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Improve Grip Strength

I like farmers as well and also have always seen grip strength improvements as a result of doing heavy barbell and dumbbell rows without straps.
 
NYiron said:
have always seen grip strength improvements as a result of doing heavy barbell and dumbbell rows without straps.
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That's one of my strategies as well.
 
i opened a thread with the same question a few months ago. all of the same suggestions have been made. basically the one that helped me the best was to throw my straps out and start pulling with out them weather it be rows, deads, chins, whatever it may be. i was pissed because i couldnt grip 315 for a deadlift and thats what drove me to posting. i was doing rack pulls a few weeks ago without straps at 425 for 5 reps.
 
I noticed a difference doing shrugs with a plate in each hand. I dunno if its proper form or not but it helped my neck and grip.
Also I us a fat bar for everything.
 
Mackram said:
When you guys say straps, do you mean wrist straps?
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Yes, get rid of them. They are a "handicap" (no offense) to lifting. You are minimizing the use/need of your hands during the lift. In turn you are not working out your hand strength and endurance, you are supporting the weight on your wrists.

Your power from your hands start in your forearms, so any strain will work them. Ie gravitational pull from the above listed (strength and endurance) I also like wrist curls (reverse and standard) to improve finger and forearm strength (grip)
 
Medical420 said:
Yes, get rid of them. They are a "handicap" (no offense) to lifting. You are minimizing the use/need of your hands during the lift. In turn you are not working out your hand strength and endurance, you are supporting the weight on your wrists.

Your power from your hands start in your forearms, so any strain will work them. Ie gravitational pull from the above listed (strength and endurance) I also like wrist curls (reverse and standard) to improve finger and forearm strength (grip)
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Ahh I see, thst explains why I've noticed my grip is a lot more secure whenever i grip a weight now, I lost my wrist straps about three months ago. Thanks
 
Cool stay away from the straps. If your doing heavy dead's or shrugs and your grip fails. Go to a mixed grip then. I.e over under grip.
 
Medical420 said:
Yes, get rid of them. They are a "handicap" (no offense) to lifting. You are minimizing the use/need of your hands during the lift. In turn you are not working out your hand strength and endurance, you are supporting the weight on your wrists.

Your power from your hands start in your forearms, so any strain will work them. Ie gravitational pull from the above listed (strength and endurance) I also like wrist curls (reverse and standard) to improve finger and forearm strength (grip)
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Actually I had another question, what if, like in my case, you've had previous injuries to both wrists, and a broken arm with a plate? None of these injuries prevent me from lifting whatsoever, but I was just wondering if I should wear them to prevent further injury?
 
Mackram said:
Actually I had another question, what if, like in my case, you've had previous injuries to both wrists, and a broken arm with a plate? None of these injuries prevent me from lifting whatsoever, but I was just wondering if I should wear them to prevent further injury?
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You may look into wrist wraps, but straps won't be needed. When I'm pulling ~100%, I use wrist wraps to force my hands shut.
 
Mackram said:
Actually I had another question, what if, like in my case, you've had previous injuries to both wrists, and a broken arm with a plate? None of these injuries prevent me from lifting whatsoever, but I was just wondering if I should wear them to prevent further injury?
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Like you, I have/had issues with my wrists due to arthritis. I wrap my wrists for a few reasons. 1. The added pressure relieves pain 2. The pressure helps secure my wrists for certain workouts 3. Increases my confidence in my wrists until I get more strength for those workouts.

When I work forearms and wrists I do not use my wraps. I use less weight and a lot more reps to gradually get the strength up, this will increase endurance too. Start at a weight you can kill 20/25 reps x3. Go up in weight whenever it gets easy to get to the third set of 25. You will have less stress on the injured areas, but you will be able to strengthen it at the same time. it takes longer, but has been very effective IMO.
 
Medical420 said:
Like you, I have/had issues with my wrists due to arthritis. I wrap my wrists for a few reasons. 1. The added pressure relieves pain 2. The pressure helps secure my wrists for certain workouts 3. Increases my confidence in my wrists until I get more strength for those workouts.

When I work forearms and wrists I do not use my wraps. I use less weight and a lot more reps to gradually get the strength up, this will increase endurance too. Start at a weight you can kill 20/25 reps x3. Go up in weight whenever it gets easy to get to the third set of 25. You will have less stress on the injured areas, but you will be able to strengthen it at the same time. it takes longer, but has been very effective IMO.
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I completely agree, I've basically followed the same thing for a good while and strengthened my forearm that had the plate inserted into it and now I only ever feel the need to use the straps when I'm doing heavy lifts like db bench or barbell bench. Thanks for the help.
 
I also throw a towel over my chinup bar and do narrow pullups using the ends of the towel as handles.
 
Ive improved in grip strength doing barbell shoulder shrugs.
I know this is more pinching strength but plate pinching has also helped me out.
 
in between sets grip 2,3 or 4, depending on strength, 10 lb plates with fingers on the flat side, keep them from falling.
 
Farmers Carries...hands down. I did a 1600m once with two 53lb kb's. Driving was rough that day and two to three days later.
 
I like Fat Gripz or doing the farmers walk while using Fat Gripz or tying a towl around the weights and carry them by the towel. I like to change things up.
 
biscuits said:
Thick bar training (fat gripz), plate pinches, and squeezing the bar hard on every lift[/QUOTE]

This is something most people don't do and it's worked wonders for my grip. Try gripping the bar as hard as possible on your next bench press session, and I bet you gain a rep or two from the increased muscle activation, as well as improve your grip over time
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Reverse curls have done wonders for my grip and forearms! My wrist were giving me issues also, since I have been hitting reverse curls twice a week, one day heavy one day light, very big improvement.
 
Movin_weight said:
biscuits said:
Thick bar training (fat gripz), plate pinches, and squeezing the bar hard on every lift[/QUOTE]

This is something most people don't do and it's worked wonders for my grip. Try gripping the bar as hard as possible on your next bench press session, and I bet you gain a rep or two from the increased muscle activation, as well as improve your grip over time
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This is true, I also do this! It's important for more then just grip, it also helps with lifting heavy weight, seems to help me have a bit more push in my bench when I grip the bar as firm as I can.
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Boatcop1 said:
No Gloves, No straps EVER! Chalk up a bit if you need to. Done!
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The only caveat I will put here is on high-rep DB rows, but only once you're at a certain level of strength somewhere in the 2/3 of your BW area. For example, if you weigh 210 and you can do a set of 15-20 with 140s on DB rows, then straps are fine.
 
Rodja said:
The only caveat I will put here is on high-rep DB rows, but only once you're at a certain level of strength somewhere in the 2/3 of your BW area. For example, if you weigh 210 and you can do a set of 15-20 with 140s on DB rows, then straps are fine.
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Agreed, that is a monster row!
 
Rodja said:
The only caveat I will put here is on high-rep DB rows, but only once you're at a certain level of strength somewhere in the 2/3 of your BW area. For example, if you weigh 210 and you can do a set of 15-20 with 140s on DB rows, then straps are fine.
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Agreed, or if you have some overuse problems.
 
Grip responds well to different kinds of static holds. In addition to holding a bar, you can pinch grip different objects that vary in size and shape.
 
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