Diesel Crew - Muscle Building, Athletic Development, Strength Training, Grip Strength

Strength and Conditioning for Elite Athletic Performance - Free Articles, Videos for Coaches, Fitness Professionals, Personal Trainers, Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists for All Sports

As Seen On
  • Home
  • Media
    • Video
    • Articles
    • Galleries
    • Interviews
    • GS Radio
    • Contact
  • Products
    • eBooks
    • Manuals
    • DVDs
    • Services
  • Team Diesel
    • Napalm’s Blog
    • Smiitty’s Blog
    • Spray Series
    • Testmonials
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Contact
  • Forum
  • Home
  • Media
    • Video
    • Articles
    • Galleries
    • Interviews
    • GS Radio
    • Contact
  • Products
    • eBooks
    • Manuals
    • DVDs
    • Services
  • Team Diesel
    • Napalm’s Blog
    • Smiitty’s Blog
    • Spray Series
    • Testmonials
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Contact
  • Forum

Building Grip Strength: Myths and Methods Explained

Hello DIESELS!

It’s no mystery that I obviously love Grip Training. I do it every single day I train as long as I am injury free (and sometimes I still do it anyway if I am hurt, I just do something else).

My love for developing Grip Strength spilled into a love for competing at Grip Strength in 2003 and my obsession is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Now, even if you do not love Grip Training yourself, you have to agree that having a strong Grip is an advantage, whether you obsess over grip training like me or not.


Advantages of a Strong Grip

Stronger, Heavier Lifts
With stronger hands and a better grip you can lift more weight in pulling and rowing exercises, you can handle more weight in pushing movements like the bench press, and you can control more weight in lifts the squat. Stronger Hands = Bigger Lifts

Better Endurance / More Reps / Better Progress
You are limited in many case by the number of reps you can perform in an exercise. Imagine how much your progress would grow if you could do more reps in all lifts? One aspect that holds people back is their grip. Their grip fails or slips and they end up losing reps and cutting sets short. This is a bad equation only made worse by using the dreaded 6-letter word STRAPS.

Better Performance in Sports
Many sports depend on having strong hands and wrists: Baseball, Wrestling, Football, Rugby, Tennis – even soccer performance is increased by having strong thumbs for passing the ball back into play. With weak hands, you take a back seat to others on the court, field and mat.

Stronger Resiliency Against Injuries
If you do consistent work for the hands, wrists and forearms you build up strength and become resilient against injuries. You can take more bumps at a high intensity level and continue to play at a high level. If an injury does take place, the stronger athletes bounces back quicker. Unfortunately, the thumb is often neglected, which results in the incapacity to return to play which is something I will be covering later on this week.

These are just a handful of the benefits from having a Strong Grip, but I have found in my recent travels that some people are confused about what it takes to develop a strong grip.


Grip Training Myths


I believe in Bigfoot, but not in the following myths…

Grip Training Myth #1 – You Need a Ton of Grippers

First off, you do not need two dozen grippers in order to develop a strong grip. Having a bunch of them is a hell of a lot of fun if you want to have the ability to make small jumps in gripper strength increases, and it is a must if you plan to compete (unless you have the Vulcan Gripper), but if you are looking to just build massive grip strength for the advantages listed above, a couple of Grippers will do you just fine.

Grip Training Myth #2 – You Need a Huge Variety of Griplements

Next, you do not need a bunch of Griplements (specialized Grip Training Implements) to build a strong grip
. Even though I have more Griplements than you can shake a stick at, and continue to look for opportunities to buy and build grip training equipment to expand my collection, you can by with a just a handful for variety.

Grip Training Myth #3 – Grip Training Takes a Lot of Time

Finally, you don’t even have to add time to your workout in order to develop a monster grip. You can simply replace some of the things you are already doing with more grip-intensive pieces of equipment.

And that is what I want to show you today – How to Implement Grip Training without Adding Extra Time to Your Workout. In order to do this, we will use a couple of simple Grip Training Concepts…


Grip Training Concepts

Grip Training Concept #1 – Evolution of the Movement

One of the principles in the Diesel Method is to go beyond the normal limitations of a movement and evolve it into something more challenging in order to increase the demands and as a result make you stronger and a better athlete.

There are many ways to do this, but one such way in order to bring about a more Grip Strength intensive training effect is by modifying the equipment used.

In the example below, instead of using normal equipment such as Powerlifting and Olympic bars, we will use Sandbags and Axles, which require a much more open-handed position and make the lifts more difficult to perform and more demanding on the hands, thus increasing Grip Strength.

Grip Training Concept #2 – Integration

Integration means that instead of just working the Grip in isolation, such as with Grippers or by pinching Block Weights to develop grip strength, we will be working much of the body all at the same time with the hands still being targeted heavily.

One way to accomplish Grip Training Integration inexpensively and effectively is with a Sandbag.

Benefits of Sandbag Training

The Sandbag is an excellent piece of training equipment. Specific models are sold on-line, such as the Ultimate Sandbag (you can get one here through my link: Ultimate Sandbags), or you can make your own sandbag from a duffel bag like I did years ago.

Aside from being versatile (sandbags last a long time), they also enable you to train with speed and explosion, and they work the grip.

  • Speed and Explosion – You can throw Sandbags around without mercy. This enables you to develop serious power and strength. Performing Cleans and shouldering movements with the sandbag also trains triple extension, a powerful movement pattern involving the ankles, knees and hips, which is found in many sports and is often trained with the Olympic lifts.
  • Grip Strength – Depending on where you grip the sandbag, you can bring about different levels of Grip and Forearm Strength. For instance if you grip it with an open hand like a bear hug or monkey grip, you will work your fingers, thumbs, wrists and forearms all the way up to the elbow. This is the best way to go about it for the Grip Training effect. You can grip the handles if you wnt to, but in my estimation, that takes a lot away from the benefits of the lift.
  • Metabolic Effects – Because Sandbag Training involves so much musculature you ended up torching a lot of calories and hitting your conditioning as well. Since it is so much fun, you don’t mind breathing so hard you burn your throat or the aching of the glutes because you know you are throwing around serious weight like it is a rag doll.

Benefits of Axle Training

The Axle is really nothing more than a long thick bar. Axles are sold at many on-line locations. The prices can be scary at first, often in the hundreds of dollars, but they come specialized with collar fittings and sometimes knurling. These additional features make them more expensive.

You can actually make your own out of just a pipe and it will get the job done. Joe Hashey and I show everyone how to make the most awesome Axle ever known to man in our Home Made Strength DVD as well.

What’s great about Axles is the fact that anything you can do with a barbell you can do with an Axle, you just can’t do as much weight or as many reps because the thicker grip tests your hand strength more.

Implementing Grip with Little Special Equipment and Zero Extra Time

One of the things I have been doing more of lately is back-to-back sets of lifts. It allows me to get more work done in a shorter period of time so I can spend more time working on Grip.

I told you I was obsessed.

Below is a video clip where I perform Sandbag Shouldering with Bent Over Axle Rows in a back-to-back fashion.

For this set, I performed 4 shoulders to each side followed by 8 reps in the Bent Over Row. The set itself is not that long, but the cardio demands far exceed normal set, plus you get the benefit of direct grip strength and forearm work while working the rest of the body as well.


Subscribe and Comment on the Video Here: Sandbags and Axle for Grip Strength

If you are wondering about the rest of the workout, this combination was actually Part II. Part I was Pull-ups and Pull-aparts and Part III was Side Rows and Face Pulls. I would have liked to have done Deadlifts first or at least somewhere in the workout, but testing for it wasn’t going well, so I switched on the fly.

I also did a bunch of Thick Bar Work after all of this and got several good singles in the Double Inch Dumbbell Deadlift, which i got on video but have not edited yet. Hopefully I can get to that soon.

I hope this article has been helpful in pointing you in some directions you can in order to implement grip strength training. A lot of the information out there leads one to believe you have to all this stuff with a bunch of excess equipment and spend a lot of time doing it in order to develop a grip that would scare the likes of Fritz Von Erich, but that just isn’t the case.

If you have any questions, please let me know by leaving a comment below.

All the best in your training,

Jedd


Discover EVERYTHING You Need to Know about Gripper Training
with my Definitive Gripper Training DVD, CRUSH: Total Gripper Domination.


Articles You Might Also Like:

  • Tools for a Seriously Strong Grip
  • Strength and Power Workouts with Strongman Implements
  • Big Arm Workout – Mass Building Workout for Arms
  • Home Made Strength
  • Home Made Strength II – Coming Soon

Tags: axle, grip strength, grip training, hand strength, sandbag

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 at 6:28 pm and is filed under athletic strength training lift odd objects, grip hand forearm training for sports, grip strength, how to improve fitness and conditioning, how to improve grip strength, strongman training for athletes, strongman training log stone tire farmer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About Jedd Johnson

18 Responses to “Building Grip Strength: Myths and Methods Explained”

  1. Carlos Rodriguez Says:
    September 21st, 2011 at 8:19 am

    Jedd, that looks like an awesome place to train, way better than “fitness” clubs!!!!

  2. The Different Types of Grip Strength- NGO Articles Says:
    September 25th, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  3. The Different Types of Grip Strength | Systemy promocji stron WWW Says:
    September 26th, 2011 at 9:05 am

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  4. The Different Types of Grip Strength | | LISTWIRELISTWIRE Says:
    September 26th, 2011 at 11:13 am

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  5. The Different Types of Grip Strength » Animal House Says:
    October 22nd, 2011 at 3:09 am

    […] author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  6. The Different Types of Grip Strength » Free SEO Friendly Article Directories | Find Online Articles – PortArticles.com Says:
    October 22nd, 2011 at 3:10 am

    […] strength with antagonistic balance and prevent injuries.The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  7. The Different Types of Grip Strength Says:
    October 22nd, 2011 at 3:11 am

    […] author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  8. The Different Types of Grip Strength | Reseller Point Says:
    October 22nd, 2011 at 3:17 am

    […] author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  9. The Different Types of Grip Strength : A1 Insurance Says:
    October 23rd, 2011 at 3:00 am

    […] author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  10. The Different Types of Grip Strength | Free Fast Approval Articles Web Directory Says:
    October 23rd, 2011 at 3:03 am

    […] author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  11. The Different Types of Grip Strength » Articles Zoo – Sumit Articles, Free Article Submission Says:
    October 23rd, 2011 at 3:06 am

    […] author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  12. The Different Types of Grip Strength » Site Helper Says:
    November 17th, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site today. […]

  13. Grip Training for Women « Doctor Finder Says:
    November 27th, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  14. Grip Training for Women at SFOMediation.com Says:
    November 27th, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    […] stays on, keeping this exercise safe.MORE INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  15. Grip Training for Women Says:
    November 27th, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  16. Grip Training Exercises for Females at SFOMediation.com Says:
    January 7th, 2012 at 6:03 am

    […] possibility for an accident to happen.MORE INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  17. Grip Training Exercises for Females Says:
    January 7th, 2012 at 6:07 am

    […] INFORMATION: The author has hundreds of articles on grip strength at his website. If you would like to learn about how to build hand strength, visit his site […]

  18. Frank Says:
    November 3rd, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    Two of the best!
    Looking forward to seeing this one!

Diesel Crew Newsletter


Get Diesel Blog Posts Emailed to You:

  



DIESEL DIRECTORY

Find EVERY Single Post Ever Written on DieselCrew.com.

Click Here: All DieselCrew.com Entries

Search DieselCrew.com

Upcoming Events

CONTEST: Grip Hogs Day, Wyalusing PA

Click Here


Motivation & Muscle Podcast

Featured Products

DC Grip Strength
how to train to lift the blob

bend steel, bend wrenches, roll frying pans




How to Bend Horseshoes








How to Bend Horseshoes
    How to Tear Phone Books
Card Tearing Ebook
     Bending Manual
Nail Bending DVD
Euro Pinch Two Hands Pinch Yraining
Nail Bending DVD
    build grip strength hand strength forearm strength
Diesel Strength Training Products

build strength strongman training information
Advanced Kettlebell Challenges Build Strength with Kettlebells
    improve strength conditioning recovery grip strength
home made strength training equipment
how to do strongman atlas stone training
Members Only
build grip strength and learn feats of strength

Stay Connected – Jedd

Friend me on Twitter!
Subscribe to my Youtube Videos!
Friend me on Facebook!
Check Out my Images on Flickr!
Join my Network on LinkedIn!
Check out my blog!

Training Center

FREE EBOOK - AWESOME

How to Build Muscle Articles

3 Insanely Effective Upper Body Warm-ups

Ultimate Lower Body Warm-up

Ultimate Pull-up Video

How to Shoulder Rehab

How to Bench Press

How to Squat

How to Deadlift

How to Train with Odd Objects

Top 7 Tips for Building Muscle

Massive Back Training

Massive Arm Training 1

Massive Arm Training 2

Massive Arm Training 3

Advanced Activation Techniques

Speed Training for Athletes

Perfect Workout for Travelers

Popular Videos

Shoulder Rehab Protocol

Ultimate Two Minute Warm-up

No More Knee Pain - Part 1

No More Knee Pain - Part 2

Advanced Pull-up Training 1

Advanced Pull-up Training 2

Improve Pressing Power 1

Improve Pressing Power 2

Popular Articles

Celebrity Fitness - Build Muscle

How to Build Muscle

Build Muscle Now with Ladders

19 Tips for Fixing Your Squat

Fix Your Squat - Part 2

Fixing the Shoulders

The Summer Six-Pack

Keys for the Hard Gainer

Improving Your Deadlift Grip

Top 5 Core Exercises

Media

Home Team Diesel
Media Resources
Products Forum

MUSCLE BUILDING / GAIN MUSCLE MASS / HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE:
Accelerated Muscular Development | How to Build Muscle | How to Bench Press Muscle Building Anatomy | Muscle Building Nutrition - Build Muscle Mass | Sled Dragging Workouts Strength Training - Muscle Building Workouts | Strength Training Powerlifting | Strength Training Workouts How to Lose Fat - Fat Loss | Kettlebell Training | Strength Training Workouts Injury Rehab - How to Rehab an Injury

CORE WORKOUTS / CORE TRAINING / SIX PACKS ABS:
Core Training Workouts | Core Workouts for Athletes

ATHLETIC STRENGTH TRAINING / STRENGTH WORKOUTS / BUILD STRENGTH:
Athletic Strength Training Train With Odd Objects Strength Training to Improve Athletic Performance | Core Workouts for Athletes | Strongman Training for Athletes Baseball Strength and Conditioning | Improve Speed Bag Training

GRIP STRENGTH / IMPROVE GRIP STRENGTH / GRIP TRAINING FOR ATHLETES:
Bending Grip Strength | How to Tear Cards | Grip Strength Blob Lifting | How to Improve Crushing Grip Strength Improve Grip Strength | Improve Crushing Grip Strength | Grip Strength Blob Lifting | Grip Strength Competition

OLD STRONGMAN / OLD TIME STRONGMAN / STRONGMAN FEATS OF STRENGTH:
Old Strongman Feats of Strength

DAILY MOTIVATION / INSPIRATION:
Daily Inspiration - Motivation

BUILD YOUR OWN GYM:
Create Your Own Garage Gym

Copyright © 2006 – 2009 The Diesel Crew, LLC. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

Cleantalk Pixel