Creating a demon grip. page

[SpearCarrier]

Firstly, thanks to the people who replied to my recent posts - things are clear now and I can concentrate on the bigger picture.

I will be logging my grip training here - please move this thread to the appropriate section if I have misplaced this.

Every aspect of grip will be covered, I will be grateful for ANY input here and if you want to share techniques then that is great. My workout is VERY sporadic which I think makes it more effective. I have some cheap and very effective exercises that I have not seen done before (although I am not saying I am the first to do them at all). I use bodyweight for all my exercises, using leverage to my advantage (or disadvantage lol).

Anyone else obsessed with grip strength? Have any feats of strength you want to tell me about?

Much love,
Gary.

[Kochin]

My fiance says I have "gorilla-grip hands", which isn't entirely inaccurate. I've recently "upgraded" to carrying 12kg kettle-bells with me when I go out and am working with my pull-up bar best I can.
To put it into perspective: he's larger than me, with FAR bigger hands and generally greater strength, but, in a "hand-crush" contest, I'm more likely to hurt him than vice-versa. Maybe it's sheer grip-strength, maybe it's leverage (Slavic body = mildly shorter limbs and digits), maybe it's technique, but my grip is apparently quite awesome.

And I intend to build it up to a point where I can crush metal pipes like they were drink-cans.

[RichMahogany]

Firstly, thanks to the people who replied to my recent posts - things are clear now and I can concentrate on the bigger picture.

I will be logging my grip training here - please move this thread to the appropriate section if I have misplaced this.

Every aspect of grip will be covered, I will be grateful for ANY input here and if you want to share techniques then that is great. My workout is VERY sporadic which I think makes it more effective. I have some cheap and very effective exercises that I have not seen done before (although I am not saying I am the first to do them at all). I use bodyweight for all my exercises, using leverage to my advantage (or disadvantage lol).

Anyone else obsessed with grip strength? Have any feats of strength you want to tell me about?

Much love,
Gary.

Hey Gary. Here's a great blog post from a guy I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with on the history, science, and different theories of grip strength training. Hope you enjoy.

[SpearCarrier]

Will check out the link in a sec, gotta wash up first before my girlfriend kicks my butt haha. Thanks.

Glad to know there are other people interested in grip on here. Kochin, keep working the grip - it's always great to be stronger than the big people (I am only 5ft4 and have small hands) so I have to work harder than most. I am trying to do push ups on the back of hands - just the fingers (extensor muscles). I have never seen ANYBODY do this and I wonder if it is even possible to get the extensors that strong. I will post a video if I manage it

[not on the rug]

i've been pretty big in to grip for a while now. although my actual grip training has been somewhat sparse lately. i have a few captains of crush grippers and the expand your hand bands. i also have quite a few homemade pinch blocks and some made from hockey pucks. don't forget that the good old deadlift and pulllup are two of the best grip training exercises. check out jed johnson (the diesel crew) and some of his youtube videos for training ideas, and other clips of him competing in grip competitions. there is also a website, gripboard.com, that covers all things grip. good luck with your training

[SpearCarrier]

^ thanks. I have come across Mr Johnson before, he has some great ideas - I will check out a few more of his videos

[iniQuity]

I don't do anything too specific for grip training, but I do like to challenge it when working other things such as pull ups. I also have a rope that I try to use as much as possible for pull ups.

I use a rice bucket when I'm training handstands, and I also work my extensors with a thick rubber band. It looks funny when I do that on the train, I bet women get a little scared thinking I'm a professional boob groper or something....

My grip is still somewhat shit though, but nothing comes easy.

[workinprogress]

How about working on fingertip pushups.

[kitoi]

I use the 100lb Captain of Crush grippers and fat gripz for my dumbbells
Grip strength training equipment, Captains of Crush hand grippers

[quikky]

What helped my grip is working with heavy dumbbells and barbells. For example, I used to do bench press with dumbbells (now switched to barbell bench), and after a heavy work set (best was 110lb dumbbells for reps) I would just get up with them and carry them back to the rack. Then I would pick them back up, walk to the bench and rinse and repeat for the next set. I tell you, walking with 110lb in each hand after a heavy bench press will beat the crap out of your forearms.

Also what really works is doing deadlifts with a double overhand grip, as opposed to the conventional alternating grip. If you do deadlifts with an alternating grip, you will probably have to drop a good amount of weight to do double overhand, however your grip will quickly improve. If you really can't use double overhand, at least use it for all but the heaviest work sets.

I am not sure how to really test and compare grip strength, so I don't know if I am a great example of grip strength, but I can certainly say my hands can grab and hold pretty well