One thing I’m noticing with my leg workouts is that I’m not so much limited by the weight I can lunge or squat but by my ability to hold the dumbbell long enough to even do 8 full reps. I am looking to compliment my grip trialing with those things you just hold in your hand and squeeze. I’m not trying to replace a proper grip workout but am more looking to have something I can do around the office or in my downtime to just give me an extra boost.
If its a good idea to get one should I get ones that have the individual fingers or the ones that are just two bars?
I’d work them like any other muscle with sets and reps twice a week, so it doesn’t interfere with my lifting.
I also heard a really good piece of advice the other day from a very experienced lifter who was saying it’s pretty simply to get a strong grip, just ditch wraps and all the accessories and just grab everything like you want to strangle it. Every time you pick up a dumbbell, barbell, chin-ups, deadlift, squatting, etc, just grab it like you want to kill it and squeeze as hard as you can. In a pretty short amount of time you’ll see the grip strength increasing.
[quote]dreadlocks1221 wrote:
One thing I’m noticing with my leg workouts is that I’m not so much limited by the weight I can lunge or squat but by my ability to hold the dumbbell long enough to even do 8 full reps. [/quote]
You do db squats or something? Why?
Don’t buy the 9 pounds per finger thingy. If you want a gripper, buy a captains of crush gripper or two. I bought a no 2, which was way too heavy for me. I can rack pull 485 without grip becoming an issue but only close that thing once. So I should have bought a no 1 or no 1,5.
But I never got much carryover from grippers. Heavy kroc rows and power cleans helped my grip much more.
I do db squats for now because I workout at home and have a pair of powerblocks, however I’m going to get a multi rack and barbell in a few months, although I generally prefer dbs over bars. I’ve never tried a kroc row, I’ll give them a go
[quote]dreadlocks1221 wrote:
One thing I’m noticing with my leg workouts is that I’m not so much limited by the weight I can lunge or squat but by my ability to hold the dumbbell long enough to even do 8 full reps. I am looking to compliment my grip trialing with those things you just hold in your hand and squeeze. I’m not trying to replace a proper grip workout but am more looking to have something I can do around the office or in my downtime to just give me an extra boost.
I use a wrist roller when I’m at work. Works the fore arms and your grip. Also, fat gripz are probably the best way to improve grip strength.
i play around with gripping bars with one hand. the longer the bar (eg oly bar) the harder to keep it balanced. you can do tricks like tilt it one way then the other to get the plates off it etc. carry it over your head (it will try and rip your wrists off on corners). throw and catch etc. makes something of a game of it anyway. seems to work okayish…
I use the captains of crush no.1 & than no.2 now no.3 but can’t quite close the no.3 yet, but to be honest I think most of my grip strength is through doing heavy deadlifts with no straps and using a double overhand grip for as long as I can as I add weight before using under and over in a session. I also do some wrist curls after my deads but roll the bar down my fingers and back up as I curl my wrist.
I’ve been looking at getting the CoC grippers too. It’s good to hear some positive reviews.
For grip all I’ve done was deadlifts with double overhand grip, heavy shrugs and power cleans. And I’ve never used wraps. I also have heard that Kroc rows are good, however I’ve never done it so I can’t comment on it’s effectiveness. Assuming that you’re not trying to get into grip competitions, that’s about it. I used to do deadlifts until the bar actually peeled my hands open. You just have to keep doing your lifts and the rest is a mental game until you get strong enough.
I got myself a CoC grip (the trainer) Im starting to feel a difference although I think its a bit too easy for me, I’m going to move up shortly, but I recommend it.
[quote]alexus wrote:
kroc rows are awesome. my favorite exercise at the moment. only i reckon i could lift more if i used straps…[/quote]
Then use straps. Just don’t use them all the time.
A good one I have done for fun, as I am yet to have grip be a problem for me, is to get two 5kg plates, put them flat sides together and hold with one hand. If thats too easy, use some 10kg plates. It sucks big time.