Improving Grip Strength

By Emil Chang

Can’t PR your deadlift because the bar is falling out of your hands? Having trouble doing pull-ups because you’re slipping off the bar? Maybe you’re stalling on your presses? It sounds like you need to improve your grip strength.

Importance

Hands connect us to most objects we interact with during the day. We need to hold, push, and pull objects all the time. Although they're probably not shaped like a barbell, they still depend on our hands and fingers working properly. If we spend most of the day on the computer and in the car, our fingers and wrists are stuck in relatively the same position. Keeping our hands strong and healthy is important not only to lift and carry heavy things, but also to maintain functionality.

In terms of exercise, grip can be a frustrating limiting factor. For example, you may have the leg and upper back strength to pull a 315lb deadlift, but if you can’t hold onto it, then what? You lose a percentage of force transfer with poor grip. Just like abdominal bracing or upper back tightness, grip is a point in your lift where you can potentially leak energy.

Programming

Improving grip strength will ultimately require an increase in frequency. While grip can fatigue quickly, it also recovers quickly. This makes it optimal for higher frequency training- something like 3-4 times a week. Grip training should be an addition to your normal workout, usually as an accessory. It’s a small and specific muscle group that is an accessory to many movements, but not neurologically or psychologically taxing enough to warrant a dedicated day of training. That being said, if you are doing heavy deadlifts, pull-ups, rows, or other grip-heavy exercises, you probably want to wait until after to do grip work as to not affect the day’s main training.

Exercises

Many of these exercises can be done for time or until failure and can easily be placed at the end of a workout. Think 20-30sec range with a moderate to heavy weight for 3-4 sets. Usually, you want it to be challenging enough to feel a decent amount of fatigue by the end of the set.

Regular Farmer Carry: With a neutral posture, grip the kettlebell with your thumb around the handle. Keeping your shoulders active, walk for a distance or simply hold the kettlebells in place. If you’re using a heavy weight, go for 10m at a time. With a lighter weight, go longer. 

Vertical Dumbbell Carry: With neutral posture, hold the dumbbell with an open palm grip. The wider spread will require you to really squeeze with your fingers to keep the dumbbell in place. Again, walk for distance or hold in place. 

Pinch Grip Carry: With neutral posture, grip a weight plate with your thumb on one side and your fingers on the other. Try to keep your fingers acting as one unit. Pinch the weight plate between your thumb and your fingers to keep it in place. Walk for distance or hold in place.

Bottoms Up Carry: There’s an added shoulder stability factor in this one and your grip strength will be crucial to keep the kettlebell in place. Make sure your wrist, elbow and shoulder are in line and try to keep your elbow at ninety degrees. 

 In both these landmine exercises, you’ll be holding onto the sleeves of the barbell (where plates are usually loaded). Since the diameter is wider than the shaft of the barbell, you will take more of an open-handed grip, which will be more taxing

Single Leg RDLs- Face your body parallel with the bar. Hold the sleeve of the barbell with your opposite hand or with both hands and perform a single leg hip hinge with the leg further away from the landmine. Keep your hips and shoulders square as you hinge.

Single Arm Bent Over Rows- Face your body parallel with the bar. Take a strong hinged position and perform a row with the arm closer to the landmine.

Hanging: Just hanging from the pull up bar can also build grip endurance. Make sure your entire hand is wrapped around the bar and you aren’t just holding on from your fingertips.

(Bonus) Grippers: There are also products like this that are built specifically for grip strength. These are small so you can use them in the office. Think of them as really hard stress balls.

In Conclusion 

These are just some examples of grip-focused exercises. Sprinkle these into the end of your workout, on recovery days, or even between sets of non-intensive grip exercises like back squats. As with anything, you have to put time in to actually make improvements. 

Isolating grip training is a rather advanced concept. It means you’re competent enough in your main lifts and movements to start worrying about little things. But, as Coach Wooden said, “Little things make big things happen.” So, if you’ve identified grip strength as a weak link, that’s great. You’re probably already pretty strong and dedicated to improving your fitness. Now, you just have to hold on.