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Post by trainingjames on Jan 27, 2018 10:58:06 GMT -7
Quick question for the group. When doing pinch grips (wide / med / narrow) are you allowing your first pad to go over the back of the pinch block at all? There is literally a difference of BW-30lbs and I can't find enough weight to take off if I don't have at least a 1/8 of a pad over the back lip. But this honestly feels like I'm cheating the point of the pinch grip.
This is my 4th time through a RCTM cycle including HB cycle and my first doing the Intermediate protocol. I am still on the Rock Prodigy board but a different one (at a gym instead of at home) as we moved since my 3rd time through it and haven't gotten mine up yet. Can't tell if this board is somehow different and has affected my pinch numbers but every other grip is still making expected progress.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Jan 27, 2018 14:53:59 GMT -7
Generally speaking I think reaching past the lip of the pinch surface is "cheating." That said, if the point is to make your thumb stronger, it probably doesn't matter, assuming you adjust the resistance accordingly. However, I'm not so sure the point is ONLY to make your thumb stronger though. For many, the pinch is the only grip that trains the MCP joints of the fingers, and I think letting your finger pads slip over the lip probably reduces the load on the MCP joints. So bottom line, best to stay "honest".
As for the RPTC, there are slight differences between RPTC's depending on when they were manufactured*. At some point Trango decided to make a bunch of supposedly-subtle changes to the design in order to make them slightly easier (=cheaper) to manufacture. One of the major side effects of this was that they drastically changed the texture. The original RPTC had 3 different textures (smooth, medium, and rough), whereas the new/current versions only have one. The original pinches had "rough" texture, the new ones do not. So its quite possible the texture on your gym RPTC's pinches is significantly different. Obviously, texture/friction is a huge factor on this grip.
[*There are a couple ways to tell which version you have:
-The new ones have a rounded bump at the top of the pinch block finger surfaces
-The new ones have an angular bead of plastic under the thin crimp (to keep it from flexing like the originals do)
-The new ones have the same texture throughout
-The new ones have a Trango logo on the medium pinch fin]
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Post by daustin on Jan 27, 2018 16:44:32 GMT -7
This may go without saying, but make sure to brush the hell out the pinch at the gym. Very friction dependent grip and could be made much harder if caked in others’ grease.
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Post by Charlie S on Jan 27, 2018 16:45:19 GMT -7
-The new ones have an angular bead of plastic under the thin crimp (to keep it from flexing like the originals do) I like the flex of the original. Feels like pulling on chossy limestone crimps! jk |
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Post by Chris W on Jan 27, 2018 18:48:29 GMT -7
Trango decided to make a bunch of supposedly-subtle changes to the design in order to make them slightly easier (=cheaper) to manufacture. One of the major side effects of this was that they drastically changed the texture.  James, not sure how much weight you're removing, but I've removed as much as 80 pounds from a grip before. Also, I'd go out of my way to set up my own hangboard at home. |
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Post by jetjackson on Jan 28, 2018 5:00:42 GMT -7
I think that the degree of cheating is hard to determine, i.e. how much of your fingers are going over the edge - so better to not cheat in order to maintain a standard. On the original RPTC my fingers would creep up ever so slightly, even just subconsciously, I wouldn't realize that I was doing it. I'd build a cheat bump onto the block.
FWIW on the original RPTC without the pinch grip, I was up to +20 pound on the pinch about 4 seasons ago. I'm yet to clear bodyweight pinch on the new RPTC with the anti-cheat bump.
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Post by trainingjames on Jan 30, 2018 12:15:23 GMT -7
Wow thanks for the quick / great responses everyone. I've inspected my gym's Prodigy and it is indeed one of the new ones (trango logo on the bottom of the med pinch fin). Confirmed it has lower friction on the pinch surface compared to my board at home (which I bought years ago). That said the gym board is caked compared to my basically fresh one at home. No amount of brushing made the frics comparable.
During my HB session last night I made sure to stop my tips from going over the lip and lost another 10lbs on the med pinch block. Thats fine though, as jetjackson said at least now I have a standard from which to watch progress.
More generally I'm super happy with my progress and have only seen gains overall in various grips, it's really cool to see how far I've come in 2-3 years. Except for that damn pinch!
We are moving again in about 2 weeks so I'm going to get my board up in the new apartment for sure.
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Post by jetjackson on Jan 30, 2018 14:32:21 GMT -7
Yeah pinch progresses very slowly from my experience, but I believe that minor gains in the pinch translate to major gains in the pinch on the rock.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Jan 30, 2018 19:14:21 GMT -7
Perhaps try switching to the wide pinch. I struggled to progress on the medium pinch for several cycles, but I’ve made steady progress since switching to the wide pinch for some reason, and that progress seems to translate well to the rock.
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