Grip strength is very important in the weight room. Without a strong grip, it becomes increasingly challenging to perform heavy lifts such as the deadlift and the bent over row. This is exactly why you should supplement your workout routine with some grip strength exercises.
There are many benefits as to why you should increase your hand grip. A strong grip means:
- Bigger lifts – you will get to lift heavier in the gym, especially when doing deadlifts, pull-ups, chin-ups and rows.
- Better injury recovery – when you have stronger muscles and connective tissues they recover faster after and injury.
- Better muscle endurance – with a stronger grip you will find it easier to execute repetitions per set of an exercise.
- Improved dexterity
Do you want to enjoy the benefits of a stronger grip? Here are 5 tips you can incorporate into your workout sessions.
- Train your grip. There are exercises that specifically target the gripping muscles of the hand and forearm. Here are some examples you can try.
- hand grippers – one of the best ways to train your crush grip. Train with hand grippers by doing the max close or holding a close for a maximum period of time.
- barbell holds – grab the bar with a double overhand grip and hold it for 10-15 seconds repeating it four or five times
- farmer's carries – take some time to walk a certain distance holding on to a pair of kettlebells, dumbbells or sandbags
- plate pinches – grab a pair of 10 lbs plates, pinch them together and keep a long hold of them. If it gets easy, add more lbs.
- band extensions – first use a large rubber band, then add more bands for extra resistance.
- Lift heavy. Incorporating heavy deadlifts, bodyweight rows and pull ups, helps to enhance your overall hand strength and not just your grip. It's important not to create a muscle imbalance by working on certain muscles and neglecting the others. For pull ups and bodyweight rows try challenging yourself and switch grips two or three times during a set.
- Do hangs using towels or ropes. The options of what you can do are endless and very challenging, but you need that in order to strengthen your grip. You simply have to drape the towels over a pull up bar, grab tight and execute regular sets of pull ups.
- Don't make excuses for small hands. Yes, it may be harder, but the size of your hands doesn't matter. The key is to use chalk, grab the bar tight and do mixed grips for better support.
- Parallette work. A great way to improve your grip, because the parallettes are a bit wider than a pull up bar. While you're at it, try doing abdominal workout with some push-ups or planks.
To avoid calluses and blisters, have a good wrist support and prevent sweat from getting in the way, use a pair of hand grips or silicone gloves.
Grip exercises can be the simplest and greatest addition to your strength training program and can help you reach new levels in your training. If you feel like your grip is sometimes holding you back, make it a point to include some of these tips in your next workout session and rip the benefits of a strong healthy grip.