Grip training program.

One of the strongest grip trainers I've met told me that, if he had to pick one move that made his grip stronger than anything else, it was picking up two heavy dumbbells, he mentioned something like 100-150lbs range, and walking with them as far as possible until you drop them. Then, turning around, and carrying them back. He said the key was to walk away from your house, then you will be forced to carry them back once you drop them the first time. Also said you may drop them many times on the way back, but to not cheat and keep going until you are back where you started. He was one of the earliest "captains of crush", and the strongest gripper I have personally met. He was casually shutting the Ironmind #3 while talking to me over and over, and was shutting it hard enough to where it was making a loud click. He could also do the same thing with the #3 held upside down.
 
I know this is a resurrected thread but I want to put in my two cents anyways.

I like high reps for grip work in the 10-20 range for most exercises. My forearms tend to respond better to it and and I think while 1rm might not grow rapidly doing it that way, higher repetitions keep my hands from feeling like death.

Levering (specifically side to side, 180 degree rotational, door knob turning style motions) is probably the best all around lower arm developer, especially for athletes. Use a 18" length of 1.5" pvc pipe and a couple of hoseclamps and make yourself a levering bar.

Thickbar work is second to me. I like pinch work and block weights fine but 3" pvc slips over the collars on your gyms easy curl bar and is way more easily loaded to bridge the gaps between a pinching 35lb plates and pinching 45lb plates.

Next are the toys. Pinch blocks, loadable hubs, rolling thunder, etc are all good fun, but they unless you have a specific goal or competition with them, they are variations of a theme. Use them as exercises variations if you have them or some extra money to buy them. But they're not necessary.

Grippers are fun, but imho unless you have a real definite ambition to close heavy ones, I would buy an adjustable like the ivanko supergripper (there's even a spring loaded torsion spring shaped gripper now I saw on amazon for like 80 bucks) and call it good. Lots of people find low reps, negatives, and timed holds work for them on grippers. I can close a 2.5 with a credit card set, and I use my grippers mostly for 10 rep sets and assistance.

Lastly are things like towel pullups... they're ok, but really I would personally rather get better at pullups. I've done a lot of rope pullups in my life and honestly, unless you're training for hand over hand events, your time is probably better spent on something else. Unless your grip is not the limiting factor on towel pullups you might be better served doing harder pullups and harder grip work.

I like farmers walks, but I'm not sure I'd rely on them as a grip builder but as event training, additional trap volume, or gpp depending on application.
 
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I have found that for the popular COC grippers that density sets work well like triples for a bit then down to doubles and singles for a few minutes seems to work well.(not amraps) throw in an amrap every so often to test where your strength is on the gripper
 
Some rock climbers use these things.

71kNwIPM4PL._SL1214_.jpg
 
Some rock climbers use these things.

71kNwIPM4PL._SL1214_.jpg
I hate these. I mean hate is a strong word, but you outgrow them fast and there's no real difficult ones and they don't train the thumb very well even if you target it. For the investment of time I'd rather do torsion spring grippers or an ivanko super gripper with 1, 2, or 3 fingers
 
I hate these. I mean hate is a strong word, but you outgrow them fast and there's no real difficult ones and they don't train the thumb very well even if you target it. For the investment of time I'd rather do torsion spring grippers or an ivanko super gripper with 1, 2, or 3 fingers


Have you ever tried rock climbing? There's nothing like training grip strength with the threat of falling off a mountain. It kind of forces you to grip really hard.

987528dffda09a3ee22f6489595e0c1c.jpg
 
Have you ever tried rock climbing? There's nothing like training grip strength with the threat of falling off a mountain. It kind of forces you to grip really hard.

987528dffda09a3ee22f6489595e0c1c.jpg
Haven't been rock climbing in about 15 years. It's another example of how specif grip training can be. Time spent on a hang board should probably take precident over time spent with grippers (especially those silly finger grippers). Something like doing sets of pullups on your toughest hang board grip for a few sets (or something like 10 or 20 reps total no matter how many sets it takes) then next easiest and so-on. You could also take a hang boaRd off the wall or a couple of tough climbing holds and attach it to a bar or loading pin for some deadlifts or rows, or even some farmers walks or swings with climbing holds if your fling really creative.
 
Haven't been rock climbing in about 15 years. It's another example of how specif grip training can be. Time spent on a hang board should probably take precident over time spent with grippers (especially those silly finger grippers). Something like doing sets of pullups on your toughest hang board grip for a few sets (or something like 10 or 20 reps total no matter how many sets it takes) then next easiest and so-on. You could also take a hang boaRd off the wall or a couple of tough climbing holds and attach it to a bar or loading pin for some deadlifts or rows, or even some farmers walks or swings with climbing holds if your fling really creative.


I'm still relatively new to climbing. My forearms still go into complete numbness after doing a set of pinch holds.
 
I know this is a resurrected thread but I want to put in my two cents anyways.

I like high reps for grip work in the 10-20 range for most exercises. My forearms tend to respond better to it and and I think while 1rm might not grow rapidly doing it that way, higher repetitions keep my hands from feeling like death.

Levering (specifically side to side, 180 degree rotational, door knob turning style motions) is probably the best all around lower arm developer, especially for athletes. Use a 18" length of 1.5" pvc pipe and a couple of hoseclamps and make yourself a levering bar.

Thickbar work is second to me. I like pinch work and block weights fine but 3" pvc slips over the collars on your gyms easy curl bar and is way more easily loaded to bridge the gaps between a pinching 35lb plates and pinching 45lb plates.

Next are the toys. Pinch blocks, loadable hubs, rolling thunder, etc are all good fun, but they unless you have a specific goal or competition with them, they are variations of a theme. Use them as exercises variations if you have them or some extra money to buy them. But they're not necessary.

Grippers are fun, but imho unless you have a real definite ambition to close heavy ones, I would buy an adjustable like the ivanko supergripper (there's even a spring loaded torsion spring shaped gripper now I saw on amazon for like 80 bucks) and call it good. Lots of people find low reps, negatives, and timed holds work for them on grippers. I can close a 2.5 with a credit card set, and I use my grippers mostly for 10 rep sets and assistance.

Lastly are things like towel pullups... they're ok, but really I would personally rather get better at pullups. I've done a lot of rope pullups in my life and honestly, unless you're training for hand over hand events, your time is probably better spent on something else. Unless your grip is not the limiting factor on towel pullups you might be better served doing harder pullups and harder grip work.

I like farmers walks, but I'm not sure I'd rely on them as a grip builder but as event training, additional trap volume, or gpp depending on application.

I disagree with putting pinching off the "primary focus list". I'd have to say pinching is an important thing to strengthen. I'd say Lever, Fat Bar and Pinching training are extremely beneficial for athletes, especially MMA. The rest can follow up like you said.

What's your opinion on wrist extensions and curls?

Also, why'd you leave out lever deviation exercises? You only focused on pronation and supination.
 
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I disagree with putting pinching off the "primary focus list". I'd have to say pinching is an important thing to strengthen. I'd say Lever, Fat Bar and Pinching training are extremely beneficial for athletes, especially MMA. The rest can follow up like you said.
We'll have to agree to disagree then. However, consider that most athletic endeavors are abut manipulation of things with your hands not just holding on to them. A 2" od levering bar gives you a fatbar grip that stresses the thumb like pinch and fatbar work and the fingers like gripper work during pronation/supination complexes while building the wrist strength to manipulate the world around you or solidify a stike to your opponent.

Many people agree with you. Many of those people couldnt bend a 60 penny nail if their life depended on it. It's not to say those who can are better, just that they likely have a broader knowledge of potential exercises for the lower arm and are not writing articles for men's health magazines who's target audience doesn't have a gym they can lever at. But slapping two plates together or wrapping a towel around a dumbell is doable, so that's more likely what they'll reccomend. Again pinch and fatbar are great grip work, i only disagree that they are the best for moat athletic endeavors

What's your opinion on wrist extensions and curls
I don't do them. They're mass builders at best and levering is better in every way.

Also, why'd you leave out lever deviation exercises? You only focused on pronation and supination.
I have always thought bending was the greatest expression of lower arm strength. Pronation/supination seems to have the greatest carryover to that endeavor as it more closely mimics the wrist movement of bending a nail. Other lever deviation exercises are supplements to it as far as I'm concerned as they don't seem to have the same amount of muscular recruitment that going back and forth has. Of course it's largely my opinion, however the amount of time you can spend on your lower arms is limited (they are just one small bodypart). As such youre best off sticking with the exercises that give you the most bang for your buck, and maybe a second one done with lighter weight that's less involved (grippers fit well in the supplement category for me)

You can do whatever lever deviation exercises you like, but for me, the suppination/pronation complex is the squat of the lower arm.
 
We'll have to agree to disagree then. However, consider that most athletic endeavors are abut manipulation of things with your hands not just holding on to them. A 2" od levering bar gives you a fatbar grip that stresses the thumb like pinch and fatbar work and the fingers like gripper work during pronation/supination complexes while building the wrist strength to manipulate the world around you or solidify a stike to your opponent.

Many people agree with you. Many of those people couldnt bend a 60 penny nail if their life depended on it. It's not to say those who can are better, just that they likely have a broader knowledge of potential exercises for the lower arm and are not writing articles for men's health magazines who's target audience doesn't have a gym they can lever at. But slapping two plates together or wrapping a towel around a dumbell is doable, so that's more likely what they'll reccomend. Again pinch and fatbar are great grip work, i only disagree that they are the best for moat athletic endeavors

I don't do them. They're mass builders at best and levering is better in every way.

I have always thought bending was the greatest expression of lower arm strength. Pronation/supination seems to have the greatest carryover to that endeavor as it more closely mimics the wrist movement of bending a nail. Other lever deviation exercises are supplements to it as far as I'm concerned as they don't seem to have the same amount of muscular recruitment that going back and forth has. Of course it's largely my opinion, however the amount of time you can spend on your lower arms is limited (they are just one small bodypart). As such youre best off sticking with the exercises that give you the most bang for your buck, and maybe a second one done with lighter weight that's less involved (grippers fit well in the supplement category for me)

You can do whatever lever deviation exercises you like, but for me, the suppination/pronation complex is the squat of the lower arm.

Hmm. Interesting.

Why would extensions and curls be just mass builders to you? I figure that if you're doing supination and pronation, then you should balance everything and hit the deviations, curls and extensions as well to avoid possible injury due to imbalances. It's like doing pushing exercises without doing pulling ones -- Don't you think?

Also, why not just do al the directions? You don't HAVE to choose only supination/pronation. I'd say it's worthy to spend time to avoid imbalances-- that's just me.

Lastly, why Grippers as the second choice, right after the supination and pronation?
 
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Hmm. Interesting.

Why would extensions and curls be just mass builders to you? I figure that if you're doing supination and pronation, then you should balance everything and hit the deviations, curls and extensions as well to avoid possible injury due to imbalances. It's like doing pushing exercises without doing pulling ones -- Don't you think?

Also, why not just do al the directions? You don't HAVE to choose only supination/pronation. I'd say it's worthy to spend time to avoid imbalances-- that's just me.

Lastly, why Grippers as the second choice, right after the supination and pronation?
I don't find any imbalance in wrist strength from doing p/s work exclusively. Conversely, rotational strength and stability could suffer by doing focusing on extensions and curls. In my mind it's like doing pullups vs bicep curls. I'm not worried about the balance of my bicep development because they get hit doing pullups just fine. If I wanted to do some light curls afterwards, that's fine, but in reality I have other things to do with my time it I don't see it as a balance issue. Same reason I won't squat, front squat, split squat, and leg press all in the same session. You don't have to do any of them exclusively, but I would pick one to focus on and do the others with an eye for improving that one, since the rising tide raises all boats.

For example, If I stall on my lever turning I might switch to front levering for a while until I stall on that, then come back to turning and look for any improvement. Then when I stall on turning again, maybe try reverse levering or front levering again and repeat this process. Always coming back to the lift I'm looking to improve the most. The same thing can be done with squats or deads or anything else.

I reccomended grippers for some extra volume that won't likey overtraining your hands. Since your thumb is going to get the crap kicked out of it for most other grip work (levering or fat bar) it wouldn't hurt to expose your fingers to some more volume and give your thumb a chance to recover. Also they're easier to set up and than fatbar deadlifts or rolling thunder or anything else. But it's a personal choice. If you find something else works for some extra volume I say go for it.

All of this is a personal choice really and it should be said that you should do what works best for you. Right now I'm actually doing zero lveering in my routine and focusing on fatbar work to get up to pinching 45's. But I'll probably go back to levering when I'm done with that.
 
I don't find any imbalance in wrist strength from doing p/s work exclusively. Conversely, rotational strength and stability could suffer by doing focusing on extensions and curls. In my mind it's like doing pullups vs bicep curls. I'm not worried about the balance of my bicep development because they get hit doing pullups just fine. If I wanted to do some light curls afterwards, that's fine, but in reality I have other things to do with my time it I don't see it as a balance issue. Same reason I won't squat, front squat, split squat, and leg press all in the same session. You don't have to do any of them exclusively, but I would pick one to focus on and do the others with an eye for improving that one, since the rising tide raises all boats.

For example, If I stall on my lever turning I might switch to front levering for a while until I stall on that, then come back to turning and look for any improvement. Then when I stall on turning again, maybe try reverse levering or front levering again and repeat this process. Always coming back to the lift I'm looking to improve the most. The same thing can be done with squats or deads or anything else.

I reccomended grippers for some extra volume that won't likey overtraining your hands. Since your thumb is going to get the crap kicked out of it for most other grip work (levering or fat bar) it wouldn't hurt to expose your fingers to some more volume and give your thumb a chance to recover. Also they're easier to set up and than fatbar deadlifts or rolling thunder or anything else. But it's a personal choice. If you find something else works for some extra volume I say go for it.

All of this is a personal choice really and it should be said that you should do what works best for you. Right now I'm actually doing zero lveering in my routine and focusing on fatbar work to get up to pinching 45's. But I'll probably go back to levering when I'm done with that.

Have you read Ross Enamit's Untapped Strength?
 
You should check it out.

Also - Off topic- but what do you do for your neck?
I honestly don't do anything for my neck but pull on it with a doubled over theraband for stretching. I thought about buying a harness for a bit but I don't really have any neck related goals or ambitions.
 
I honestly don't do anything for my neck but pull on it with a doubled over theraband for stretching. I thought about buying a harness for a bit but I don't really have any neck related goals or ambitions.

O, what do you train for?

I thought you participate in a martial arts... So, your grip advice isn't geared towards martial arts either, I'm guessing.
 
Training frequency is one of the things I was wondering about myself. My grip strength varies greatly b/c my grip has to do so much "work". This is clearly a sign that my grip is not recurperating enough.

What days should I put grippers and wrist rolls on my 5/3/1 routine?
That profile pic ....

{<Mcgoat}
 
O, what do you train for?

I thought you participate in a martial arts... So, your grip advice isn't geared towards martial arts either, I'm guessing.
The only thing I currently train for is the highland games (scottish throwing). No I don't train in martial arts, but I train my lower arms in a manner that would be good for them. Take my advice as you see fit, but i think it's just as applicable to mma as it would be to bending steel.
 
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