Do you frequently plateau on exercises like dead lifts and rows? Can’t get the “hang” of pull-ups? Do your hands get tired on those cozy nights in alone? Go on, be honest.
It’s really not surprising. One of the most neglected and unappreciated areas of development these days is grip training. Well what’s the point, right? Your forearms get worked during all the regular movements, don’t they! Don’t they?
Yes, to a point. Sure, compound movements like dead lifts will work your forearms to an extent, but there’s a limit to where indirect training can take you in this area. You’d be surprised how much you are limiting all your main lifts, simply because of your wimpy gripping abilities.
Remember that you are only as strong as your weakest link, so even if the rest of you can move 500lbs, if you can only hold onto 200lbs before your hands give out, you sure as hell ain't moving any more than that without a mechanical aid like lifting straps.
Grip strength is unlike training for overall size where compound movements are the king, and its unlike normal strength training in that you don’t have to use complicated periodization to work up to eventual PRs. What it does require is perseverance, and attention to detail.
Practically, all it takes is some extra time and effort in the gym, a little patience, and application of the general training rules that apply to everything else:
1 – Progressive Overload.
2 – Adequate Rest.
3 – Good Form.
That’s it.
Doesn’t sound too complicated, right? Well it isn’t, but there’s a big difference between “simple” and “easy”. Trust me. Grip training may be simple to understand, but it’ll take just as much concentration and dedication as every other part of your program. You get out what you put in.
Now it’s time to look at those details a little more closely.
Application
There are really two ways you can go about this. Either put in a whole day dedicated to grip training, or spread it out through the week. Either way is good, the only way you’ll be able to figure out what works the best for your program set up is to experiment.
There are many different aspects to a complete grip training regime, and each is equally important as the others (weakest link thing, remember?). Here’s a quick run down:
Crushing Grip – How strong is your force application?
Static Grip – How long can you sustain this force?
Pinch Grip – How strong is your thumb on its own?
Wrist Strength – Can you stabilize your hand through all of this?
Finger Strength – Without them, holding things is tricky, right?
To incorporate all these elements, I’ve included some basic exercises for you to try, as well as a brief description of each training type. There are other areas such as extensor training which are also very important, but for the sake of keeping this article free of a hundred different tangents, I haven’t included them here.
If you opt for putting in a day solely for this type of training, id suggest leaving a few minutes rest between each type of grip training as you move through the session. Since you are focusing on one aspect of your body, it can get fatigued easily if sub-optimal recovery is used.
Crushing Grip Movement
3:00 RI
Static Grip Movement
3:00 RI
Pinch Grip Movement
3:00 RI
Wrist Strength Movement
3:00 RI
Finger Strength Movement
If you decide to incorporate it into your regular training, place a grip movement from one or two of the five areas after each session so that you cover all of them by the end of the week. Because you are using a lower density than the first option (the same amount of work over more time, you will not be fatiguing your grip as much as a whole grip session would) it is possible to perform each movement twice a week if you so desire.
Session 1 – Crushing Grip Movement + Finger Strength Movement
Session 2 – Static Grip Movement + Pinch Grip Movement
Session 3 – Crushing Grip Movement + Wrist Strength Movement
Session 4 – Static Grip Movement + Pinch Grip Movement
Or
Session 1 – Crushing Grip Movement + Static Grip Movement
Session 2 – Pinch Grip Movement + Wrist Strength Movement + Finger Strength Movement
Session 3 – Crushing Grip Movement + Static Grip Movement
Or
Session 1 – Static Grip Movement
Session 2 – Crushing Grip Movement
Session 3 – Pinch Grip Movement + Wrist Strength Movement + Finger Strength Movement
Experiment with different combinations, perhaps even just setting aside certain sessions for “Grip Work” and choose the movements on the fly. There are many, many different ways to put this together, and just as many variations of movements available.
The important thing is to make sure you cover every area for a comprehensive grip training experience.
Crushing Grip
For Crushing Grip, no doubt in my mind the best way to tackle it is to use grippers. It’s logical - to train your crushing grip you have to crush the gripper closed. Sounds easy, but it really isn’t. The gold standard of crushing grip training is the Captain’s of Crush by Iron Mind. Accept nothing less.
Make sure you warm-up first or you could hurt yourself. Start with two grippers that you can close all the way easily for over 10 reps if possible. If this isn’t possible, use your work gripper but don’t even attempt to close it all the way, just put enough effort in to feel something then back off.
When you move onto your work sets, aim for intensity rather than lots of volume. Remember, we’re building strength here, so using low reps is the key.
Aim for 4 sets of 4 at maximum effort possible. Even if you cant close this gripper, that’s fine, as long as you give it your all. Use maximum rest to recover.
E.g.
Warm-up Gripper 1 1x10 (1:00 RI)
Warm-up Gripper 2 1x10 (1:00 RI)
Work Gripper 4x4 Max Effort (2:00 RI)
Static Grip
Static grip is a very common grip training movement that has immediately obvious crossover into dead lifts and heavy rowing, and pretty much every movement where you have to hold things. If you can’t think of any you really need to pay more attention.
Basically, take a bar or two dumbbells, load it up with some weight, and just hold it with your arms hanging down as if you were going to shrug. But don’t shrug, just hold the weight there.
Sounds pretty easy, but after a few short sets your forearms will be burning like holy hell and you’ll feel the strength seeping out of your fingers quicker than you can compensate.
Aim for 3-4 holds of 30-60 seconds with a 60-120 second rest interval between each hold.
E.g.
Static Holds 4x30sec (1:00 RI)
Pinch Grip
I’ve never seen anybody in my current gym perform pinch grip holds ever. It’s really a shame, because it’s a challenging and enjoyable movement that I think has a lot of practical crossover into real-world functional activities.
Outside the gym the opportunity to carry objects with dumbbell handles comes around very rarely, and because of this shocking lack of weight-training equipment in the real world I think it’s a great idea and sound training practice to include a variety of “shapes” in your grip training.
Pinch grips work very much the same as static holds except instead of holding nice comfortable metal bars you hold free-weight plates up by their edges. Simply hold a plate around its outside edge for as long as you can.
As you’ll notice, instead of invoking a lot of hand and forearm strength, a lot of the force is produced by the fingertips and primarily the thumb on the faces of the plate. If you get really good you’ll be able to do two or more plates in each hand at once.
Aim for 3-4 pinch-holds of about 20-60 seconds with a 60-120 second rest interval between each hold.
E.g.
Pinch Grip 4x20sec (1:00 RI)
Wrist Strength
The strength of your wrists will determine how well you can stabilize your hand when it’s holding a heavy weight. It’s great if you have a strong grip, but if your wrists are about as supportive as crepe paper then that’s not going to end well for you.
It’s easy to strengthen your wrist area, and this is about the only forearm/grip training movement that I ever see anybody doing.
Pick up a bar or dumbbells and sit down on the edge of a bench, rest your forearms on your knees so that your wrist overhangs the knee joint by about six inches. Depending on the movement you’ll either have your palms facing up (underhand) or facing down (overhand).
Whichever the grip, and you should train both, at this stage curl the weight up in a slow controlled manner through the full range of motion, pause, and lower the weight back to the starting position also in a slow and controlled manner.
Aim for 2-3 sets of 10-20 reps for both variations of wrist curl.
E.g.
Underarm Wrist Curls 2x12 (1:30 RI)
Overarm Wrist Curls 2x12 (1:30 RI)
Finger Strength
So finally we come to the last type of grip training, which isn’t to say this is the least important, oh no! How many times have you been working a great set of some compound movement and you’ve felt the bar starting to slip out of your palm, only to be held by your fingertips for the remaining reps?
Your fingers are essential for gripping ANYTHING. Without them, you literally don’t have the mechanics to hold onto things, and not only that but the fingers are the last port of call for a falling bar before it has its fun by crushing your foot.
If those people in action films did finger strength training, maybe hanging onto those ledges wouldn’t be so taxing and they'd actually be able to pull themselves to safety rather than waiting for some spandexed up superhero or secret agent to rescue them, or for a dastardly villain to come and send them hurtling into that vat of acid and robotic sharks.
Sounds a little out there I know, but from climbing ledges to holding cups of coffee, to playing a musical instrument, everybody can benefit in some way from stronger fingers.
To perform monkey hangs you’ll ideally need some sort of pull-up or chin-up bar, but I’ve done them off door frames, attic hatches, the frame of a smith machine while some guy was benching (I asked first, honest), and even an appropriately sized tree branch could work.
Using your fingers as hooks, simply hang yourself off your equipment of choice using just your fingers. Remember to lock your shoulders when performing this exercise rather than just relaxing and hanging there. You don’t want to dislocate anything.
Aim for 3-4 hangs of 10-60 seconds with 60-90 seconds rest in between each hang.
E.g.
Four Finger Monkey Hangs 1x40sec (1:00 RI)
Three Finger Monkey Hangs 1x30sec (1:00 RI)
Two Finger Monkey Hangs 1x20sec (1:00 RI)
Progression
As with any area of training you want to improve, progressive overload is the way to do it. How are you going to lift more weight if you don’t try to lift more weight? Failure to progress your training variables is like a racing driver trying to win in first gear - the only way to be faster than the competition is to GO FASTER!
The same rules apply to grip training as they would to progression in other lifts: when the current level of performance is getting too easy, change something to make it harder. It’s really that simple but it’s surprising how often people don’t realize it.
There are really no hard and fast rules on exactly HOW you progress, just as long as you DO progress. This could be in the form of increasing the resistance, increasing the number of reps at a certain resistance level, adding an extra set, decreasing the length of the rest intervals, adding a more advanced method like progressive resistance (e.g. adding chains to your wrist curl bars so you lift more weight off the floor through the rep’s range of motion), or just changing the equipment in some way to add a new twist to an old exercise (e.g. thicker bars, holding your gripper upside-down).
Be creative, use combinations of the above things, use one method for each exercise then swap them the next time. Come up with something that keeps your grip training fun and interesting. When you feel its time to ‘up-the-ante’ so to speak, write down every possible way to progress and pick something out of a hat if you want!
It honestly doesn’t matter, but remember that the only way to get better is to be better. Set your goals, and strive to achieve them.
Conclusion
Well hopefully this introduction to the world of grip has been at least a little insightful. The point I really can’t stress enough is that no matter what your training level, age, goals, or occupation, a stronger grip means a stronger person overall.
Whether you’re training for that PR you’ve always aspired to, or you want to pack on a few pounds for your next competition, or you just want to try something new, grip training is for you. If you can’t hang onto your PR weight how are you going to dead lift it? If you can’t go the duration of your repeated effort sets without dropping your dumbbells, how are you going to induce hypertrophy? If you’re bored with your training, grip training could be a new and refreshing challenge.
Even outside the realm of weight training, everybody uses their hands for SOMETHING. Moving furniture, playing a musical instrument, construction work, rock climbing, holding heavy shopping bags or suitcases, waiting tables or carrying heavy trays of food, martial arts and boxing…the list goes on and on but the bottom line is always the strength of your grip.
For an extra hour or so a week using these guidelines there is no reason for anybody to ever drop anything again, so throw out those lifting straps and get to grips with some serious training.
Have fun, and most importantly – train safely.
Good luck!
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