I’m going to tell you about a conversation I had in 2012 that changed how I think about grip training for regular lifters. A guy named Tom came to me frustrated. Mid-30s, been lifting for about a year, making decent progress on his squat and bench. His deadlift was stuck at 275 pounds for three […]
Category Archives: grip strength
Unbraced short bending Unbraced short bending is the most popular form of bending for grip strength. It consists of bending a short metal bar into a U shape with the hands, without bracing the bar on any other part of the body. This allows for a range of bending styles, including double overhand, double underhand, […]
Hand Grippers Grippers are addictive Hand grippers are the primary tool used for training crushing grip and are often focused on to the exclusion of all other grip training. Having a strong thumb and wrist is key to closing the big grippers, so this may not be the best choice. However, work on hand grippers […]
Thick Bar The 2″ solid steel axle weighs 73lbs empty. A barbell or dumbbell having a handle 2″ in diameter or greater is considered a thick bar. These bars are typically smooth and are most often seen with 2″ or 2.5″ diameter handles. Training with a thick bar in the place of a normal bar […]
Levering Levering is the use of either a sledge hammer or a wrist leverage bar to train the wrists. It also places significant stress on the supporting grip of the hand. Levering is done to the front, rear, side, and overhead. Because of the high torque that is created by even a light weight, it […]
One hand Pinch The one hand pinch is an excellent exercise for statically working the pinch grip and strengthening the thumbs. To perform this exercise, sandwich two plates together (smooth side out) and stand them on edge. Grasp over the top of the plates with one hand, placing the fingers on one side of the […]
Hand Health Hand health is promoted by performing activities that encourage recovery of the hands and increase resistance to injury. This can shorten time needed between workouts, increase strength gained from training, and reduce down time as a result of injury. There are four key components to hand health: Train Complementary Exercises – When working […]
Hand Size Hand size is the length of the hand as measured from the crease in the wrist closest to the palm to the tip of the longest finger. An average sized hand for a male is 7.5″. Less than 7″ would be a small hand, greater than 8″ a large hand. Hand size […]