In the cage, you can’t afford to let your opponent out of your clutches, so our S&C columnist Kevin Kearns shows you how to develop a killer grip.
The value of grip training has been known since the early stages of athletics. Wrestlers of the early 1800s understood the value of grip training.
Men like the ‘Great Gama’ (a Kashimiri wrestler) went undefeated for years because of superior grip endurance.
This was in a time before there were gi’s to hold onto as well.
In one match the Great Gama outwrestled his opponent for three hours! A vise-like grip was essential for the early strong men of the circus era as well.
With a little research you will find that the barbells and dumbbells of today would be considered a joke to these old timers.
The first thing you will notice is that the bars were a lot thicker and they did not roll at all. The pinch grip was developed to a high level.
There is also a theory called ‘irradiation’ that became popular when kettlebells came on the market.
The theory states that you should crush grip your kettlebell so the strength effect irradiates through your entire kinetic chain of your arm and into your body.
Personally, I found this extremely useful when I injured my left shoulder six months ago and was not allowed to use it.
I used this technique to rehab my left shoulder while I worked my right arm. When I was able to restart my left arm, the strength returned quickly... So, let’s get down to meat and potatoes of this.
There is no doubt that grip strength is an important part of MMA conditioning for the fight game. In the octagon it can be even more important than in a BJJ tournament, simply because you have no gi to grip onto.
It also doesn’t help when people are slippery and sweaty.
Many times when you are in a grappling position in the octagon, loosing your grip can see you lose the fight.
Grip training can be accomplished many different ways.
I have seen a lot of great grip training from my mentors, like JC Santana, Douglas Brooks and Kru DellaGrotte. One of our favorite ways to train grip work is with heavy medicine balls.
They feel like moving dead bodies. I looked to my long time friend, mentor, open-weight gold medalist at the 2006 Jiu-Jitsu World Championships and BJJ brown belt Tim Barchard as my guinea pig for this workout. This was the same workout we used to get him ready for the tournament.
There are three primary ways to work the grip in my book: isometric, isotonic and isokinetic. In other words, tension without movement, tension with motion and tension with speed, respectively.
At Burn With Kearns we like doing things old school and simple.
I love using a heavy medicine ball (50lb plus) or a small stability ball filled with water. The reason we are in favor of this is you can work all three tension principles at once. The act of just holding the ball is isometric. Then you can work motion and tension. Finally you can add all three elements with a speed factor and hey presto, you have a grip that can crush an 8-ball!
THE EXERCISES
1. Squat to press
2. Bent-over rows (Three sets of 20 reps)
3. Rotational shoulder press (Three sets of 20 reps)
4. Heavy snatches
5. Grappler’s lunges
6. Across toss
7. Lumberjacks
8. Shoulder toss
9. Chest pass and run
Do all nine exercises for rounds of 30 seconds each for three complete circuits.
Measure your time and reps. Have fun with this one.
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