I've written loads on this but one aspect is we don't see limits the way some do. I've a few buddies in this grip stuff we do that are, at least by what they say, limited to 90-kilos/200lbs or under and, in their words 'not able to get past it'.
There in lies the rub. I can and do write out plans for increases in my 1 rep max (1RM) usually looking to hit an on-platform PB of 105% (5% more than my old PB). While right now I am using a longer type of program due to the frequency of competitions of about 1 per month I'd usually aim for a big number once a year (around the British).
Whether I'm doing 4, 6 or 8 singles and the more I do the higher the 1RM there's a small but obvious rise in what is added to the bar so that close to the competition, say a few weeks out, I'm doing multiple singles with what last years 1RM/PB.
You can see from that I am not limiting myself to some predetermined number, as in the above example 200lbs, but am constantly looking forward. If there is an upper limit among the elite grip guys at the moment it's 120-kilos or 264lbs. Like 500lbs overhead back in the 70's it MAY be our imagined limit... although I'm hearing hints of in gym numbers a little above. I also know, like the 500, that once it's done our aim will become higher. Equally those struggling with 200 should set out a plan for 205/210 and then I'd hazard a guess once it's done they'll add even more because 200 will soon become but a memory.
There are other aspects to the elite athletes make up which makes them so and I'll touch on one more today. Hunger.
Not the 'feed me now' kind but that which makes them want more, more, more when it comes to weights. At a certain level ALL sportsmen and women push their bodies to places they aren't normally seen to go. So the prevalence and likelihood of injuries rises. Be it a wrenched back or, for grip guys, hand strain, tendons aching or, more usually, torn skin. The elite knows this will happen and is, if not exactly happy when it does, willing to accept the toll. Others are not. They stay at under 200lbs.
Read into this what you will.
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It's not just a hunger, it's an emptiness that won't quite fill. I constantly expect in my training to increase weight on a regular basis. In another post I said I was within 25Kg of the WR, and could almost touch it. I know that at somepoint my gains will plateau and I know I may never bridge that 25Kg gap, but for now I'm not accepting the plateau and just plain denying the chance the 25Kg is unsurmountable. More and more as I approach the elite group is the mental part of the game as important as the physical and as such has to be "trained and developed". That and a willingness to accept the sore skin and painful joints in my hands.
ReplyDeleteNice reply. Very nice in fact. I'd say look at time scale. I'm not adding huge amounts year on year now but made some big jumps from 80-90 and then smaller ones from 90-100. From that point forward they've been tiny. Look also at how long I've been training (30+ years) and training grip (10 years) and see where you might be in the same time frame. Not so bad now eh?
ReplyDeleteYeah it's not so bad, it just means that as I'm a year younger than you and only have 2 years on/off training under my belt for grip I'm going to be doing this shit in my 50's :-)
ReplyDeleteGoing to join me or you still retiring this year ;-)
Good question. It depends on whether or not my body co-operates. If it stays competitively strong I carry on. If I start to fall back then I need to get out with my pride intact. Any injuries or issues are already taking longer to bounce back from so I need to be aware of such problems.
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