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Know any good grippers or grip strength exercises?

In the market for some decent quality grippers and/or some good exercises to improve my grip strength

jcgadfly
jcgadfly g Jeff Craft
192 Post(s)
192 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

Hello Nation types!

 

I'm getting really tired of my grip (particularly in my left hand) dying on my deadlifts/rows or holding on to heavy dumbbells for shrugs. I don't want to abandon my grip for wrist straps just yet :)

 

Any help? Thanks.

Old enough to know better, young enough not to care. I'm an eternal rookie - As soon as I stop learning I start dying.
crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted

does your gym have a pullup bar ? or do you have any bar at home? (you can also use a bar laying in a squatrack but completely hanging is better)

Hanging on your hands with your full weight is a great way to increase grip-strength and grip-endurance.

Staring with short times, as many seconds as you can, and increase over time.

 

I Havew finicky tiny wrists and hands, and still no problems with gripstrength.

 

Another thing: if you should be using gloves for most exercises - get rid of them. Also the skin and callus needs to adjust and build the grip-buffers that are needed to actually get enough 'grip'.

 

If everything fails, and your gym allows it you can use chalk. If not you can try chalk in cremeform or sprayform if they don't have an issue with that.

 

But at first place i'd always work on my gripstrength first. And hanging is one of the most superior exercises for that.

 

PS: don't forget to contract the scapular and keep the shoulders locked when hanging. Don't let them sink down like a dead monkey. This is otherwise annoing on your shoulders and tendons and muscles.

 

Cheers!

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
jcgadfly
jcgadfly g Jeff Craft
192 Post(s)
192 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

I only use gloves for heavier lifts because I actually have calluses I want to keep (built up from many years of drumming) Don't want the bar to remove them.will try the hanging thing :)

Old enough to know better, young enough not to care. I'm an eternal rookie - As soon as I stop learning I start dying.
Adawg38
Adawg38 g Aaron Henry
563 Post(s)
563 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2013
Posted
Posted By: jcgadfly

Hello Nation types!

 

I'm getting really tired of my grip (particularly in my left hand) dying on my deadlifts/rows or holding on to heavy dumbbells for shrugs. I don't want to abandon my grip for wrist straps just yet :)

 

Any help? Thanks.

Pullups, Deadlifts and a variety of forearm isolation exercises helped me out a lot. I find I still run into some issues if I deadlift heavy but chalk has become my new best friend and I wonder why it took me 5 years to find.

I have been training coming up on 6 years and have made some great gainz. I've done a lot of trial and error on myself as well as learned from others and through research online. I've come along way in strength and size since I've started. I will continue to learn and make myself better each day. MS Athlete/Super Hermanite BEING CHALLENGED IN LIFE IS INEVITABLE, BEING DEFEATED IS OPTIONAL.
ohawkey
ohawkey g Robert Fong
445 Post(s)
445 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted

There are a bunch of exercises that will strengthen your grip. Try some of these.

Deadhangs off a pull up bar, overhand grip bicep curl, farmers walks, plate pinches, hex dumbbell holds, and wrist rollers.

I've also found working my back twice a week helped increase my grip strength.

jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: jcgadfly

Hello Nation types!

 

I'm getting really tired of my grip (particularly in my left hand) dying on my deadlifts/rows or holding on to heavy dumbbells for shrugs. I don't want to abandon my grip for wrist straps just yet :)

 

Any help? Thanks.

One word - Farmer's Walks - as Robert posted earlier. These are great not only for grip strength but for your core and legas as well.

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: jcgadfly

Hello Nation types!

 

I'm getting really tired of my grip (particularly in my left hand) dying on my deadlifts/rows or holding on to heavy dumbbells for shrugs. I don't want to abandon my grip for wrist straps just yet :)

 

Any help? Thanks.

Calluses are good but they should be kept shaved down and close to the skin. When I tore my bicep deadlifting a couple years back, part of what precipitated it was not only my right hand grip slipping but the calluses on my right hand being too tall and being ripped off as the bar slipped.

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted
Posted By: jmboiardi

Calluses are good but they should be kept shaved down and close to the skin. When I tore my bicep deadlifting a couple years back, part of what precipitated it was not only my right hand grip slipping but the calluses on my right hand being too tall and being ripped off as the bar slipped.

 

John

@jmboiardi true that.

i trim mine down mostly once a month or when i feel them becoming too big.

 

But it defenitally is a mistake to lift with gloves, to prevent them from building at all. imho.

 

@jcgadfly about the "if" wearing gloves or not. It has advantages as well as disadvantages and in terms of building gripstrength it might actually help you not to wear any.

And they also can be an injury risk on really heavy lifts, as they are a slipping layer between the hand and the bar, and the bar could begin to spin at a moment where you don't want that to happen. Especially in heavy pulling eyercises. In the end it nails down to personal preferences and goals.

 

 

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
ChefLuke
ChefLuke g
30 Post(s)
30 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: August 8, 2015
Posted
Posted By: jcgadfly

Hello Nation types!

 

I'm getting really tired of my grip (particularly in my left hand) dying on my deadlifts/rows or holding on to heavy dumbbells for shrugs. I don't want to abandon my grip for wrist straps just yet :)

 

Any help? Thanks.

@jcgadly

 

Hey! Great question! Being a powerlifter I know all about grip strength, and how annoying it can be when your left hand grip slips right before you pull through with the lift! A few tips I can toss at ya:

 

-Use chalk if you arent. A lot of your grip slips can be because of sweat on the bar. You shouldnt have to try to beat that issue, anyone will drop 405 after a few reps when the bar is wet.

-TRAIN YOUR FORARMS: Usually on my assesory day and REST day I will train my forarm stength for about 15 minutes. Noting heavy, just light movements.

-Pick up the HEAVIEST dumbells at your gym, and pick them up and hold them...and don't do anything for as long as you can, just hold the heavy dumbells as long as you can until your grip gives out for a few sets everyday.

-Wrist wraps aren't bad, they do not lower or reduce my grip strength, it just allows me to focus on the movement my body is preforming instead of worrying about my grip.

-Hope this helped man! Any other questions feel free to PM me or email me at Thegainztrain1@gmail.com

 

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jcgadfly
jcgadfly g Jeff Craft
192 Post(s)
192 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

Thanks all for the advice

Old enough to know better, young enough not to care. I'm an eternal rookie - As soon as I stop learning I start dying.
GraaY94
GraaY94 g Calum Gray
114 Post(s)
114 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: January 1, 2014
Posted

bit of a slightly uncommon one, but if you get a bucket of sand (or some similar material) and turn a small kettlebell upside down in it so the handle is buried. Then grab the ball of the kettlebell and screw it backwards and forth with your fingers!

muscular strength
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