Jorge Carvajal learned a lesson about the importance of having a strong
grip while taking an exercise physiology class in college. "Our
professor had us tape our thumbs to our hands for one day," he recalls.
"It made everything difficult, and I realized just how important grip
really is." Nowadays, Carvajal is a certified strength-and-conditioning specialist
who trains football players, bobsledders, power athletes and
firefighters, and he works on grip strength with all of them. "In a lot of sports and activities, it is your gripping
muscles that fatigue before the larger muscles," he explains. "By
increasing your grip strength, you can do all of these things better."
Recreational bodybuilders and weightlifters are no exception. Grip
strength tends to limit performance in a host of exercises, including
deadlifts, shrugs, pull-ups and lat pull-downs. Making an effort to
boost your grip strength will raise your performance level in these
exercises so you get more out of them.
Following are three exercises that Carvajal uses to enhance the grip strength of all his clients.
Pinching Plates
Place two weight plates together with the smooth sides facing out.
Using one hand, pinch the plates together with your thumb on one side
and your four fingers on the other.
Start by pinching a pair of 5-lb plates in each hand for 1 minute with
your arms relaxed at your sides. Repeat the exercise once a week,
increasing the duration of the hold until you reach 2 minutes, then
advance to three 5-lb plates or one 5-lb plate and one 10-lb plate.
Continue until you can pinch two 25-lb plates.
Fat-Bar Lifts
Fat bars are weightlifting bars that are thicker than usual and are
designed specifically to enhance grip strength while you perform
everyday lifts such as military presses and biceps curls. "Ninety-nine
percent of gyms don’t have fat bars," says Carvajal, "but you can make
your own by wrapping towels around a standard bar."
You can turn almost any weightlifting exercise into a fat-bar exercise,
but biceps curls are the best place to start, he explains. Sprinkle
fat-bar moves throughout your weekly workouts.
Farmers Walk
Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells and simply walk for one minute. Choose a
weight that you can barely hold for a minute before you lose your grip.
Repeat the exercise once a week, increasing the time of the hold until
you reach 2 minutes, then move up in weight and go back to 1 minute.
Forget The Wraps
Many weightlifters use wrist wraps to augment their grip and prevent
the muscles in their hands and forearms from fatiguing. Jorge Carvajal,
CSCS, believes this is a mistake, because it spoils great opportunities
to increase your grip strength. "We do not allow our athletes to use
wrist wraps," he says. "Any exercise like deadlifts, rack pulls or
cleans that you do without wraps will definitely develop your grip
strength."
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