Getting A Grip On Life

[Dan Cenidoza]

Taken from www.naturalstrength.com

Back in ancient days, the practice of hand shaking originated. Not so much for the purpose of greeting a friend and passing the time of day, but for a more practical reason of determining something concerning the physical strength of the man behind the clasp hand. One theory bases the beginning of hand shaking as a desire to judge the wrestling ability of a man. Another theory seems far more interesting and romantic, if we may the use the word here. According to his theory, hand shaking originated in the days of armor clad noblemen; a man presented his hand to show he carried no weapon with which to strike his friend. It is also claimed that the practice of tipping the hat originated the same way; the armor helmet was removed to show the man approached in a relation of friendliness with no fear of those whom he greeted.

Nowadays, we shake hands to determine if a man is a frat or lodge brother; or give a man the "glad hand' to win his favor in preparation for an election campaign or sell him insurance or gold brick stock. Otherwise hand shaking means little except when you grab hold of a cold clammy hand and imagine the possessor must have a back bone of the same consistency. Hand shakes or rather the manner in which men grip your hand may have something to do with the subconscious mind and character analysis. I am about convinced it denotes more in that way than it does the physical strength of the one who grips with you. Some to the strongest men hardly clasp your hand, and when referring to men of strength, I don't just mean weight lifters, but farmers, mechanics, and others possessing unusual strength. On the other hand, a lot of fellows who wish they were unusually strong cultivate a nut cracker grip and try to pulverize the hand of everyone whom they meet. I recall quite a few of this type who grab quickly and put everything they have into the one effort to subdue the one they are greeting. A hand clasp can be firm, warm and welcoming without trying to prove you are the strongest man on earth. Probably the psycho-analysts could give an explanation of this; it may be that some individuals fear others will not consider them extraordinarily strong, so they with to remove all doubts in the first offensive. Nevertheless, and disregarding all of the foregoing, a powerful grip is a valuable asset, and worth cultivating by the physical culturist who desires to handle heavy and unwieldy things with comparative ease. Physicians have long recognized the gripping powers as giving some indication of the nervous energy possessed by the individual, and in many methods of conducting physical tests, the grip is accorded a place of importance, in our leading colleges.

To develop a powerful grip, you must recognize the necessity of enlarging and strengthening the muscles of the forearm. To acquire such development and also to develop thick and powerful wrists, you might supplements your regular bar bell exercise program by the inclusion of the forearm exercises illustrated in these pages. Siegmund Klein was kind enough to present us with some excellent exercise poses, illustrating a few of the finest forearm developers.

The first is a fine bar bell exercise; you may also reverse the grip, that is, with the knuckles up and palms down. The second employs the principle of leverage, and by using a weight on the end of a bar or stick in this manner you have what has sometimes been referred to as the anti-bar bell. This exercise principle may also be reversed, with the bar to the front instead of to the rear. The principle has infinite possibilities as a special exercise idea and you may practice all the movements suggested in our discussion of the forearm muscles. Winding a weighted cord on a stick has long been recognized as a highly valuable means of developing the forearms. You may practice this movement with the knuckles up as well, and we would also advise practicing this winding exercise with the stick held at arm's length in front of the body. Always vary the effect by winding the cord in both directions. This stick and cord idea could easily constitute your only forearm exercise, and you would be certain of satisfactory results.

Juggling a large plate about is one of the finest grip strengtheners; you may start with a twenty-five and progress to a fifty, and later on to a seventy-five pounder. Then you may feel assured of having a good grip. Some of the fellows with an extra fine grip like to drop a big plate from one hand and catch it with the other; this really takes a grip of quality if you use a seventy-five pound plate.

Walking around the room carrying big plates in the fingers give the gripping powers plenty to do. John Y. Smith, the wonderful old fellow who is well past sixty, practices walking up and down stairs and all around the gym while carrying a heavy bell in each hand. Besides strengthening the grip, your calf exercise is taken care of at the same time when you do this. An old reliable is to drop a heavy dumb bell from one hand and catch it in the other, alternating back and forth while straddling the bell. The grip will be strengthened by handling bar bells with thick handle bars, but if you devote too much of your lifting to the use of tick bars, your poundage will suffer. Handling round iron ball of various weights and sizes would be very good, and one man a contrivance consisting of a half sphere which could be gripped in this manner, with a bar hung below for adjustable plates. Progressive gripping exercise you might call it.

Handling a block weight by various finger and hand grips might be included by the iron man looking for unusual strength. Finger lifting and the One and Two Hands Dead Lifts are invaluable for the same purpose.

Strange indeed, but sadly true, at least sadly so to the ambitious physical culturist who is not blessed by nature with large hands and long fingers is the fact that some men have extraordinary grips without noticeable development. The man with a small hand and short fingers may slave for a long time and yet fail to surpass the gripping powers of another man who never does any exercise, but whose fingers are unusually long and mechanically constructed to supply the necessary leverage. I have known of such individuals, with long thin forearms and fingers long enough to entwine the average hand like the tentacles of an octopus. When a man with such hands trains for greater strength the world sees a super grip capable of twisting tough iron and possibly of breaking coins.

It is to be observed that strong men who do considerable difficult grip work, invariably have a peculiar construction of fingers as a result of, and which enables them to do this class of work. The last joint of every finger inclines in such a way as to favor the gripping of objects and the thumb turns in to oppose the fingers properly. Robert L. Jones has acquired this same type of fingers from years of standing (up side down) on his finger tips. Or rather, from the fingers becoming properly adapted to the requirements, the contact is actually made on the first joint instead of on the finger tips. Incidentally, he has also acquired a peculiar formation of the forearm muscles, so that just above the wrist the forearm looks about as large as the upper part.

[dubthewonderscot]

Dan, awesome article, thanks for sharing it.

W

[Vise]

Robert L. Jones has acquired this same type of fingers from years of standing (up side down) on his finger tips. Or rather, from the fingers becoming properly adapted to the requirements, the contact is actually made on the first joint instead of on the finger tips. Incidentally, he has also acquired a peculiar formation of the forearm muscles, so that just above the wrist the forearm looks about as large as the upper part.

does anyone have a picture of these peculiar forearms?

[foggymountainmuscle]

Robert L. Jones has acquired this same type of fingers from years of standing (up side down) on his finger tips.  Or rather, from the fingers becoming properly adapted to the requirements, the contact is actually made on the first joint instead of on the finger tips.  Incidentally, he has also acquired a peculiar formation of the forearm muscles, so that just above the wrist the forearm looks about as large as the upper part.

does anyone have a picture of these peculiar forearms?

That would be interesting to see, I thought this article was about natural strength.