Here you will learn how many reps and sets of each exercise you should perform.
The whole idea behind heavy-duty grippers and why they were developed is because at some point it was time to reveal the fact that regular, plastic-handled hand grippers, available from any sporting goods store, are not that useful. You can easily squeeze out 500 reps with one of those, but it won't make you stronger. Your grip muscles react to training similarly as the muscles in the rest of your body. If you want to improve your bench press, you probably work with a maximum of 5, maybe 6 reps, and sometimes even perform singles.
This is how you develop maximum strength in all skeletal muscles, hand strength included (The matter is a bit more complex, and there are other ways, but in general this is the basic method.). Tommy never went beyond 10 reps in his regular grip strength training, because he knew that anything which would go far beyond that would build endurance, not maximum strength (of course, some of you might want to build endurance instead of, or in addition to, maximum strength, but let's focus on the latter for the moment). So you must train with reps in a scope between one and ten, preferably even less - let's say six - reps.
Accordingly, you need a gripper which is so hard to close that you cannot possibly perform more complete reps than that. This would be the gripper for your working sets we talked about. As soon as you can do more than ten full reps with it, consider it a warm-up gripper and move on to the next one. If you can't close your challenge gripper yet, then you should probably move to one of the in-between grippers. Let's say your working gripper used to be the #2, and your challenge gripper the #3. You can do more than 10 reps with the #2, but can't close the #3 yet. Then a #2.5 is probably a good choice, as you will, in all likelihood, be able to close it at least once, maybe three times, or more. Else, if you can't afford another gripper, you might want to resort to negatives with the
#3 and other exercises.
So much for regular reps with the grippers. The same applies to all other exercises with repetitive movements, like training with the gripper upside down, or isolating fingers.
As to static exercises like negatives, strap holds, and machine work, it's best to consider one set as one rep in which you give everything. It just shouldn't last too long. A strap hold should be so difficult that you can hold it for a few seconds only, let's say not much more than ten. The same applies to holds with a machine. Also negatives with grippers or a machine shouldn't take forever.
But don't get us wrong: don't simply release the hold because you're above ten seconds. And don't open your hand faster when doing negatives in fear it will take longer than it should. As I quoted Tommy above, hang on for life doing these exercises. If it takes too long this time, so be it. Keep track and increase the resistance next time!
2) Sets
How many sets of each exercise should one perform, and of how many sets should a complete grip strength workout consist?
Tommy, for example, (although he never counted or kept track), remembers doing lots of sets (but he also says he did too much at times). One of his gripper workouts during an early stage, before he could close the #3, would have looked like this (this is just an instructive example; we will give you more sample routines later):
noticed the great number of negative sets: 20-30. Tommy himself told me that this was probably too much. He suggests five sets of negatives should be enough. Again: "get in, hit it hard, and get out" is probably the better way for most people than endless sets.
The key is intensity. If you can really put everything into one single set per exercise, do it. For most, however, this is difficult, as one tends to hold something back. So a number of intense sets somewhere between two and five per exercise seems most reasonable for the majority of aspiring grip strength athletes. You will agree that it becomes difficult to uphold maximum intensity for much more than five sets.
But it's not rocket science: After a proper warm-up, I'd say with any combination of 2-5 exercises, with 1-5 sets and 1-8 reps for each (depending on the exercise - remember that negatives are always singles) you can't do much wrong.
Just don't forget that everybody's different and feel free to experiment until you find what works best for you. For some, the minimum will suffice, for others, the maximum will not be enough and they will decide to do even a few more sets on their favourite exercise. Others, whose hands are used to hard work, will perhaps make fast progress with over 20 sets - maybe they need a few sets more to build up intensity in the course of their workout and/or they have the mental strength to keep up the intensity through that many sets! (We have included a sample routine for this kind of person below.)
As long as you go for maximum intensity, as long as you make progress, and as long as you recover from each workout, you are on the right path.
Summary
- On dynamic exercises like regular reps with a gripper, or with the gripper upside down, to increase strength, choose a gripper which will allow you to do no more than ten reps.
- For static exercises like strap holds, and for negatives, consider one rep one set.
Choose a resistance which ensures you hold the tension for not too long.
- It is recommended to perform between 2 and 5 sets per exercise. If, however, you feel able to put all your energy into one set, this might suffice. If your hands can take it, there is practically no limit to the number of sets you perform.
- Ultimately, you will have to experiment until you find out what works best for you, that is, which combination of sets and reps allows you to recover between workouts, but provides ample strength gains.
- Intensity matters more than quantity.
Hint:
A strong crushing grip is especially useful for powerlifters, strongmen, and grappling-based martial arts (whether gi, like Judo or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,
or no-gi, like wrestling and MMA).