Workouts for grip strength. 8 Powerful Exercises to Boost Your Grip Strength for Obstacle Course Racing

How can you improve your grip strength for obstacle course racing. What exercises are most effective for developing incredible grip strength. Which grip strength workouts will help you conquer Spartan Race obstacles.

The Importance of Grip Strength in Obstacle Course Racing

Grip strength plays a crucial role in obstacle course racing, particularly in events like Spartan Race. A powerful grip can be the difference between success and failure on challenging obstacles that require hanging, traversing, or carrying heavy objects. Let’s explore why grip strength is so vital and how you can develop it effectively.

Why Grip Strength Matters in Spartan Race

In Spartan Race, numerous obstacles test your grip strength to the limit. These include:

• Multi-Rig
• Rope Climb
• Farmer’s Carry
• Tyrolean Traverse
• Monkey Bars

Failing any of these obstacles due to insufficient grip strength can cost you valuable time or even lead to race disqualification. Therefore, incorporating grip-specific training into your workout routine is essential for any serious obstacle course racer.

Understanding the Anatomy of Grip Strength

Grip strength isn’t just about hand muscles. It involves a complex interplay of muscles throughout your upper body, including:

• Back muscles
• Arm muscles
• Hand muscles
• Shoulder muscles
• Core muscles

While muscle size can contribute to grip strength, the key factors are muscular strength and endurance. This means that even smaller individuals can develop impressive grip strength with proper training.

8 Effective Exercises to Boost Your Grip Strength

Now that we understand the importance of grip strength, let’s dive into eight powerful exercises that will help you develop an iron grip for obstacle course racing and beyond.

1. Towel Farmer’s Walk

This exercise combines the benefits of a traditional farmer’s walk with added grip challenge.

How to perform:

1. Loop a small towel (approximately 14 inches wide and 22 inches long) around the handle of each dumbbell.
2. Grip the ends of the towels while standing upright with shoulders back.
3. Walk 25-50 yards, maintaining proper posture throughout.

You can also use weight plates for this exercise by looping the towel through the plate’s openings. This variation may require longer towels, especially for heavier plates.

2. Dead Hang

The dead hang is a simple yet highly effective exercise for developing grip endurance.

How to perform:

1. Grip a pull-up bar or sturdy overhead structure with an overhand grip.
2. Slightly elevate your scapula to engage your core and back muscles.
3. Hang from the bar for as long as possible, aiming to increase your hang time progressively.

Start with 15-second hangs and work your way up to 60 seconds. Once you can hang for a full minute, try traversing the bar horizontally to add difficulty.

3. Fat Grip Dumbbell Curls

Using fat grips on dumbbells increases the challenge for your grip muscles during bicep curls.

How to perform:

1. Place Fat Gripz or similar grip-enhancing tools over dumbbell handles.
2. Hold the dumbbells with a supinated (palms-up) grip.
3. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and shoulders back.
4. Curl the dumbbells to chin height, keeping wrists flat and palms up.
5. Lower the weights back to the starting position.

This exercise targets both biceps and forearm strength, crucial for many Spartan Race obstacles.

Advanced Grip Strength Exercises for Obstacle Course Racing

As you progress in your grip strength training, incorporating more challenging exercises can help you reach new levels of performance. Let’s explore some advanced techniques to further enhance your grip strength.

4. Barbell Shrugs

Barbell shrugs are an excellent compound exercise that targets your traps while also challenging your grip.

How to perform:

1. Hold a barbell with an overhand grip at shoulder-width in front of your hips.
2. Stand with shoulders back and head facing forward.
3. Raise your traps and shoulders towards the ceiling.
4. Pause for 3 seconds at the top of the movement.
5. Lower the weight back to the starting position.

For heavier weights, you can use weightlifting straps to prevent the bar from slipping. However, try to rely on your grip strength as much as possible to maximize grip development.

5. Grip-Focused Deadlifts

Deadlifts are already an excellent exercise for overall strength, but you can modify them to emphasize grip strength.

How to perform grip-focused deadlifts:

1. Use a double overhand grip (both palms facing you) instead of an alternated grip.
2. Perform sets in the 8-10 rep range to focus on grip endurance.
3. On the final rep of each set, hold the bar at the top position for as long as possible.

Aim for 4-5 sets per workout. Remember, the goal here is grip strength, not absolute lifting power, so choose a weight that challenges your grip without compromising form.

Developing Forearm Endurance for Obstacle Course Racing

While overall grip strength is crucial, developing forearm endurance is equally important for success in obstacle course racing. Let’s look at some exercises specifically designed to boost your forearm endurance.

6. Behind-the-Back Barbell Wrist Curls

This exercise targets the forearm muscles responsible for gripping and holding onto obstacles.

How to perform:

1. Hold a barbell with an overhand grip behind your back, about 2-3 inches away from your lower back.
2. Maintaining an upright posture, let the barbell roll onto your fingertips.
3. Without bending your arms, make a fist and contract your forearms to grip the bar again.
4. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

This exercise is excellent for increasing muscular endurance in the forearms, which directly translates to better performance on Spartan Race obstacles.

Incorporating Grip Strength Training into Your Workout Routine

Now that we’ve covered several effective exercises for developing grip strength, let’s discuss how to integrate them into your overall training plan.

Frequency of Grip Training

Is it possible to train grip strength too often? While grip muscles are resilient, they still need time to recover and grow stronger. Aim to include dedicated grip training 2-3 times per week, allowing at least one day of rest between sessions.

Progression in Grip Strength Training

How can you ensure continuous improvement in your grip strength? Follow these principles:

• Gradually increase the weight or time under tension in your grip exercises.
• Vary your grip exercises to target different aspects of grip strength (crushing, pinching, supporting).
• Track your progress to stay motivated and identify areas for improvement.

7. Plate Pinches

Plate pinches are an excellent exercise for developing pinch grip strength, which is crucial for obstacles like the Multi-Rig.

How to perform:

1. Select two weight plates of equal size (start with 5 or 10 lb plates).
2. Pinch the plates together between your thumb and fingers.
3. Hold the plates at your side for as long as possible.
4. Repeat with the other hand.

As you progress, increase the weight or duration of the hold. You can also try single-plate pinches for an added challenge.

8. Farmer’s Walks with Implements

Farmer’s walks are a staple in grip strength training, but using various implements can make them even more effective for obstacle course racing.

How to perform:

1. Choose two challenging implements (dumbbells, kettlebells, or specialty handles).
2. Pick up the implements and stand tall with shoulders back.
3. Walk for a designated distance or time, maintaining proper posture.

Experiment with different implements to challenge your grip in various ways. This exercise not only builds grip strength but also improves overall conditioning.

The Role of Recovery in Grip Strength Development

While training is crucial for developing grip strength, recovery plays an equally important role in your progress. Let’s explore some strategies to ensure optimal recovery and continued improvement.

Active Recovery for Grip Strength

How can you promote recovery without completely resting your grip muscles? Try these active recovery techniques:

• Gentle hand and forearm stretches
• Light resistance band exercises
• Self-massage of the forearms and hands

These activities can help improve blood flow and reduce muscle tension without overstressing your grip muscles.

Nutrition for Grip Strength

What dietary considerations can support grip strength development? Focus on these key areas:

• Adequate protein intake for muscle repair and growth
• Sufficient carbohydrates to fuel intense workouts
• Healthy fats to support hormone production
• Micronutrients like magnesium and zinc for muscle function

A well-balanced diet tailored to your training needs will help ensure optimal recovery and progress in your grip strength development.

Measuring and Tracking Grip Strength Progress

To ensure your grip strength training is effective, it’s important to regularly assess and track your progress. Let’s explore some methods for measuring grip strength and monitoring improvements over time.

Tools for Measuring Grip Strength

What equipment can you use to accurately measure grip strength? Consider these options:

• Hand dynamometer: Provides a precise measurement of crushing grip strength
• Pinch gauge: Measures pinch grip strength
• Hanging test: Times how long you can hang from a bar
• Plate pinch test: Measures how long you can hold weight plates

Using a combination of these tools can give you a comprehensive picture of your grip strength across different modalities.

Creating a Grip Strength Progress Log

How can you effectively track your grip strength improvements? Develop a simple log that includes:

• Date of measurement
• Type of test performed
• Result (weight, time, or score)
• Notes on technique or effort level

Regularly updating this log (every 2-4 weeks) will help you visualize your progress and identify areas that may need more focused training.

Applying Grip Strength to Specific Obstacle Course Racing Challenges

Now that we’ve covered various aspects of grip strength training, let’s examine how improved grip strength translates to better performance on specific obstacle course racing challenges.

Conquering the Multi-Rig

How does enhanced grip strength help with the Multi-Rig obstacle? A stronger grip allows you to:

• Maintain a secure hold on various hanging elements
• Transition smoothly between different grips
• Conserve energy by reducing the effort needed to hold on

Exercises like dead hangs and towel pull-ups are particularly beneficial for this obstacle.

Mastering the Rope Climb

In what ways does grip strength contribute to efficient rope climbing? Strong grip muscles enable you to:

• Maintain a secure hold on the rope without slipping
• Use less energy to grip the rope, allowing for faster ascents
• Perform multiple rope climbs without fatigue

Farmer’s walks and plate pinches can significantly improve your performance on rope climbs.

Excelling at Farmer’s Carries

How does grip strength training enhance your ability to perform farmer’s carries? Improved grip strength allows you to:

• Carry heavier weights for longer distances
• Maintain proper posture throughout the carry
• Reduce the risk of dropping the weights due to fatigue

Regular practice with various farmer’s walk exercises directly translates to better performance on this common obstacle.

Preventing Grip-Related Injuries in Obstacle Course Racing

While developing grip strength is crucial for success in obstacle course racing, it’s equally important to focus on injury prevention. Let’s explore some strategies to keep your hands, wrists, and forearms healthy and injury-free.

Common Grip-Related Injuries

What are some injuries that can result from inadequate grip training or overuse? Be aware of these potential issues:

• Tendonitis in the wrists or elbows
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Muscle strains in the forearms
• Finger joint injuries

Understanding these risks can help you take proactive steps to prevent them.

Injury Prevention Strategies

How can you minimize the risk of grip-related injuries? Implement these preventive measures:

• Gradually increase the intensity and volume of your grip training
• Incorporate regular stretching and mobility work for your hands, wrists, and forearms
• Use proper form and technique in all grip exercises
• Allow adequate rest and recovery between training sessions
• Listen to your body and avoid pushing through pain

By following these guidelines, you can develop impressive grip strength while minimizing the risk of injury.

Grip Strength Training for Different Fitness Levels

Grip strength training can benefit athletes at all levels, from beginners to advanced competitors. Let’s examine how to tailor your grip training based on your current fitness level and goals.

Beginner Grip Strength Training

If you’re new to grip training, where should you start? Focus on these foundational exercises:

• Dead hangs (start with shorter durations)
• Farmer’s walks with moderate weights
• Dumbbell holds
• Plate pinches with lighter weights

Aim to perform grip exercises 2-3 times per week, allowing for adequate recovery between sessions.

Intermediate Grip Strength Training

How can intermediate athletes progress their grip training? Incorporate these more challenging exercises:

8 Exercises for Incredible Grip Strength | by Mark Barroso

(Originally published on the Spartan Blog.)

From endurance to strength to precision, most athletes’ performance will improve with an increase in grip strength. At one point or another, the majority of sports involve holding onto something at one point or another. In the sport of obstacle course racing, grip strength can be the deciding factor between winning or losing a race due to the failure of obstacles that require hanging from apparatuses or traversing difficult objects.

During a Spartan Race, your grip strength will be tested on obstacles such as the Multi-Rig, Rope Climb, Farmer’s Carry, Tyrolean Traverse and Monkey Bars. Regardless of your bodyweight, the muscles of the back, arms, hands, shoulders, and core all contribute to successfully being able to hold on to or squeeze things. That said, the important factor with these muscles aren’t their size — it’s their strength and endurance — and although sometimes bodybuilders may be able to muscle their way through rigs without any grip training, it’s best to prepare your body for high grip demands to avoid failing obstacles and prevent injury. Try these eight exercises to improve grip strength and never fail a Spartan obstacle again. Plus, these moves will boost your other gym lift numbers too.

How to Do It: This exercise requires two small towels (For example: 14 inches wide and 22 inches in length). Loop one towel around the handle of each dumbbell and hold onto the end of each towel while standing upright with shoulders back. Walk 25–50 yards around your gym floor or outdoors. You can also use weight plates for this exercise. If the plate has more than one opening, such as a top and middle hole, loop the towel through the top opening and hold onto it from there. A longer towel may be required to loop through the center hole of a 25, 35, or 45lb weight plate.

How to Do It: Grip a pullup bar or any sturdy overhead structure with a pronated (overhand grip). Slightly elevate the scapula to engage your core and activate the back muscles. Hang from the bar as long as possible. Aim for 15 seconds, then 30, 45, and 60 seconds. Once you’re able to hang for 60 seconds, you can get creative and move your hands horizontally during the hang, traversing from side to side on the bar.

How to Do It: You can use a Fat Gripz, Harbinger Big Grip or any branded rubber tool that adds thickness to a barbell or dumbbell or this exercise. These grip-enhancing tools can be used for a variety of strength training exercises but using the Fat Gripz on a dumbbell curl emphasizes the importance of biceps and forearms strength for Spartan Race.

Place one Fat Gripz over the handle of each dumbbell and hold each dumbbell using a supinated (palms facing forward) grip. Standing with feet shoulder-width apart and shoulders back, curl the dumbbells to chin height, keeping the wrists flat and palms up the entire time. Return hands to starting position. That’s one rep.

How to Do It: You can shrug a straight barbell, a trap bar, dumbbells, or even a machine to increase grip strength but the barbell shrug is the exercise you should definitely incorporate into your strength and conditioning routine for better grip.

Hold a barbell using a pronated (overhand) grip at shoulder-width in front of your hips with arms straight. Stand holding the barbell with your shoulders back and head facing forward. This is the starting position. Keeping your arms straight, raise your traps and shoulders towards the ceiling, pause for 3 seconds, then return the weight to the starting position. When the weight gets heavy, you can use weightlifting straps such as Schiek Lifting Straps or Versa Gripps to avoid the bar from rolling out of your hands.

How to Do It: Check out how to do the deadlift HERE. To use the deadlift for grip training purposes, try not to use an alternated (right hand over with left hand under grip) AT ALL during your sets. If the weight is getting too heavy and you have to use a mixed grip, your goals have now become absolute strength and not grip strength. Also, you can deadlift in the 8–10 rep range when training the grip. On the final rep of each set (aim for 4–5 sets in any given workout), hold the bar at the top for as long as possible before lowering it to the start position.

How to Do it: This exercise is solely to increase muscular endurance of the forearms muscles which should transfer into the ability to perform the aforementioned Spartan obstacles. Hold a barbell with an overhand grip behind you, so it’s 2–3 inches away from your lower back. While keeping an upright posture, let the barbell roll onto your fingertips then while keeping arms straight (not bending them). Next, make a fist and contract the forearms to grip the bar again with a closed grip. That’s one rep. Do this exercise slowly and be sure to not use momentum by shrugging the shoulders or swinging the body forward. Do this close to a barbell rack so you can safely place the bar back when you’re done.

How to Do It: Touch all of the fingertips together so thumb is touching the tip of the other four fingers. Place a rubber band around the DIP joint (the bendy part of your finger closest to the fingernail). Push fingers against the band until the hand is open, as if you were giving someone a high five. Bring fingers back together. That’s one rep.

Hand X Band is a great tool for this exercise as it allows you to insert each of your fingers into a rubber hole prior to opening your hand against the interconnected rubber holes. This exercise trains the forearm extensors and finger joints which are essential to opening and closing the hand, which when strengthened, allow you to actually grab things faster and with more force. So, it’s less about holding onto something and more about gripping it correctly in the first place.

How to Do It: This exercise trains the ability to hold onto something for extended period of time. Place a 10lb-plate (or heavier for more advanced athletes) flat on the ground. Keep a bench or box nearby. If the plate is able to stand on it’s own, have it stand up. Grab the plate with right hand using just your fingers, so without wrapping your thumb around the plate. This means the thumb is one on side of the plate and the other four fingers are on the other side. Stand straight up with the plate so it’s at your side. Pause for 5 seconds then place the plate on the bench/box. Repeat for 5–10 reps. To increase difficulty, pinch two plates, hold one plate for longer (30 seconds), or do a snatch with the weight and hold it above your head with arm extended.

Then get off your phone and exercise.

How to Improve Your Grip Strength Quickly (6 Best Exercises)

Do you find your grip a limiting factor in the gym (I see you chin-ups and deadlifts)?

Or in everyday life (looking at you, pickle jars)?

If so, don’t worry! We’ve got a handle on this (pun 100% intended).

As the lead trainer of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, I’m going to outline a number of helpful, handy (sigh) stretches and exercises to help eliminate pain and build you some powerful, useful hands and a strong grip.

Now, it goes without saying that the hands and forearms are anatomically complicated areas.

I am also not your mother, or your doctor. If anything in the article below causes pain, or your pain is not alleviated by these stretches – call in the pros!

See a physical therapist or sports massage practitioner.

Lastly, if you’re here because you’re trying to grow overall strength, you might be interested in our newest app, Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you train anywhere (and improve your grip strength), all while building your very own superhero!

You can try it for free right here:

Why Grip Strength And WRist Mobility Is So Important: Basic Holds.

We use our hands for EVERYTHING. 

Whether it’s everyday tasks like carrying groceries, opening jars, and lifting suitcases, or gym-related activities like chin-ups, rows, and deadlifts.

Of course, you probably also type at your computer for hours – with resulting aches and pains at the end of the workday.

Guess what?

Stretching out the hands and building up a strong grip can help in all of those areas.

A strong grip has even been correlated to lower mortality rates – and you can also imagine the usefulness of a stronger grip for aging individuals if they happen to slip.

Our point is that it’s always better to have a stronger grip!

This is a favorite area of expertise for me. I’ve worked my grip for years and years, and recently won a local grip competition:

In fact, I’m currently typing this one-handed while squeezing coal into diamonds with my other hand.

Not really, but I promise my grip strength is above average.

SO WHERE TO START?

The hands are complex, and training them can seem just as complicated.

We’ll simplify matters a bit and you can categorize the grip exercises into the following general types:

#1) CRUSH

This is what you probably think of when you think of a “strong grip”. This is the whole hand closing in around something. A strong handshake. None of that dead-fish handshake stuff!

#2) PINCH

Think of making an alligator mouth with your hands, and chomping down. In this grip, there tends to be a lot more work/stress on the thumb. This is important to work, as the thumb is a vital part of a strong grip!

#3) SUPPORT

This is similar to crush, but rather than the ability to close, this type of grip tests the ability to hold.

#4) EXTENSION

Every action has an opposite reaction, right? This type of grip work is all about strengthening the opposing muscles. We were built to grab and hold onto things, so these muscles will not be as strong.

#5) WRIST WORK

Wrist movement and wrist stability is the focus here. In order to be able to transfer energy from the body through the hands (for opening those pickle jars) we need to make sure every link in the chain is strong.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

When putting together a grip routine of your own, it’s a good idea to cycle through these different types of grips over the course of the week, in order to work different muscles and different angles.

If you have to pick just a few, I’d put my money on stretches, crushing, and extension to get your hands strong and keep them healthy!

Before we go further, I want to mention that if you’re improving your grip as part of a strength training practice, you’ve come to the right place! We have a free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know, that will walk you through every aspect of building muscle and growing stronger. Want in?

Grab it for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:

Download our comprehensive guide

• Everything you need to know about getting strong.
• Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
• How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

How to Improve Your Grip Strength and Mobility Quickly.

Here are the best exercises you can do to strengthen your grip quickly:

1. Dumbbell head grab: Put a dumbbell on its end and pick it up by the head. Could anything replicate a pickle jar more? Be careful with this exercise if the dumbbell is too big, as the thumb can easily be strained if it’s stretched too far. Hold for time (~30 seconds) or go for heavier weight.
2. Farmer’s walks: Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells (heavy for you) and walk around! Don’t have space to walk? Just stand there! 30 seconds minimum!
3. Plate curls: A wrist strengthener that works the biceps too! Anything past 25 lbs becomes insanely hard. ~10 repetitions. Watch the face!!
4. Plate pinches: If you’ve got a pair of smooth metal plates, you can sandwich them together with the smooth side out. You can also use thick bumper plates. Pick them up with one or two hands and hold for time (~30 seconds) or go for heavier weight. World class grip athletes can pick up a pair of 45 lb plates with one hand!
5. Barbell finger rolls: How to work the crushing grip without grippers. You can use an empty bar or load up some weight. Get the bar to your fingertips, then squeeze and crush! ~10 repetitions.
6. Towel chin-ups: Regular chin-ups too easy? Throw a pair of gym towels over the bar and challenge that grip. A great exercise to prepare for rope climbing!

STRETCHES AT THE GYM

The only addition I have to your stretching routine that can be done at the gym is banded wrist stretches. The addition of the band can help open up your wrist joint a bit more. The band should be pulling in the opposite direction of the stretch (fingers face one way, band pulls the other way).

10-15 repetitions.

EXERCISES AT THE GYM

While we recommend picking up some grippers as specialized grip equipment, there are TONS of options to work the grip at the gym with existing equipment! This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but should give you plenty of ideas.

The one warning I give for any of these exercises is WATCH YOUR TOES. The grip can give out fast and unexpectedly, so we don’t want to crush any little piggies!

This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it’ll get you started!

Other easy grip exercises to integrate:

• Bar hang: Simply hanging from the bar or gymnastic rings will build up your grip strength! If you can’t hang freely, put your feet on the ground for an assist. Couldn’t be simpler! Work up to one minute or more!
• Wrist curls/Reverse wrist curls: What many may think of when they think of “grip strength” exercises. Not bad for some wrist strength. ~10 repetitions. Pictured – Left: Wrist curls, Right: Reverse wrist curls.

• Barbell levering: We’re getting into crazy town with this one. An unbelievable wrist exercise that is not for the beginner. Grab the bar with one hand, off-center, and lift it to parallel. You can lift to the front and the back. I would also recommend using a 15 lb/5 kg bar, or one of those lighter “bodypump” bars for this. The leverage is crazy! This can also be done at a faster pace with PVC pipe.

Things can get really crazy when you start combining exercises…Plate pinch farmer’s walks with bumper plates, anyone?

…and speaking of NF Coaching, if you’re worried that your grip strength is holding back your training, we can help!

Our certified coaches can do an assessment, design a program to increase your grip and overall strength, and provide support and accountability. It’s kind of like having Jim in your pocket (not literally – via an app).

Plus, our coaching app lets you record and send a video of your movement directly to your coach, so you can take comfort knowing you’re training correctly:

How To Improve Grip Strength and Mobility At The Office.

Alright, you’re ready to jump into grip strength training!

I’ve outlined a number of stretches and exercises for you to do, no matter where you are and what equipment you have. Skim over and see what you can add into your daily mix or gym training!

STRETCHES AT YOUR DESK

You might be reading this while sitting at your computer right now.

We put a LOT of stress on our hands and wrists over the course of a day, so take the time to take care of these hard workers!

Below is a quick and dirty stretch routine, just three moves. This is good for a warm-up or just for overall hand health. We spend a lot of the day at our computer with our elbows bent and our hands in a pronated position (palms turned down), therefore stretches with our elbows extended and hands supinated (palms turned up) is a good idea.

The stretches from the video:

• Fingers back, palms on desk: You can stretch straight backwards, or rock gently left to right. 10-15 repetitions.
• Finger back, palms lifted off desk: You can lift the palms and get a bit more stretch through the fingers and first knuckle. Again, stretch straight backwards, or rock gently left to right. 10-15 repetitions.
• Fists together, back of hands on desk: Make two fists, with the thumbs on the outside of your fingers. Bend your elbows and put the knuckles together like two cogs in a machine. Bend your elbows and put the back of your hands fully on the desk. Keep your fists together (this will be tough) and fists tightly closed (this will also be tough) as you bend and flex your elbows. 10-15 repetitions.

Give it a shot, I bet your hands feel noticeably different (and better) afterward.

If you have additional time, the first two stretches can also be done with your fingers forward!

You can also stretch the thumbs out on the desk. Moving into and out of the stretch shown below. You may be surprised how good this feels if you’ve never done it before. Again, 10-15 repetitions.

A final stretch, if you have the time between updating Excel and checking Facebook for the 100th time (I kid, I kid), is stretching your wrists in the direction of your thumb.

If you think about how your hands are often oriented on your keyboard, you’ll see that they are often bend toward your pinky.

So let’s stretch them in the opposite way! Make like you’re about to karate chop someone with one hand. With the other hand, grab the chopping hand and pull it sideways in the direction of your thumb.

Going gently into and out of this stretch for 10-15 repetitions. It may not feel as intense as the previous stretches, but it will still help.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of hand and wrist stretches, but it should give you plenty to work with!

EXERCISES AT YOUR DESK

Do you know there’s already an excellent piece of grip strengthening equipment present in many offices? What is that?

The rubber band!

Snag one off that rubber band ball in your desk and do these simple rubber band extensions:

If one band gets too easy, put two or more on! This is a super easy exercise to do while you’re on a phone call or that conference call (that you’re not paying attention to anyway) that gets the blood moving through the hands and helps balance out your vice-grip like hands.

Another grip exercise that can easily be done at your desk is closing grippers. Now, this does require an investment (~$20/gripper), but you’ll find that these grippers last FOREVER (I still use some grippers that are over a decade and half old!)

I would personally recommend Ironmind’s “Captains of Crush” grippers.

They are built to last and strong.

Consider the following when making your gripper purchase:

• If you are just starting out with your grip, I would look at the Guide and/or the Sport (60lb and 80lb respectively).
• If you have a bit of strength, the Sport and/or the Trainer is the way to go (80lb and 100lb).

If you can close the Guide, you’ve got a pretty solid grip. If you can close the Sport, you have way above average grip strength, in my experience.

A fun bonus with these grippers at your desk is that EVERYONE who sees them will try and pick them up and close them. Great way to start a conversation with your coworkers!

You may be thinking, “eh, I’ve already got a gripper I bought from the store”. I’ll tell you that the strength in that gripper is probably minuscule compared to Ironmind’s. Time to upgrade!

You may also be thinking, “eh, I’ve got a tennis ball/stress ball that I can keep by my desk and crush”. Both of those might be better than nothing, but not by much. The grippers will allow a smoother movement and quantifiable progress. Did I mention they’re just $20 a pop?

“Jim, I can’t wait. I want to work my grip NOW.” Ok, ok, grab the biggest, heaviest book in the office you have. Grab it in that pinch grip position (fingers on one side, thumb on the other). This may be easy, if so, then “walk the book” in your hand by moving your fingers up and down the spine while you hold it in mid-air. Do this for several trips. Tough!

How to Improve your Grip Strength and Wrist Mobility At Home.

If you work out at home, there are still a few things you can do.

• Bar hang: A home chin-up bar is one of the most useful pieces of equipment to have. Just like the gym version, you can put your feet on the ground to assist. Work up to one minute!

• Grocery bag farmer’s walks: What’s better than taking only one trip to bring your groceries inside? Absolutely nothing. You can use those tough, reusable bags and load them up with anything. Stand in place or walk around the neighborhood.

• Sledgehammer/Barbell/heavy bar levering: As with the barbell levering at the gym, this is a tough exercise and should be approached slowly. Grab closer to the sledgehammer head to make it easy, farther to make it tough.

Get Started With Rings And Handstands, Level Up Your Grip!

No (wo)man is an island, and no exercise exists in complete isolation. These grip exercises are a blast, but we hope you can also use them to help strengthen a deadlift, or work toward your first chin-up.

There are also various bodyweight exercises that will help strengthen your upper body AND build your grip strength at the same time.

THE FALSE GRIP HANG

For example, here is a video from our rings course in Nerd Fitness Prime on doing a false-grip hang – and then doing scapular retractions. This is a killer grip strength exercise:

The false grip is an incredibly challenging grip variation that one must learn to build up to a muscle-up (a pull-up that transitions into a dip). Just like before, you can put your feet on the ground to assist this exercise.

CROW POSE

Here’s a video of an exercise that builds up grip and wrist strength, pulled from Nerd Fitness Prime (which contains a course on doing handstands):

A staple of yoga classes everywhere, though we’ll be focusing on it for a different reason than a yogi might. We’re using this exercise as a foundational exercise to build up into the handstand. You won’t believe how much grip strength is involved in the crow pose until you are digging your fingers into the ground!

A Strong Grip Is Always Helpful!

It’s been said “There’s never been a strong man (or woman) with weak hands.”

We’d have to agree wholeheartedly. There is never going to be a point in life where you say “Boy, my grip was too strong!”.

You might have some questions about how to mix these exercises in with your normal routine, or how you can use these things to improve your lifts safely and without injury. Or maybe all of the above just overwhelmed the heck out of you and you’re trying to make sense of it all.

If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place.

I’m the lead trainer of the 1-on-1 NF Coaching Program, where we help busy, normal people like yourself build muscle, lose weight, and level up their lives!.

You can learn more about our coaching program by clicking on the image below and scheduling a call with us to see if we’re a good fit!

You have a pair of incredibly useful tools at arm’s length, might as well make the most of them!

We hope you now have a handle on things (have to bring it back full circle). Go out and get a grip!

Leave any questions you have on grip strength or wrist mobility below in the comments.

-Jim

PS: What should you do after you improve your grip and wrist strength? Get started on doing muscle-ups and downward dogs, which you can learn all from our new app!

Try it for free right here:

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Photo Source: Reece & Emma Meins Chalky bar grip

Top 8 Grip Strength Exercises For Beginners

When it comes to strength training, building a strong grip is possibly one of the most neglected areas. In fact, in most cases it isn’t trained at all.

What you might not realize is that grip training does much more than provide you with a firm handshake, forearms like Popeye, and help you open that pickle jar.

The truth is that little bit of grip training goes a long way. It can pay huge dividends on all other areas of strength and fitness. For starters, poor grip strength is a hugely limiting factor when it comes to other exercises such as deadlifts, pull ups, lunges, rows, bench etc. When your grip strength improves, the rest of your lifts will follow suit.

Why Is Grip Strength Important For More Than Just Lifts?

If you’re interested in getting stronger, this is a no-brainer. It’s unlikely that you will ever have strong hands without a strong body, but there are lots of strong bodies out there without strong hands.

If you’re interested in decreasing body fat, lifting more weight during your workout means more calories burned.

Working grip exercises into your program can also aid in preventing certain pain syndromes from chronic inflammation to tendonitis, which is generally caused by neglecting certain muscle groups and overuse of others.

Also, through a process called irradiation, you may actually be strengthening other muscles from your wrist all the way down to your core with the most important being perhaps your rotator cuff muscles. An easy way to feel this working is to hold your hand out in front of you and make a fist. Now squeeze your fist as hard as you can and you should feel all the muscles in your arm and even your core tighten up as well. To utilize this during your training squeeze the bar during exercises like the bench press and deadlifts to instantly lift more weight and protect your shoulders!

5 Types of Grip Strength Exercises

There are several types of grip exercises that all train different muscle groups. Here, we will go over the most basic types of these exercises:

1. Crush Grip: crushing is the action of closing your hand around something and squeezing. This would be what you do every time you hold onto a dumbbell.
2. Pinch Grip: pinching is the action of holding onto an object and squeezing with just your fingertips and not letting it drop. It can also be the act of pinching something together with just your fingertips (eg pinching a clothes pin….do people still use those?).
3. Supporting Crush Grip: this is the act of supporting an object with a crush grip where you support most of the load with your fingers. Common examples are carrying a dumbbell, deadlifting or even carrying your grocery bags by the handle.
4. Open Crush Grip: this is when you are using a crush grip but your fingers don’t quite touch or overlap. Fat bar or awkward object holds are great to train open crush grip. The real life carry over here would be an easier time opening jars (among other things) when your fingers are spread open. Having a strong open crush grip really comes in handy!
5. Hand Extension: this technically isn’t a grip exercise in every sense of the word but it trains from the synergistic muscles to the ones you use for grip. This keeps a healthy muscle balance in your hands and wrists, which aids in preventing injury and overuse of those muscle groups. They will also help your actual grip strength improve!

Top 8 Grip Strength Exercises

Here are my 8 favorite grip exercises to use along with the type of grip they challenge:

1) Hand Grippers

Using hand or torsion grippers is my favorite type of grip exercise and is easily one of the best ways to train your crush grip. Actual hand grippers should be very challenging to close, unlike the plastic ones that some of you may have seen back in the high school weight room. The most popular brand seems to be Iron Mind’s Captain of Crush grippers, which you can purchase on Amazon or on their website for about $20 each. These grippers come in a wide variety of tensions from 60lbs all the way up to the #4 which is a 365lb close!

You can train with hand grippers by going for repetitions and max close, or even holding a close for a set or max period of time. I recommend starting with first learning how to properly set and close a gripper as training with them requires a certain level of skill and strength. You should start off with 2-4 sets of 8-10 reps with a lighter gripper and work up from there.

2) Barbell Holds

This is easiest to set up in a squat rack with the pins set just under where you would lock out a deadlift. The goal here isn’t to deadlift up the weight, rather to hold onto it, so a couple inches is totally fine.

Grab the bar with a double overhand grip at about shoulder width and then stand tall (e.g. deadlift lockout stance). The goal here is to hold for time and depending on your experience, 5-10 seconds will be perfect for most trainees. 3-5 sets should be more than enough to start!

3) Farmer’s Carries

Typically done with 2 dumbbells or kettlebells, Farmer’s Carries mean you stand up with the weights and walk a certain distance or for a period of time. This adds motion to your grip, so not only are your forearms challenged but so are your core muscles, shoulders, and hips. Try walking 20’ and progressing to 40’ with heavy weights!

6) Fat Gripz

One of the best bang-for-your-buck pieces of equipment when it comes to grip training is Fat Gripz which can be used with any standard barbell, dumbbell or pull up bar. Unless you are Andre the Giant your hands shouldn’t be able to close around the Fat Gripz, allowing you to train your open grip.

I recommend using them periodically since this grip trains fairly easily and without as much constant attention. Once or twice a month add them your standard deadlifts and try doing both double overhand and alternating grip for heavy singles. They also work really well for chin ups and dumbbell rows as well.

8) Band or Sand Hand Extensions

As I mentioned before, these aren’t grip exercises per say, but they will go a long way towards preventing injuries as well as strengthening your actual grip.

Band extensions can be done by placing a band around all 5 fingers (or even a couple at a time) and extending your hand outward for reps or for time. You can buy professional bands for this, but I recommend just using the thick band you get on a crown of broccoli, a thick rubber band, or even one of those rubber bracelets people wear.

Another great hand extension exercise can easily be done with a bucket of sand. Simply insert your hand with your fingers closed Karate Kid style and then extend your hand open against the pressure of the sand.

In my own personal experience, grip exercises have been the simplest addition to my strength training program and have yielded some of the greatest benefits across the board. It is always important to remember that you are only as strong as your weakest link. If that is your grip, why not start there!

Grip Strength Exercises To Do At Home Or In The Gym

Hauling five bags of groceries requires not just killer arms but also a strong grip. Not sure you’ve got the grip strength? You might be shortchanging your workouts in addition to your pantry stash. Your ability to lug weights without palm or wrist pain plays a big role in ensuring your sweat sessions are effective enough to get your muscles to pop.

When you’re lifting heavy (think: enough weight to slow you down during the last two or three reps of a set), “having good grip strength will help you focus on proper form and mechanics, which means you’ll be able to push yourself to necessary fatigue levels,” says Kat Ellis, CSCS, coach at The Fort in New York City.

Studies back this up: Research in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that hand grip strength is a good predictor of muscular strength and endurance.

Beyond your fitness, grip strength is actually associated with your risk for cardiovascular disease—and even death. Convinced to read on yet? Below, what grip strength actually is, the different types, and the best exercises to strengthen it at home—and at the gym.

What is grip strength, exactly?

Simply put, grip strength is a measure of how much force or power you can create with your forearm and hand muscles.

Having a strong grip is a good indicator of upper-body and overall strength because you need to be able to hold onto weights in order to increase muscle strength. Weak hand and wrist muscles are super common, though, according to Liana Tobin, CSCS, a personal trainer educator for the National Strength and Conditioning Association. “When you’re doing a workout with challenging weights, grip strength is often the first thing to fail,” she says. “That’s because it involves smaller muscles that tire quickly, and they’re typically trained less frequently.” All the more reason to spend time strength training your hands and forearms if you aren’t already.

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Let’s take pullups for example. “Say you have really strong lats and a strong core that enable you to theoretically pull up with ease,” says Mike Simone, CPT, founder of humanfitproject. “If your grip is weak, you’re not going to be able to do as many reps, if you can even do one, because your grip will fail before those other muscles do.” The same is true with a deadlift, he says, which is such a great lower-body strengthener, it’s a shame not to get the max benefits from it. “You could be deadlifting a lot more weight but if you have a weak grip, you aren’t able to actually bring your working back muscles to failure.”

Benefits of having a strong grip

Toning those micro muscles is beneficial outside the gym too. Here are five benefits of have a strong grip, according to Ellis.

1. It can help prevent tendinitis.
2. You’ll curb your chances of getting carpal tunnel syndrome.
3. There’s less of a risk you’ll get arthritis.
4. You’ll improve your fine motor skills. This will make everyday things—hooking your bra, throwing or catching a ball—easier. (Cornhole, anyone?)
5. You’ll get stronger at the gym because you’ll be able to lift heavier weights.

Types Of Grip Strength

When it comes to your grip, there are actually three unique types of strength. Here, Simone breaks them down:

Crush: Curling your fingers to your palm is your crush strength. Think: crumbling a ball of paper in your hands or shaking someone’s hand.

Pinch: This one is kinda self-explanatory—it’s the strength between your fingers and your thumb, like if you’re pinching yourself.

Support: Your ability to hold onto something for a long period of time, like hanging on a pullup bar or carrying groceries, is all about support.

Signs Your Hand Muscles Could Use Strengthening

1. You have trouble carrying grocery bags without putting them down for a break.
2. You consistently drop dumbbells or barbells.
3. Your hands often cramp.
4. You feel grip pain when lifting challenging weights.
5. Your hands and forearms fatigue when shoveling snow or walking your dog.
6. You get tired from typing on your keyboard.

Answering yes to any/all of the above is a solid indicator that you could stand to improve your grip strength. The good news: Getting a better handle on the situation isn’t hard.

Grip strength guidelines for beginners: When working with weights to improve your grip strength, start light and increase the load slowly. You don’t want to overdo it and wind up doing more harm than good. “It’s an easily injured area, so go for tension but stop if you feel any pain,” Tobin says.

How To Improve Grip Strength At Home

You don’t need dumbbells to work your grip strength. Just grab onto these household items to build a stronger handshake in no time.

Stress-Ball Squeeze

Squish a stress ball (a tennis ball works too) with your entire hand for 5 to 10 pulses. Repeat using just thumb and pointer finger. Progress through each finger. Switch hands and repeat sequence.

Wrist Rotation

Grasp an unopened wine bottle or the handle of a cast-iron pan, keeping upper arm by side and elbow bent 90 degrees. Rotate bottle or pan toward your midline, bring it back to center, then rotate in the opposite direction. Do two or three sets of 20 to 30 reps. Switch hands and repeat.

Book Pinch

Using two books of the same size (preferably coffee-table books or textbooks), grip one in each hand, arms at sides. Squeeze with fingers for 30 seconds, then relax for 30 seconds. Do three to five sets.

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The Best Grip Strength Exercises To Do At The Gym

Farmer Carry




How to: Holding a heavy kettlebell in one hand, arms down by sides, walk forward in a straight line without letting the weight bang against the side of your leg. Continue for 30 to 60 seconds. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds, then repeat. Do three to five sets.

Suitcase Deadlift

How to: Hold a weight with left hand, feet shoulder-width apart and right hand clenched in fist. Keeping abs engaged and knees soft, sit hips back to slowly lower weight until it reaches middle of left shin. Back should be parallel to the floor. Pressing through heels and engaging abs, quickly return to start. Squeeze glutes once completely upright. That’s one rep. Do three or four sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Hammer Curl

How to: Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells at sides. Palms should be facing inward, with back straight and chest upright. Without moving upper arms, bend elbows and curl weights toward shoulders. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to starting position with control. That’s one rep. Do three to four sets of 12 reps.

Other Ways To Work Your Grip

• Plate pinch: Select two weight plates of the same size and grasp one in each hand between thumb and fingers, arms by sides. Squeeze plates as hard as possible and hold for one minute. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds. Do two or three sets.
• Assisted band pullup: Loop resistance band around bar and place loose end under one foot. Stack other foot on top. Passively hang from bar, then en-gage core, lats, and glutes to perform a full pullup. Slowly lower back down with control. Do three sets of 10.

Mallory Creveling
Senior Health and Fitness Editor
Mallory Creveling, an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, joined the Runner’s World team in August 2021.

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How To Improve Grip Strength: 4 Exercies for Grip

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jedd Johnson.

In this day and age, we all know (or should know) how important it is to maintain a healthy level of physical fitness in order to live a good quality life, maintain our cardiovascular system, and keep our bodies strong in order to thrive into our later years. For many of us, this means getting into the gym in order to do resistance training — one of the best forms of exercise that is available to us. For those looking to get back into the gym in order to maximize your health, strength, and vigor, one thing to take into consideration that is often forgotten or completely ignored is grip strength. “Grip strength? What does that have to do with anything?” you might ask. It may not make sense to you right off the bat to take time to train the hands and lower arms while at the gym. I know when I first learned about it, it seemed like a complete waste of time to spend valuable training time on less than 5% of your body, but the truth of the matter is having a strong grip pays many dividends both in your training and elsewhere.

What is Grip Strength?

Grip strength is often thought of as simply hand strength, and while hand strength is definitely included, there are actually many other things to consider when thinking of grip. First off, grip involves everything from the musculature near the elbow down to the fingertips. It has to be thought of this way because many of the forearm and hand flexor muscles actually originate above the elbow, and anytime a muscle crosses a joint, it will in some way influence it. As we move downward, the gripping muscles pass through the forearms, the wrists, and into the hands, fingers, and thumbs — and not only through the front of the forearms, but also the back of forearms. This is important to remember. When we look at grip in this manner, we start to see that there are MANY movement patterns that are realized by the lower arm musculature. As we train the lower arms, we must then remember to train all of these movement patterns in order to maintain a suitable balance between the antagonistic muscle groups, such as the flexors and extensors. In fact, many cases of inflammation-related forearm pain such as tendonitis, tendonosis and epicondylitis can arise due to improper training of the forearm muscles or simply neglecting certain muscle groups or movement patterns.

Benefits of Having a Strong Grip

There are many reasons men should seek to have a strong grip. They range from social reasons, to training reasons, and beyond. Let’s highlight a few.

Stronger Grip = Stronger Handshake. Whether it is right or not, men are often judged by their level of strength and by how strong they seem. Nothing is a better example of this than the need for a strong, hearty handshake. When you shake hands with a man and he looks you in the eye and gives you a solid squeeze back, it makes him seem more confident, dependable, and trustworthy. However, if they hit you with the proverbial “dead fish” handshake, they lose credibility and may even seem slimy and weak.

Don’t let this be your handshake…Stronger Grip = Bigger Lifts. When you have a strong grip, you are able to lift heavier weights in the gym. Especially in pulling movements such as deadlifts, rows, pull-ups, and chin-ups, a solid grip that you can call upon will help you increase your training results by increasing strength.

Stronger Grip = Better Endurance. When your hands and lower arms are strong, you can also perform more repetitions than someone whose weak hands are a liability. This means you will be able to perform more repetitions per set of an exercise, thus burning more calories, losing more fat, and building more muscle.

Stronger Grip = Better Later Life Quality. Research has now shown that grip strength has proven to be a reliable indicator for quality of life at an older age. For instance, in 1999 a study concluded the following:

“Among healthy 45- to 68-year-old men, hand grip strength was highly predictive of functional limitations and disability 25 years later. Good muscle strength in midlife may protect people from old age disability by providing a greater safety margin above the threshold of disability.”

Stronger Grip = Better Injury Resiliency. Muscles and connective tissues that are strengthened are more injury-resistant, and if injury does end up taking place, stronger tissue can usually recover faster so that you are back on top of your game. This is particularly important for athletes who play contact sports, especially when the hands play such a major role in success. For instance, while players of football and basketball are highly dependent on the strength of their legs and core, their performance is hindered substantially just by jamming a finger or developing pain in the wrist or forearm. And breaking or spraining the wrist will land an athlete on the bench to watch the game from the sidelines.

Now that we have established that there is a lot more involved in grip training than just using our hands, and now that we know just how beneficial it can be to have a strong grip, let’s take a look at some of the many defined movement patterns that exist with grip training.

What is a Good Grip Strength for a Man?

The average healthy man can give a squeeze that applies 72.6 pounds of pressure. If you’re not there, you’ve got some work to do. 

A strong grip is one that can apply at least 90 pounds of pressure.

Types of Grip Strength

There are many defined forms of gripping. Some involve primarily the hands while others involve action from the wrist and forearm as well. See below.

Hand Specific Movements

Crushing — Crushing is the action of closing the fingers against resistance. Similar in nature but often forgotten are clamping (wrapping the fingers around something and squeezing it toward the palm) and crimping (directing force with the fingers toward the callous line).

Pinching — Pinching involves grasping something with the thumbs in opposition to the fingers. This can be static (no movement, such as gripping a board) or dynamic (such as squeezing the handles of a clamp).

Supporting — Support grip entails lifting something with the fingers taking the brunt of a load — normally in an isometric fashion, like deadlifts, rows, and kettlebell work. It should be noted that true support grip entails the fingers wrapping well around the bar. If the handle is large enough that there is a space between the fingers and thumb, it is referred to as open hand support.

Extension — Hand extension is the opening of the fingers and thumb (antagonistic action to flexion of the fingers and thumb).

Wrist & Forearm Postures

Ulnar / Radial Deviation — Angling the wrist toward the inside or outside edges of the forearm. Shown above is ulnar deviation. Movement toward the thumb side would be radial deviation.

Flexion / Extension — Flexion is the bending of the wrist so that the palm moves toward the front of the forearm — shown above. Extension, then, is the antagonistic movement pattern and involves moving the wrist so that the back of the hand moves toward the back of the forearm.

Pronation / Supination — These are the terms given to forearm rotation. Pronation is the turning of the forearm so that the palm faces down (similar to prone, as in lying face-down), while supination is turning the forearm so that the palm faces upward (like a normal bicep curl).


Circumduction — This is a combination of all of the above movement patterns, where the hand moves in a circular fashion about the wrist. It can also be done holding something, such as with the shot device shown above, as a leverage move.


Elbow Movement Patterns

Flexion (with Pronation) – Bending the elbow so that the forearm nears the bicep with the palm facing downward (like a reverse bicep curl motion). Shown above, this is a very important movement for preventing and getting rid of inflammation injuries like tennis elbow.

Flexion (with Supination) – Bending the elbow so that the forearm nears the bicep with the palm facing upward (like a normal bicep curl motion, not shown).

Extension – Straightening the elbow, such as in the bench press. Any weakness or liability in the surrounding musculature can decrease your numbers on the bench and other movements.

Common Grip Training Exercises

Grippers (Crush Grip)

There are many types of grippers on the market. The objective is to squeeze them so that the handles touch together. Some companies have certifications for closing their grippers. Grippers are probably the most popular form of grip training. Everyone should have a set. If you can close the number 3 from IronMind, you are considered to have a great crushing grip, and you can get certified (women can now certify on the number 2).

Plate Pinching (Pinch Grip)

This is done by setting up two or more plates smooth-sides-out and then lifting them off the floor in a pinch grip. Common combinations include 4-tens, 2-25’s, and 7-fives. If you can pinch 5-tens, 2-35’s, or 8-fives, then you have an excellent grip. If you can pinch 6-tens, 2-45’s, or 3-25’s, then you are world class.

Block Weights (Pinch Grip)

These are really any block-shaped device, but most often are broken or cut-off heads of a dumbbell that are lifted off the ground in a Pinch Grip. The most popular goal in grip training is to lift the 50-lb Blob, a half 100-lb dumbbell produced by York Barbell.

Thick Bar Lifting (Open Hand Support)

As the handle of a dumbbell thickens it becomes much harder to lift. The most widely recognized feat of thick bar strength is the Thomas Inch Replica Dumbbell, weighing roughly 172 lbs and having a nearly 2.5-inch thick handle. All one unit with non-rotating globe heads, as soon as the bells leave the ground the entire unit starts to spin, peeling your grip open. This dumbbell is named after a challenge dumbbell used by the strongman performer Thomas Inch in the 19th century.

Ways to Increase Grip Strength

There are many ways to develop your grip strength, beyond just using the equipment shown in the section above. However, it should be noted that while the classic hand and forearm work done and taught in gyms usually includes wrist curls, these really do not have anywhere near as big of an impact as other exercises.

Drop the Straps. In order to start challenging your hand strength and to start building a grip that will enable you to crush other mens’ hands (when so inclined) as well as to produce the lower arm strength that will be a huge asset in other forms of strength and fitness training, sports, and manual labor, the first thing you should do is to drastically reduce the use of lifting straps and other gripping aids in the gym. Sure, when you reach the upper levels of your pulling strength in movements such as deadlifts and rows, by all means strap in so that you can get your repetition goal, but on the lighter sets, there really is no need to use straps.

Open Hand Training

As far as grip-specific exercises go, the easiest thing you can do is to choose implements that force you to lift with your hand in a more open position. One simple way to do this is to use Fat Gripz or Grip4orce handles when performing your pulling and curling movements. These go right onto the handles of the implements and require more of your hands during the movement because your fingers cannot wrap completely around the bar or dumbbell.

Two Hands Pinch

World record in the Two Hands Pinch, December 2009: 256.04 lbs

Place two plates together smooth-sides-out, such as a pair of 35’s or 45’s. Then, run a pipe through the center hole and add more weight to the pipe. Grip the set-up in an overhand grip and try to lift it to lockout. You can go for maximum weight lifted or just perform repetitions or holds for time. The implement shown above is the adjustable device used in grip strength contests. The Two Hands Pinch is one of the staple events.

Towel Training

Towels can be used for instant thick and dynamic gripping surfaces (make sure it is a strong towel that won’t rip). For instance, you can loop a towel over a bar and perform pull-ups (similar to the rope pull-ups below), attach one to a cable machine for pull-downs and rows, or around a kettlebell (shown above) for an even more dynamic and metabolic method of training the grip.

Plate Curls
Hook your thumb over the edge of a 25-lb plate and support it with your palm and straight fingers. Next, try to perform a curl with the plate, trying to keep your wrist and fingers from buckling under the pressure. This is one of the most basic grip training methods, yet one of the most difficult.

Inverted Dumbbell Lift

Stand a 30- to 40-lb dumbbell up on its head and try to lift it with one hand by the top in a claw grip. Use the number for a grip aid if you need to. Once you get it this way, try it without using the number. All dumbbells are different and vary in level of difficulty based on their shape, finish of paint, and more, but it is a very good training method.

Rope Training
Rope training is awesome for cardio and conditioning, but many do not realize how hard it hits the grip and forearms as well.

Grip Training Guidelines for Beginners

While everyone can benefit from including regular grip training in their workout routines, not everyone is at the same level of strength and some people may be more susceptible to injuries. Because of this, keep these tidbits in mind as you begin and progress.

Start out light: Begin by modifying some of your regular lifting so that it is more grip-intense and then from there add more work. For instance, you can use a towel as the handle on rows for a couple of weeks to get the hands used to working harder, then you can begin adding other implements and techniques into the training as well.

Move up slowly: For those just starting out with grip training, I like to suggest one or two grip-intensive lifts per session once per week for two weeks. After two weeks, move up to two workouts where you include grip-specific lifts. After a month, shoot for workouts where you train the grip with serious intentions up to 3 times a week. This is usually enough for just about everybody.

Watch the volume: When performing grip lifts separate from the rest of your routine, keep an eye on the volume. Think of training volume as the number of sets and reps in a workout. Most people progress very well with grip strength if they stay in the 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 repetitions range when performing lifts like the Two Hands Pinch. That is a total of roughly 9 to 25 total attempts in a workout. It’s not that much.

Train the extensors: To keep progressing, make sure to include training for the muscles on the back of the hand, the extensors. You can do this easily and on the cheap by using the large rubber bands found on heads of broccoli or with #84 rubber bands from Staples. Wrap the rubber band around the fingers and thumb and then open them against the resistance of the band.  This is a surprisingly effective way to work the extensors.  If you can do more than 20 repetitions, then try adding another rubber band in order to increase the resistance or hold the opened position for 2 or 3 seconds before doing the next repetition.
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Jedd Johnson is a strength coach and competitive grip sport athlete. He holds the World Record in the Two Hands Pinch, a staple event in many grip strength contests and loves spreading the world about Grip Sport and the importance of strong hands for athletes. For hundreds of free articles on Grip Training, check out his website at DieselCrew.com, and for a free 8 weeks of Grip Training workouts, sign up here: Grip Program.

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Tags: Exercises

5 ways to build a powerful grip

Having muscular forearms isn’t just beneficial for giving a firm handshake. Building up your grip strength is imperative for lifting more weight in the gym on powerful moves like pull-ups and deadlifts. Hence, building a stronger grip translates to building more muscle all over. Many guys working in the gym, however sabotage their grip strength either by masking their weakness with tools like straps or just avoiding it all together and relying solely on machine-based work that neglects to challenge the forearms. Building a superhuman handshake requires more than just a few wrist curls at the end of a workout. Incorporate the following tips into your routine for sleeve-busting forearms.

1. Stop encouraging weakness.

Using tools like wrist straps and other grip aids in the gym put a band-aid over a weak grip. Rather than challenging your grip to become stronger, using those tools actually encourages your body to rely on help and may actually make your forearms weaker. Put aside your pride for a few weeks and lift slightly less weight that you can actually hold without help. By improving your grip strength, you’ll be able to lift more weight and challenging your entire body with a greater stimulus for growth.

2. Train your grip often.

Your grip is something that you can and should be training every day. Chad Howse, trainer and owner of ChadHowseFitness.com, adds that every time you’re in the gym pulling or lifting anything is an opportunity to train your grip. Incorporate pulling and lifting in every routine. The repetitive stress will cause a quick jump in grip strength and will immediately help to further develop your forearms. Slide core exercises like farmer’s walks that employ your grip in at the end of a workout for both a midsection and forearm finisher.

3. Lift heavy.

Rather than training your grip with tons of light wrist curls for an endless amount of sets, consolidate your workout and train your grip at the same time as the rest of your body. By incorporate heavy deadlifts, pull-ups, and bodyweight rows, you can develop your entire arm, not just your grip. Work on adding weight to rack deadlifts, a variation that emphasizes the top portion of the lift and allows for more weight on the bar hence a larger grip challenge. For pull-ups and bodyweight rows, constantly challenge yourself by switching grips every few reps during a set. By releasing and then grasping the bar, you’ll challenge your forearms to adjust and adapt to a variety of positions. Also, don’t neglect exercises like walking lunges while holding dumbbells as they present a great opportunity for building a strong grip.

4. Use grip builders.

Towels and a variety of other tools like Fat Gripz can be added to your workout for an added stimulus. While adding weight to the bar is usually enough progression on your grip, these tools can help to amplify your results by increasing the strength demand. Try wrapping a towel around a bar or handle on any exercise to increase the thickness of the hand hold. Squeeze the towel while performing the exercise, but just be aware that you will likely need less weight than usual do to the added challenge. Similarly, hanging from two towels while doing pull-ups turns what may otherwise be a simple exercise into torture for a weak grip.

5. Squeeze the bar.

According to Chad, the simplest and most powerful tool is one that we often forget. Actively squeezing the bar with your hands during a set leads to greater grip activation and therefore more gains in grip strength. Avoid letting the bar slide towards your fingers during a set. Instead, keep it locked firmly in the palm of your hand and wrap your thumb around the bar to hold it in place. During a set, focus on squeezing the bar as hard as possible. By engaging your grip more during the exercise, you’ll likely find that your strength numbers will shoot through the roof.


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10 Exercises To Improve Grip Strength Without Equipment

I love grip training. In fact, I put my Fat Gripz on almost every exercise for the extra grip work.

Having a firm handshake and being able to open the jar are daily activities where your grip can be showcased. For martial artists, the grip is one of the most important strength qualities you can have not only for grapplers but also for strikers to protect their wrists.

But if you train at home or your martial arts gym, you may not have specialized grip training equipment available. So here are 10 exercises you can do to improve your grip strength without any equipment.

1-Hand Doorway Hang

If you want to blow up your pinch grip power with no equipment at all, then this should be the one exercise you always perform. Make sure you start more upright than you think as your thumbs may start to cramp when challenged.

For this, you’ll face your open door from the slim end (so not either side of the door but where it closes). Grab the door with your fingers and thumb at approximately waist height. Once you have a firm grasp, start to sit down and back so you are sitting on your heels.

Hold this position between 20-60 seconds before switching hands. As you get stronger, you can start to remove fingers until you are holding yourself with just your thumb and first finger.

1-Hand Doorway Row

Another doorway variation that will challenge your grip even more than the static hold. For this variation, you will grab the door at approximately chest height. Instead of sitting down and back, you will keep your legs straight and lean back.

Once you feel comfortable gripping the door while leaning back, row yourself back to an upright position and then slowly lean back again to the starting position.

Don’t fall suddenly as that is for the next exercise.

1-Hand Doorway Drop Catch

The doorway row will prepare you for this intense doorway grip variation. This time, you will set up the same as our first doorway variation with the hand at around waist height open over the door.

Instead of slowly squatting down and back, you will drop suddenly to this position and catch yourself as you fall.

You could level this up and start with your arm down but if you miss, you are flat on your ass or worse so for safety reasons, start with your hand on the door.

Book Finger Flexion

The fingers don’t get a lot of attention when training the grip. Other than pinch gripping, traditional grip exercises focus on the wrist and forearm or on being able to close a fist with maximum force.

But training the fingers can take your grip strength to another level as it helps thicken your wrists and develop the small muscles in the fingers, hands, and forearms that may not get much specialized training.

For this exercise, all you will need is a book. It’s important to have a few different sizes so you can work your way up to bigger, heavier books.

Place your fingers, palm side up, on the edge of a table with the knuckles just off the edge. Place a book on top of the fingers without your thumb.

Start by performing reps with individual fingers.10-20 reps will be a good place to start. You will notice your smaller fingers will struggle. That is perfectly normal and fine. As long as you are feeling the tension and moving the book slightly, you are making progress.

Once you are comfortable performing reps with individual fingers, add your thumb under the book. Now raise the book with the fingers and thumb one after in a manner you would play the piano.

Book Finger Extension

This variation is the same as the previous but with the palm facing down. You will find you are much weaker during this exercise compared to the previous one.

However, you will feel from the middle finger onwards to the pinky finger, the tension in the thumb as you raise these fingers.

That is fine, and you may need to push the thumb into the table to facilitate the smaller fingers lifting the book.

Again, start with individual finger lifts and progress to the continuous piano style exercise.

Fingertip Push-Ups

The classic martial arts exercise. Showcased in almost every martial arts movie. Except you probably see the hero doing push-ups on one finger with one arm behind their back.

This isn’t to that extreme. The idea here is to spread your fingers as much as possible and to balance on your fingers and thumbs. You should be on the bottom padding of your fingers, not on the ends where your nails end.

Finger Match Stick Break

This is a very interesting grip stunt from the old-time strongman days to train your finger strength. Place a full-length matchstick on top of your index and ring finger with your middle finger on top. Your palm should be facing down.

The matchstick should sit just below the nail bed above the last knuckle. The goal is to break the matchstick by pushing down with the middle finger and up with the index and ring fingers.

This isn’t easy! You can make this exercise easier by moving the matchstick closer to the hands.

Newspaper Twist & Tear

With media consumption now being mostly online, you may not have a daily newspaper. But if you do, you now have a daily piece of grip training equipment.

You may have heard the exercise where you place your palm on the corner of a piece of newspaper and slowly crunch it up with only your fingers into a ball.

We’ve covered a lot of finger training so instead; this variation will really challenge your grip and wrists.

Place a few sheets of newspaper together and fold them up until they are around 9” or more in length. The more you fold them in half, the harder this exercise will be. I would recommend to start with the newspaper at full length and go from there.

I would also start with only 3 sheets of newspaper and move up from there.

Once folded, roll it up into a cylinder. Once rolled, start twisting it by turning your right hand inwards and your left hand outwards with your hands around 3″ apart. You can reverse this motion on the next set of newspaper.

Keep twisting until you tear the paper in half. You can make the exercise easier by bringing your hands closer together and harder by moving them further apart.

Be careful touching your nice furniture after this as you will have ink all over your hands!

Pan Pronation/Supination

If you have tools around the house such as a hammer or spanner, or sporting equipment such as golf clubs or a baseball bat, they also work in this instance. But for those who have absolutely nothing except for kitchenware, a pan does the job!

Hold your elbow at 90° in front while holding your pan straight up and down. Slowly rotate it to the left and right like a window wiper. Start very slowly as you can injure yourself if you let it fall too fast without catching the pan with your other hand.

The closer you move your hand to the pan, the easier the exercise will be.

Rubber Band Finger Extensions

Most grip training revolves around closing a fist or pinching the fingers together. Rarely do we train the ability to open the fingers and hands. It’s important to perform this type of training to balance out the sheer amount of gripping we perform in martial arts and daily life.

This exercise is often used as a way to treat elbow pain such as tennis elbow and other forearm and wrist problems.

Simply place a rubber band or two around the upper end of the fingers and thumbs. Open and close them for 20+ reps. You can do these while sitting at your desk multiple times a day.

I’ve found the best rubber bands are the ones you get with your broccoli. They are thicker and stronger than regular rubber bands.

If you want to spend a little money, IronMind makes specialized bands exactly for this purpose.

Grip Strength Without Equipment Training Program

Want a 4-week grip strength program you can perform at home without equipment?

Main Benefits:

• Downloadable PDF
  PDF available for download straight after purchase so you can start instantly,
• Exercises Used From This Article
  Always have a reference on how to perform the exercises from this article.
• Periodized Over 4-Weeks
  A periodized progression for 4-weeks to constantly challenge and develop a powerful grip.
• Repeat The Program
  You don’t need to be finished after 4-weeks. Repeat the program with harder variations!
• Cheap!
  For only $7, you’re armed with a full grip training program you can perform at home with no equipment needed to purchase.

Develop A Powerful Grip! No Equipment Needed! Only $7!

90,000 5 ways to develop grip strength as fast as possible!

1 February 2019

An overview video of our adjustable expander WORKOUT AG3 has been released on the ATLETIZM channel!

In addition to the most detailed analysis and impressions of using our adjustable wrist expander, Igor Terentyev also shares practical advice for those who want to develop their grip strength in the shortest possible time!

5 ways to quickly develop your grip

Method number 1 – training with weights. This shell, due to the shifted center of gravity and due to thicker handles than dumbbells, allow much better strengthening of the grip, hands, forearms, shoulders, and the whole body as a whole.

Method number 2 – training with a rope. It is not necessary to have a full-fledged long rope at your side, a small “stub” will be enough, which can be thrown over the nearest crossbar and pulled up on it.

Method number 3 – “knitting” nails. Few things are more effective for the muscles of the hands than “knitting” nails.You can start with fairly thin ones, gradually increasing the thickness of the projectile as the strength increases. The main thing here is to observe safety precautions and practice in good protective gloves, so as not to accidentally cut your hands.

Method # 4 – the use of neck extenders. Expanders can be hung on a bar, or on a dumbbell or barbell. The wider the grip you use in training, the more effective the load will be for its development!


Method number 5 – training with wrist expanders. The above methods of grip development are, of course, excellent, but they all require any additional conditions in order to be able to fully train. To train with kettlebells, you need very good preparation, you can’t get close to them with a swoop. A rope actually needs a rope. Etc. In this regard, wrist expanders are the simplest and most affordable inventory, since such an expander can always be put in your pocket and taken with you wherever you go. That is, it becomes possible to train not only at home, but also at work, at school, on a business trip, and so on.In general, see the full review from Igor:



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90,000 exercises for training hand grip strength [Aichi tambourine]

Strong grip is:

1. high compression ratio. A person immediately feels the strong grip that the person to whom they are shaking hands has, because, with a strong grip, it feels like your hand is being squeezed in a vice.

2. the ability to hold a certain load for a long time. For example, a person with a strong grip can calmly hold a kettlebell or dumbbell in a static position on outstretched arms for quite a long time.

3. pinching force. This is about thumb strength and development. If the thumb is sufficiently developed, a person can hold various objects between it and the rest of the fingers for a long period of time.

4. brush strength. If an athlete has a well-developed hand, he can lift objects and hold them in an upright position for a long time, even if, by its modification, the object is such that one part of it significantly outweighs the other. An example would be a chair. A person with a strong grip calmly lifts it and holds it only by the front legs in an upright position.

What to strive for? For example, a person with sufficient grip strength can rip a phone book in half or rip a deck of cards in two.By the way, if you manage to break it not into two, but into four parts, then you can rightfully consider yourself a hero. And, of course, nail bending and horseshoe extension. From time immemorial, strong men have delighted people with such tricks, and you can also surprise your friends and acquaintances by doing something similar. First, crush a potato in your hands.

By the way, maybe someone does not know that there are no muscles in the fingers, the muscles that move the fingers are in the forearms. Their peculiarity is that they perform several functions at once: flexion of the fingers, flexion of the hand, adduction of the hand.Grip development without forearm development is impossible!

Squeeze Grip : The most common grip exercise is to squeeze something in the palm of your hand. In any sports store you can buy a wrist expander – the simplest and most time-tested device for enhancing the “squeezing” grip or the Captains of Crush expander.

Finger Grip (Pinch Force) : Holding an object (such as a glass of water) in your fingers is a finger grip.The finger grip differs from the rest in the degree of thumb involvement. In the “squeezing” grip, he practically does not participate. Slender thumbs weaken the grip and prevent the forearms from developing to full scale. The finger grip is also unique in that it can be trained statically (isometrically). Exercise: The easiest and most effective way to develop a finger grip is to take (with your fingers, of course) two 5-10 kg pancakes, tear them off the floor and hold them for a while. The simplest exercise for developing plucking power is to raise and hold a disc from the bar in the fingers of each hand.It may seem to some that this is a very simple exercise. But, in fact, you just have to try, and you will realize that you are deeply mistaken. Even with strong hands, at first, it is difficult for a person to hold the load in his fingers for a long time. Therefore, it is worth starting with 5kg discs, gradually increasing their weight and holding time. As you can imagine, there are absolutely no limits for such an exercise. You can do it year after year, getting one hundred percent effect. But make sure that you lift the disc from the hole with only one of your fingers.The discs you use for this workout should not have a rim. With discs, you can do a heavy single, or simply time the maximum time you can hold the load in your fingers.

Power grip . A power grip is a type of grip that shows how much weight you can lift or hold. A classic exercise that is even included in the strength competition program is called the farmer’s walk. Take the two heaviest dumbbells and walk with them.The power grip can also be trained at home. It’s very simple: take a bucket, pour half of the sand (pebbles or nails) into it. Then wrap the handle of the bucket with a rag, and clamp the two ends of this rag with pliers. Take the pliers (with one hand, of course) and lift the bucket off the ground. Place the barbell in racks at about knee-high, then grab the middle of the bar with one hand, lift it up and hold it as much as you can.

Wrist Strength . Another function of our wrists is not entirely related to the grip; it is flexion and extension of the wrists.Often you can feel how, when curling for biceps, at the end of the approach, the brush does not hold, it just falls off. This can be observed with the bench press or standing, when lifting the bar, the hand walks straight ahead, not allowing you to concentrate on the exercise. This means that such problems do not need to train flexors, extensors of the hand. Bodybuilders use exercises called flexion or extension of the hand. The most common form of execution is when the forearms are resting on something like a bench or on the thigh.Although it is believed that one of the most effective exercises is winding the rope with a weight on a stick. Front and back wrist curls are excellent exercises, of course. The traditional way of performing them involves obligatory flexion of the elbows – after which the forearms “fit” either on the hips or on the bench. Meanwhile, it is much more effective to do flexion in the wrists with straight arms – in this position, the flexors and extensors of the forearms are activated. For example, you can also use heavy barbells and dumbbells to develop hand strength.Thanks to the thick bar, any exercise is much more difficult to perform. That is, if you work with a regular barbell, then your hands receive much less load, respectively, there is no need to strain the muscles too much. But after six to eight approaches with a thick bar, the athlete will definitely feel an unprecedented load and tension in the muscles.

90,000 Grip strength: ways to develop and train

Thanks to a strong grip, you can protect yourself from various injuries, get beautiful muscles of the forearm and get a powerful handshake.Such training is necessary for people involved in mountaineering, armwrestling, basketball, kiting, bodybuilding and weightlifting.

There is a widespread belief that grip strength depends entirely on the size of the forearms. This statement is only partially true, and a number of specific training methods are used to develop the grip, which will be discussed in detail below.

How does the grip increase?

Biceps practically do not take part in the seizure.Its strength increases as a result of active work on the forearms and hands.

Many professionals claim that they were able to develop a strong grip thanks to the work of pull-ups on a thick horizontal bar and the use of a bar with an increased diameter.

To increase grip strength, you must adhere to:

1. The principle of progressive loads, which implies a gradual increase in working weights with each workout. To increase strength and muscle growth, it is important to increase the number of repetitions and approaches.
2. The principle of periodization allows you to avoid overtraining, which entails a stop in development. Therefore, it is recommended to perform exercises to increase grip strength no more than once every 7-10 days.
3. According to the principle of super compensation, exercising too infrequently affects the increase in grip strength as negatively as exercising too often. In case of loss of super compensation, the power parameters of the hand return to pre-training indicators.

To increase this strength, it is important for the body to maintain a balance of serotonin, dopamine and testosterone.Excessive amounts of cortisol (a female hormone) severely inhibit muscle growth. Overeating significantly reduces the production of growth hormone, so you should be very careful about the task of compiling your own diet.

Grip Strength Training

It is recommended to perform exercises aimed at strengthening the grip at an average pace without haste. Long intervals should not be done. Best results can be achieved by combining plucking, holding and crushing exercises into a single complex. Before starting these exercises, it is necessary to properly stretch the tendons, ligaments and muscles of the forearm. It is best to forget about wrist straps forever, and in the gym you should pay more attention to free weights than block trainers.

Strong compressive power

A striking example of a strong squeezing ability is the handshake, which is called “iron”. The easiest and most affordable way to develop this strength is considered to be wrist expanders and special rings , made of rubber.At first, it is best to take an expander or ring, which allows you to perform no more than 7-10 contractions in one set. It is worth switching to a harder expander after 3-4 weeks of regular training.

The crushing force can also be attributed to splitting firewood with an ax. The constant change in the position of the center of gravity, the presence of acceleration and the moment of impact contact with a strong tree give the muscles of the forearm and hand a significant load.

There is another noteworthy way of developing the compressive ability, which consists in lifting weights with ordinary forceps. It is described in one of his books by John Brookfield, and it looks like this:

1. Sturdy metal bucket can be filled with weighting agent at the discretion of the athlete (wet sand, nails, stones or any other filler).
2. The handle of the bucket is wrapped with a rope or strap. Failure to do so could cause the weight to slip out of the forceps and cause injury.
3. It is necessary to lift the bucket with tongs so that they are in an upright position.

The weight of the weight, the number of approaches and repetitions, each must calculate for himself independently by experience. The main thing is not to overdo it with weight at the initial stage of training, however, training with an apparatus that is too light will also not bring positive results. This exercise is more suitable for athletes who live in their own homes, rather than in apartments. City dwellers can be advised this alternative: taking an ordinary broom by the very tip of its handle, you need to lift it off the floor with one hand.When the exercise seems too easy, add a brick-shaped weighting compound to the opposite end of the tool.

Holding force

Holding force has the closest connection with powerful compressive ability, therefore, they must be developed synchronously. To train holding force, it is recommended to use thick dumbbell handles and a bar, which will complicate the work, but will allow you to work out the forearms much more effectively and strengthen the hands. One of the most effective retention strength exercises is the Farmer’s Walk.It is performed in a very simple way: picking up heavy dumbbells, you just need to walk with them. It is necessary to walk until a slight burning sensation appears in the forearms.

It is preferable to do the exercise with an interval of 5-6 days.

Another interesting idea is hanging on the horizontal bar, during which the weight is held with four fingers (the thumb does not take part in this exercise). Some athletes wrap a barbell or dumbbell bar with a towel to develop holding power.This tactic has some effectiveness, but it is traumatic. Today on sale there are special attachments for the neck, designed to expand its diameter.

Pinching force

Even in the case of pumping a powerful squeezing ability and holding force, it is necessary to develop the fingers, especially the big one, which is practically not used during the performance of standard exercises. You can load it well by holding the smooth discs from the bar.It is best to start with pancakes weighing 5-10 kg. To improve the performance of pinch strength, you should also pay attention to the following effective exercises:

1. Put all your fingers into a piece of thick elastic, then try to straighten them completely. Having reached the point of maximum tension, it is necessary to hold in it for as long as possible, not allowing the fingers to close.

   I advise you to do this exercise every day. The result will not keep you waiting long.

2. A rigid expander with metal or wooden handles must be fully squeezed and held for 20-30 seconds in this position due to the efforts of the fingers.It is performed in 3-4 sets with a single repetition.
3. Yawara, kubotan or regular wooden stick are great for daily warm-up. For example: resting one end of the projectile on the thumb, you need to alternately and with maximum effort press the pads of your other fingers on the opposite end, holding the static voltage for 8-10 seconds. Instead of a stick, you can use a ball made of dense rubber.

Brush force

The strength of the hand is the basis for such sports tricks as ripping a book or a deck of cards in two, as well as unbending nails, pry bars and horseshoes.Flexing the wrists is an effective exercise for developing this strength, only the disc is used as a weight, not dumbbells or a bar. There is an option for performing this exercise with a similar grip, only in a standing position. Throughout the approach, the hands should remain motionless.

To increase the strength of the hands, exercises with holding the rope and winding the rope with weights on the handle are well suited.

Rotation training

The bulk of Powerballs on the market are made of plastic, but there are metal models designed for advanced athletes.

The

Powerball is a gyroscopic hand trainer. That is, the harder you spin it, the greater the load will fall on the hand and forearm muscles. There are “balls” with backlight, spin counter, speedometer showing the current speed and other useful functions. This projectile helps to strengthen the fingers, hands and forearms. Another very effective method of this kind of training is the rotation of the dumbbell. To perform the exercise, a heavy dumbbell is taken in each hand, after which, from a standing position, rotational movements of the wrists are made back and forth counterclockwise and in the opposite direction.

Benefit from a strong grip

A strong grip is an indicator of good health, it is not for nothing that during the medical examination in hospitals a dynamometer is still used, which must be pressed with the help of hand strength. It is because of the lack of a strong grip that many bodybuilders with developed muscles are weaker than lightweight powerlifters.

The hands have a close connection with the brain, and their development has a beneficial effect on the functioning of neural networks.Its importance in sports and disciplines such as boxing, hockey, tennis, powerlifting, martial arts, workout and crossfit should not be underestimated.

A strong grip is important not only for full-fledged work in the gym, but also for solving various everyday tasks.

Conclusion

It is necessary to work carefully on strengthening the grip, making training aimed at its development as hard and persistent as possible. However, there is a nuance here that should not be forgotten, so as not to damage your own body.If, after performing several approaches on the forearms, they get tired and “hammered”, then in the load on the hands and fingers it is important not to overdo it, and increase it as smoothly as possible, gradually increasing the weight at each workout. In order to develop a powerful grip, it is also recommended to hang on a thick horizontal bar or perform pull-ups on three fingers.

Be sure to read about it

How to develop dumbbell grip strength. 3 exercises | fitnechannel

Steel arms

Steel arms

Not all athletes who train with iron pay attention to the development of grip strength.However, this quality is important for iron lovers. The stronger your hands, the more about You will be able to lift more weights in many exercises, and this will indirectly contribute to muscle growth and increase in strength.

Most grip strength exercises are fairly simple and do not require complex sports equipment. Giving them 15-20 minutes 1-2 times a week, you can significantly strengthen your hands. In this review, we will introduce you to three dumbbell exercises that will help you strengthen your grip.

1. Holding the dumbbell with the fingers on the ball

Holding the dumbbell

Holding the dumbbell

This exercise develops the strength of the fingers. The weight of the dumbbell should be such that you can hold it for at least 10 and no more than 20 seconds in the first set. You need to hold the dumbbell until the fingers release it themselves. In total, you need to do 3-4 approaches, resting between them for 1-2 minutes. Can be performed both standing and sitting.

2. Bend the hands inward

Bend the dumbbells inward

Bend the dumbbells inward

Hold the dumbbells in your hands, palms facing the hips.Then, gradually loosening the grip, “roll” the dumbbell closer to your fingertips. After that, return the dumbbell to its original position by squeezing the hand, and then bend it inward. Do 15-20 reps for 3-4 sets.

3. Dumbbell jerk

Dumbbell jerk by hand

Dumbbell jerk by hand

This exercise not only engages almost all the muscles in the body, but also strengthens the grip. It is necessary to do at least 20 repetitions, first with one, then with the other hand, 3-4 sets each. The weight of the dumbbell should not be too heavy.

This set of exercises in order to strengthen the grip is enough for the average iron lover. In order not to be injured while performing them, do not forget to warm up well. To have a result, do not forget to regularly increase the load.

READ ALSO:

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Exercises that can explode your biceps

How to quickly reduce your waist

Never use 90,000 Personal site – Grip strength

STEEL GRIP.

I offer you exercises to strengthen your grip. I will not list a bunch of exercises known to everyone.

These exercises helped me to strengthen my grip, I hope they will help you too. Having weak hands by nature, with a weight of about 100 kg, I could hardly hang on the horizontal bar, I only had enough strength for pull-ups and immediately dismount. After 2-3 months of training, he could hang for more than 1 minute.

We need 2e 2 liter bottles filled with water. Previously came across 2.5 liters. Needless to say, they can be found anywhere, pour water and you’re done.

Do not be confused by the weight, because our target is the hands and not the deltoids. You will not be able to maintain a weight of 10-20 kg with such a grip (unless, of course, you are gifted by nature).

So let’s start.

1. Take the bottles by the bottom with the neck down, raise your arms in front of you for 30-50 repetitions in 1 approach. (With a correct grip, the palm is spread out).

2. The same grip, only spreading to the sides, 30-50 reps. in 1 set.

3. Lifting to the biceps with a bottom grip (the same as with dumbbells only a grip for the middle of the bottle, and remember this exercise is not for biceps but for grip), also 30-50 repetitions in 1 approach.

4. Also with a top grip.

5. Holding bottles for a while by the neck.

If it becomes easy for you to switch to a superset without rest, EXACTLY THIS PROGRAM FOR 1-2 WEEKS, FURTHER A SUPERSET OF 5 EXERCISES WITHOUT REST.

Stachala hands will hurt a lot, but the result will not be long in coming. If it is too easy for you to pour sand into the buckets, the weight will increase significantly.

And do not forget to do 2-3 days of rest.

A very important note, the bottles in exercises 1 and 2 are an extension of the arms and do not hang with their neck to the ground.That is the secret of developing the Grip Strength.

Who helped write.

Who has not dreamed of a good slim figure of an athlete? But can everyone boast of broad shoulders and broad breasts?

THEN THIS PROGRAM IS FOR YOU

JOE WIDER’s program includes squats with a barbell on the shoulders and pullovers with straight arms.These exercises are combined into a super series and are used 3 times a week.

When doing squats, after each of the first 10 repetitions, take three deep, vigorous inhalation and exhalation. In the course of another 10 repetitions of four inhalations and exhalations. For the last five reps, there should be 5 inhalations and exhalations. The weight of the bar should not exceed body weight (other authors have 50 percent of the maximum in the squat).

Next, pullovers are performed lying on a horizontal bench. The weight of the bar is about 15-20 kg.Take a deep breath and lower the bar in a wide arc behind your head as low as possible. Holding your breath, return the bar to its original position and exhale. Repeat the movement 25 times.

For beginners, I recommend doing 2 super series, intermediate athletes 3, experienced 4-5.

Those who are under 18 years old can most of all expect a return, the next milestone is 25, who over 25 need to be patient because the skeleton is formed and you have to sweat.

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What is a grip and how to train grip strength?

To begin with, let’s define what a grip is:

• static
• dynamic
• finger (a kind of statistical)

Static grip

When a person pulls weight (for example, deadlift, block deadlift), or just hanging from the bar, he uses his hands as hooks.At the same time, only 4 fingers were put into operation, performing power functions, and the thumb – insuring in case not to slip out. With this grip, the muscles of the forearm are trained statically. Therefore, this grip is called static.

Dynamic grip

Dynamic grip includes such actions as handshakes, squeezing out the washed laundry, while the thumb not only insures against slipping, but also takes on additional effort.

Finger grip

Finger grip is possible when a person tries to hold a glass or other large diameter object.Most often, such a grip is static, with this grip, the entire load is distributed to the thumb, since the remaining four fingers do not allow the object to be pressed against the palm.

Grip Strength Exercises

Static Grip Exercises

Meet a very effective exercise – the farmer’s walk: pick up a heavy kettlebell and walk five meters. If you don’t want to walk, wait a minute, but this does not affect the psyche in the best way.Take an expander as an alternative to kettlebells.

Exercises for training dynamic grip

Here the best solution to this problem would be to use an excellent expander. We will answer the question of where to buy a wrist expander without false modesty – there is nothing better than our online store in terms of the quality of the spring, delivery time, and, finally, price. It is noteworthy that the Force Of Hands trainer has a wide assortment that allows you to choose a wrist expander not only for an experienced athlete, but even for an older schoolchild.

Exercises to train the finger grip

The most popular solution to this problem is to hold the pancake off the bar for about 30-60 seconds. As soon as you understand that you are holding the pancake longer than the specified time, then you should switch to pancakes “fatter”. Of course, there are other methods of improving the strength of the finger grip, however, holding a pancake is in no way inferior, moreover, it does not require additional equipment.

Strength training and obstacle racing exercises

The key to successful obstacle racing is strength training.Together with an experienced OCR runner and obstacle course coach Vyacheslav Toldo, a regular participant and winner of the Race of Heroes, Arena of Heroes, Spartan Race, Bison Race and other OCR races, we talked about the main principles of strength training, about exercises that will develop the necessary skills, and separately – about grip training.

The Role of Strength Training in Preparing for the OCR

Strength training helps to develop strength endurance, explosive strength, accustom the body and muscles to certain mechanics of movements that are needed on obstacles, develop coordination, mobility, strengthen ligaments, joints and muscles.

This is not bodybuilding or powerlifting. There is no task here to lift the maximum weight at a time or build muscle mass. Obstacle strength training is not an isolation exercise to target small muscle groups.

Running training, agility and endurance play a huge role in obstacle racing. But strength training is the road to performance races.

– Often the race consists of 10 km and 20-30 not very difficult obstacles, which are aimed rather not at strength, but at agility and technique.In general, obstacle racing is 75% of running and only 25% of strength. You can just run the race without preparation, but if we are talking about the result – albeit our own – then we should include strength training, – says Vyacheslav Toldo.

Obstacle Strength Training includes high reps with light resistance, bodyweight training and functional training. It is useful to carry out circuit training for the whole body in order to learn to engage all muscles in the work – after all, there will be no obstacles only “for the legs” or “for the back” during the race.

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), from plyometric exercises or crossfit exercises will also benefit – they help train the body to work at its maximum capacity.

Basic Principles of Strength Training

Along with the question of specific exercises, the question arises of how to choose the weight and how often you need to do strength.

– If we talk about weight, then opinions may differ.It is necessary to build on what goal you have set. If we are talking about the result, then the role of the security forces increases. It is advisable to use the weight in the training process with which it is possible to work efficiently on a large number of repetitions and in several approaches, – explains Vyacheslav Toldo .

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Training frequency depends on the runner’s fitness level and goals.

For beginners, it is enough to do strength training 2-3 times a week for 4-5 training days. The rest of the training days of the week are running. Free days – rest.

Professionals are recommended to train 5-6 times a week. Strength training can be 4 times a week, with special attention paid to obstacle passing technique, grip training, and running training is often combined with strength training.

Thus, the basic principles of strength training are as follows:

• Choose a weight that will make it possible to do 12 to 20 reps in 3-4 sets.The number of repetitions should be large, and the weights, on the contrary, are small.
• Add variety. Combine volumetric strength, circuit and high-intensity workouts in the program.
• Alternate workouts by difficulty. For example, Monday is a hard volumetric strength workout, Tuesday is a bodyweight workout for mobility and running, Wednesday is a high-intensity workout, and Thursday is rest.
• Introduce plyometric and functional exercises into training.
• Don’t forget about rest. One or two days a week can be completely freed from training, or replaced with a strength recovery run.

In strength training for obstacle races, you can do without complex equipment and simulators:

• use free weights – weights, dumbbells, barbells, pancakes;
• train with resistance bands and fitness rubber bands;
• to use shells – horizontal bars, handles, rings, bars.

Basic strength exercises

Strength training should be based on basic exercises that include large and small muscle groups.

These exercises include:

• squats
• lunges
• deadlift (or roman deadlift)
• bench press (on a horizontal or incline bench)
• push-ups
• pull-ups

These exercises should be voluminous and low intensity. They need to be performed slowly, fix the position of the weight and follow the technique.

The listed exercises can and should be performed as introductory trainings at the beginning of preparation.They can also be included in each workout, varying volumes and weights, or they can be allocated to separate sessions 2 times a week.

Strong core is the foundation of an OCR

runner. Speaking of basic strength training, it is worth mentioning abdominal training. The muscles of the cortex perform the function of a stabilizer, protect internal organs from shock, and regulate breathing. Basic Exercises:

• different types of twists
• static and dynamic bars
• Hanging leg raises.

Functional Strength Exercises

To the basic exercises it is necessary to add special work – functional strength exercises, which are often found in the training of obstacle course runners. Most typical exercises:

• Kettlebell Exercises
• burpee
• dragging weights.

Such exercises also perfectly develop muscles, their strength and endurance, build the basis of preparation for races. But they are more intense and help develop individual skills: explosive strength, general endurance, grip strength.

Exercises with kettlebells

• Exercises: Swings and Dips
• Weights: kettlebells.
• How to do it: Swings are made from a vertical position

Develop the strength of the hips as the main muscles; additionally – arms, back and stabilizing muscles. They help to develop strength endurance and learn how to work with “uncomfortable weights”. Along the way, they develop grip strength.

Heavy lifting

• Exercise: Farmer’s Walk.
• Weights: kettlebells in each hand, dumbbells in each hand, pancakes.If you train in a gym specializing in race preparation, then you can find sandbags in it.
• How to do it: Walk with weights in the gym for a distance or for a time that allows you to master the space.

Helps to prepare for obstacles where you need to carry a heavy object at a certain distance – a cannonball, a bag of sand, a tire, a “rocker” with a weighted weight, a bucket of water, and the like. Helps develop strength endurance and grip strength.

When using pancakes, you can also practice the pinch grip.

Burpee

Burpee does not need a separate introduction – it is both appreciated and hated for the difficulty of execution, since it requires the inclusion of a large number of muscles in the work, and for its high intensity.

Develops groups of large and small muscles, while involving the whole body in work. Develops explosive strength, endurance, power.

In addition, doing burpees is useful to prepare for the track – in many races, a failed obstacle is given as a penalty from 10 to 30 burpees.

Plyometric exercises

This is a very important type of strength training that helps to develop explosive power and the body’s ability to deliver maximum speed and effort in a short amount of time. These are the skills you need on obstacles, where you need to quickly accelerate, jump – and they will come in handy during the finish dash.

Classic plyometric exercises for which variations can be made:

• Squat Jumping
• Long Jump
• jumping on the platform
• push-ups with cotton.

Plyometric exercises can be performed in high repetitions or for a period of time until the muscles are burning. Weights are not used in plyometrics.

Helpful: 8 Typical Obstacles in OCR Races

Grip Strength Exercises

Grip training is the alpha and omega of the obstacle racing athlete, and you need to constantly do the most varied exercises in this direction.

The task is to train three types of grip strength:

• Compression force – or firm handshake
• Force of pinching – or force of fingers
• Holding power – or powerful forearms.

There are two hand positions for each of these grips:

• closed when squeezing something narrow or thin, such as holding a pancake with your fingertips;
• open when grasping something wide – like a large neck or a log.

There are three ways to train grip strength:

1. With its own weight without weights and special equipment.
2. Using weights and additional equipment that can be very simple (such as a towel).
3. With the help of resistance bands and other special equipment.

Exercises for grip strength on the horizontal bar with its own weight

Grab the bar shoulder-width apart. Start with a dead hang – that is, feet on the floor. Without pushing or jumping, pull yourself up until the chin is level with the bar, and hold in this position for 3-5 seconds. Lower slowly and repeat.

Complicated version of training: grab the crossbar shoulder-width apart, pull yourself up from a dead hang and, lingering at the top, intercept the crossbar with a direct and reverse grip.Try to hang like this for 10-15 seconds. Lower slowly and repeat after full recovery.

Complication for an already trained grip – pulling up and hanging on a towel.

In the same way, you can train the grip by hanging on the horizontal bar on one hand for 3-5 seconds on each. This exercise can also be performed between sets of any other exercise as active recovery.

Practice pulling up with different grips: with a narrow set of arms; with arms wider than shoulders; on one hand, holding the wrist with the other.

Exercises for grip strength with additional weights

You can train the grip along the way with many conventional strength exercises:

• Farmer’s Walk. You can use kettlebells or dumbbells to train squeeze and hold strength, and use pancakes to train plucking. Hold them with your fingers throughout the exercise.
• Bent over row. Instead of barbells or dumbbells, pull the pancakes by pinching them with your fingertips.
• Stepping onto the platform. Again, do the pancake exercise and hold it with your fingers.
• “Pump” with pancakes. Pull the pancake up to your chin, holding it with your fingertips.
• Lunges. Instead of dumbbells in your hands or barbells behind your back – pancakes in each hand, you need to hold them with your fingertips.

Use the ropes, TRX loops and a towel to train your holding power – you can do your usual exercises with the latter. Pull-ups can be performed on TRX ropes and loops. You can make a loop out of a towel, wrap it around the handle of the kettlebell and perform a bent-over row.Use the towel on the bar in the same way when pulling up.

All types of grip must be regularly trained in the ways listed above

Exercises for grip strength with resistance bands

For training grip strength in your free time, it is convenient to use resistance bands – the choice of them is now huge.

• To train the strength of compression – that is, the palms – an expander in the form of a ring or two iron handles is suitable.
• To train the strength of holding – the forearms – you can buy a special handle for lifting weights.
• To train the plucked grip – finger strength – they came up with small resistance bands that cover only 1-2 fingers at a time, and even a “telegraph apparatus” – a mini-trainer for squeezing between the thumb and the other four.

Conclusion

Strength training is a must when preparing for the obstacle course. They will help develop strength endurance, strengthen muscles and ligaments, increase trauma resistance and develop certain skills.

The basis of training should be standard strength exercises with low intensity, small weights and a large number of repetitions. It is necessary to include in training additional developmental exercises that will help develop the skills necessary for the race.

Regular plyometric training is a high-intensity exercise to train explosive strength and strength endurance.

Special attention should be paid to grip strength training.These include pull-ups and various deadlifts, weight-retention exercises.