bringing up grip

[afgan-ali]

ive noticed since i started slowing down on back exercise n squeezing that my grip is giving up before my lats, in pulldowns and rows deadlifts. is there any way to bring up grip or will it just get better over time, is anyone having the same problem or gone thru it ???

 

[tim290280]

You need to include grip exercises to improve your grip. There are three types of grip strength: supporting; crushing; pinching. Crushing is the most commonly thought of aspect of grip and can be trained with grippers (Ironmind make some fantastic ones, as do a couple of others) which have to be ordered off the internet (the sports store ones are wimpy by comparison). Mine are 100, 140, 200lbs closing force grippers. Pinching is simple to train with plates, just grab the plate and hold it between your fingers and thumb for time. Add weight or move to two smooth plates gripped together. The supporting grip is your basic hold onto a bar thing. Any number of ways to train this type of strength, I prefer thick bar work. This is as easy as towel hangs, or wrapping a towel around a bar to pick it up, or as complex as farmers walks with a specially made (I use a piece of 2.5" pipe) handle.

Either way don't let the pussies tell you to use straps! If you are too limp wristed to hold onto the bar then you don't deserve to lift it.

 

[afgan-ali]

ye i realli dont like using straps, ive used them a few times, doesnt feel natural. soo wood you do these just as add on exercises at end of session??

 

[tim290280]

^^ I do them as my accessories at the end, yes. But then again I'm not battling to hold the bar. It may actually be worth fixing your weakness for a bit so that it doesn't limit you. So it may be worth doing your rows with a thick bar for a while as your main exercise and then do some pinching at the end of the workout. I actually do thick bar DB rows as a staple exercise now and hate doing normal DB rows.

 

[afgan-ali]

yeahh i think ill take your advice for sure because afta 8-9 reps mi grip is full going because am slowing it down

 

[Bulkboy]

Either way don't let the pussies tell you to use straps! If you are too limp wristed to hold onto the bar then you don't deserve to lift it.

Tim...

with all respect to you, this statement is insulting, ignorant and doesent have much root in reality. using straps does NOT make u a pussy. tell ronnie coleman, jay, or victor that they are pussies for using straps. as bodybuilders we are conserned with building our backs most efficiently, and thus we dont want our grip to limit that. bringing ur grip up is one thing, and its something im trying to do. but i do not want the fact that i am short and have small hands to prevent me from developing my back. ur statement about not using straps may apply to some people, but not to bodybuilders.

if ure "pride" prevents u from using any kind of equipment in ur training then so be it. i dont even mind u preaching this to others. just please refrain from calling people pussies because they have a different approach then u do.

 

[tim290280]

^^ I was deliberately trying to put the straps on the back burner as a suggestion. Yes it is insulting to people who use straps, but I seriously think that too many place their pride and ego in front of their proper development. What bigger ego development is there than people lifting more weight or doing more reps because they have used an aid to do so rather than the strength of their muscles? It is not, however, ignorant to call straps for what they are, a crutch. Oh and for the record Ronnie Coleman does train grip and has been sited mashing a #3 Ironmind gripper, and Gunther has been seen to almost close a #400 gripper (can't remember the brand). These guys do spend time training their grip.

Lets put it in context; if you cannot hold onto something you are lifting then you are going to deactivate the muscles in order to protect yourself from injury. The chief feedback mechanisms in the body are the hands and feet, if you disengage these in the motion you are essentially removing your protection from injury. Using straps is therefore actually opening yourself up to injury and limitations on correct muscle recruitment patterns.

Another point is that which you yourself made; "BBers concerned about developing our backs". This is the very reason I consider people pussies for using straps. The grip has the largest potential for development of strength due to the great leverages available (hypertrophy wise it has the least, and it is also the most susceptible to fatigue and aging). So the only reason that you couldn't do a standard workout without your grip failing is if you haven't spent the time fixing your weaknesses. If you aren't fixing your weaknesses then you are creating a flawed physique and a physique that will ultimately lead to injuries that will stop you training long term.

As for the limitations of small hands, or being short; I don't remember Franco Columbo being tall or having huge hands, yet I do remember him deadlifting huge poundage without straps. I have small joints and crappy muscle belly length in my biceps, etc, etc, but I don't go using that as an excuse for not training those areas, or not squatting, or not pressing (because it is hard on my wrists to hold large weights). So while I don't know exactly what your training and physique dimensions allow, I am trying to challenge the mindset that "I have small hands, I'll use straps" rather than "I have small hands, oh well time to deadlift and get them stronger".

So I appologise if you take the statement personally, I meant the statement to challenge peoples ideas of the way they train. As such I stand by the statement as most people I have met use straps (etc) because they usually have made no attempt to build their hand strength, and this has to change.

 

[Rageking]

Lets put it in context; if you cannot hold onto something you are lifting then you are going to deactivate the muscles in order to protect yourself from injury. The chief feedback mechanisms in the body are the hands and feet, if you disengage these in the motion you are essentially removing your protection from injury. Using straps is therefore actually opening yourself up to injury and limitations on correct muscle recruitment patterns.

interesting, didnt know that. Makes sense now that i think about it

 

[Mars_Invictus]

Hey Ali, I also used to have that problem of grip giving out (and after my long break it's recurring a little bit) but I persevered and as my overall strength developed the problem went away. I didn't have anyone to ask about it and probably would've benefitted from some grip work like Tim described, or, controversial though they seem to be, straps, but I'm not seeing the same problems I had then anymore. Might in the future as I increase the weight I'm lifting, but I'll know what to do about it now. (why the heck is that little sunnies smilie called "gay gay"?)

I remember trying to finish a workout with some shrugs and the DBs just kept falling out of my hands. Pissed the hell outa me.

MI

 

[Napol3onator]

Well I wish I had straps, but I don't. I have pretty good grip strength..obviously if your right handed then ure right should be stronger. I have really big hand and pretty strong forearms, which came by way of deadlifting "and" shrugging without straps..I love straps and would use them, but by accidentally never getting them, my forearms got a lot stronger..so try shrugs and deadlifts without worrying about weight, and you should get hella strong forearms..pinches don't do shit for me..they are too damn fucking boring lol

 

[Chesticles]

^I have big forearms and hands and my grip strength isn't very good.

 

[Skeptic]

^I have big forearms and hands and my grip strength isn't very good.

youve got ladies hands.

 

[Chesticles]

youve got ladies hands.

You have hair like sissy girl :methman:

 

[curtisymoo]

lol im somewhat with chesticles

decent grip ..

 

[Skeptic]

You have hair like sissy girl :methman:

i can at least hold on to a bar

 

[afgan-ali]

today i tried some of those accesory excercises hanging onto plates is not as easy as it looks but we'll see if it helps, hopefully and also today wen doin the back session i cood hold on a few more reps in each exercise soo maybe it will come up naturally

 

[The_KM]

^^ I was deliberately trying to put the straps on the back burner as a suggestion. Yes it is insulting to people who use straps, but I seriously think that too many place their pride and ego in front of their proper development. What bigger ego development is there than people lifting more weight or doing more reps because they have used an aid to do so rather than the strength of their muscles? It is not, however, ignorant to call straps for what they are, a crutch. Oh and for the record Ronnie Coleman does train grip and has been sited mashing a #3 Ironmind gripper, and Gunther has been seen to almost close a #400 gripper (can't remember the brand). These guys do spend time training their grip.

Lets put it in context; if you cannot hold onto something you are lifting then you are going to deactivate the muscles in order to protect yourself from injury. The chief feedback mechanisms in the body are the hands and feet, if you disengage these in the motion you are essentially removing your protection from injury. Using straps is therefore actually opening yourself up to injury and limitations on correct muscle recruitment patterns.

Another point is that which you yourself made; "BBers concerned about developing our backs". This is the very reason I consider people pussies for using straps. The grip has the largest potential for development of strength due to the great leverages available (hypertrophy wise it has the least, and it is also the most susceptible to fatigue and aging). So the only reason that you couldn't do a standard workout without your grip failing is if you haven't spent the time fixing your weaknesses. If you aren't fixing your weaknesses then you are creating a flawed physique and a physique that will ultimately lead to injuries that will stop you training long term.

As for the limitations of small hands, or being short; I don't remember Franco Columbo being tall or having huge hands, yet I do remember him deadlifting huge poundage without straps. I have small joints and crappy muscle belly length in my biceps, etc, etc, but I don't go using that as an excuse for not training those areas, or not squatting, or not pressing (because it is hard on my wrists to hold large weights). So while I don't know exactly what your training and physique dimensions allow, I am trying to challenge the mindset that "I have small hands, I'll use straps" rather than "I have small hands, oh well time to deadlift and get them stronger".

So I appologise if you take the statement personally, I meant the statement to challenge peoples ideas of the way they train. As such I stand by the statement as most people I have met use straps (etc) because they usually have made no attempt to build their hand strength, and this has to change.

Agree with you.

And I believe the same goes for weight belts. Of course if you have pre-existing conditions where your spine is never exactly linear, then yeah, for your own safety. However, relieving natural strain on the lumbar, does the opposite reaction in development and as you progress further into your career (biomechanically speaking), injury is prone. It's similar to a rotator cuff injury, the inhibition and the lack of strength becomes a speed bump.

Hey bulkboy:

Does your gym allow chalk? If so, give that a try if you have trouble grasping. The forearms have a strict load placed on them indirectly already, so any direct forearm movements consistently, I don't think is needed.

Grip improvement is something I'm in the process of doing. I'm approaching the higher weights and I will not let my grip fail me!

Just my 2cc

 

[Bulkboy]

ok guys, my grip is not weak, i can hold on to 140 kg+ with an overhand grip, with a locking grip i can hold way more. the point is, i refuse to use a locking grip when doing deads, it feels unnatural to me, and when im going up to the bigger weights, there is no other alternative then using straps. same goes with shrugs. i guess i just have a different mindset than u guys, i dont see straps as cheating or sparing my forearms, i see it as a tool for me to build a better and bigger back which is what im conserned with in the first place. there is just no way im gonna ruin my back training by letting my forearms give out before my back.