Grip training???

Urban, why do you downplay the use of grippers? i have heard you say that they are probably the least important grip exercises on numerous occasions. I have found them to have great carryover to wrestling, (grabbing an opponents wrist for hand controle) and also on deadlift which everyone said they would not carryover. I find them to be very helpful and I am curious as to why they are so downplayed on this forum. Thanks.
 
rickdog said:
Urban, why do you downplay the use of grippers? i have heard you say that they are probably the least important grip exercises on numerous occasions. I have found them to have great carryover to wrestling, (grabbing an opponents wrist for hand controle) and also on deadlift which everyone said they would not carryover. I find them to be very helpful and I am curious as to why they are so downplayed on this forum. Thanks.
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Because the thumb is not involved. nor is the wrist. Will it help? yeah, probably. But there are better ways to train your grip for Deads and grappling. I figure, it would take ABOUT the same amount of time training on blockweights to lift the blob as it would for you get COC certification, so why not spend that time doing something more specific to your sport?

DarkGenbu said:
K2's bells are best and cheapest
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who in their right fucking mind is going to spend 76 dollars an an 18 lb KB? that's just plain dumb.
 
KB's are not cheap. Over priced, CLubs too, overpriced. Block weights are fantastic..:))
 
I would definitely back Urban on this one - blockweights are the key to more functional hand strength. Grippers will definitely develop your crush, but there are other aspects to grip; support, pinch, levering, bending and tearing. Blockweights have been an established way to develop multiple aspects at once. There is great carryover by training with blockweights to all aspects on hand strength and the supporting and stabilizing musculature of the wrist.
 
I just bought a 60lb hex dumbell about a week ago to train grip with. I haven't got around to cutting the heads off yet but it seems like they will be too easy. It was the biggest dumbell I could find used. I plan on training with these, my grippers, and thickbars. I would also like to do a little bending. Is there anything else that you guys think I should add? Would it be dumb to train with thickbars for everything? My goal is to get a really fucking strong grip for bjj. BTW, Brookfield talks about how to make your own kettlebells in his book.
 
We have a great bending article on our site - check that out before you start bending - and TAKE IT SLOW. You have to develop the tendon and ligament strength or you'll overtrain very quickly when bending. And definitely it would not be dumb to use thick bars. You add thickbars in whenever you would do something with a regular olympic bar and you will definitely build a vise grip bro - no doubt! Substitute thick bar for cleans, press, b/o rows, bench - ANYTHING THAT WOULD USE AN OLYMPIC BAR. You can pickup a 2" pipe at a junkyard for $10 bucks. Use wrist wraps for collars.
 
Urban said:
Because the thumb is not involved. nor is the wrist. Will it help? yeah, probably. But there are better ways to train your grip for Deads and grappling. I figure, it would take ABOUT the same amount of time training on blockweights to lift the blob as it would for you get COC certification, so why not spend that time doing something more specific to your sport?


who in their right fucking mind is going to spend 76 dollars an an 18 lb KB? that's just plain dumb.
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OK, got it. Thanks for the explination!
 
I have a related question which I didn't think deserved it's own thread:

Currently none of my lifts are limited by my grip. I have (what I consider to be) very strong hands and forearms. I don't have any aspirations of competing in grip contests, but I don't want my grip to become a limiting factor either. Do I need to work some sort of grip strength into my routine or will my hand strength continue to improve working deads and other pulling motions?
 
Barut, this is simply a guess, but I would think that your grip has to strengthen when you are doing heavy pulls. My question is, you said it is not a limiting factor right now, but is it close? When you do deads for example, your grip might not limit you, but does it feel like if you had another 20 lbs on the bar it would. If that is the case than i would definatly advocate doing some grip work as your back is more likely to add strength faster than your grip ( this is pure speculation on my part).

Anyway, working grip can be fun. You should get a rolling thunder and practice on that. It is cheap to buy and can make for a fun grip workout along with a secondary workout for your core. Give it a shot, its easy and it's fun.
 
rickdog said:
Barut, this is simply a guess, but I would think that your grip has to strengthen when you are doing heavy pulls. My question is, you said it is not a limiting factor right now, but is it close? When you do deads for example, your grip might not limit you, but does it feel like if you had another 20 lbs on the bar it would. If that is the case than i would definatly advocate doing some grip work as your back is more likely to add strength faster than your grip ( this is pure speculation on my part).

Anyway, working grip can be fun. You should get a rolling thunder and practice on that. It is cheap to buy and can make for a fun grip workout along with a secondary workout for your core. Give it a shot, its easy and it's fun.
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I'd like to get an RT eventually. About the deads: my PR pull is 470 (about 6 weeks ago). My grip was not an issue, my hands never loosened and I didn't feel any "burn" (I couldn't think of a better word) during or after the pull. I honestly think that I've got at least another 50lbs in my grip right now. The thing is that I feel a bit left out though during all of the grip threads. I tore a smallish phonebook after the DW vid thread, but I'd like to get started with more formal grip training.
 
this is NO joke, the biggest dumbells sold around here are 40's, would that be enough to make a block weight?...i mean my grip is fairly strong i suppose...what do you guys think?
 
no, if you want to use a 40 lb db for grip, just leave it whole, stand it on end and grab a head for things like tosses and snatches and whatnot. Ask the people that sell the forty's if they have any ideas on who might have heavier ones. check out garage sales (check the classifieds).
 
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