The difference between a successful lift and a failed lift may come down to something as small as the ten digits that make up what is known in laymen’s terms as your right and left hands, respectively. Without them you could not lift anything. Go out and try and lift something without your hands, it just doesn’t work.
Before I go too far into this blog I just want to point out the level of creative quality that goes into my titles. You may think I spend countless hours thinking up these gems of titles, truth is they just come to me, it’s a gift I must bear everyday.
Moving on
Your hands, in many cases, are the only thing linking you to the weight. What this means is if you want to be strong, then the link between you and the weight must be strong as well. You can get around this by using straps that tie you to the weight but if you are an athlete this does not help you. You are not fixing the problem, but rather finding a way around the problem.
To fix this problem here are 5 exercises that will help increase your grip strength and give your forearms as big as a gorilla’s.
Grip the Weight
Too often I see people just holding dumbbells in their hands loosely with a false grip (just the fingers holding without the thumb), its just laziness on their part. When you pick up any weight or cable, or what have you, make sure you grip it like someone is trying to take it from you.
Another big thing I see with people using dumbbells is that they hold the dumbbell with the head of it resting against their thumb and index fingers. If you were to move your hand to the middle of the dumbbell where the knurling is, you will notice that you have to grip the dumbbell tight to stabilize the weight causing your forearm muscles to do more work.
These two fixes of squeezing the weight and holding a dumbbell in the middle are two things you can do with every exercise that will help increase your grip strength immensely. The reason is that you are now actually griping the weight instead of just holding the weight.
Farmers Carries
I love farmer’s carries. They are great for so many reason and one of the reasons is they can be used to increase grip strength. I can’t forget to mention that any exercise that requires you to carry heavy weight over a distance just looks awesome.
To do a farmers carry all you need is a heavy object that you can pick up and hold at your side and then walk with. So dumbbells, barbells, trapbar, kettlebells, or a child will all work. As long as you can grip it tight and then walk with it you’re all set for a killer forearm workout.
Over Hand Grip Deadlifts
When you start off deadlifting, many will start with an over hand grip and as the weight becomes heaver you will most likely switch to an under over grip, so you can grip heaver weights without dropping the bar.
Another great way to increase your grip is to go back to the over hand grip. You will probably not be able to lift as much as you were with the under over grip, but you will only be doing the over grip for a few weeks and then switch back to the under over. The point of this is that the over grip forces you to grip the bar. If you don’t then you won’t be able to hold on to it. Or you will just fall into a false grip, which counts for jack!
Towel Chin Ups
I personally love chin ups, I think they’re the cats meow, and anything that makes them more challenging I am all about. One of those ways is to drape a towel over a chin up bar and then grab each end with your hand and proceed to do chin ups.
This works well. A towel is hard to grip anyway and then add on to that the fact that you have to lift your whole body while holding the towel adds a whole new level. The end result is some strong ass fingers and some mean arms.
Fat Grips
Fat grips are plastic grips that fit over anything that has the circumference of a barbell. They can make any exercise a more grip demanding exercise when these puppies are used. Literally any exercise, you want to make bicep curls more grip focused throw on some fat grips. How about a Turkish get up? Never done it before but I am guessing the result would be me with some swell arms.
Wrap Up
As you can see there are a number of ways to make your grip stronger. With a strong grip you will be able to lift more, and people with strong grips give great handshakes and a strong handshake leaves people with a better impression of you. This can lead to you having more friends and a better job. What I am getting at is grip strength is the key to unlocking your life’s true potential.
So get out there and grip some heavy ass things!
Best
Josh Williams
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