grip strength

[TheSwanks]

In short, my grip strength sucks. Wondering what you guys have found to be most effective for improving this? I'm at the point with deads that my grip strengh is going to limit my forward progress pretty severely and I'd like to correct it before I have to stall out on adding plates to the bar.

 

[Geoforce]

Plate pinches, farmers walks. I like to rotate my farmers walks sometimes going super heavy, sometimes going light for a lengthier amount of time.

Also this article deals with your question specifically, hope it helps. Also a big fan of using straps to increase your deads while you are bringing your grip strength up to speed at the same time.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/grip_training_for_the_deadlift

 

[asooneyeonig]

i built an axle bar and thick bar adjustable DBs that i use whenever i can even on pressing movements. added in some KB stuff and farmers and my grip strength has gone way up.

i even built my own farmers implements and made them with a 3/4" and 1.5" handle.

 

[ReedSkin]

T-Nation has amazing info, definitely check that out, I love when I get their emails!

 

[TheSwanks]

cool, I'll check out that article and start incorporating some of this stuff in. I've been using straps for deads but don't want to rely too heavily on them. Raw grip is so important for so many lifts, nothing worse than having to ruin a great set because of grip fatigue, it tends to make your form sloppy too because you think about it too much.

Thanks for the info guys

 

[Geoforce]

cool, I'll check out that article and start incorporating some of this stuff in. I've been using straps for deads but don't want to rely too heavily on them. Raw grip is so important for so many lifts, nothing worse than having to ruin a great set because of grip fatigue, it tends to make your form sloppy too because you think about it too much.

Thanks for the info guys

Props on not wanting to rely too heavily on straps. I was more saying to use them to increase the DL poundage while bringing that grip strength up to par.

 

[TheSwanks]

Props on not wanting to rely too heavily on straps. I was more saying to use them to increase the DL poundage while bringing that grip strength up to par.

Yeah, I'm glad I admitted it to myself before I got too much further, I never like to go too long without adding weight to the bar! It looks like I could do some sets of these pretty quick on a wednesday or saturday (non-lifting days) and start making some progress there.

 

[machorox123]

Chalk it up brotha.. If yur gym allows it..when i started to use chalk my lifts went straight up cuz the bar doesnt slip.

 

[TheSwanks]

Chalk it up brotha.. If yur gym allows it..when i started to use chalk my lifts went straight up cuz the bar doesnt slip.

My gym allows anything. Home gym all the way. body solid Benches, protec power rack, bars, dumbells, and various other good things. I add something new every couple of months it seems. Thinking a nice sled is next, not sure.

 

[Geoforce]

God I'd love to have a great home gym. Damn renting!

 

[TheSwanks]

God I'd love to have a great home gym. Damn renting!

It was a product of necessity. I work 70+ hours and have a 2 year old. So I really don't have the time to go to the gym. So it was either not work out or start building a gym. Luckily I have a basement with 8 foot ceilings, a great paying job, and a ton of self motivation. I'm up at 415am monday, tuesday, thursday and friday and hit the weights balls out hard for 60-90 minutes each time.

Love it!

 

[Rodja]

Buy some Fat Gripz.

 

[ReedSkin]

Try 30 to 60 second barbell static holds in a squat rack.

 

[TheSwanks]

so based on feedback I think I'm going to try plate pinch deadlifts, and get some fat grips and do rack pulls with 30 second hold at the top and see how that helps.

thanks for the advice!

 

[Geoforce]

Let us know how it goes, sounds like a solid plan!

 

[TheSwanks]

So a week ago Saturday and this past Saturday did about 15 mins of grip work and I'm (amazingly) already seeing some improvement in my grip on deadlifts. Also making sure to throttle the bar on all my lifts.

Thanks again for the advice guys!

 

[Ratiocinative]

I use one of the adjustable "super grippers". Adjustable between ~70 to ~350 lbs of resistance, or something close to that. Grip is never my weak point as long as I remember to use it once or twice a week. The cheapest price I found was for $30 shipped. If the pinch grip exercises are working for you then just keep doing those, no need to spend the extra money, but I didn't like them so I bought the gripper.

 

[TheSwanks]

Yeah the plate pinches are working out really well so far. I'll look into some of those adjustable troopers. Always good to have choices

 

[asooneyeonig]

there are many types of grip and there is little direct carry over from one to the other.

ironmind.com will be a great resource for info.

also try this site: http://www.gripfaq.com/

 

[GeraldNY181]

work your hand and wrist strength with false grip movements like pull ups, training your fingers doesnt always improve grip- it is the hand that squeezes and can be thickened.

 

[TheSwanks]

thanks for the tip. My grip has already improved remarkably from what I've been doing so far. Anything I can do to continue the progress is great