Grip stengthening
Deena_Bean
Posts: 906 Member
Do you use those little hand held grip thingy's to strengthen your grip? I've started using them recently, I guess I'll see how well it works. I can tell you that my hands are faster to fail me on deads than my body is. Hopefully this will slowly increase my wrist/grip strength. I broke my left wrist as a child and it's always been super weak as a result...so that's fun.
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I know a lot of people are fond of dead hangs from the pull up bar and farmer carries for grip strength.
I do hangs because it also stretches out my back :P0 -
Are you talking about the ones that look like weight clips/thigh masters for your hands? I always see people in cubicles use those but don't know if they actually do anything.
Have you tried chalk and mixed grip on deadlifts? I usually use mixed grip for my deadlift working sets but I always try one or two reps extra with double overhand to help work on my grip. It's definitely gotten stronger over the past several months of barbell work.
Some yoga might also help you develop wrist and forearm strength. I know it did for me.0 -
I'm probably not the best one to weigh in on this since my grip sucks when I get past 200# for deads. (Even when I use mixed grip.)
I asked some friends what to do, some of the suggestions I got: farmer carries, hang from a pull-up bar, switch your mixed grip to make your hands work in other ways, use chalk, or get wraps. I have been working on my grip strength by doing everything mentioned except chalk and wraps. It's improving, but it's not super fast (for me).0 -
I'd add to the hangs from pull-up bars any sort of swinging from said bar. Spoiler alert: callouses.
Another great one is the plate pinch. Hold two 25s together with one hand for as long as possible, switch hands, repeat 3-4 times in a row. Trust me, you'll work it
The hand grippers aren't too bad, if you get one with adjustable/appropriate resistance (if you're at the opint you can easily do 20 reps in a row, you're wasting your time)
Also, if you start doing a lot of grip work, make sure you get in some hand extensions from time to time (otherwise it's kinda like doing tons of bench pressing and no pulling, you'll get muscle imbalances and that's no good. Also a recipe for tendonitis.). Just use a brocoli rubber band and spread your finger against the resistance
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I use wraps because my grip is always being worked and I don't care to stress it any more. I think I have pretty good grip strength because of my aerial work, but I still struggle with deads when pushing 200 lbs.0
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Pshaw, that will make the back of my hands bulky Just kidding.. trying it now at my desk with two regular rubber bands.
Also, I have some calluses but they're not that bad. I kind of like them, actually.0 -
Interesting stuff here. I have tried about zero of these things so this is interesting to me. I have the little gripper things at my desk. I did a bunch in a row today and I can't say it was the hardest thing I've done, so I don't imagine they'll be helpful for long (at least not this set).0
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I like to do hangs from the assisted chin-up machine but mostly for my shoulders. They feel better on things like OHP or front squat/push press if I've done that beforehand. I do switch grip on the heavy deadlift and double overhand on the warm ups when I can. Both bother the calluses, as does the dead hangs too.
I have to be careful with the devices cause my right hand can act up sometimes. I've had it happen once when I worked in deli and was using the tongs often. I could barely lift a coffee pot even for a couple of days. So far no problems but I don't want to aggravate it either. Then again, I do some carries just cause I don't do my dumbbell work right in front of the racks anyways, and sometimes take them to a corner so I can hide while doing one leg lifts cause it looks silly.0 -
Careful is key for me - I have minor calluses, but nothing terrible. I have ridiculously sensitive skin so I can't lift without gloves without causing some unnecessary pain. Annoyingly, I am kind of a mess overall. I'm 36 and have had arthritis in my neck (near where it meets the top of your back, not skull), and also no natural curve in my neck like I should. It's just straight which limits flexibility and causes it to lock up sometimes. Pressure from the bar for squats is awful so I also had to get the "sissy pad" to cushion that area. I know they're not overly popular, but without the stupid thing I couldn't turn my head to the right for a couple of days. Happily I don't give up well and I also don't take "no" as an answer without some serious convincing. The gloves and sissy pad seem to make things bearable enough, I just have to climb up the weight level really carefully and slowly. And pay super picky attention to form. *thumbs up*0
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Deena_Bean wrote: »Careful is key for me - I have minor calluses, but nothing terrible. I have ridiculously sensitive skin so I can't lift without gloves without causing some unnecessary pain. Annoyingly, I am kind of a mess overall. I'm 36 and have had arthritis in my neck (near where it meets the top of your back, not skull), and also no natural curve in my neck like I should. It's just straight which limits flexibility and causes it to lock up sometimes. Pressure from the bar for squats is awful so I also had to get the "sissy pad" to cushion that area. I know they're not overly popular, but without the stupid thing I couldn't turn my head to the right for a couple of days. Happily I don't give up well and I also don't take "no" as an answer without some serious convincing. The gloves and sissy pad seem to make things bearable enough, I just have to climb up the weight level really carefully and slowly. And pay super picky attention to form. *thumbs up*
Regarding the neck issue if you post a video of your squats I'd be interested to see what's going on. If you're not familiar with how to properly retract the scapula and set the bar then it could be pain caused from improper bar placement. It SOUNDS like you squat high bar (not sure it's possible to squat low bar with the bar pad) so alternatively you could look into low bar squatting which may avoid the neck issue and allow you to squat without the pad. Really a good idea to learn to squat without it if at all possible.
Regarding your grip, try using a mixed grip (typically strong hand pulls overhand and the weak hand pulls underhand). When you pick up the barbell it will have a tendency to spin/roll. Using a mixed grip counteracts that and makes it easier to hold onto the bar.0 -
For what it's worth I've never had my grip fail on deadlifts while using chalk. From forum reading I think a lot of folks think they have grip issues when really they have sweat issues.0
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my gym has the plastic clip-on collars for weights, but it also has those hideous spring-loaded things. every so when i'm feeling sassy i try one of them, and i could see how if i could get them to work then using them regularly would probably do some good things for my grip. they are the devil.
unrelated (mostly), i got caught by some stranger in an elevator recently investigating my forearm muscles. it just suddenly occurred to me: here i am hugely stronger than i used to be, and i must have much stronger forearms than i used to. but i've never even looked to see if they look any different - although i've checked out just bout every other body part that i've got.
then i caught him 'catching' me and i could tell i hadn't been looking like a perfectly normal person at all. i figured it would be best if i just confessed, so i said 'i've been lifting weights, see. ' luckily he laughed instead of throwing himself at the exit doors. i guess he got it.0 -
Oh I have grip issues on deadlifts, when I was DL around 185lbs my fingers are barely holding the bar.. with switch grip and chalk. I do have an old wrist injury that's healed but my grip is shot, and my time doing BJJ probably made it worse.
I do hangs (not sure if they are helping yet) and now I lift with straps because I'm just gonna stall out DL from grip. You'll want something closer to mimic DL than squeezey things. Farmer carries would be another great one to do.
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Regarding the neck issue if you post a video of your squats I'd be interested to see what's going on. If you're not familiar with how to properly retract the scapula and set the bar then it could be pain caused from improper bar placement. It SOUNDS like you squat high bar (not sure it's possible to squat low bar with the bar pad) so alternatively you could look into low bar squatting which may avoid the neck issue and allow you to squat without the pad. Really a good idea to learn to squat without it if at all possible.
Regarding your grip, try using a mixed grip (typically strong hand pulls overhand and the weak hand pulls underhand). When you pick up the barbell it will have a tendency to spin/roll. Using a mixed grip counteracts that and makes it easier to hold onto the bar.
I'll try to get a video of where the bar is (tomorrow or Sunday) - it's one of those squat sponge pads, so it has a cut-out area that basically fits into the groove of your neck. When I first started 5x5 in Janaury, I didn't use it and the heavier the weights got is when I started feeling pain from the pressure of the load. In the beginning, pre-pad, I was squatting high-bar for sure. I watched loads of how-to videos before I started because I was really nervous about injuries...high-bar felt the most comfortable to me with the lighter weights. There is a part of my spine up high that pokes out further than most people (that's where the curve should start) and the high bar squatting with heavier weights on that bone was bad, so I dropped the bar to the low bar position. That was also without the pad, and while it was better in terms of not crushing my bones, it applied pressure to some nerve on the right, upper side of my spine that would cause kind of a dull ache to start from that spot and go up to the top of my head (this nerve is elusive, though, I only seem to hit it sporadically). As soon as I get the bar off of me, the pain goes away. So I started looking for a way around both pains to avoid ditching the lift. I bought the squat sponge and most often I have no pain issues with my neck when I used it. I would have to say that the bulkiness of the sponge makes it nearly impossible to be fully in a low bar position. Once or twice I've managed to still hit a bad nerve zone, though. I hate my neck for being "special" - but I can't do anything about it aspect besides work with it. I appreciate your willingness to help. If it's something about this retracting of the scapula you speak of, I would definitely like to know how to correct it and stop the pains!
As for the grip - my next dead lift work out is tomorrow, so I'm going to try the mixed grip then. I can feel the bar rolling when I lift with both hands over...it slides down into my fingers to where my palm is only barely touching the bar anymore.
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Feel free to PM me the video in case I don't remember to check this thread.0
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Fittreelol wrote: »For what it's worth I've never had my grip fail on deadlifts while using chalk. From forum reading I think a lot of folks think they have grip issues when really they have sweat issues.
Sorry to resurrect an older-ish thread.
I have been having grip issues. I remember reading this thread and hearing others (IRL) mention using chalk. Yesterday, I took chalk with me to the gym. Normally, my grip had been failing at rep 3 on my deadlift, but yesterday I didn't have any issues. It appears that fittreelol was onto something with the sweaty hands issues. If you can, chalk is definitely worth a shot if you're still having grip issues.0 -
I'm stuck at 175lb for DL coz of grip......I really needed this!!!
I have small hands so would using the 35lb barbell work since its narrower or is it just delaying the inevitable?0 -
@b218w -- Are you using chalk? Are you doing double overhand, or mixed grip?0
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My gym doesn't allow chalk....I'm doing the double overhand.....maybe I'll try the mixed grip0
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I recommend some climbing gym time. It's fun and it improves grip. Serious climbers do hangs to failure and loaded hangs to improve static grip strength and things like finger boards and campus drills to improve dynamic grip strength. Static is what you need for weightlifting unless you are doing super fast circuit style (kidding)0
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You can also look into liquid chalk. It's not as messy, so gyms rarely mind if you use that kind. Also more discreet.0
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So, my local fitness store sells regular chalk, but not liquid.
I really didn't want to wait to ship some, then I found this link:
http://www.adventurerock.com/uncategorized/diy-liquid-chalk/
Super cheap, and you can put it in a little bottle you bring with you.
Just spray the bar after you are done if there is some on the bar, and there will be no mess 0
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