How’s your grip strength?
It’s probably not as good as Isaac Caldiero’s.
Never heard of him?
He’s a millionaire-rock climber who lives in an old RV with his girlfriend, and travels around to take on the toughest rock climbing challenges he can find.
Caldiero cashed in by winning American Ninja Warrior and muscling his way through a series of competitions and obstacles on the popular reality-TV show.[1]
But he didn’t always have an iron-vice-like grip.
In fact, He failed in competition more than once because his grip strength failed on obstacles like the Jumping Spider and the Double Salmon Ladder.
But after improving his grip strength he was able to conquer the final 75-foot rope climb to reach the top of the elusive Mount Midoriyama.
You probably don’t have plans to become a serious rock climber, or land a spot on American Ninja Warrior.
But take some time to work on your own grip strength, and you can set some serious PRs. Here’s what you need to know:
The Benefits of Grip Strength
You’ve probably experienced the frustration of trying to crank out another pull-up or complete one more deadlift rep, only to have the bar slowly slip out of your fingers.
It happens.
And while you can improve your grip strength with training, research suggests there are some bigger benefits to a stronger grip than just setting PRs in the gym.
In a recent study, researchers found that grip strength can also be used to measure your risk for:[2]
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Early death
The more you can do to improve grip strength and maintain it as you age, the less likely your risk for these problems.
Better grip strength can also have a direct impact on your goals to get bigger and stronger by:
- Allowing you to lift heavier weights
- Increasing muscular endurance
- Reducing the risk for injury by strengthening muscles, connective tissues, and neuro-sensory pathways in the brain.
- Improving sports performance
It other words, it’s the secret sauce to being able to improve your lifts on pulling exercises like deadlifts and pull-ups. But a stronger grip, can also help you maximize muscle recruitment on pushing exercises like the bench press and shoulder press.
8 Moves to Build Better Grip Strength
When Isaac Caldiero realized grip strength was his Achilles’ heel on American Ninja Warrior, he worked on getting stronger by dangling from rock walls and tree limbs. But you don’t have to do that.
Here are 8 ways to improve your grip strength:
1. Double Overhand Hold Deadlift
You can probably lift heavier on deadlift day with a reverse grip. But you’re cheating yourself from developing your grip strength when you do this.
Do at least a set per deadlift session with a double-overhand grip. And at the end of the set, hold the bar as long as you can until your grip strength gives out.
2. Thick-Bar Training
You’re probably used to the standard grip on a barbell or set of dumbbells. But there’s an easy way to make it harder to improve your grip. Make the bar fatter.
Wrap the bar in a towel or use something like Fat Gripz. And you’ll be forced to grip the bar harder to work through a set.
3. Bar Hangs
When pull-ups or chin-ups are part of your workout, a lot of people find that their fingers peel off the bar before their muscle strength runs out. Know what I’m talking about?
When you know you can’t complete another rep, don’t quit just yet. Grip the bar as tight as you can and hang on. That few extra seconds can help you improve your grip strength.
4. Squeeze the Bar on the Bench Press
I’ve seen plenty of people in the gym, crank out reps on the bench press with an almost-open grip. Don’t do that.
Why? You’ll be missing out on developing grip strength, along with activating the rotator cuffs, improving wrist position, and boosting the mind-muscle connection.
Instead, work through your reps and sets by squeezing the bar hard.
5. Plate-Gripped Farmer Walks
Most people think of Farmer’s Walks as a full-body exercise that can help develop core strength. And it’s typically done with dumbbells or kettlebells.
But there’s a way to make this exercise a little harder and more effective at building grip strength.
Skip the dumbbells and kettlebells, and use weighted plates. You’ll be forced to squeeze the plate between your fingers. You might have to use a lighter weight at first, but you’ll get stronger.
6. Reverse Curls
It’s easy to assume Reverse Curls are mainly an isolation exercise that targets the biceps and forearms. [3] But it’s also a highly effective way to improve grip strength.
Fit in a couple sets of Reverse Curls at the end of an arms-day workout to fatigue your muscles, and improve grip strength.
7. Fingertip Push-Ups
You might already be able to crank out 10, 20, 50, or even 100 push-ups at a time. But can you do them on your fingertips? It’s a lot harder.
FYI, UK-resident Graham Maly currently holds the world record for completing 105 fingertip push-ups in one minute. How many you can do?
Fingertip push-ups force your hands to do a lot more work than palm-down push-ups, and build your grip strength.
Try a fingertip push-up superset. Perform as many reps as you can until your grip strength fails. Then perform a few more fingertip push-ups from your knees.
8. Hand-Grip Exercises
You can also work on improving your grip strength by squeezing a tennis ball or racquetball, stretching a rubber band with your fingers, or even using grip-strength training devices.
Get a Grip
When you take a little time each week to focus on grip-strength training, you’re doing a lot more than just developing a firm handshake. Grip strength will help improve your overall health, help you lift heavier weights, build muscle, and get stronger.
Need help making progress in the gym? Check out my customized training and nutrition plans to shred fat, build muscle, and transform your body.
References
- Thomas, G. (2015). Isaac Caldiero: “I wanted to be the guy who does the impossible.” Outside. From: https://www.outsideonline.com/2016951/isaac-caldiero-i-wanted-be-guy-who-does-impossible
- Leong, D., et al. (2015). Prognostic value of grip strength: Findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. The Lancet. From: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673614620006
- Anakwe, R.E., et al. (2007). Grip strength and forearm circumference in a healthy population. Journal of Hand Surgery. From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17197064