Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

[The Mastiff]

I hope they paid you well enough, Joe

Not here in North Carolina. In fact I had second and even sometimes a third part time job virtually the whole 30 years except for the last few where I was getting surgeries and rehabbing the parts afterward. I hear they pay good money in California, New Jersey and a few other places but here my son got a job with a pest control service here making more than I am. It is very stable and has good health benefits though.

Appreciate your work. I hope that you get your health straitened out. High blood pressure can lead to heart failure so stay on it.

Thanks. I have decent doctors and they pester me about stuff like they are supposed to. I generally live fairly modestly and as stated earlier I try not to drink, smoke and do the other things I know better than to do.

[mb1]

The Mastiff Hey Joe, not to go too OT, but have you read any of Rory Miller’s books? You brought him to mind with your post about prison work and violence. Interesting subject.

Never heard of him. I'll google him and maybe try to read the book. I rarely read or watch any shows set in prisons. I had enough of prisons and prisoners and now that I'm retired I try not to think about them when possible. I still have dreams at least once a week where I'm back there working and things go bad. One common dream is the guard tower dream where 20 or 30 inmates hit the fence simultaneously and my rifle jams. It's not funny in the dream like it sounds. The thought of prisoners getting out on my account to rampage and hurt citizens is worse than any of the countless fights including a couple that had me getting shanked ( real incidents) to my dreaming mind apparently. I never dream about the times I had to fight or even the things I saw inmates do to each other.

I always tell people I like to avoid ever going to work at a prison. They can be terrible places but at the same time can be super boring. Dealing with boredom followed by stressful adrenaline dump maximum effort physical situations followed by more boredom trains your body over the years to all too easily have certain things be a trigger. The sound of shuffling feet on concrete floors was for me enough to trigger that response. I gave up one easy second job in a small aquarium store for that reason. When customers started fooling around behind me I would be left with a full on adrenaline dump that did the usual physical stuff to my body but left me trying to go about my job without that adrenaline turning my anger response on. It wasn't appropriate having me start glaring at silly college kids who were just buying fish food. As is common with correctional officers I needed blood pressure meds by my late 30's even though I was in excellent physical condition, not overweight and not a smoker or drinker. Not too many made it to retirement like I did and of those precious few had their health. I knew several that died within a year of their retirement. I have my bone and joint issues and blood pressure that is pretty well under control and to be honest I consider myself very fortunate. I still have to watch the adrenaline though. I can go from low normal to very high BP in a minute just from the right sort of stimulus. I try to avoid that where possible but life doesn't always want to cooperate.

As I asked that, I thought there may be a good chance that violence is not a casual subject you would enjoy thinking about any more. Hard for most of us to relate to those intense situations you describe. Thanks for sharing the insights though. Hope your health stays well.

[James Y]

I hope they paid you well enough, Joe

Not here in North Carolina. In fact I had second and even sometimes a third part time job virtually the whole 30 years except for the last few where I was getting surgeries and rehabbing the parts afterward. I hear they pay good money in California, New Jersey and a few other places but here my son got a job with a pest control service here making more than I am. It is very stable and has good health benefits though.

Appreciate your work. I hope that you get your health straitened out. High blood pressure can lead to heart failure so stay on it.

Thanks. I have decent doctors and they pester me about stuff like they are supposed to. I generally live fairly modestly and as stated earlier I try not to drink, smoke and do the other things I know better than to do.

Sorry to hear you weren't paid what you were worth. Lord knows there are more than enough people in professions (*cough* politicians *cough*) who get paid for doing next to nothing.

Jim

[James Y]

I hope they paid you well enough, Joe

Not here in North Carolina. In fact I had second and even sometimes a third part time job virtually the whole 30 years except for the last few where I was getting surgeries and rehabbing the parts afterward. I hear they pay good money in California, New Jersey and a few other places but here my son got a job with a pest control service here making more than I am. It is very stable and has good health benefits though.

Appreciate your work. I hope that you get your health straitened out. High blood pressure can lead to heart failure so stay on it.

Thanks. I have decent doctors and they pester me about stuff like they are supposed to. I generally live fairly modestly and as stated earlier I try not to drink, smoke and do the other things I know better than to do.

Sorry to hear you weren't paid what you were worth. Lord knows there are more than enough people in professions (*cough* politicians *cough*) who get paid obscene amounts for doing next to nothing.

Jim

[bearrowland]

I never thought of that Connor. I know my granddad, a farmer, had huge forearms and never lifted a weight in his life.

[The Meat man]

I never thought of that Connor. I know my granddad, a farmer, had huge forearms and never lifted a weight in his life.

Yeah there are other ways to get strong besides weightlifting - think of the classic image of the village blacksmith. If you use your hands hard every day like your grandfather surely did, you'll get plenty strong.

[The Meat man]

Another thing I like to do which helps with hand strength is rock or stone lifting. I have a number of natural rocks ranging from 120 to 600+ lbs, as well as a homemade Atlas Stone. In fact I tend to prefer lifting stones and rocks to barbell training. Both certainly have their place, but lifting odd objects like rocks places a lot of stress on the wrists and fingers that a barbell never does.
Anyone here ever read Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik, or Rock Iron Strength by Steve Justa? Those are good books with great info. I especially like Justa's philosophy and style of training.

I should add that Brooks Kubik's book has several chapters on developing grip strength, mainly through use of thick handled barbells and dumbbells.