Gripping harder with support hand, dealing with the side effects

[spinmove_]

So I started practicing with gripping much harder with my support hand for the past few weeks or so and have had 2 live fire sessions (100 rounds each) doing the same thing. It’s REALLY helped with keeping my shots from walking left, but I’m now experiencing soreness and fatigue 3 of my 5 fingers on that hand. I’m not sure if I’m able to still grip as hard as when I wasn’t discomforted, but I do seem to be experiencing some consistent discomfort in those fingers/hand even when I’m not doing anything. I do try to get some regular/daily dry practice in. Usually 10-20 minutes per session. Sometimes two sessions a day.

Is this just soreness from building strength in that hand or is it possible that I’m over doing it? Possible remedies to combat this? Should I take a break for a few days to see if it’s still there?


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[blues]

Funny you bring this up. I have been overdoing my dry fire practice of late with a Blackhawk demonstrator and Ring's blue gun in addition to my weight training which puts a lot of stress on grip. I noticed in the last few days I've really aggravated the "trigger finger" I have an issue with on the middle finger of my strong hand.

I'm wondering if I'll be able to do my deadlifts later this morning, not to mention my specific grip work at the end of my training session.

To your point, I think it could be a bit of the muscles / tendons / ligaments needing to adjust to the new level of stress and a bit of overuse.

Try resting and then backing it off a bit...and maybe some NSAIDs.

(If only I were good at taking my own advice.)

[spinmove_]

NSAIDs?


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[CraigS]

I am not a doc, but I'd back off on the hard grip. I guess exercise can lead to some discomfort, even the next day while not doing anything, but to my non-athletic self, it says you are overdoing it. I too have realized that a harder support hand grip really helps increase both speed and accuracy of repeat shots, but my fingers are never sore. I will be interested to see what others say.

[blues]

NSAIDs?


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Aleve (naproxen), ibuprofen etc...as opposed to (for me, anyway) acetaminophen. Though I rarely take anything, even when I should.

[spinmove_]

Aleve (naproxen), ibuprofen etc...as opposed to (for me, anyway) acetaminophen. Though I rarely take anything, even when I should.

Ah, gotcha. Shows how often I take any sort of painkiller. :P

Probably wouldn’t hurt to take one for a day or two just keep my mind off of it. I’ll probably give it a rest from now until Thursday and see how I am then.

Thanks, guys. Although if anyone else has any further insight into this, it’s welcome.


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[Leroy]

Don't change how you practice just take time off. Hit it again in a week. It can take some time for your hands to get use to it.

[ER_STL]

IMO the muscles and tendons you use to grip a handgun can be overworked and fatigued much like those in the rest of your body. Me personally, I don't want to have to depend on Aleve every day so I have to be careful not to overdo it. I do a lot of hand, wrist and forearm exercises and stretches and when I start to notice the effects of over-training, I scale it back and let my body heal.

I learned this the hard way and I still deal with golfer's elbow in my support arm.

[flyrodr]

Timely, as I'm just back from a visit this afternoon to the orthopedist for a bum shoulder (strong side) that's been nagging me for months. Doc is a former jock, and subsequent team physician, and is well acquainted with "overuse" issues (in the broadest sense). I explained to him that I had been religiously doing the exercises he and the PT had prescribed, emphasizing that I had even done "extra (more reps, more weight). He shook his head and said ("again", as HE emphasized) that I should stick with the program. Don't do more, don't do extra, the idea is to recover/restore, not increase at this point. And that it takes time. He then stepped out, came back with a syringe, and stuck me in the shoulder with an anti-inflammatory. I gave him a look similar to ER_STL's photo, and asked if I at least could get some ice cream or a piece of candy.

He reached over, opened a drawer, held his hand out and gave me - - - not candy - - - but a sticker of Cinderella, as he said "Here you go Princess". No respect for his elders

[Gio]

I definitely experience grip fatigue in my hands from training/dry fire. I have gotten a pretty good system down that keeps my hands feeling better:

1. I usually train CoC grippers on Monday's, which is the furthest day away from match day. I also don't do much dry fire on Monday's and may only work trigger press type dry fire where I'm working on pressing the trigger as fast as I can without disturbing the sights.

2. I won't train any specific grip exercises for at least 2 days after doing the CoC, and the training I do after that will typically be farmers carries, plate squeezes, and rope pull ups. I don't do any grip training on a day I'm going to live fire practice.

3. I take every 4th week off from all grip training.

Sticking to the above, I've seen my CoC strength go from a 1.5 in January of 2017 to closing a 2.5 a few months ago (still closing a 2.5 and unlikely to ever see 3.0).

That said, on live fire days where I burn 400-500 rounds, my grip is pretty fatigued by the end of it and I notice a measurable drop in performance, especially on grip intensive drills at 25-50 yd distance. I also feel like the more I've focused on grip strength, the faster my grip gets fatigued when I'm shooting because I tend to squeeze harder.