I am always on the look out for and trying new and different exercises for whole body workouts or for grip strength. It’s good to try new stuff; it helps keep workouts from getting boring and targets the muscles from another perspective. Listed below are a couple things I have tried out recently.
1. I have been using something called a slosh tube, you may already know about them. If not, it is just a length of PVC pipe up to maybe 9 feet long, 4 inch diameter with caps on both ends. You fill it about half full with water and the idea is when you workout with it the water is constantly flowing back and forth and it forces you to compensate the weight.
With mine I adjusted the amount of water in it so I could hold it out in front of me with my elbows in against my sides. Holding the tube with palms down you can rotate it like you would a wrist roller. Roll it in both directions till you can’t go anymore, you will get a good burn.
2. I took two small chunks of 2 x 4 and screwed one lag hook into each into the narrow side. I’ll hang two short lengths of chain over a pull-up bar and loop each hook up too each chain. Gripping the 2 x 4’s with my fingers wrapped around the wood I do pull-ups. If you are strong enough try doing pull-ups this way with just a pinch grip.
Homemade Tools for Grip Strength
If you are serious about building over all strength, do not neglect to develop your hands and forearms. The stronger they are, the more weight you can lift when working out with dumbbells and barbells. There are as many ways to develop your forearms as your imagination will allow; a lot of the tools you can use can be homemade.
For pinch grip exercises you can use a softball and drill a pilot hole part of the into it. Next screw a lag hook into the hole. You could then just run a small chain through the hole in a plate and hook the ends of the chain onto the hook. Hold the ball with a full grip or just with your finger tips and lift. Add more plates or a heavier one for more weight.
A variation would be to use a hockey puck. Drill a hole into the middle of the hockey puck and screw in a lag hook. For a stronger setup insert an eye-bolt through the hole with a washer on either side of the puck with a nut on the top side to hold it together. This makes a great finger tip pinch grip tool.
Two inch thick patio stones are great, you can get them from about 12” x 12” up two 24” x 24”. If you have a pair of them, you could carry one in each hand and do a farmers walk to get more of a full body workout. Squeezing and holding on to patio stones really gives your arms a excellent workout.
For pinch grip exercises you can use a softball and drill a pilot hole part of the into it. Next screw a lag hook into the hole. You could then just run a small chain through the hole in a plate and hook the ends of the chain onto the hook. Hold the ball with a full grip or just with your finger tips and lift. Add more plates or a heavier one for more weight.
A variation would be to use a hockey puck. Drill a hole into the middle of the hockey puck and screw in a lag hook. For a stronger setup insert an eye-bolt through the hole with a washer on either side of the puck with a nut on the top side to hold it together. This makes a great finger tip pinch grip tool.
Two inch thick patio stones are great, you can get them from about 12” x 12” up two 24” x 24”. If you have a pair of them, you could carry one in each hand and do a farmers walk to get more of a full body workout. Squeezing and holding on to patio stones really gives your arms a excellent workout.
Do You Know how Strong Your Grip Strength Is
You have worked hard to get build powerful strength in your forearms and hands. You have been getting some great strength gains and you are lifting stuff like never before. You have even found during your regular weight lifting sessions you are able to lift heavier weights, your stronger hands and forearms have made a big difference. Now you want to see what you can do with this new strength.
You could try tearing phone books in half, if you have the strength and the correct technique you can do it. Maybe you can try a deck of cards which actually could be more difficult than a phone book, the cards can be a bit slippery. If the phone book might be too much to start with start by ripping magazines, use the proper technique and keep practicing.
You could try nails and steel rods. When bending nails you need incorporate your whole body into it. Bending nails will really show the strength in your arms or the lack of it. Learn the correct technique, start off by bending something easy and work your way up.
Check around your area for some competition, grip strength contests are getting more frequent and there may be one close by your area at some time. Go ahead and enter and give it a try or just watch to see what’s going on and prepare for the next. If you know of enough people that might be interested start one up yourself.
Training the forearms and hands has really been gaining some momentum as people have found what having stronger forearms can do for them. If you think a weak grip might be your weak link, now is the time to start fixing it.
You could try tearing phone books in half, if you have the strength and the correct technique you can do it. Maybe you can try a deck of cards which actually could be more difficult than a phone book, the cards can be a bit slippery. If the phone book might be too much to start with start by ripping magazines, use the proper technique and keep practicing.
You could try nails and steel rods. When bending nails you need incorporate your whole body into it. Bending nails will really show the strength in your arms or the lack of it. Learn the correct technique, start off by bending something easy and work your way up.
Check around your area for some competition, grip strength contests are getting more frequent and there may be one close by your area at some time. Go ahead and enter and give it a try or just watch to see what’s going on and prepare for the next. If you know of enough people that might be interested start one up yourself.
Training the forearms and hands has really been gaining some momentum as people have found what having stronger forearms can do for them. If you think a weak grip might be your weak link, now is the time to start fixing it.
Do You Have a Weak Grip Strength
Out in the real world weak hands are not related to a strong person, a crushing grip is what people think a strong person should possess. There are many who can lift hundreds of pounds but their grip is not what it could be. If they included grip strength training in their routines they would be able to add more poundage.
Are weak hands the missing link in your strength. If you are not lifting the amount of weight you think you should, try strengthening your hands and forearms. If you are using wrist wraps or straps, stop using them. You might lift less weight without them but your grip will improve with the work your hands will do, then later you should lift more than you previously did.
If you are a grappler, rock climber or any other athlete who needs to grip and pull, you should be strengthening your grip if it is not already part of your workout. Rock climbers who may be climbing for hours not only need the strength in their hands and forearms but also the endurance needed to hang onto what small surface they can grasp.
The grappler needs to be able to grasp the opponents clothing or body parts or even to be able to break free from the opponents grasp. Having a powerful grip will really help you to be able to control your opponent. Having the strength in your hands and forearms may also help you get out of a bad situation. Make grip training a part of your regular workout routine and you will definitely benefit.
Are weak hands the missing link in your strength. If you are not lifting the amount of weight you think you should, try strengthening your hands and forearms. If you are using wrist wraps or straps, stop using them. You might lift less weight without them but your grip will improve with the work your hands will do, then later you should lift more than you previously did.
If you are a grappler, rock climber or any other athlete who needs to grip and pull, you should be strengthening your grip if it is not already part of your workout. Rock climbers who may be climbing for hours not only need the strength in their hands and forearms but also the endurance needed to hang onto what small surface they can grasp.
The grappler needs to be able to grasp the opponents clothing or body parts or even to be able to break free from the opponents grasp. Having a powerful grip will really help you to be able to control your opponent. Having the strength in your hands and forearms may also help you get out of a bad situation. Make grip training a part of your regular workout routine and you will definitely benefit.
The Importance Of Grip Strength In martial Arts
Those in the martial arts community should know that grip and hand strength are a very important aspect of their fighting abilities. Be it on the offence when you need to use your hands for punching, where your hand needs to be tough to prevent injury to yourself and to inflect more damage to your opponent. Or on the defense when you need to be able break the grip of your opponent and apply your own crushing grip.
You should do the common exercises for grip training such as the pinch grip, hand grippers and wrist curls but due to the nature of fighting your wrists must work at different angles and giving them special attention will really help. For your wrist, try holding a weight plate with your fingers on the flat side and your thumb on top. Place your wrist, palm up on your knee or better yet on the edge of a table. Then rotate your wrist so you are moving the plate in a circle, try going both directions. You may have to experiment for a weight that suits you but don’t make it easy.
For leverage, try something heavy like a sledge hammer. Hold your arm at your side and just rotate the hammer upwards then back down using only your wrist. You can adjust your grip up and down the handle to make it easier or harder. If you do not have a sledge hammer you can substitute for something else, such as a long 2 x 4 or broom. For a variation hold your arm out in front of you and rotate the weight in circles using your wrist.
For most people the wrist is the weaker area of the arm, if you can strengthen this you will be way ahead. Having the stronger wrist will really show it’s benefit when you start to do twisting motions and you are still able to hang on.
You should do the common exercises for grip training such as the pinch grip, hand grippers and wrist curls but due to the nature of fighting your wrists must work at different angles and giving them special attention will really help. For your wrist, try holding a weight plate with your fingers on the flat side and your thumb on top. Place your wrist, palm up on your knee or better yet on the edge of a table. Then rotate your wrist so you are moving the plate in a circle, try going both directions. You may have to experiment for a weight that suits you but don’t make it easy.
For leverage, try something heavy like a sledge hammer. Hold your arm at your side and just rotate the hammer upwards then back down using only your wrist. You can adjust your grip up and down the handle to make it easier or harder. If you do not have a sledge hammer you can substitute for something else, such as a long 2 x 4 or broom. For a variation hold your arm out in front of you and rotate the weight in circles using your wrist.
For most people the wrist is the weaker area of the arm, if you can strengthen this you will be way ahead. Having the stronger wrist will really show it’s benefit when you start to do twisting motions and you are still able to hang on.
Make Your Own Grip Strength Equipment
If you are serious about building over all strength, you should not neglect to develop your forearms and hands. The stronger they are, the more weight you can move when working out with dumbbells and barbells. There are as many ways to develop your hands as your imagination will allow; a lot of the tools you can use can be homemade.
For pinch grip exercises you can take a softball and drill a pilot hole partially into it. Next screw a lag hook into the pilot hole. You could then just run a small chain through the hole in a plate and hook the ends of the chain onto the hook. Grasp the ball with a full grip or just your finger tips and lift. Add more plates or a heavier one for more weight.
A variation is to use a hockey puck. Drill a hole into the center of the hockey puck and screw in a lag hook. For a stronger setup insert an eye-bolt through the hole with a washer on either side of the puck with a nut on the top side to hold it together. This is a great finger tip pinch grip tool.
Two inch thick patio stones work great, you can get them from about 12” x 12” up two 24” x 24”. If you have two of them, you could carry one in each hand and do a farmers walk to get more of a whole body workout. Squeezing and holding on to patio stones really gives your arms a great workout.
For pinch grip exercises you can take a softball and drill a pilot hole partially into it. Next screw a lag hook into the pilot hole. You could then just run a small chain through the hole in a plate and hook the ends of the chain onto the hook. Grasp the ball with a full grip or just your finger tips and lift. Add more plates or a heavier one for more weight.
A variation is to use a hockey puck. Drill a hole into the center of the hockey puck and screw in a lag hook. For a stronger setup insert an eye-bolt through the hole with a washer on either side of the puck with a nut on the top side to hold it together. This is a great finger tip pinch grip tool.
Two inch thick patio stones work great, you can get them from about 12” x 12” up two 24” x 24”. If you have two of them, you could carry one in each hand and do a farmers walk to get more of a whole body workout. Squeezing and holding on to patio stones really gives your arms a great workout.
You want to show off your strength bend nails
If you can bend nails with your hands you would have a pretty good way to show off your forearm strength. It’s one of those things that a lot of people would like to do but do not know the technique or are just not strong enough. There are even some guys out there that are really strong but can’t bend nails because they have neglected to workout their forearms. But, in this article we are going to talk about the technique of bending nails not about strength.
You have worked hard to develop killer forearm and grip strength and now you want to find out how strong your arms really are by bending a nail. There are more than one type of grips you can use to hold onto the nail, you may find one might be more comfortable for you than the others. These different grips are normally called the double overhand, double underhand and the reverse. You should use a piece of leather or a heavy fabric of some type that you will wrap around each end of the nails that will give some cushion and will protect your hands. There is the very real possibility you could do damage to your hands so start off with easier stuff to bend at first to get used to it.
When you actually go to bend a nail, the technique you will use will require you to use your whole body not just your arms. Place the end of the nail with the point in your hand that will not do the actual bending. Grab on to the other end of the nail with the other hand close in so your two hands are close together. Place the elbows into your sides for support and to make it a somewhat easier to do, then you squeeze your hands really hard.
At the same time you need to tense up your back and shoulder muscles which will assist your arms in doing the bend. You must lock your wrists to make your forearms as if it is one unit. Start bending the nail with your bending hand by putting everything you have into it. If what you are trying will not bend just move down to something that will be easier for you and practice once a week.
Using this technique is not the only way to do it. Do a little research and you can find lots of information to help your technique. You must be careful with your hands because of the nails, but you will find that they will start to toughen up the more you do this.
You have worked hard to develop killer forearm and grip strength and now you want to find out how strong your arms really are by bending a nail. There are more than one type of grips you can use to hold onto the nail, you may find one might be more comfortable for you than the others. These different grips are normally called the double overhand, double underhand and the reverse. You should use a piece of leather or a heavy fabric of some type that you will wrap around each end of the nails that will give some cushion and will protect your hands. There is the very real possibility you could do damage to your hands so start off with easier stuff to bend at first to get used to it.
When you actually go to bend a nail, the technique you will use will require you to use your whole body not just your arms. Place the end of the nail with the point in your hand that will not do the actual bending. Grab on to the other end of the nail with the other hand close in so your two hands are close together. Place the elbows into your sides for support and to make it a somewhat easier to do, then you squeeze your hands really hard.
At the same time you need to tense up your back and shoulder muscles which will assist your arms in doing the bend. You must lock your wrists to make your forearms as if it is one unit. Start bending the nail with your bending hand by putting everything you have into it. If what you are trying will not bend just move down to something that will be easier for you and practice once a week.
Using this technique is not the only way to do it. Do a little research and you can find lots of information to help your technique. You must be careful with your hands because of the nails, but you will find that they will start to toughen up the more you do this.
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