Grip Strength Training
 
This article has been published by the
"Australian Strength & Conditioning Association" in their magazine.
“Strength & Conditioning Coach” Volume 14 (3) 2006
 
By Leith Darkin
May 2006
 
Abstract
 
In this article we are going to look at the various components to grip strength training, the equipment needed to target the various components of grip strength training (most of which you can make your self quite cheaply) and additional exercises that will either assist in strengthening the muscles involved in gripping or help to balance out a grip strengthening program.
 
 
Components to grip strength training
 

When looking at increasing the strength of your grip, there are three specific components that you need to consider.
1) Static handgrip strength – isometric exercises where the entire hand is used to apply force when griping objects. Utilised in sports where isometric contractions of the entire hand are used to apply force eg. Wrestling, gymnastics etc.
2) Static pincer grip strength – isometric exercises where the last digits of the fingers and thumbs are used to apply force when griping objects. Utilised in sports where isometric contractions are used to apply force with the fingertips eg. Rock climbing, 10 pin bowling etc.
3) Concentric and eccentric hand strength – exercises where the entire hand is used to apply force in a crushing manner. Utilised in all power/power-endurance sports where a racket or bat is used, contact sports where opposition players are grabbed/man-handled etc.
 
Exercises for static handgrip strength
 
Equipment needed
2 x 50-ml diameter pieces of steel pipe 160 ml long.
2 x 75-ml diameter pieces of steel pipe 160 ml long.
2 lengths of chain 400-ml cm long.
2 lengths of chain 650-ml cm long.
4 spring clips.
 
 
If regular weight discs are used, the chain needs to be wide enough to just fit through the standard 28-ml hole in the centre of the weight disc, if olympic weight discs are used, the chain can be a larger diameter. For added grip, paint the steel pipes with one coat of paint (don’t use an aerosol paint), while the paint is wet, lightly sprinkle dry sand over the painted area (not brickies sand), when the paint is dry add another coat of paint. Combining the paint and sand gives the steel pipes a sandpaper texture making them easier to grip.
 
1) The small piece of chain is threaded through the pieces of pipe and then both ends of the chain are connected together with a spring clip.
2) The long pieces of chain are threaded through the hole in the centre of the weight discs that you are attempting to lift, the two ends of the chain are connected together with a spring clip.
3) The spring clip from the handle is then connected to spring clip that is attached to the weight discs. .
 
 
4) You then hold the handles in your hand and from a standing position lift the weights off the ground (in a simular action to a deadlift), attempting to lift sub-maximal loads and holding for a set length of time.
 
 
The different size handles (50-ml & 75-ml) will ensure that your static hand grip strength will improve over a greater range of motion. There is little benefit in making 25-ml handles as all regular BB’s and DB’s are approximately 28-ml in diameter.
 
In this exercise we are attempting a prolonged isometric contraction, the duration of each lift will depend on the requirements of your sport and the muscle fibres that you are targeting, 30-40 seconds you are targeting your type I and type IIA fibres, as the duration of your lift progresses beyond 40 seconds the less your type IIA fibbers contribute.
 
A typical routine to target your type IIA fibres would be
Number of lifts
Duration of each lift
Load
Rest period
between lifts
2-4
30-40 seconds
Max load that can be held for the duration of the lift
Minimum rest period of 5 minutes
 
Exercises for static pincer grip strength
 
Equipment needed
2 pieces of box steel 25-ml wide x 120-ml long.
2 pieces of box steel 50-ml wide x 120-ml long.
4 pieces of steel strap 50-ml x 50-ml x 3-ml thick.
 
The 4 pieces of steel strap have a hole drilled for the spring clip to go through, the pieces of strap are welded exactly in the centre of the pieces of box steel. For added grip you can use the same paint and sand method described previously for your static grip handles.
I have made my pincer grip handles in two sizes, 25-ml thickness and 50-ml thickness. I have found that there is little benefit in making pincer grip handles any thicker, as the 75-ml static handgrip handles predominantly uses pincer grip strength due to the wide spreading of the hands.

 

 
1) Spring clip is attached to the handle through the centre hole.
2) The large pieces of chain are threaded through the holes in the centre of the weight discs that you are attempting to lift.
3) The spring clip from the handle is then connected to the chain that is threaded through the weight discs.
 
 
4) You then hold the handles using a pincer grip (using only the last digits of your fingers and thumbs) and from a standing position lift the weights off the ground (in a simular manner to a deadlift), attempting lift sub-maximal loads and holding for a set length of time.
 
 
In this exercise we are again attempting a prolonged isometric contraction, the duration of each lift will depend on the requirements of your sport and the muscle fibres that you are targeting, 30-40 seconds you are targeting your type I and type IIA fibres, as the duration of your lift progresses beyond 40 seconds the less your type IIA fibbers contribute.
 
A typical routine to target your type IIA fibres would be
Number of lifts
Duration of each lift
Load
Rest period
between lifts
2-4
 30-40 seconds
Max load that can be held for the duration of the lift
Minimum rest period of 5 minutes
 
Caution

When performing your static hand grip and static pincer grip exercises, there is always a possibility that working to failure or near failure can result in your grip strength failing and you dropping the weights (especially when performing a static pincer grip lift), this can result in the weights falling inwards and hitting your legs. Fortunately the load attempted in these lifts is considerably lighter than a load you would use to target your type IIB fibres, however if this is a concern, you can make a small lifting platform the width of which is the same width as your lifting stance and the height of which is 350-ml. The participant places the weights they are attempting to lift next to the platform, then lifts the weights off the ground, immediately stepping up onto the platform where they stand for the duration of their lift. Should the participant lose grip during the lift, the weights will fall either side of them, safely to the ground.
 
Exercises for concentric and eccentric hand strength
 
For this type of training I recommend the use of handgrippers.
 
 
In this exercise we are going to use our grippers to work on our concentric and eccentric grip strength. The amount of repetitions performed will depend on the requirements of your sport and the muscle fibres you are targeting, it takes around 1 second to complete 1 repetition, therefore 30-40 repetitions would target our type IIA fibres, while up to 1-8 reps would target our type IIB fibres.
 
A typical routine to target your and type IIA fibres would be
Number of sets
Number of reps
Load
Rest period
between sets
2-4
30-40 seconds
Max load that can be squeezed over desired rep range
Minimum rest period of 5 minutes
 
A typical routine to target your and type IIB fibres would be
Number of sets
Number of reps
Load
Rest period
between sets
2-4
1-8
Max load that can be squeezed over desired rep range
3-5 minutes
 
There are many types of handgrippers on the market that come in various tensions and are all suitable for this type of exercise
Heavy Grips 100-lbs, 150-lbs, 200-lbs, 250-lbs & 300-lbs.
RB Handgrippers 70-lbs, 100-lbs, 130-lbs, 160-lbs, 180-lbs, 210-lbs, 240-lbs, 260-lbs, 300-lbs, 330-lbs 365-lbs.
Captains of Crush 60-lbs, 80-lbs, 100-lbs, 140-lbs, 195-lbs, 280-lbs & 365-lbs.
The general rule of thumb is if you can complete 15+ repetitions of a set resistance where the ends of the handles actually touch on each repetition, you are ready to progress to the next resistance (providing the resistance goes up in approximately 50-lbs increments).

 
Your handgrippers can also be used to develop or test your static hand grip strength. Squeeze the handles of your grippers until they are nearly together, then place a coin between the ends of the handles and then squeeze the handles together applying pressure to the coin. The objective here is to see how long you can hold the coin before it drops to the ground.
 
 
Additional exercises to strengthen the forearms and assist in grip strength
 
More than ½ of the forearm muscles cross the wrist joint and attach to the fingers and thumbs, this means that more than ½ of the forearm muscles are responsible for finger/thumb flexion and extension in addition to flexion, extension, abduction and adduction of the wrist.
 
Wrist flexion/extension
 
Wrist flexion & extension with a BB
 
 
Wrist flexion & extension with a DB
 
 
Wrist flexion and extension can also be performed holding a weight disc, utilising your pincer grip.
 
Wrist flexion & extension with a weight disc
 
 
You should be looking at a minimum 2:1 ratio of wrist extension to wrist flexion, the majority of exercises that we perform in the gym involve a much greater ratio of wrist flexion to wrist extension (read article "Weight training & tennis elbow). Over developed wrist flexors and under developed wrist extensors can be a contributing factor to the condition "tennis elbow".
 
Wrist abduction/adduction
 
For these exercises I have made up a bar which consists of a piece of steel pipe with a bolt welded on the end. The bar is 25-ml in diameter and 300-ml long, the bolt is 25-ml in diameter and 75-ml long.
 
 
Wrist abduction
 
 
Wrist adduction
 
 
Additional exercises to assist in a grip-strengthening program
 
Wrist pronation/supination
 
In this exercise we use the same bar that was used in the wrist abduction and wrist adduction.
From a standing position, you keep your upper arm adducted and firmly braced against your body with your lower arm bent at a 90-degree angle, while holding the weighted bar you rotate your forearm, moving your hand back and forth from a prone position to a supine position.
 
 
Deadlifts
 

If deadlifts are part of your exercise programming, you may want to consider the grip you use when performing this exercise. For some reason every one uses a grip with one hand in the prone position and one hand in the supine position, now this is fine if you are lifting near maximal to maximal loads where you are physically unable to lift the weight with both hands in the prone position, however if you are looking at increasing your grip strength you may want to consider performing deadlifts with both hands in the prone position until you get to a weight that you can no longer lift, then switch to one hand prone and one hand supine. You’ll find that if your grip strength is improving, the weight that you can lift with both hands in the prone position will increase.
Deadlifts can also be performed using the handles we made for our hand grip strength and pincer grip strength exercises, these handles are attached to your Olympic bar using a couple of large D shackles and a few washes for spacers.
 
 
You will also need to make a small lifting platform, the height of which is the same as the distance between the BB and the static handgrip/static pincer grip handles, this will ensure a full range of motion when performing deadlifts. Now you can perform deadlifts with your 50-ml and 75-ml handgrip handles and your 25-ml and 50-ml pincer grip handles, you can also use this exercise to test your maximal handgrip strength and your maximal pincer grip strength.
 
 
Push-ups on finger tips
 
Performing push-ups on your fingertips is an excellent way of building up the strength in your fingers. Start off with one thumb and four fingers, as the strength in your fingers builds up you will be able to perform your push-ups with one thumb and three fingers (make sure you rotate the finger that is resting), once you master one thumb and three fingers, try one thumb and two fingers eventually you’ll be able to master one thumb and one finger push-ups. Make sure you rotate the fingers that are working and the fingers that are resting so all fingers get an equal workout.
 
 
Finger extension
 
Don't forget to balance your opposing muscle groups, all gripping exercises involve our finger flexors, predominantly "Flexor digitorum superficialis" and "Flexor digitorum profundus" which are also wrist flexors and are therefore trained every time we perform wrist flexion (in addition to gripping objects). Our finger extensors are predominantly "Extensor digitorum" which is also a wrist extensor and is therefore trained every time we perform wrist extension (which as mentioned previously is not very often), there are also four other finger/thumb extensors you need to consider
1) Extensor indicis - action is extension of the index finger and weak wrist extension.
2) Extensor digiti minimi - action is extension of the little finger and weak wrist extension.
3) Extensor pollicis brevis - action is extension of the thumb and weak wrist extension.
4) Extensor pollicis longus - action is extension of the thumb and extension of the wrist.
These four muscles are only involved minimally when performing wrist extension (unlike Extensor digitorum), which means unless you perform some quality finger extension, these muscles will stay under developed which could lead to problems in the future due to a lack of muscle balance.
To train the finger and thumb extensors I’ve made some finger extensor grips out of 90-ml PVC pipe for average size hands and 110-ml PVC pipe for large hands, the length of the PVC pipe needs to be around 180-ml long. Your hands should fit snugly into the pipe, when you extend your fingers and thumbs, at least two joints of each finger and thumb should to be in contact with the PVC pipe. A hole is drilled 25-ml from the end of the pipe, the diameter of the hole is such that a piece of narrow rope can be threaded through the pipe and tied off.
 
 
1) The large pieces of chain are threaded through the holes in the centre of the weight discs that you are attempting to lift, the two ends of the chain are connected together with a spring clip
2) Your finger extensor grips are then connected to the spring clip that is attached to the weight disc.
 
 
3) You slide your hands into your finger extensor grips, extend your fingers and thumbs and from a standing position lift the weights off the ground (in a simular action to a deadlift), attempting to either lift the maximal load that your finger extensor strength will allow you to lift or lifting sub-maximal loads and holding for a set length of time.
 
The skin on the back of the fingers and thumbs is quite smooth (especially the nails) and when in contact with the PVC pipe (which is also smooth in texture), offers very little grip. To help overcome this problem you can ware a pair of rubber gloves for added grip.
This exercise can also be performed standing on a safety platform, where the weights will fall safely to the sides if you lose grip
 
 
Using a 50-ml bar to increase your grip strength
 
I‘ve read some grip strength articles over the years that recommend the use of a 50-ml barbell which is a bar made out of a piece of steel pipe that is 50-ml in diameter, approximately 2.2 metres long (the same length as a standard olympic bar), at least 3-ml in thickness to minimise bending, with a couple of collars made up and attached to the pipe. The concept of such a bar is great if you are looking at increasing your grip strength however there are a few things that you should consider first.
When using a 50-ml bar for your five push exercises,
1) Superior vertical press
2) Incline press
3) Horizontal press
4) Decline press
5) Inferior vertical press
your 50-ml bar sits in your cupped hands while your grip strength does little more than stabilising the bar, therefore all the muscle groups involved in your five push exercises are still working maximally (the muscle groups that surround the shoulder and scapula and the muscles that extend the elbow).
When using a 50-ml bar for your five pull exercises,
1) Superior vertical pull
2) Incline pull
3) Horizontal pull
4) Decline pull
5) Inferior vertical pull
Gravity’s force is constantly pulling the bar out of your hands, which places a huge emphasis on your grip strength. It is considerably harder to hold a 50-ml bar due to the wider spreading of the hands, the wider the diameter of bar the further you get away from static hand grip strength and the closer you get to pincer grip strength (which is considerably weaker than static handgrip strength). You’ll find that when performing your five pull exercises with a 50-ml bar, your grip strength will be working maximally however all other muscle groups involved in the pulling motion (the muscles that surround the shoulder and scapula and the muscles that flex the elbow) will only be working sub-maximally because your grip strength can’t hold the same weight that you can lift with a standard 28-ml bar. If you are attempting to put together an effective upper body routine with a 50-ml bar, the muscle groups involved in your 5 push exercises will get a decent work out however the muscle groups involved in your five pull exercises won’t as they are only working sub-maximally.
Now you may ask what was the point of using a pair of “D” shackles to connect your static handgrip handles to your deadlifting bar if your hip, trunk and knee extensors are only working sub-maximally? The deadlift is one of the best exercises for truly testing your grip strength, hence the adaptation of one hand prone and one hand supine to lift near maximal to maximal loads, and therefore is a great way to train and/or test your grip strength. If your deadlift training is about how much weight you can lift then of you would use a standard 28-ml bar.
 
Conclusion
 
The aim of this article was to highlight “Grip strength training” in a simple, practical and cost-effective manner. Treat your grip strength training the same way you would treat any other part of your training by incorporating it into your regular resistance training programs and/or setting aside separate training sessions specifically for training your grip strength.
 
 
 
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