10 Exercises to develop

massiveGRIP STRENGTH

Pick Things UpPicking things up from the floor is a foundational liftingpattern that builds strength throughout the posteriorchain of muscles. Upper back, lower back, glutes andhamstrings all get worked during this lift, but gripstrength, or the lack of it, commonly is the weak link. Lots of people use lifting straps for this reason. Lifting straps take the grips out of the equation andallow most lifters to pull more weight. While that maybe beneficial for power lifters, I will recommend NOTusing them for my fighters. Holding heavy loads putsa unique stress on the hands and forearms that forcesthe body to adapt and get stronger.

#1

ClimbAs mentioned before, rock climbers are notorious forhaving strong grips and hand strength. Their sportrequires it and challenges their grip in a variety ofways. While deadlifts challenge a lifter with large,heavy loads, climbing involves odd holds, finger tipstrength and endurance to hold on over time.

We also utilize a lot of rope climbing for our athletes. Climbing a rope uses similar muscles to rockclimbing, but in a different way. We have 1.5″ and 2″ropes at our gym and the thicker rope is great fordeveloping the strength to hold a wrist, forearm, ankle,etc. If you have access to a rope, use it frequently. Itis an old school, simple exercise that yields hugebenefits.

#2

Pull#3Every pulling exercise starts with your grip, sobasically every row, pull up or similar uses thehands to connect with the resistance. In orderto maximize grip strength, we vary the handlesthat we use to chalenge the hands, fingers andforearms. Some of our favorites are Fat Gripz,Rolling Thunder, Gi Grips, Eagle Claws and steelpipes. By simply changing the handle, a simplepull up can become incredibly difficult. Mix itup, try new things and the good news is thatthese handles are relatively inexpensive. Perfectfor any home gyms or fight gyms with little to nospace.

#4 CarryFarmer carries are most commonly seen in strongman competitions. Guys pickup huge weights in each hand and walk for distance. I love the simplicity of thisexercise and use it with almost all of our athletes. Not only does it build handstrength, but it also challenges the postural muscles, hips, core and legs.

There are a few varieties of carries that we use, including, 2 hand farmer carries,suit case (1 hand), bottoms up w/ kettlebells, heavy bags and more.

crushCrushing grip is most commonly used with oldschool grippers. I’m sure al of you have seenor owned one of these grippers at one point inyour life.

While the local sports store usually carriedsimple, low resistance grippers, severalcompanies have developed some heavy dutygrippers that guarantee to challenge anyone’scrushing strength. Our favorite is calledCaptains of Crush, from Ironmind. They have avariety of different grippers that range from40lbs to 365lbs, meaning it takes 365lbs offorce to close their toughest gripper.

#5

pinchPinch grip involves a lot of thumb strength and isa good variation to mix into your training. Wetypically use two weight plates (smooth side out)and hold for time.

Start with two 5lb plates or 10lb plates, pinch themtogether and do not allow them to slide apart. Once you get accustomed to the exercise you canadd weight and see what you can hold.

#6

ClawRemember the claw in professional wrestling? Everpalmed a basketball? If so, that’s basically our nextexercise.

We started testing our claw strength by turning adumbell on end, claw gripping the hex and lifting. Pretty simple and very different than other grips. The larger the dumbell, the heavier it gets and thelarger the hex end. Both the weight and the size ofthe hex add to the difficulty.

#7

DragThese are very similar to the carries, but we use chains,tires or sleds to create the resistance. All you need to dois attach a handle (use a variety) to a chain, sled or tireand drag it for distance. Heavier resistance typicallymeans less time or distance. Lighter load can be used forlonger periods of time.

This can be done walking forward, sideways, backwardsor in a variety of positions to mimic positions that youmay experience on the mat or in the cage. We willperform some days with both hands working together orone hand at a time. Using one hand at a time forces thecore to work overtime to keep the body straight, which isan added bonus.

#8

wrenchGuys that spend their days turning awrench and using their hands typicallyhave ridiculous hand strength. For years Iwas trying to figure out a way to mimic thatmovement in the gym, but couldn’t quitefind anything that worked. Last year, aclient recommended that I turn a dumbellon end on put it in the bucket of rice thatwe use for rehab and recovery work. Oncein the rice, you claw grip it and twist backand forth, like your trying to tighten a capor lid. It works great and is now one of ourfavorites exercises.

#9

extendOur hands spend most of their time grabbing, flexing,holding, etc. These all challenge the flexor muscles in ourhands, so in order to keep our hands healthy, its importantto work the opposite groups of muscles called extensors.

You can start by using thick rubber bands. Point your fingerand thumb into a cone shape, wrap the rubber band aroundthe tips of your fingers and then spread your fingers as wideas possible. Do 20-30 reps and you will probably feel thefingers, top of your hand and top of your forearm burninglike crazy.

#10

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