Revised Grip Strength Guide - Topic

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Mar 25 2008 05:05pm

Grip strength and you, why a strong grip means a better overall physique.

What's up everyone?
I decided to write a little guide about grip strength because very often it's overlooked in a training program and it is essential to heavier lifts and the best possible form.
I've recently gotten really hardcore into grip strength as I've decided I want to get back into tennis and lacrosse.
I soon learned that there are many more benefits than just holding a handle more tightly.

Why is grip strength important?

For weightlifters grip strength is especially important. Imagine you're doing pull-ups, rows, lat pulldowns or shrugs. Those are all exercises that require a lot of arm strength to perform. When you're doing sets of your higher weights, often it isn't your back or traps that fatigue first, but your forearms that start to burn. You begin to lose form and simply cannot complete a set to your full potential.
If you take the time to train your grip strength regularly, this no longer becomes an issue. Your forearms are ready for business and that means you can concentrate on your form of each exercise rather than the burning in your forearms and fingers.

What are the kinds of grip strength?

There are 6 major aspects of grip strength. Some are more important than others, but if you overtrain some and neglect others, you're setting yourself up for either failure or half-ass results.

1. The most familiar kind of grip strength is crushing grip.
It is the movement that you would use if you had an apple in your hand and wanted to make it explode. Or just clenching a really tight fist.
The most common way to train crushing grip strength is using hand grippers, or doing exercises like reverse curls.

2. Likely the most widely used kind of grip strength is supportive grip.
Supportive grip is basically the amount of stamina your crushing grip has. It's what you use when you hold something for a long period of time, such a a dumbbell while doing shrugs, or just carrying a suitcase around.
Aside from just lifting, the best way to train this kind of strength is with a fatbar. To isolate your supportive grip while lifting, do things like reverse curls or deadlifts without straps.

3. The next kind is pinch grip.
Pinch grip is just what it sounds like, it essentially means how hard you can press your thumb against your fingers.
There are smaller grippers made specifically for pinch strength, so that you can use your thumb against 2 fingers.
The most common way to train pinch grip though is picking things up using your thumb and fingers, such as a weight plate or brick.
The company IronMind makes products that attaches to a loading pin that you can add more weight to and you simply just hold it for as long as you can. Link here if interested: http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/products.asp?dept=40

4. Fourth comes open finger strength.
Having good open finger strength would allow you to scratch someone's face off with just your fingertips.
Stuff like hanging from ledges trains open finger strength. Rock climbing is also one of the best ways to train this.
Again IronMind (they are obsessed with grip strength like me) makes great open hand grip strength trainers, such as loops that attach to a pull up bar or cable machine. You can do essentially any exercise with them, just instead of gripping something your palms would be open.
Link to that: http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/products.asp?dept=43

5. The last real 'grip' strength is extensor strength.
Extensor is the movement that counters all the others. You train your extensor for the same reason you'd want to train your biceps and triceps or hamstrings and quads together. It just balances everything out and is essential to not damaging your fingers.
The movement is the spreading of your straight fingers. The best way to train this is to get a thick kind of rubber band, put it around your finger tips, and just spread your fingers.
This is the aspect of grip strength that most people neglect and end up with curved hands because of it.

6. The honorable mention goes to wrist strength.
Though it isn't techically part of your grip, it goes hand in hand with everything grip entails.
There are many ways to work your wrists, be it a weight attached to a string attached to a stick that you rotate to roll up the string, or just holding a barbell and curl your wrist up (if palms are face down) or down (if your palms are face up).
You can also take a the rope attachment to a cable machine and in a hammer curl position just flex your wrists up and down, think arm wrestling wrist movements (do this with low weight as the sides of your wrists are more vulnerable to injury).
Also if you can get your hands on a oversized bar to grip, that'll help both your wrist strength as well as supportive grip strength.

Are there any good exercises/products I haven't mentioned?

IronMind makes grippers called "Captains of Crush" grippers (for crushing strength), that are basically the gold standard in the gripping industry. They come in weights from 60 pounds to 365 pounds. If you do decide to get some, start light as if you start too heavy you are putting yourself at risk for injury.

I'm also a big fan of the Powerball.
http://www.nsdpowerballs.com/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/6a4b/
Powerballs help train all the grips mentioned besides extensor. If done at high speeds they can be quite a good forearm workout, and at lower speeds they are perfect for rehabilitation.
I hyperextended my elbow and my Powerball helped me get over it in record time.

Here is a directory of both stretches and exercises that you can do to help your forearms.
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ForeArmWt.html
Keep in mind stretching is essential to your tissue health and getting maximum performance out of your body.

I hope you guys find grip strength as helpful to your workouts as I do. Happy training everybody.