Issue 142
Your essential at-a-glance guide to grip strength training.
PINCH GRIP
Two great ways to train the pinch grip is with the one-handed plate pinch and the two-handed plate pinch.
One handed involves grabbing a few 5kg plates, chalking it up and hanging on. The two-handed plate pinch involves holding onto a 20kg plate. A dumbbell bar is added through the center for extra loading if required.
CRUSH GRIP
For me the crush grip is really all about closing grippers and gi or towel pulls. Grippers like the Captains of Crush or Heavy Grips are great for progressing. Once you can close the first set easily, start working on closing the next set and so on.
SUPPORT GRIP
The support grip is usually already well trained via deadlifts, farmers walks, kettlebells and power rope work. But you can emphasis the grip component by using thick bars and towel-wrapped grips.
RECOVERY
The recovery factor’s importance cannot be understated. Like any other forms of specific training, overuse injuries are a concern.
When we combine grip training with daily gi jiu-jitsu or wrestling, we can easily exceed the hand and forearm’s tissue tolerance and end up with elbows that really hate us.
Sticking a baseball in your forearm is a great way to improve tissue quality of the involved muscles.
Contrast bathing (30 seconds in hot water, 30 seconds in cold water for four ‘reps’) is another weapon in the recovery arsenal that’s found effective.
It’s also a good idea to get some antagonistic work in for the finger extensors: three sets of 50 rubber band finger extensions or cup holds for time are great for this.
GRIP TRAINING PROGRAM - CRUSH, PINCH, SUPPORT
MAX STRENGTH, 6-8 Sets of 1 rep, 6-8 Sets 1-3 reps, 6-8 Sets 1-3 reps
ENDURANCE, 2-3 Sets 10-20 reps, 2-4 Sets ALAP*, 2-3 Sets ALAP*
When implementing grip-specific training we suggest prioritizing two of the three factors every three weeks in rotation.
For example, weeks one to three could be crush and pinch, weeks four to six pinch and support, then weeks six to eight support and crush. Trying to train all three in a single week is time consuming, and a bit too much volume.
The week itself is broken down like this over four days:
DAY 1 - Crush endurance and recovery
DAY 2 - Pinch endurance and recovery
DAY 3 - Pinch endurance and recovery
DAY 4 - Crush max effort and recovery
And here’s a program over three days:
DAY 1 - Crush endurance and recovery
DAY 2 - Pinch endurance and recovery
Day 3 - Crush and pinch max effort and recovery
PRO TIP
If all this seems a bit in-depth, some thick bar deadlift variations and towel pull-ups will still make for some tough exercises.
Grip training can be performed prior to a workout so long as it doesn’t affect the workout itself: deadlifting after a maximum-effort crush session is probably a bad idea.
Try mixing grip work in to a superset or giant set of exercises, although it can just as easily be performed immediately after the main workout.
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