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Grip is something in strength training called a limiting factor. For example, you can have the back strength to deadlift 600 lbs, but if your grip canu2019t hold the weight, then youu2019re limited to what those hands can hold. <br><br>
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Grip is something in strength training called a limiting factor. For example, you can have the back strength to deadlift 600 lbs, but if your grip can’t hold the weight, then you’re limited to what those hands can hold.
At times, improving grip strength can be an incredibly frustrating process. And in my experience as a coach, it’s typically the clients who haven’t had a ton of previous exposure to grip-oriented sports that tend to struggle the most. This is when grip training needs to get more strategic in nature because simply working with more reps at various weights — while certainly useful — can sometimes not be enough. In this article, we’ll go over five methods and exercises that are fantastic for improving grip strength for nearly every fitness level.
Grip Training Specificity An important training variable to consider when working to improve grip strength is specificity. Like every muscle group, I like to think about grip as having multiple levels that need to be trained and accounted for. For example a strong grip should include:
General Strength: A baseline foundational level of grip strength. • Muscular Endurance: The ability to hold desired loads for various amounts of time. • Maximal Strength: The capability to hold maximal weight per one’s overall strength.
The types of grip strength above can help shape your grip training based on where you’re falling short. If you can define why you want to improve your grip in the first place, then you can build in and implement strategic exercises and methods that make the most sense.
1. Tempos and Holds • Great for Training: General strength, muscular endurance, and maximal strength Tempos and holds can be used for more than improving lifting postures and increasing time under tension for hypertrophy gain. These training tools can also be fantastic for improving grip strength in nearly every respect when applied to various pulling exercises with calculated intensities.
Examples of How to Apply Them to Your Training For General Strength: Use 1-2 second holds at the top or mid-rep pauses on working set deadlifts that are anywhere from 60-85% of your 1-RM. • For Endurance: Use 3+ second eccentric tempos on exercises like cable, dumbbell, and inverted rows. • For Maximal Strength: Perform 1-2 second holds at the top of 85%+ 1-RM deadlifts.
2. Holds From a Pull-Up Bar Great for Training: General strength and muscular endurance Holds from a pull-up bar are often times underutilized when it comes to improving grip strength. If your goal is specific to climbing, then few exercises will have as much carryover to your performance than this movement. The best part of performing these is that the barrier to entry is incredibly low, and holds are very easy to scale for multiple fitness levels.
Examples of How to Apply Them to Your Training • For General Strength: Perform 4-5 sets of holds for 10-20-seconds at the end of your workout. You can even perform shorter hold times with one hand if you’re advanced. • For Strength Endurance: Perform 3-4 sets for max holds at the end of your workout.
3. Farmer’s Carries Great for Training: General strength, muscular endurance, and maximal strength Another fantastic grip training exercise are farmer’s carries. This movement is simple in nature and can be performed virtually anywhere, in fact, every week that you go grocery shopping you’re essentially performing a modified farmer’s carry. No matter your training goal, this movement can be easily applied to boost grip strength.
