A More Advanced Workout

 So now that you have an idea of how to workout and make some progress with grippers, I'm going to throw out a more advanced routine. First, let me define a few terms in the grip world that you should become more familiar with.

Rep
 A rep is a single close of any gripper. No cheating is involved here. Just put the gripper in your hand and squeeze it shut for one rep.

Timed Hold
 A timed hold is taking a gripper, usually one that you're having trouble closing or one that is a step up from where you're at now, and cheating it shut and holding it for time. I personally do not do timed holds because, in the true sense of the term, nothing is really happening. You're just holding a gripper and not really applying force.

Negative
 A negative is taking a gripper that is far too tough to close normally, cheating it shut, and squeezing as hard as you can until the gripper opens up all the way or to a certain point. Negatives are very effective but very brutal at the same time. The idea behind negatives is that you subject your tendons and muscles to more pressure than what they're used to forcing them to get stronger quicker. For example, if you're trying to close the HG250 then you would use an HG300 to do negatives with.

Two-Finger Negative
 A two-finger negative is where you take a gripper that is easy for you to close, turn it upside down, and using your pinky and ring fingers, cheat it shut and do a negative. Two-finger negatives and closes are very advanced and should be done carefully. Your pinky and ring fingers are your weakest fingers aside from your thumb and could become injured if you're using a gripper that is too heavy. It's best to experiment with a super easy gripper and work up from there. You can always start with three fingers and then progress to two as well.

 So an example of a more advanced routine might look something like this (assuming you're trying to close an HG300):

Tuesday
HG150 x 5 reps
HG150 x 5 reps
HG200 x 1 rep
HG250 x 1 rep
HG300 x 1 Attempt
HG150 x 5 Two-Finger Negatives

Friday
HG200 x Do a few warmup reps
HG350 x 5-60 Negatives

 Sixty negatives sounds like a lot, and it is! Start out doing only a few at first, and every week add an extra 1-2 until you reach the maximum amount you want to do. It's important that you increase reps every week to ensure you keep making progress towards your goal gripper. I would recommend doing only a few two-finger negatives as compared to the HG350 workout so the healing won't interfere with your big Friday workout. That's just my theory though. By doing two-finger negatives you'll increase your weak fingers' strength which in turn will help you close your goal gripper. And don't forget to rest! After that big Friday workout you're going to want to give your hands some rest on your off days. I believe active rest is a good thing, but playing around with the grippers too much might interfere with the healing process.

 I hope this information will shed some light on things you may have been wondering about concerning advanced workouts. Some people say they don't have much luck with negatives, but that doesn't mean you should rule them out entirely. As always, post any questions by leaving a comment and I will do my best to enlighten you. Good luck!