Simple/Effective Grip Programming

[Dbramb]

I'll just come right out and say that, as a newcomer to grip sports, sifting through the vast array of grip implements and finding next to no sound training articles has made it very difficult to simply start programming/executing a long term training plan. From your experience, what exercises and/or implements should I invest the majority of my time on and what simple programming will help me begin working toward a overall grip mastery?

[Tommy J.]

Ah bummer you couldn’t find some helpful content duder...

ill jump right into what implements I feel are the best to get if your looking for a minimal approach to a powerful grip.

a thickbar device. Either an Ironmind Axle, or some form of 1 hand rolling handle

for pinch, my vote is a Saxon bar

and for crush, grippers can’t be out done imo.

obviously only my opinion. I feel if a guy just owned an axle, a Saxon bar, and a few grippers he could develop a powerful well rounded grip.

as far as training regimes on each, you’ll sort of have to surf the board and talk to who is great at what area of grip your wanting to train.

[Tommy J.]

My further advice for equipment, skip most of it. No need for anyone to tell you you need to spend thousands to get a strong grip. Strong on the basics.

[Lucasraymond]

16 minutes ago, Tommy J. said:

Ah bummer you couldn’t find some helpful content duder...

ill jump right into what implements I feel are the best to get if your looking for a minimal approach to a powerful grip.

a thickbar device. Either an Ironmind Axle, or some form of 1 hand rolling handle

for pinch, my vote is a Saxon bar

and for crush, grippers can’t be out done imo.

obviously only my opinion. I feel if a guy just owned an axle, a Saxon bar, and a few grippers he could develop a powerful well rounded grip.

as far as training regimes on each, you’ll sort of have to surf the board and talk to who is great at what area of grip your wanting to train.

Napalm Nightmare with various handles takes care of two of those and then throw in a one hand option and you have one or two hand pinching and various sizes of thickbar and if you want to get good at grippers that is the way to go. As TJ says regimes vary a lot between people including all high level gripsters. 

 

Is your goal to have good grip or be good at events in a contest? You can have a high strength but the intricacies of lifting on various implements in a contest can NOT be reproduced without actually getting your hands on the implement and figuring out what works for you (hand placement, muscle activation, stance, etc). Pinching a saxon bar is not the same as plate pinching, flask, euro, gold bar, etc. 

[Fist of Fury]

Depends entirely on your goals. If you just want overall stronger hands you can use stuff that you'll find in your home to train with and regular gym equipment. Buy a set of fatgripz, you can use them on any type of bar in the gym, you can make a grip exercise out of pretty much any exercise.

Grippers are not needed if you're not planning on actually closing grippers. You can train your fingers doing finger curls with a barbell or dumbbell.

Buy a pinch block or make your own out of wood (cheaper).

[Dbramb]

16 minutes ago, Lucasraymond said:

Napalm Nightmare with various handles takes care of two of those and then throw in a one hand option and you have one or two hand pinching and various sizes of thickbar and if you want to get good at grippers that is the way to go. As TJ says regimes vary a lot between people including all high level gripsters. 

 

Is your goal to have good grip or be good at events in a contest? You can have a high strength but the intricacies of lifting on various implements in a contest can NOT be reproduced without actually getting your hands on the implement and figuring out what works for you (hand placement, muscle activation, stance, etc). Pinching a saxon bar is not the same as plate pinching, flask, euro, gold bar, etc. 

Thank you guys for the advice and I'm looking to get the best grip possible for my day-to-day life (moving business, crossfit, rock climbing, martial arts, and hunting/adventuring) while still being able to place in the top 5-10% each year in the King Kong Grip Challenge. I have the napalm implements (single and double hand as well as pinch and rolling handles of various sizes) and thought about mixing those in with sledgehammer levering, fingerboarding, forearm rolling, rice bucket drills, plate curls, banded extensions, and pull-up variations (towell pull-ups and campus board work). Just wondering what the most efficient way to program this stuff in with my normal training without blowing out.

[Fist of Fury]

Seems like some type of circuit training would be good for you since you don't have very specific goals on certain implements. Some of the exercises you mention is usually done for recovery, like band extensions. So view some of the exercises like recovery and others as primary lifts. Then maybe rotate these when you feel like you hit a wall and need to change things up.

[Jedd Johnson]

18 minutes ago, Dbramb said:

 Just wondering what the most efficient way to program this stuff in with my normal training without blowing out.

I have multiple tutorials on setting up your own program for your specific goals at http://www.thegripauthority.com

[KapMan]

2 hours ago, Dbramb said:

Thank you guys for the advice and I'm looking to get the best grip possible for my day-to-day life (moving business, crossfit, rock climbing, martial arts, and hunting/adventuring) while still being able to place in the top 5-10% each year in the King Kong Grip Challenge. I have the napalm implements (single and double hand as well as pinch and rolling handles of various sizes) and thought about mixing those in with sledgehammer levering, fingerboarding, forearm rolling, rice bucket drills, plate curls, banded extensions, and pull-up variations (towell pull-ups and campus board work). Just wondering what the most efficient way to program this stuff in with my normal training without blowing out.

12 years of that and you will eat grip alive.

Some of the elite talent in grip have a climbing background. Gil Goodman, Tanner Merkle and Mr. Chris Rice who has 40 years on me and could wipe the floor with my big butt come to mind. 
 

 

[climber511]

Before I ever heard of Grip as a Sport I did a routine that consisted of Power Forearms (do a search) and Finger Curls done in the power rack.  I did it to help my rock climbing.  It consists of

Wrist Curls

Reverse Wrist Curls

Wrist Curls behind the back

Reverse Curls

Levering with a single end dumbbell front back and rotations. (not to failure)

All these done to failure with a goal of 8 to 12 reps - done non stop (best done with multiple bars so there's no down time.  Once through at first then twice later on.

A few days later do heavy finger curls - something like 5 sets of 3 - one time strict and one time cheating on you thighs with all the weight you can handle.  Rest completely then repeat.

I know I know Wrist curls etc don't build the grip but I say "Bull S..."   It worked for me as I had a decent grip when I found the GB.  And no fancy equipment needed.  I would recommend Fat Grips though.  The problem I see is people become so busy"testing" their grip they don't take the time to truly "develop" it.  Do this for a while and when you get to the fancy implements you'll surprise yourself.

[Fist of Fury]

1 hour ago, climber511 said:

Before I ever heard of Grip as a Sport I did a routine that consisted of Power Forearms (do a search) and Finger Curls done in the power rack.  I did it to help my rock climbing.  It consists of

Wrist Curls

Reverse Wrist Curls

Wrist Curls behind the back

Reverse Curls

Levering with a single end dumbbell front back and rotations. (not to failure)

All these done to failure with a goal of 8 to 12 reps - done non stop (best done with multiple bars so there's no down time.  Once through at first then twice later on.

A few days later do heavy finger curls - something like 5 sets of 3 - one time strict and one time cheating on you thighs with all the weight you can handle.  Rest completely then repeat.

I know I know Wrist curls etc don't build the grip but I say "Bull S..."   It worked for me as I had a decent grip when I found the GB.  And no fancy equipment needed.  I would recommend Fat Grips though.  The problem I see is people become so busy"testing" their grip they don't take the time to truly "develop" it.  Do this for a while and when you get to the fancy implements you'll surprise yourself.

Of course wrist curls builds grip strength  

[wobbler]

Don't forget to be picky about what plates you buy, keep an eye on craigslist, facebook market, and any used sporting good stores.

You should at least have deep dish 25s with good hubs, and thin-ish 35s with shallow hubs. That should keep you busy with hub and pinch for a while.

I also think microloading is very important so plate mates or other magnetic weights, chains, extra carribeaners are about 0.1lbs each, etc.

[Goran Paulinič]

Train grippers. It is completely useless but for an average man completely necessary thing to do! Find someone (internet) who will show you how to train with it, eat well, repair your car regularly with your hands and then after a year report results. Work with chainsaw and axe as much as you can. We are doing an experiment here and it is crucial for you to do it right.

[Fist of Fury]

38 minutes ago, Hopefully said:

They train one of the same muscle that flex your fingers so.. 

Wrist strength is paramount for grip strength. Simple as that. With supreme wrist strength you don't even need any thumb strength at all to lift the Inch  

The only other muscles wrist curls train, other than hands and forearms is possibly the muscles in your ears when you hear the joints crackling in your wrists when you do them  

There's a lot of stupid shit that people say. "Grippers don't build forearms" etc and a lot of other nonsense. Which is not at all true.

 

[AdamTGlass]

You’re in DFW correct? 

[Dbramb]

4 hours ago, AdamTGlass said:

You’re in DFW correct? 

Yes sir, I am and still haven't made it up there in Fort Worth with you guys. 

[AdamTGlass]

Just now, Dbramb said:

Yes sir, I am and still haven't made it up there in Fort Worth with you guys. 

It’s marvelous to say your goal is be competitive with Tanner or myself but haven’t come out to see what that would look like. Standing invitation- 3pm Sunday’s @Edge Fitness Center in Saginaw. You’re less than 45 minutes drive- ask these guys how many would drive 45 minutes to lift with Tanner Merkle, Eric Milfeld, Robert Nejedly, Tommy Jennings and Adam Glass? 

Hit me up on pm if you need any additional details.

opera non verba 

[Boulderbrew]

https://www.gripboard.com/index.php?/forum/69-the-grip-well/

Check out the Grip Well. Lots of the best grip guys have outlined their opinion on training. Also, I know Princeton is pretty far, but if you ever wanted to make it out to a grip practice I think you would have fun.

[climber511]

41 minutes ago, AdamTGlass said:

It’s marvelous to say your goal is be competitive with Tanner or myself but haven’t come out to see what that would look like. Standing invitation- 3pm Sunday’s @Edge Fitness Center in Saginaw. You’re less than 45 minutes drive- ask these guys how many would drive 45 minutes to lift with Tanner Merkle, Eric Milfeld, Robert Nejedly, Tommy Jennings and Adam Glass? 

Hit me up on pm if you need any additional details.

opera non verba 

I would not come to learn how to be competitive with you all - i would come to learn how to beat you all LOL

[Climber028]

1 hour ago, Dbramb said:

Yes sir, I am and still haven't made it up there in Fort Worth with you guys. 

Go, I've learned more in 5 minute real life conversations than hours of reading garbage on the internet.

[Tommy J.]

56 minutes ago, climber511 said:

I would not come to learn how to be competitive with you all - i would come to learn how to beat you all LOL

You should come down and kick it man! We’d be glad to have you!

and I wouldn’t stop with pinch questions!

[Stephen Anderson]

1 hour ago, climber511 said:

I would not come to learn how to be competitive with you all - i would come to learn how to beat you all LOL

Get stronger, its the only way!  haha

Edited February 29, 2020 by Stephen Anderson
Na

[Tommy J.]

4 hours ago, AdamTGlass said:

It’s marvelous to say your goal is be competitive with Tanner or myself but haven’t come out to see what that would look like. Standing invitation- 3pm Sunday’s @Edge Fitness Center in Saginaw. You’re less than 45 minutes drive- ask these guys how many would drive 45 minutes to lift with Tanner Merkle, Eric Milfeld, Robert Nejedly, Tommy Jennings and Adam Glass? 

Hit me up on pm if you need any additional details.

opera non verba 

Although this guy would be like tuning in live to National Geographic~ TX feral people edition.

eating stuff off the ground, urinating in public, and blasphemous language complete with southern draw accent. With the occasional lift of random objects, of course. Followed by the occasional “Tommy stop it. Put that down!, Don’t eat that! Or, Hey that’s my beer!”

 

Kidding aside, I’m certain anyone here would have fun with us.

[mcalpine1986]

Start doing lots of strict plate curls. They will strengthen your whole lower arm and biceps but mainly your wrists. Strong wrists are the key to a strong grip.

[Florian Kellersmann]

On 2/28/2020 at 4:08 PM, climber511 said:

  The problem I see is people become so busy"testing" their grip they don't take the time to truly "develop" it.  

100% Chris!