Do you do any other work for your grip ?
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Not directly. The chin-ups/pull-ups, kettlebell swings, farmer’s walks, and high-rep rows all challenge it, and it has gotten stronger (believe it or not!), but it’s still a weak link.
It might be time for me to consider some direct grip training… And now I’m wondering what works well, in that regard. Any recommendations?
For me I like doing hangs off the pull up bar. I also use that time to do knee raises so get some ab work in and also work the grip. If you are already doing all that other work I wouldn’t include any heavy grip work like behind back barbell hold etc.
The other obvious solution which you already know is just use your straps when you feel that the grip is going.
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10,000 KB swing challenge. If grip failure is any kind of sign… surely it’s building strength at the same time…? 
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I do this too, but with Fat Gripz. Seems to work well, not that I’m anywhere close to Simo’s or your league, of course . . . 
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Oh fat grips is a great idea, you can even use this as a progression method. Hand with the grips until the hands go and then hand without the grips.
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Correct me if I am wrong but you use a double overhand grip?
Perhaps time to think of alternative grips?
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@simo74, @raven78, @oldnattychris, @hustlinghat93 - Thanks for the suggestions, guys! Fat Gripz seem like a particularly good idea, as they would be easy to work into the other things I’m already doing that challenge my grip.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1d5
Thursday - 16 June 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0445-0535 (50 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 28-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Bike@120-140 bpm - 10 minutes
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 15 minutes
Fasted.
78 degrees and 80% humidity at 0400 when I woke up—super nasty out there already today.
Plan was to swap Wednesday’s and Saturday’s easy conditioning, because technically the park doesn’t “open” until dawn, and I can do this work either at home or in the dark. So this was Saturday’s easy conditioning. Planning to complete Wednesday’s calf work, daily work, and extra conditioning this afternoon, once my son is settled after this morning’s surgery. Then, aside from a run at the track, Saturday’s work should look more or less like it usually does.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1d5
Thursday - 16 June 2022
Workout: Calves, daily work, & extra conditioning, 1405-1455 (50 minutes)
Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10
3 rounds of:
a) 1-pump burpees - 17, 17, 17
b) KB swings - 28 kg - 17, 17, 17
c) Deficit RDL - 120 lbs - 15, 15, 15
d) Pendlay rows - 120 lbs - 10, 10, 21
e) Belted CR - 135 - 25, 20, 15
Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1d6
Friday - 17 June 2022
Workout: Bench & bench WM, 0915-1030 (75 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0934; End: 1018; Duration: 44 minutes
Bench - 110x5, 135x5, 165x5 | 190x5, 220x5, 245x5 | (190x5)x5
Seated DB press - 2x40 lbs - 15, 15, 5
HLR - 20, 14, 6
Chin-up - BW - 16, 14, 5
Band pushdown - red - 30
Good morning - 115 - 18, 7
BFP - red - 30
Bench - 180 - 20
Assistance totals:
Push - 65 reps
Pull - 65 reps
Single-leg/core - 65 reps
Everything was successful yesterday. We’re still waiting on the pathology report (that’ll probably be a week or so), but the surgeon was confident enough in what he saw to say that he’s not expecting any surprises!
Yesterday’s early morning and the stress of the day finally caught up with me, but we had a totally chill evening playing video games and watching TV. Slept hard, but got up at a reasonable hour this morning. Went into this feeling kind of groggy, but it turned out alright once I got moving.
Main work in 13 minutes, supplemental in 17—not exactly fast, but not slow either. Felt like I could’ve taken any one of those sets at 190 all the way to 20, but I fought the urge and stuck to the programmed reps. Was feeling some fatigue by the end of the supplemental work, but the follow-up Widowmaker at 180 felt pretty good. The last two reps of that didn’t pop like the first 18, but I got all 20 easily enough.
Deadlift WM, daily work, and a sled push throughout the remainder of today.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1d6
Friday - 17 June 2022
Workout: Deadlift WM & daily work + hard conditioning, 1200-1230 + 1525-1620 (30 + 55 minutes)
Deadlift - 265 - 20 (rep PR)
3 rounds of:
a) 1-pump burpees - 17, 17, 17
b) KB swings - 28 kg - 17, 17, 17
c) Kroc rows - L/R - 65 lbs - 10, 10, 21
10 rounds of:
a) Sled push - 25 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs
b) 15 shrugs - 2x65 lbs
c) Sled push - 25 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs
d) BPA - red - 5 high + 5 mid + 5 low
Time: 40:23
Holy cow—I just crushed that deadlift WM! It’s like the surgeon cut a 1000-lbs monkey off my back yesterday… I’m feeling strong today! Previous best was 260x21. I probably should’ve hit another rep or two, 'cause I had 'em in me, but I cut it off at 20 because I was sky-high. Every rep was strong, solid, and even! My only regret: I didn’t get a video.
Used one of my new 65-lbs DBs for the Kroc rows today. SO much less awkward than that plate-loaded one. Guess I’m good to go until I need a 70-lbs one.
So that just leaves the sled push for later this afternoon. But now I begin bench and deadlift recovery with some lunch!
Edit: 87 degrees and full sun, but relatively low humidity. Definitely a slog, one way or the other. I really like the combo I came up with here: the sled push, which should have been the hardest part, became an afterthought between moves that absolutely destroyed my upper back. My time was abysmal, but a rock got caught in one of the little holes for the screw heads on the bottom skis, and I had to empty the sled, fight with the rock, and reload everything after just one trip up the driveway. Didn’t matter too much, in the end, because I was just moving very slowly—this one was definitely a Bad Idea!
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Amateur mistake right there 
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1d7
Saturday - 18 June 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0745-0840 (55 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 16 minutes (to park)
Easy run - 9 laps, about 1750m - 9:17
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 15 minutes (from park)
Fasted. Improved my time again, but I was pushing this morning: it is much cooler and the humidity is still pretty low, so it seemed like a good time to move. Came in nearly 40 seconds faster than last week, and I’m closing in on 1 minute per lap, so that’s cool.
Daily work, calves, and BB curls throughout the remainder of today.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1d7
Saturday - 18 June 2022
Workout: Calves & daily work + BB curls, 1045-1125 + 1350-1400 (40 + 10 minutes)
Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10
3 rounds of:
a) 1-pump burpees - 17, 17, 17
b) KB swings - 28 kg - 17, 17, 17
c) Pendlay rows - 120 - 10, 10, 21
d) Belted CR - 135 - 25, 20, 15
Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10
BB curls - 124
Ate breakfast, cut the grass, then went more or less straight into this. Calves were BURNING today—must’ve been doing something right. With this out of the way, all I’ve got left is BB curls. I’ll edit those in once they’re done.
Edit: BB curls done, forearm pump (and corresponding pain) is massive today. Gotta believe these are helping my grip—they’re certainly testing it! Oh, and weird pauses at the top again, somewhere around rep 104, and twice during the last 10 reps. Very glad that’s done.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w1 - summary
An up-and-down week, but that’s to be expected: weird schedule and weird stressors. Pretty sure I got all of the work in—sometimes it feels like I missed something, but every time I check, it looks like I’ve ticked all the boxes. I think the odd ordering and all of the swapping is just playing with my mind…
Hit some rep PRs with a few of the WMs (squat, 235x20; deadlift, 265x20) but missed 20 unbroken reps with some others. Nutrition was decent, but got a little loose with desserts this week: for some reason, we had a lot of treats in the house, and I helped myself after dinner most nights. I’ll need to tighten that up next week.
Speaking of which, my goals for next week are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts
- Complete 2 Widowmaker sets for each lift
- Hit (at least) 65 reps for each assistance category
- Complete 2 days of hard conditioning
- Complete 3 days of easy conditioning
- Do (at least) 50 burpees + swings every day
- Continue to row something heavy every day
- Clean-up my diet
Finally, the Widowmaker weights for Week 2 are:
Press - 90 lbs, 100 lbs
Squat - 205 lbs, 220 lbs
Dead - 225 lbs, 245 lbs
Bench - 165 lbs, 180 lbs
It’s a 5s week, so I’m planning to hit 20 reps with all of those this time around. With those weights, there’s absolutely no reason not too!
Not much else to say, really, so let’s do it!
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w2d1
Sunday - 19 June 2022
Workout: Easy conditioning & bench WM, 0715-0810 (55 minutes)
1-pump burpees + 28-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Bike@120-140 bpm - 10 minutes
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 15 minutes
Bench - 165 - 20
Fasted. Realizing now I should’ve pushed that WM way beyond 20 reps; current 20+ PR is 160 for 29+6 in a rest-pause back in mid-January. Whatever, not a big deal—I did the work, I got 20 reps, I’m calling it good.
Happy Father’s Day, compadres! Today I’m thankful for my dad, who sets a high standard and whose shoes are just too big to fill.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
He lived that verse every single day of my childhood, and he still does.
I am also thankful for my wife and my children, whose hearts and minds I strive to defend with a Savior’s love. I’m imperfect in that, of course, but I will literally die trying.
Edit: In his most recent blog post, Pwn says, “Do all things against intuition, so you can be something greater than what your intuition compels you to be.” I know he is talking about training and nutrition here, but today, this somehow appeals to me in my role as a father, too.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w2d1
Sunday - 19 June 2022
Workout: Calves, daily work, & extra conditioning, 1200-1325 (85 minutes)
Jump rope tabata - 4x40/10
3 rounds of:
a) 1-pump burpees - 17, 17, 17
b) KB swings - 28 kg - 17, 17, 17
c) Kroc rows - L/R - 65 lbs - 10, 10, 25
d) Belted CR - 135 - 25, 20, 15
Jump rope tabata - 4x40/10
Pwn’s The Last Castle - AMRAP, 20 minutes
a) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x87 lbs
b) 6 alternating DB snatches - L/R - 40 lbs
c) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x87 lbs
d) 10 KB swings - 28 kg
Rounds: 8; Time: 23:10
Still fasted. Not intentional, not penance, not any sort of payback for last week’s desserts—that crap was the old me. Still fasted is just the way it went down today. But don’t worry: Mrs. SvenG is preparing a smorgasbord of grilled meats for later this afternoon, so I’ll make up for it, haha!
Today’s total time includes fumbling around with sizing my new jump rope. I’ve actually had it for several days, but I’ve just been lazy about getting it ready. Still going to work in the towel hops, but it’s nice to have the jump rope option again. Happy to have squeezed out 25 reps with those Kroc rows. They were really taxing my breathing and my grip! Oh yeah, and my back too, haha!
Almost didn’t get an 8th round started before the 20-minute timer expired, but I finished up the 7th at 19:35 with my HR in the low 170s and was trudging through the first leg of the farmer’s walk in the 8th when it did. Wasn’t breaking any land-speed records today, so I caught my breath and finished out the round in another 3+ minutes. Not a stellar performance, but I was beyond the 80th minute of work at that point, so I’ll take it.
That’s it for today, so now I just eat and prep for tomorrow’s squats!
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w2d2
Monday - 20 June 2022
Workout: Squat & squat WM, 0935-1050 (75 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0954; End: 1039; Duration: 45 minutes
Squat - 120x5, 155x5, 185x5 | 220x5, 245x5, 255x5, 285x5 | (220x5)x5
HLR - 20, 16, 4
Chin-up - BW - 16, 15, 4
Dip - 60 - 15, 14, 6
Good morning - 115 - 18, 7
BPA - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
Push-up - 30
Squat - 205 - 20
Assistance totals:
Push - 65 reps
Pull - 65 reps
Single-leg/core - 65 reps
Decent effort today. Could feel the squats in my lower back, though. Stupidly mis-loaded the 2nd work set (lopsided, too), so I technically did an extra set (245x5). Discovered the mistake after the fact, fixed the plates, and cranked out the proper set (255x5). Main work in 15 minutes, supplemental in 23, assistance superset throughout.
The follow-up WM was hard, hard, hard, which is kinda funny, because it was 30 lbs lighter than last week. I was really huffing and puffing with several deep breaths between the last 5-6 reps.
Pretty happy with the assistance today, everything felt strong, and I managed a few extra reps on the earlier sets here and there. Particularly happy with 16 then 15 chins today.
Daily work later, probably before lunch, and that’ll be it for today.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c14w2d2
Monday - 20 June 2022
Workout: Daily work, 1205-1220 (15 minutes)
3 rounds of:
a) 1-pump burpees - 17, 17, 17
b) KB swings - 28 kg - 17, 17, 17
c) Pendlay rows - 120 lbs - 10, 10, 25
That’s that. Time for lunch!
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