This article is all about grip strength and how to gain serious, transferable, real-world strength. What you won’t find in here is wrist rolls, reverse barbell curls, or hand-gripper exercises. Additionally, I will assume that you are already are doing rows, pull ups, and not using on deadlifts (while straps aren’t inherently bad, if grip is your focus, take them off and chalk up). Instead, this article covers some of the top grip-specific strength exercises from across various fitness domains; powerlifting, strongman, weightlifting, and even bodyweight training. What’s even better is that these exercises not only get the grip stronger, they also can help you develop serious overall strength. Are you ready? Why Is Grip Strength So Important?
The 'CrossFit Games' have been held every summer since 2007. Athletes at the Games compete in workouts they learn about only hours beforehand, sometimes including surprise elements that are not part of the typical CrossFit regimen. Past examples include a rough-water swim and a softball throw. Other Sports Accomplishments: Competed in Crossfit Open in 2014 and preparing for Crossfit Open in 2015. Training in Olympic Weightlighting. More on Crossfit: Taco’s mother owns a Crossfit gym in Atlanta and the softball player gets trained by two-time Crossfit Games athlete, Travis Mayer.
As humans, we have had the pleasure to evolve with opposable thumbs, allowing us to grab, rip, and carry great loads. When looking at maximal strength and even power output, grip can play a critical role in neuromuscular activity and muscular contraction. When we grab an object forcefully, the nervous system receives a signal from the motor neurons in the hand, forearms, and up the body; reciprocating in greater voluntary muscle contractions. Individuals who struggle with holding onto a barbell during deadlifts or snatches, pull-ups, or even grip-intensive training session can benefit immensely from some serious grip-specific training. With improvements in grip strength, lifters will be able to set up better, contract harder, and stay stronger throughout a lift. The below list of exercises will not only improve your grip strength; the movements will better-relate to more sport specific movements.
![Throw Throw](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125591221/814800836.jpg)
While these specific exercises will undoubtedly give you some serious grip strength, it is important to note the the forearm size may or may not grow, since they are not hypertrophy specific. For lifters looking to gain visual size for their forearms, feel free to hammer away at more traditional “wrist” exercises after you do these real-world lifts Farmers Walk. On Nov 16, 2016 at 11:36am PST Assuming you are looking to increase maximal grip strength (deadlifts) rather than grip endurance, this exercise will do the trick. I tend to suggest starting with double overhead reps first, until grip fails. Then, going mixed grip (be sure to switch up both ways to maintain balance and symmetry) can help to get some more volume in.
Additionally, make sure to hold the weight at the top for a few seconds to increase the time spent holding onto a heavy object, as most PR deadlifts are in our hands for quite some time. If your goal is grip strength, don’t use straps.
One-Handed Hang from Bar. On Jun 17, 2016 at 3:28am PDT If you have a fat bar, start doing some rows and deadlifts with it during accessory training. In the event you don’t have access to a fat bar, try out Fat Gripz. These little blue barbell/dumbbell accessories turn any movement into a grip intensive exercise.
Sometimes the best way to increase real-world grip strength is to grab heavier and fatter objects. So the next time you are doing presses, single arm rows, or pulls, throw on a pair and get to work.
Stop Using Straps As a weightlifter, are common practice during training sessions. Personally, I try to refrain from using straps on light and moderate sets until my grip becomes a limiting factor. Only then will I throw them on. Additionally, performing clean and without straps (with or not) are amazing exercises for grip training.
If you find your grip is limiting your performance in the formal weightlifting lifts, then throw them on. However, if you can handle the pulls without them, I personally feel your grip and performance will benefit greatly (specifically since you cannot use straps in competition). Towel Training. A video posted by Pamela French (@pfrench7) on Oct 25, 2016 at 10:04am PDT Performing towel pull-ups, towel inverted rows, and towel curls are all part of my grip specific training. By using towels, you force the body to grip harder and contract in new ways. Have climbing ropes? Try doing rope pull-ups, sled drags with rope, or rope rows.
Both can be extremely effective and simple means to improving grip strength and endurance. Train Time Under Tension Simply holding, carrying, or pulling objects for prolonged periods of time will increase strength and size of the forearm muscles. Time Under Tension (TUT) has been shown to increase muscle hypertrophy and strength capacities.
While holding objects for time is not a specific movement, it can be applied to various lifts; such as deadlifts, barbell complexes, high rep rows, and farmers carries. Climb A Rock Wall. On Nov 8, 2016 at 10:03pm PST Seriously. Go find a rock wall and climb it.
Climbers has some of the most impressive grip strength and endurance in the world. If you aren’t about finding a climbing wall of scaling your apartment building, try doing pull-ups using different handles, grip widths, or even “rock climbing” pull-up attachments. Final Thoughts Poor grip strength and endurance can be a nuisance for any lifter. If you find you have issues holding onto bars and other objects, take some time to devote more training to these time-tested and widely practiced grip exercises. Don’t over complicate this issue. Just stay consistent, train heavier and longer (time under tension), and then start envisioning what holding a thunderbolt in your Zeus-like grip would feel like. Editors note: This article is an op-ed.
The views expressed herein are the authors and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author. Featured Image: @mikejdewar on Instagram. Mike holds a Master's in Exercise Physiology and a Bachelor's in Exercise Science. Currently, Mike has been with BarBend since 2016, where he covers Olympic weightlifting, sports performance training, and functional fitness. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and is the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at New York University, in which he works primarily with baseball, softball, track and field, cross country.
Mike is also the Founder of, a strength and conditioning brand in New York City that offers personal training, online programs for sports performance, and has an established USAW Olympic Weightlifting club. In his first two years writing with BarBend, Mike has published over 500+ articles related to strength and conditioning, Olympic weightlifting, strength development, and fitness. Mike’s passion for fitness, strength training, and athletics was inspired by his athletic career in both football and baseball, in which he developed a deep respect for the barbell, speed training, and the acquisition on muscle. Mike has extensive education and real-world experience in the realms of strength development, advanced sports conditioning, Olympic weightlifting, and human movement. He has a deep passion for Olympic weightlifting as well as functional fitness, old-school bodybuilding, and strength sports.
![Crossfit softball throw failure Crossfit softball throw failure](https://crossfitbathurst.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/janine2.jpg)
Outside of the gym, Mike is an avid outdoorsman and traveller, who takes annual hunting and fishing trips to Canada and other parts of the Midwest, and has made it a personal goal of his to travel to one new country, every year (he has made it to 10 in the past 3 years). Lastly, Mike runs, which is dedicated to enjoying the finer things in life; like a nice glass of whiskey (and a medium to full-bodied cigar) after a hard day of squatting with great conversations with his close friends and family.
It wasn’t that long ago that weekend fitness competitions were few and far between. In 2011 when I launched the Firebreather Throwdown in Cincinnati, there were almost no other competitions in the area. As a result, we had some major names compete with us in our humble gym in Loveland, Ohio, including, who was a national-level CrossFit Games athlete in 2010. Since that time, competitions have literally exploded. Every weekend some throwdown goes down with a cool name like “Fall Crush” and “BLOOD ON THE BAR! 2013.” These events have morphed from what used to be one-day, three-workout competitions into three-day festivals with major sponsors and multi-tiered, qualifier-laden beat downs with major prize money.
And in some cases, shit is getting out of control. And, to a certain extent, this includes the themselves. (From softball throws to what is becoming nearly a week-long competition of CNS-shattering, hand-shredding craziness, it seems as though the games have become less a test of fitness and more a test of survival skills. But that’s an article for another day.) In an attempt, I believe, to make an event memorable, to stand out from the crowd, or to become “that competition” that everyone wants to be a part of, throwdown organizers are coming up with some crazy, chaotic shit. In addition, many of these weekend events have become serious beat downs.
Imagine if you will that every time someone sits down to for their event they have to come up with something new, something never done before, something where everyone will say, “Wow man, remember that friggin’ 165lb. Thruster-cow milking WOD from the Northeast Smackdown of 2014? That was EPIC!” No one wants to program this:. Workout #1: 'Fran'.
Workout #2: 10 minutes to build to a max back squat. Workout #3: Row 3,000m Now, what a fantastic test of fitness that might be. 'Fran' would be a test of the short time domain quick-burst classic CrossFit workout, workout number two is a classic test of strength, and workout three a test of aerobic endurance. How boring might that be, a 3K row. No one wants to watch that. No one wants to do that.
But, if you’re looking to podium the fittest in your particular demographic area, it might be a solid clump of tests. Instead, we are in this phase where we have to top. We have to top last years’ events and we have to top the box around the corner or the one on Facebook that everyone is talking about. So instead of programming ',' now we have to do 'Fran + Grace,' or 'Heavy Fran,' or 'Fran' while someone is pelting you in the face with a soccer ball. The workouts get more creative (read: crazy and chaotic), the competitions get longer, the volume goes up, and the workouts get longer and more extreme. Soon you’re ending up trashed after a weekend competition, having to take a week off to recover and then another week of light work and Z1 stuff.
Well, for one, some of these competitions have become notorious for serving up such bizarre workouts that the images have been immortalized on every CrossFit satire blog like. Some of the Tom Foolery that has been seen includes:. One partner stands on a box with gymnastic rings hanging from their neck while the other partner does ring pushups. (See picture above.).
One teammate hangs from the bar using both arms and both legs while the male teammates thruster the bar. (See picture below.). Team rope skipping.
Two team members jump rope in unison playground-style while two volunteers rotate the handles. Javelin throwing.
I kid you not. Pulling a car around a track with ropes where the girl falls and is almost run over (See video below.).
Remember, we’re testing fitness here. How fit am I as compared to how fit are you at a set of given tasks. There are a lot of ways we can test that fitness without winding up in a video. Aside from the novelty WODS, some competitions have just become body-trashing beat downs. I participated in a competition last year that was plannedas a two-day event but was cut down to one. The box owner didn’t want to let go of any of the WODs, so we did seven workouts in one day. Sometimes, you have brand-new box owners who want in on the fun.
People who got their a year ago, opened a box last month, and now are putting together the “Halloween Fear Fest 2013!” They know little about programming a workout, let alone a two-day competition that tests multiple energy systems. They just want to be awesome. Man-makers with a flaming dumbbell. Burpees while a middle-school student jumps on your back with wearing cleats.
Where do we go from here? 20 wallballs to a fifteen-foot target, three-man deadlifts, dodge ball with a shot-put? After the neck-ring debacle, I had thought I had seen it all, but perhaps not. Want to bulletproof your competition? Consider these ideas:.
Before you program any workout, ask yourself, 'How would this look on a compilation video with the Benny Hill theme behind it?' If the answer is, “Not good at all,” then perhaps come up with something else. Stop trying to top yourself or your neighboring competitions. You want to test for the fittest?
Come up with three solid tests that will test strength, endurance, and CP function. “” tests strength, and skill as well as your lungs. It’s short, solid, and difficult without being unreal. Fran with a four-minute cap? Ten minutes to build to a max clean and jerk?. If it’s a two-day event, consider that not all of those six or seven workouts need to be fifteen-minute grinders.
One could be a four-minute test, a strength component, even a skill. There is no need to pulverize your competitors into a bloody heap at the end of two days. And for God’s sake, please don’t make it up as you go along. I seriously competed in an event where the final workout consisted of the event coordinator standing at the whiteboard throwing shit at the wall. Consider having someone program your event for you.
Seek out experienced program-design coaches who have studied under people like. Look for coaches who have literally studied program design. Have them program your event.
This will assure several things: one, that it’s evenly programmed, and two, that it does not favor you people who may be competing. (Like it or not, we’re biased toward our own athletes. I have been to numerous competitions where the host box won the event. Imagine that. Programmed toward your folks’ strengths or coincidence? You tell me.).
Define the goal of your competition. Is it a friendly, one-day? Is it a fundraiser? Or is it a true prep-competition for the CrossFit Games Open, to allow high-profile athletes to test themselves against others in their region? If so, by all means, have a qualifier, and then program a 70%-regionals-style weekend. But be clear in your purpose, and program accordingly. (This should be a minority of competitions.
The majority should fall into the community-style funfest, which should bring you back to the first four bullet points.). Publish your workouts at least a few days in advance. Sure, this is “unknown and unknowable,” but it’s also not the CrossFit Games.
Give your competitors an opportunity to review the workouts, strategize, and maybe decide as to whether or not they are in over their heads, or in the wrong division - novice versus elite, and so on. Competitors, you need to be willing to say no. If the event organizer begins whiteboarding the third workout and starts writing, “Teammate one will stand on two boxes with a set of Rogue rings suspended from their necks,” be willing to walk away. As long as the competitors keep accepting the shenanigans, event organizers will keep dreaming up new ones.
Be willing to step back and say, “Sorry, that is dangerous, foolish, and no, I won’t do it.” Vote with your feet. Photo 1 by English: Lance Cpl. Irions Public domain,.