Difference between crimp with thumb and crimp without

[erick]

I have finally gotten back into some structured training after 6 month break due to a broken foot and a nasty case of shoulder impingement. Because of the long break I set up my strength phase to take 10 workouts just to get me close to my previous PRs but I'm not trying to push any limits this time around. Anyway...

I decided that this time around I wanted to work the crimp grip as fully closed as possible but without use of the thumb. I am calling the grip a fail when I cannot maintain the finger position I started with or I finish but did not finish strong. With the potential for injury with the crimp I think it's important to not jump up resistance unless I feel really confident on said weight. So far it have completed 5 workouts of the advanced repeaters. On the crimp I failed once on the final rep of the last set and the next workout I completed but did not feel strong so I'm going to do this weight again.

my closed crimp with thumb PR is +5

so far...

without thumb im currently hanging -30

i have at least 5 workouts to go in my current strength phase so I know there are more gains to be made but it's looking like there will be a 15-25 pound discrepancy between my crimp PR with thumb and without.

What have your experiences been when you compare your crimp strength with or without the thumb?

Which position do you think yields better strength adaptation?

Eric

[tsh]

I have about the same difference as you do, but after about 3 cycles of excluding the thumb I've decided that next time I'm bringing the thumb back.  I've been doing about the same thing as you, subjectively deciding whether I failed or succeeded based on how well I kept my form during the sets.  Often times my sets start to feel sloppy but it's hard to judge just how bad it is since I cant visually observe (I try to keep my PIP joints at 90 degrees).  I haven't really been able to quantify any gains from the three cycles without the thumb.  It's an awkward grip for me that I rarely use in practice, so I feel like my sets are more of a struggle to hold my fingers in a position they don't want to be in. I think that using the thumb helps me stay in a fixed position and measure my progress more objectively, plus it's a more realistic grip for me.  

That said, I am horrible at closed crimps relative to open handed crimps (75 pound difference between open crimp and closed w/o thumb).  I stopped closed-crimping for many years after a series of finger injuries, and my fingers seemingly forgot how to hold that position, so I'm trying to safely close the gap now.