkward, which I think is why I held on longer on the last set... since I was getting more used to it and finding which way to hold it more comfortably....

Body Holds
Last, I held on to a pull up bar that is 1.5 inches thick as long as I could for 3 sets.
46 seconds
28 seconds
23 seconds

Wow. That was pathetic...I'll get better, though.

 

[The Woggle]

Howdy. Jesus is wonderful. I love Him.

MONDAY:

Hardy Handshake
5 x 35lb (each hand)
5 x 45lb eh
3 (singles) x 50lb eh
2 (singles x 55lb (2 rh, 1 lh)

Daaaaang. That hardy handshake is harder than I though it would be. It came yesterday, right on time. Things is, the handle is so wide that I had to raise it a few inches by setting some weights underneath the weight I was using.

#2 Captains of Crush

5 sets of single attempts on each hand.

My forearms were pretty shot after the Handshake that is Hardy workout.... I was less than an inch away on each try. When I am totally rested and all, I have been getting literally like 1/4 of an inch away from closing that thing.... I can't wait till I close it....

2.5 inch iron pipe Wrist Roller
2 x (35lbs + 5lb pipe)
2 x (35lbs + 5lb pipe)
2 x (35lbs + 5lb pipe)

Whew, that was pretty tough...

Good grip workout, I am thinking of training grip/forearms 3 times a week rather than just 2... we'll see...

 

[The Woggle]

http://search.singingfish.com/sfw/s...cnews=1&cspt=1&cfin=1&coth=1&rpp=10&persist=1

Rock Lobster. Yesssss. (listen to the 3rd one that is 6:51 min)

 

[The Woggle]

THURSDAY:

I had wrestled from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, then went to the gym, and did:

Military Press (Barbell)
6 x 145
5 x 145
5 x 145

DipssupersetPull-ups(overhand widegrip)supersetFront Neck Bridges
25 dips/ 10 pullups/ 30 second front neck bridge
25 dips/ 9/10 pullups/ 30 second front neck bridge
20 dips/ 8 pullups/ 20 second front neck bridge

I upped the dips to 25 on the first 2 sets...on the third I got up to 20. Pullups were about the same as last week, except I got about 1 more than last week on the second set, but man, my back/biceps were fried from wrestling practice on Tuesday and Thursday, so....

GRIP WORK
Barbell Holds (no straps, gloves, or chalk) superset Push-ups
405lbs x 10 seconds / 40 push-ups
405lbs x 10 seconds / 25 push-ups
425lbs x 5 seconds / ---------------
425lbs x 5 seconds / ---------------

Whew! That 20 lbs that I added on to the 405 made a big difference, man... was tough. I could've done more push-ups on the first set...I don't know why I stopped...I'll go 'till failure next time.

Pinch Grip (2 25lb plates that are 2 inches wide each)
10 seconds right hand / 5 left hand
7 seconds right hand / 3 left hand
6 seconds right hand / ------------

My right hand felt a lot better on these than last week, but I don't know WHAT happened with my left hand... it just pooped out.... :icon_cry2

Body Holds
I did 3 sets of hanging onto a 1.5 inch pullup bar for as long as I could:
56 seconds
29 seconds
23 seconds

Meh, got 10 more seconds on my first set than last week...

Good workout. Wrestling practice went real well, too.

 

[Bizarro]

hey woogle, do u do any wrist stuff like levering? i think it would be beneficial and strong wrist are also very important in controling someone after u have a grip on them. also do u do any thickbar stuff? if u dont have anything u could try wrapping a towel around ur pullup bar to make it thicker or around ur barbell and do stuff w/it. also since u said that you cant do find a place to do rope climbs i think pullups with a pair of towels where u grab the folded parts is a good substitution. idk just some ideas.

 

[The Woggle]

hey woogle, do u do any wrist stuff like levering? i think it would be beneficial and strong wrist are also very important in controling someone after u have a grip on them. also do u do any thickbar stuff? if u dont have anything u could try wrapping a towel around ur pullup bar to make it thicker or around ur barbell and do stuff w/it. also since u said that you cant do find a place to do rope climbs i think pullups with a pair of towels where u grab the folded parts is a good substitution. idk just some ideas.

I've seen some people suggest levering on here, but the truth is, I don't know much about it, or what to lever with.... I bet that would be a nice thing to add to my workout... do you know of any good links on levering? (if not I'll just look around...)

Actually, if you look on my log, I do wrist rollers w/ a 2.5 inch thick iron pipe, but that's it for thickbar stuff... that's a good idea, though, to wrap a towel around the bar...

Now, I've never done towel pullups... what is the difference between doing that and doing pull-ups on a bar?

BTW, thanks for all of the suggestions, bro.

 

[DarkGenbu]

http://www.geocities.com/ltgodfrey/lever.html
The info on this site might give you an idea, but rather than work the ROM like he is on #3 I use the sledge and lever forwards like shown on #2.

 

[The Woggle]

http://www.geocities.com/ltgodfrey/lever.html
The info on this site might give you an idea, but rather than work the ROM like he is on #3 I use the sledge and lever forwards like shown on #2.

Dude, thank you so much. That's a great link. I almost didn't see the home page at the bottom, but I saw it. I'm reading the training thing on how he closed the #3. Thanks again, friend.

 

[Bizarro]

Now, I've never done towel pullups... what is the difference between doing that and doing pull-ups on a bar?

BTW, thanks for all of the suggestions, bro.

with that i just meant the grip aspect of it.. grabbing a folded towel like that and doing pullups or anything else like that with the towel will really work ur grip and forearms

 

[The Woggle]

with that i just meant the grip aspect of it.. grabbing a folded towel like that and doing pullups or anything else like that with the towel will really work ur grip and forearms

hmm, ok, I'll try it on Thursday. Thanks.

Oh, and I tried levering yesterday for the first time... and I have to say that I am definitely going to keep it in my routine. I reeeally liked it.

It's amazing what a 3 foot bar with a mere 8 lbs on it can do! I was like, oh, I'll start off easy with 8 lbs on the end... but that was HARD! I love it now, and I can definitely see why you suggested levering. Thanks for all the tips/suggestions, friend. I really appreciate it.

 

[The Woggle]

Ran for about 25 minutes, then did some grip work:

MONDAY:

Hardy Handshake
5 x 35lbs (each hand)
5 x 45lbs ea
5 r. hand / 4 l. hand x 50lbs
3 r. hand / 2 l. hand x 55lbs (not singles like last time; these were all in a row)
2 r. hand / 0 l. hand x 60lbs

Felt good. Moved up to 60 lbs since 55 felt lighter than before, but my left hand pooped out. :icon_cry2

Thick-bar Wrist Roller (w/ a 2.5 inch thick iron pipe)
2 x 35lbs + pipe
2 x 35lbs + pipe
2 x 35lbs + pipe

This felt easier than last week, so I'll move it up to 45lbs, which will be a big change....

Levering
Sledge twists
Overhead levers
Rear Levers

This was the first time I have ever done these ... and I LOVED them. Levering is awesome, and I don't know why, but I just think it is so cool that a mere 8-10 lbs can be so hard to handle, y'know? I don't have a sledgehammer, but I found a little kids-bench press bar that I used to use when I was like in 7th-8th grade, and I put 7.5 lbs on the end of it, so with the 7.5 lbs + the .5 bar, it was 8 lbs. The bar was about 3 ft. I think, but I'll measure it when I get home...

Good workout. I'll be doing barbell holds and pinch grip on Wednesday.

 

[The Woggle]

Special thanks to Bizarro and DarkGenbu for the help.