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Grip strength isn’t just important for a few niche athletes like powerlifters who rely on it to lift hundreds of pounds at a time. Grip strength is important for all of us, no matter what our age is, or how active we are. This is because function grip strength is important in even doing everyday tasks like trying to open a jar, or being able to grab food off of a shelf.
The overall grip strength in men has declined as of late, which is mainly due to changes in the workforce. Most jobs today are in the service industry as opposed to traditional labor jobs, which in turn accounts for this change. With that being said there are many different ways in which you can improve your grip strength which is going to allow you to lift more weight at the gym, and have an easier time with other tasks you do regularly.
No matter how hard you train a specific muscle group, your progression is going to be dependent on your grip strength to one degree or another. This is especially true for upper body exercises, as most lifts which work the upper body involve using dumbbells or a straight bar.
If you aren’t training your grip along with say your shoulders for example, you are inevitably going to reach a point where your wrists and hands aren’t going to be able to support the weight you’re pressing. Until you adequately improve your grip strength, you are going to be stuck in this stagnated position and your gains are going to suffer.
It is also important to know a little bit about the anatomy of your arms, wrists and hands to understand how grip strength works. It involves the use of over 35 muscles mainly found in the hand and arm, all of which perform a role in grasping. This means that not only are there many different exercises you can be doing to train your grip strength, but plenty of variations within them as well.
Using a towel to do a pull up instead of a traditional one where the hands are in contact with the bar is another way to develop grip strength. To do the towel pull up, all you need are two towels which you will throw over the bar, both ends being at an equal distance. You then grab one towel with each hand, which is going to significantly modify the exercise.
Doing pull ups this way is going to put a good amount of the stress on your forearms, which will give you a burn like never before. This is another exercise you should save till the end of your routine if you’ve never tried it before because your arms will be shot afterwards.
How Does Grip Strength Impact Lifts?
What Exercises Improve Grip Strength?
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Wrist/Forearm Roller
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Pushup Variations
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Towel Pull Up
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Sledgehammer Training