Five Free Ways to Increase Grip Strength

Image courtesy of newbedfordguide.com

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have been on a bit of mission lately to improve my grip strength.  One of my favorite tools to use for training my grip is Fat Gripz, but what if you don't have those?  In fact, what if you don't want to purchase any additional equipment and only want to make minimal changes to your current training routine, but still want to improve your grip strength?  Here are my suggestions for five free ways to increase your grip strength:

1.  Get rid of the straps.

Okay, not earth-shattering advice to start, but I do see this--people want to improve their grip and are still using straps.  Yes, you will be forced to handle less weight for the time being, but if you are bent on not adding in additional training for your grip, you may have to sacrifice how much weight you are pulling.  Or, you could implement another suggestion...

Image courtesy of topendsports.com.

2.  Slow down your tempo.

I wrote on this subject three weeks ago, but it is worth repeating.  For lower body and pulling exercises during which you are holding the resistance, slowing down the tempo of the movement is a very simple way to build grip strength.  The weight will have to be decreased relative to what you would normally use due to the greater time under tension, but after a few weeks you may be able to challenge both your grip and your lower body/back appropriately.

3.  Wrap towels around the bar or dumbbell.

If your training facility doesn't provide towels and you yourself don't own any, this wouldn't technically be free.  But, considering most places do provide towels, I decided to include it.  Wrap the towel around the bar or handle of the dumbbell to increase the diameter (thickness) of the implement.  A cool feature about towels as compared to Fat Grips is because they are a softer, more malleable material, they will conform to your hand better than the rigid rubber of the latter.  The downside is that the towel is more likely to adjust itself during a set, especially as your grip starts to fatigue and you start to lose solid control of the bar.  While not a common issue, a tight and proper wrapping of the towel around the implement before the set will help ensure the unlikely event of the towel becoming unwrapped and/or slipping out of your hand does not transpire.

4.  Pause for a ___ count before racking.

After you finish your set, pause and hold the weight for a predetermined count before racking it.  This will provide additional time under tension at your working weight.  Depending on the relative weight and number of sets, anywhere from 2 to 10 seconds should be appropriate.

**Side Note:  See below.

**Side note:  The labeling in the above picture is incorrect.  The positions would be more accurately described as (from left to right) overhand, parallel, and underhand.

5.  Switch your grip up.

Parallel grip, underhand grip, overhand grip, and every variation in between.  Utilize and incorporate them all in your training at large as well as for each movement that you do, structure permitting.  While the muscular recruitment will vary between grips, both within and outside of the forearm and hand, the bottom line is if you are trying to increase your grip strength you should consider hitting it in multiple ways.  Whether you actually need to or not is based on your current abilities and what you are ultimately trying to achieve.  Also, I am not a fan of using the alternating grip because of the excessive strain it  puts on the Biceps short head as well as the way forces are directed across the spine while using it.

So there you have it, five free ways to increase your grip strength without significantly altering your training routine or spending extra time on grip training.

Get big or die tryin'.

Charlie Cates, CSCS
Self Made_®, Owner and Founder

Charlie Cates is a strength and conditioning specialist and the owner and founder of Self Made_® (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL.  He has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP’s.  He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

How to Improve Crushing Grip Strength

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Check out this article to see Coach Poliquin describe different types of grip strength, why having a strong grip is important, and how to go about training for one!
How to Improve Crushing Grip Strength by Charles Poliquin
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Training Pinch Grip with a Tennis Ball

In the past I have said that tennis balls are best used for training crushing grip. I am not sure if this is true, anymore, because I have found a very useful way to train them for pinch grip as well. Normally, when you use a tennis ball to train your grip you hold the ball like you normally would and squeeze it with your full hand. This technique, however, does not allow you to train your thumb, but rather only your four fingers.

If you want to train your pinch grip with a tennis ball all you have to do is adjust the ball in your hand so it is no longer resting in your palm, but rather it is held between your thumb and any finger(s) you choose. The exercise is performed the same way as the crushing grip variation. You are still squeezing the life out of the ball for reps or time, but you are including the thumb in every rep.

It is difficult to work all four fingers simultaneously with the thumb using this technique, but instead it is better used to isolate one finger and the thumb at the same time. Just make sure to work each finger equally.

Get big or die tryin'.

Dynamic Pinch Grip Training

I saw this article on DieselCrew.com and thought it was definitely worth posting due to unique idea of training the grip in a dynamic environment.

Dynamic Pinch Grip Training by Kris Wragg

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Easy Ways to Increase Grip Strength

One thing I have noticed since I started working with the general public is that most people's grip strength is horrendous. Not even terrible. It's absolutely, positively awful. So, if you are suffering from this condition, consider making these simple changes in your training routine:

Get rid of the wrist straps

I explain why in this video



Do more pulling exercises
People do too many pressing exercises as is, but in addition to the benefits of strengthening your back and improving your posture, adding in additional pulling exercises is a great way to build grip strength, especially if you are using thicker handles or bars.

No more ab straps
Instead of using ab straps and hanging from your elbows to do hanging knee raises or other suspended ab exercises, get rid of the ab straps and hold on to the bar with your hands. For an additional challenge, wrap a towel around the bar and hang on to the towel.

Pause before you rack
Before you rack the weight after a set of rows or lat pull-downs, hold on to the bar for an additional twenty to thirty seconds.

Throw some kettlebells into your training
High-quality kettlebells have a thick handle and, if your are performing the exercises properly, you should be squeezing that hard enough so the bell doesn't swing and the horn doesn't rotate in your hand. This will set your forearms on fire if performed correctly.

There are some very simple modifications you can make to what you are already doing in your daily training in order to increase your grip strength.

Get big or die tryin'.

Charlie Cates
Self Made, Owner

Charlie Cates is a human performance specialist and the owner of Self Made (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL. He is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM and has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

Video Blog: Why I Don't Use Wrist Straps

Training Grip Strength For Basketball Players

Among high school and college basketball players there seem to be two mindsets when it comes to strength training in the weight room. For one group, lifting is something they partake in because they want to get stronger so they are able to perform better. For the other group, they either don’t lift at all or they do just enough so as not to get called out. However, regardless of which group an athlete falls into, there is one thing that is often overlooked but must be prioritized if true increases in basketball performance are going to be developed in the weight room. Just as it is vital for athletes to have strong feet for ground-based sports, basketball players, too, must have strong hands in order to get the highest transfer between the weight room and the court.

In basketball the point of contact between the ball and the player is the hand, specifically the fingertips. Rarely is the whole palm applied to the ball, and even when the ball is being held with both hands the majority of the contact between the skin and leather is through the fingertips and fingers. This is important to understand due to the fact that this will alter how a basketball player should go about training his or her grip. To put it simply, the grip used when holding a basketball is more along the lines of a pinch grip than a crushing grip. Reason being, when an athlete holds a basketball the thumb is heavily involved, which is not the case at all when squeezing a hand gripper or when gripping a smaller object such as a tennis ball. Instead of using those two common techniques for increasing grip strength among basketball players, I would look to be using wider objects that open the hand more and force the thumb to play a crucial role in the exercise.

After reading Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition by John Brookfield (Amazon.com) I have realized that there are literally an infinite number of ways to train grip strength, however, not all of them are right for basketball players. In my opinion, some of the best exercises from this book that would be suitable for basketball players are lifts using thick-handled dumbbells and coin bag work. Lifts with thick-handled dumbbells are pretty self-explanatory; just find dumbbells with handles that are between 2” and 3” thick (Brookfield, 52). Coin bag work was a completely new concept to me, but I love the potential of it. In his book, Brookfield calls this exercise bag catching and has it in his “Crushing Grip” section (Brookfield, 18). However, with just a slight modification to the exercise I can see this being a very effective tool for basketball players.

To start, you will need to attain a coin bag from a bank if you don’t already have one. Then you’ll need to fill it with some type of weighted substance, such as steel shot like Brookfield suggests. Then you tape the bag completely shut to make sure the contents will stay sealed. Now, Brookfield suggests throwing the bag up to yourself and catching it by the little flap on the top. However, I am going to modify that and say to catch the bag with only one hand on the thick part of the bag. You can grip it so your thumb is pointing up, i.e., palm medial, or so your thumb is pointing laterally, i.e., palm down. Either way, taking a full grip into this bag on every catch is definitely a sure-fire way to strengthen your grip in a basketball-appropriate manner.

If you don’t have a coin bag or don’t want to go get one something else you could do is to weigh down a coffee can and hold on to it one hand at a time. I wouldn’t suggest catching and throwing this, but simply performing static holds should work wonders. Also, take your current hand size and strength into consideration when choosing what size can to use. Make sure to tape the lid securely shut before performing any exercises with it so as not to lose the contents of the can.

Finally, the absolute best thing a basketball player can do strengthen his or her grip for the sport is, in my opinion, medicine ball work. Medicine balls are incredibly versatile tools that can bounce, be thrown, caught, and come in varying weights and sizes. Throwing and catching medicine balls will not only strengthen the entire hand, including the joints, ligaments, and tendons, in a sport-specific manner, but it will also train the specific muscle synergies that are developed in basketball while passing and catching the ball in a variety of ways. From catching in the low post to rebounding to driving the lane, having an incredibly strong grip on the ball is absolutely vital, and using medicine balls is a must when trying to develop this.

These are just a few tactics that can be used when trying to train your grip strength for basketball. For more information on grip strength training and for more ideas on how to go about grip strength training read Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition by John Brookfield, available on Amazon.com.

Get big or die tryin’.

Charlie Cates

Self Made, Owner

Charlie Cates is a human performance specialist and the owner of Self Made (http://selfmadefitness.com/). He is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM and has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail atcharlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.