Grip strength is often a common problem for many athletes and training individuals. Most people with a gym background have spent countless hours using tools like straps or lifting hooks. Although these allow you to hang on to a weight easier they do nothing for developing strong wrists and an iron like grip. So you shake hands like a pansy eh? Well here are some things you can do to fix that.
Fingertips Exercises: Whether it is deadlifts or pull ups try changing your grip to holding the bar in your fingertips only. Find that last joint of the fingers and use that as a hook to grip the bar. Avoid trying to curl the weight into a closed hand when it gets hard and try to keep the weight in that open hand fingertip grip position.
Towel Chin Ups: Use a big fat fluffy bathroom towel to do your chin ups with. Roll the towel up and throw it over the bar. This will make it a narrow grip pull up. The fatter the towel the better. Because the towel will compress in your grip it will help with your ability to crush a weight.
Avoid Mixed Grip and Hook Grip: Whenever possible avoid grips that help with being able to hang on to weight. Now this is a little tricky as both these grips will still help develop grip strength, but an over over grip will help more. In the early stages of movements like deadlifting you should always use an over over grip until the weight gets to a point where you need to change it up.
Farmers Walk: Grab some heavy weight with big mean thick handles and go for a run with them. Although this will help strengthen your entire body, typically in a farmers walk its your grip that goes not your body that fails.
Rolling Thunder & Captains of Crush: If you don't know what these are then google it up. You can purchase a Rolling Thunder or Captain of Crush from Ironmind and they are worth their weight in gold.
Hit today's wod hard and fast. Try to only break for long enough to take 3 breathes max and get back into the movement. It is designed to be fast and furious.
WOD
30-20-10 For Time
Double Unders
Pull Ups
*If you stop and rest your hands on your hips there is a 3 burpee consequence. Focus and push through the pain!
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