The Common Thread in Almost ALL Aspects of the Iron Game

Do you do any of these lifts in your program? – Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Muscle-ups, Snatch, Clean, Jerk, Curls, Ropes, Pull-ups, Push-downs…

What is the common thread between all of these awesome ways to train, get stronger and build muscle?

It is your Grip.

If you are lacking in the Grip Strength department your performance in all of these lifts will suffer.

While it may be clear to see why Grip Strength is important in lifts such as Deadlifts and Pull-ups where your hands have to Grip the bar and be able to hold on well enough to execute the movement, it may not be as obvious for other lifts, such as Squats.

After all, your upper back and shoulders are taking the brunt of the load when you Back Squat, right?

Let’s look closer.

What is Grip Strength?

Grip Strength is often referred to as just Hand Strength, but really it is much more than that. Yes, the hands are involved, but they are only a part of the equation. Really to have a truly strong grip, you must look as Grip as everything from the elbow down.

Here’s why.

Many of the muscles in the hands actually originate above the elbow at the medial epicondyle (some flexors, pronator) and the lateral epicondyle (some extensors, supinator). And since these muscles cross the elbow joint, they also influence the joint. Remember that point.

Because so many hand muscles start so far up the arm, it really expands the acreage that we have to consider when we set out to train for Grip Strength effectively.

Not only do we have to include training for the hands, but we also have to include work for the wrists, forearms and elbow regions.

Why Grip is Important for Your Training

Most trainees would agree that strong hands would be an asset for strength training and muscle building. After all, if your hands are strong, that means you’ll be able to pull more weight in many exercises, you’ll be able to do more repetitions, and you’ll be able to train longer if need be, right? Yes.

Now, let’s connect a few points…

When your hands are strong you will see better results in the weight room because it will transfer to better performance when performing pulls like deadlifts, rows, and pull-ups.

But what about all the other lifts that do not involve pulling? Is Grip Strength important in those lifts as well?

Yes it is.

A strong Grip, or in other words, a strong and balanced hand/lower arm unit will also provide better stability during lifts where the hands are pressing against the bar, dumbbell or other implement. For instance, when performing the Bench Press, Jerk, Kettlebell Press, etc, you will be better able to execute these lifts when your grip is strong because you will have better control over the implement.

So is Grip Strength important for lifts like the Bench Press, Jerk, Kettlebell Press? Yes it is!

But what about other lifts like the Back Squat? It might seem like the hands are just sitting there going along for the ride, but if you are doing them right, they are doing much more than that.

You see, the hands are also capable of producing what is known as Radiant Tension. In other words, when you squeeze your hands, the tension begins to radiate inward toward the body. By doing this, you can actually increase the intensity of other contractions in the body.

The Back Squat is a perfect example of this. When performing the Squat, you should apply appreciable tension to the bar by squeezing it prior to descent and continuing to apply this tension throughout each rep. By doing so, your upper body will remain more stable, thus allowing you to Squat more weight and do more repetitions.

Grip Strength Equipment

So, now you can see that there are many benefits to be gained from Grip Strength training, right? So the next question is how are you going to get your hands on some equipment that will help you build Grip Strength and do so by hitting the lower arms from all angles?

Here are some examples of equipment you can buy to build Grip Strength:

• Grippers – These things are obsessive and people really love training with them. They give you serious Crushing Grip and provide hours of training fun. Cost – about $20 apiece.
• Sledge Hammers – These are great as well because they not only work the lower arms and hands, but they also incorporate a load of upper body and arm involvement, also contributing to your core training and cardiovascular health, especially if you use them to hit tires or other dense objects. Cost – about $30.
• Thick Rope – These take your Grip, Arm and Shoulder training up another level of intensity, while also dropping bombs on your conditioning. Fantastic training tool. Cost – $90 or more.

Tough Economy

Unfortunately many people these days are on a limited budget and it is tough to invest in tools like the ones above and even though many pieces of equipment can be used to train for Grip Strength and other outstanding strength and conditioning benefits, their costs prohibit many people from purchasing them.

Here is the solution => Home Made Strength II: Grip Strength Edition.

Home Made Strength II is an on-line DVD that is downloaded to your computer along with the bonus manuals and reports so that you can start building affordable pieces of quality grip gear that you can use to get a better grip and thus improve all of your other lifts.

Home Made Strength II – Grip Strength Edition

The Home Made Strength II Package

HMS-2 has been out since March of last year and it has helped hundreds of people start implementing Grip Strength Training into their routine without having to take on another mortgage or get another part-time job.

HMS-2 comes with the downloadable videos, a quick-start guide, and example workouts and drills you can start doing with each piece of equipment you build.

Generally, HMS-2 costs $37, but because it is turning a year old, I am running a special sale and until the stroke of Midnight on Saturday, March 17, 2012, you can get it for just $27, for the anniversary sale I am running this weekend only.

As you can see Grip Strength is the common thread for many lifts. You can’t afford to let it be a weak link in your chain of strength.

And even though the economy sucks right now, you can’t let that stop you from building these very cheap pieces of grip training equipment.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

See what others have said about Home Made Strength II: Grip Strength Edition:

“The Home Made Strength 2 DVD is excellent, you explain the construction and use of each device in clear detail with no stone left unturned. The equipment you show how to make is all top notch and either fills a gap regular grip tools miss, or wraps up two or more aspects of grip into one handy implement of grip torture. The instructions are very easy to follow and the accompanying training demonstrations show the versatility and quality of the implements. As always the video and sound quality on your DVDs is superb and the bonuses are so extensive and helpful that they could easily be sold individually. Thanks again for another invaluable product.

Rory Hickman”

“Hey Jedd,
I have the HMS2 DVD as well as some other of your products and just wanted to say how pleased I am with them. I have made some of the equipment from the DVD. Very simple and very cost effective.”

John Galan
Staten Island, NY

“I got the HMS-2 downloadable DVD, and the info is great. I’ve made the modified pony clamp, and it has helped me to rep the COC#1, and I’m only 2mm off on the 1.5.

Chris Hope ”

Last week’s Grip Strength Challenge for the Wild Card Spot at Nationals was the Medley. What’s a Medley, you might ask?

Medley
from Wictionary.com

medley (plural medleys)
1. (now rare, archaic) Combat, fighting; a battle. [from 14th c.]
2. A collection or mixture of miscellaneous things. [from 17th c.]

As you can see from the definitions above, the Medley is like Grip Strength Combat, testing a variety of disciplines and finding the most well-rounded Gripster.

In order to find the most well rounded Grip Athlete, last week, the Medley was used. Below is the list of feats to be attempted in the medley and the point value for each feat:

Smooth Sides Out Pinch
2-25′s – 1 point
2-35′s – 1 point
2-45′s – 2 points

Hex DB Lift
30 – 1 point
40 – 1 point
50 – 2 points

8-lb Sledge 30″ Handle
Nose Lever – 1 point
Slim Lever – 1 point
Deadlift with coin – 2 points

Grippers with Blocks
1 – 1 point
2 – 1 point
3 – 2 points

Hubs
25 – 1 point
35 – 1 point
45 – 2 points
(You can add weight to a lighter plate to get the heavier plate

Towel Pull-ups
1 rep – 1 point
2 reps – 2 points
3 reps – 3 points

BW or Heavier Straddle Deadlift
1 rep – 1 points
2 reps – 2 points
3 reps – 3 points

The key to winning a medley is being well-rounded so that you can perform a variety of feats and challenges covering all disciplines. You never know what will be in a medley at an actual competition. It is also important to use your time wisely and not leave points “on the table.” One of the biggest errors is to not attempt easy lifts. Also, if you are a One Armed Bandit and can only lift things with your strong hand, you will tire out, so you have to be good with both hands.

Here are the submissions:

Mike Turpin

10 Points

Mike sent in the most humorous submission yet again this week. Bastard. I now have to use my compressed air to blow the snot out of my keyboard from those plate curls at the end. Comic genius.

Mike got the #1, Nose Lever, 25′s Pinch, 30 and 40 Hexes, 25 and 35 Hub and all three Towel Pullups! Great job. Keep working that wide pinch and your grippers and you are going to do well brother.

Scott Goguen

12 Points

Scott got the 25′s Pinch, 35′s Pinch, the 30 and 40 Hex, the 25 Hub, Nose Lever, all three Towel Pull-ups and all three BW One Hand Deads. I did not count the BB Gripper because it had to be a #1 for this challenge. First submission all year and he did a fine job!

Scott, on that Slim Lever, don’t leave any part of the handle hanging outside your hand. It makes it way harder! Looking forward to more submissions – great intensity!

Paul Tompkins

13 Points

Paul did great, getting the #1, Slim Lever, Nose Lever, 25′s, and 35′s pinch, 30, 40 and 50 Hex Lift, and the 25, 35, and 45 Hubs. Not sure if you got the #2. it looked close but I didn’t hear a click so i could not pass it. Still, a fantastic showing. Great job!

Jason Steeves – WINNER!

14 Points

Jason got the #1, #2 and came close on the #3 but I could not tell for sure so I did not pass it. He got the Slim Lever, Nose Lever, and pinched the 25′s and 35′s. He was able to lift the 30 and 40 Hex and hub the 25, 35, and 45. Plus he got all three Towel Pull-ups. Great job brother. You are qualified for Nationals. It’s time to make flight plans and get your passport ready!

This week’s feet will be a One Hand Deadlift, and I hope to have the video ready and posted on the site by tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great submissions. Looking forward to hundreds more.

Jedd

DIESEL UNIVERSE – Time to vote for the best video. This week’s feat was Pinching a 35-lb Dumbbell by the head without using the text/numbers for grip. Large dumbbells ARE ALLOWED if the athlete does not have access to a 35.

Leave a comment below!

Matt Hunt

Josh McIntyre

Paul Tompkins

Thanks and all the best in your training!

Jedd

Right now, I guess you could say it is the Grip Sport Off-Season, if there is one of those.

We just got done with the World’s Strongest Hands Series in November. I have been told by the head promoter of that series, David Horne, that there will indeed be a WSH next year in the Fall, but there will be 3 Legs instead of 4, and there will be more like 5 events per Leg instead of just 3.

(more…)

Very early on in my Strength Coach career, I heard the legendary Strength Coach, Buddy Morris, speak at one of the first seminars I ever attended.

During that seminar, Buddy said something that I thought were very profound and have stuck with me for years.

He said, “EVERYTHING works.”

Essentially what he was saying is that all programs will work for a certain time, and he was urging those of us at the clinic not to just dismiss tactics because they seem strange or if they do not fall in line with what we were currently doing…

Flash forward several years to this past September 2010, at the RKC Certification. This is where I met Andrey Patenko.

At a break, he and I spoke about our other training interests and he said he had much experience in training special forces and I told him that I bent nails and competed in Grip Contests. When he found out about the sport of Grip, he immediately wanted to know more and we talked about it for the rest of the break.

Then, just before the end of the break, he began telling me about this tool he had been using for his Grip and Forearms – the Bison 1M. He said he thought the Bison 1M would be very beneficial for Grip Athletes and I told him I’d be very interested in checking one of them out to see what I could do with it.

Andrey recently sent me one of the Bison 1M’s to review. I used it the day after receiving it and got a very good workout from it.

After a couple of workouts, I did a short review video on it, which I have posted here.

For me, the Bison-1M will be most used for high volume work, deloading, and working on flushing the wrist and forearms with blood. In the workouts I have done so far, it has shown me it is very effective in this sense.

Will the Bison-1m help you close a big Gripper or Pinch the World Record? Probably not, but as far as a sporting application like baseball or tennis, yes I think it can be useful.

I have read speculation that the Bison 1M would break if used by a serious Gripster. I do not see how someone could break one of these things unless they either tried to do so on purpose or if they unscrewed the shell too far and somehow ended up bending it or ruining the threading inside the body. The device is actually pretty heavy and seems to be made out of some pretty good quality metal.

I will also say that the resistance on this thing goes really high. For some movement patterns, the resistance can actually be TOO HIGH. However, changing between resistance levels is pretty easy and only involves rotating the body of the device.

After reviewing the Bison 1M, I am reminded of that quote by Buddy Morris, “EVERYTHING works.”

Especially in the case of the Bison 1M, I think you have to approach things with an open mind. I am glad I did that with this item, and I hope you do the same if you ever have the chance to try one out.

I want to continue working with the Bison 1M, and report back again later on. It practically takes up no room at all to store it and I can work it into my forearm training circuits with ease.

If you’d like more information on the Bison 1M, you can check out the website for the device at Sotsky.net, or check out TheGripAuthority.com to view Part II of my initial review that covers my training with it in a bit more detail.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. I have no monetary affiliation with Sotsky.net, Andrey Patenko, or the Bison 1M. All I received for doing this review was the Bison 1M itself.