I've been doing Judo a few months now and I always thought that I would need crazy grip strength. I've found however that with 10 years or so of lifting, I'm not having any trouble with my grip. Do the grapplers here do anything specific for their grip strength? I've always been a fan on towel pull ups and I've been using thick bars for a few years from time to time. Also can anyone actually do a crossed arm towel/gi collar pullup? I tried them after seeing them in Training For Warriors, I cant do 1 rep as I just spin around!
I am not a fighter/grappler but I imagine grip plays a significant role...esp in Gi Judo grappling... build your overall hand strength and you'll reap great benefits... train your support, crush, and pinch grips...as well as your extension/wrist strength... towel pull ups are great...as are thick bar pull ups/chins, grippers, plate/blob pinching, levering, etc... a cool rope/gi exercise is doing a pull up then moving one hand at a time upwards and doing pull/chin ups that way...
Weighted dead hangs from a doubled-up towel are good. I do them one-handed and two-handed, with awkward partial grips like a thumb and two fingers or gripping it upside-down. I do CoCs, pinching and levering, etc, but I feel the towel hangs have the most direct carryover to BJJ.
I went to a Pedro Sauer seminar in the late 90s and he told us how he would bout a Gi on a wooden post and cross choke it LOL.
Rocking Climbing is great for your grip. Ive started climbing and my grip is already improving. Hanging onto a wall by your finger tips while 50ft in the air is good incentive.
Anyone had a towel tear on them doing this? Would a belt be a good substitute? And should it be one towel per hand or what, i'm ~81kg?
I was 90kg for a while and dangling with 60kg in plates using one towel and never had a tear. Just try to find to decent, thick towel (I use a small gym towel about 60cm x40cm), twist it up tight and fold it over the chin bar without the edges being pulled and you should be fine. Wetting it with water will strengthen it a bit, and don't ask how I know, but pissing on it will make it even stronger.
I had one tear on me and I fell right on my ass. I usually use 2 hand towels from the gym, but I inspect them every time. I've had maybe 4 rip severely, but only one time did it fully tear in half.
if u saw the countdown to faber pulver i now only do pullups with the tennis balls that shit is crazy i love it
Not sure if it has been posted yet, but this is an incredible grip strength exercise: Jens Pulver Grip Tip @admin: I hope you don't mind me linking our blog as long as we deliver good content.
I wouldnt call that good content. In fact its embarrasing. U really think its a good idea to put tennis balls in your hand while doing pull ups!!? Your an irresponsible idiot. Their are plenty better ways for developing a stroing grip without all the lame hazards presented by the one u posted. such as slipping the tennis ball and falling on the ground or tearing a ligament in your hand or taking out a shoulder through the lack of balance and stability in the excercise. Just cos Jens Pulver might do it doesnt make it a good excercise.
A little harsh, but every exercise has to be weighed against its risks. Try wetting a towel and squeezing out the water with your hands - not wringing it, just squeezing. Rope pullups or hangs with a thick rope should be just about the same as towel pullups, if you're concerned about safety. Go to Ross or Walmart and pick up some towels on sale, don't use the old ones that are in your garage - they're probably too ratty.
I should probably get a good bath towel to use for this. I'd been usin' the towels at my uni gym, but they rip too easy (never had a bad rip, just could feel it slowly givin' way), so I bought a couple good hand towels at Wal-Mart, but the one ripped a little the 2nd time I used it (not very bad at all tho...)... Maybe when it fails I'll get a bath towel...
