Grip Strengthening Techniques

I was training on a tree branch for pull-ups but no longer have that option so now I go to a gym but only get there twice a week. The pull-up bar is much thicker though and I've read that its the same at PFT (Marine Corps) at about 2inch diameter.

Anyways I'm interested in improving my grip using a combination of bodyweight training once or twice a week and then either the same exercise or a weight exercise at the gym.

I gave farmer walks a try and my forearms felt dead the next day, a glass of water from the table felt like 10lbs. So I suppose that might be one good option but are there any others. Are there any completely naked exercises (no rings, no pushup bars, no parallel bars) that I could do on the floor to improve my grip?

why not get a COC ?

wiESnEseh3Y

Grip strength like all types of strength is a very specific skill.

You should decide what kind of grip strength you are after and design a small grip routine according to that.

An excelent book on the subject is Brookfield's Mastery Of Hand Strength. Highly recommended.

The reason is because I am working as a volunteer in a developing country and acquiring a pair of those would cost me $120. Money I don't have being a volunteer. Similar answer to purchasing a book only even more expensive due to the weight of a book.

I mostly want to work my grip for pull-ups. I do pull-ups and hanging leg raises when I get to the gym but I'm looking for exercises I can do when I can't get to the gym.

Thanks

Try these:

http://www.dragondoor.com/cgi-bin/artic ... icleid=528

http://www.dragondoor.com/cgi-bin/artic ... icleid=274

I guess most of the guys at Dragondoor.com know what they are talking about.

Good luck!

How about towel hangs?

towel chin ups, towel hangs.. whatever you like!

I never tried one arm towel hangs but these should be quite challenging

Yes, brookfield's book is less than a pound. Get it at your first opportunity! In the meantime, thick handle farmer walks and thick rope or towel pullups will help you a lot for general grip strength. I have found that the wrist routine helps a lot with my grip, personally. Also, any time you are doing a pulling exercise, only use your fingers. No palm action. So when you do your pull ups, for example, the middle bone of your fingers should be on top of the pull up bar. You know, the bone right after the one with your fingernail. That builds a lot of generalized grip strength. Also, doing pinch grip farmer walks will help, and so will doing plate or rock flips. Hold the plate or flat rock between your four fingers and thumb, flip it, and catch it in the air with the same grip. This helps develop a quick grip reflex, and explosive movements like that help develop strength. Hope that helps getting you started!

Hi slizzardman,

by "wrist routine" you mean the coaches wrist prehab: dorsal pushups, wrist pushups, first knuckle pushups etc?

One question: I read the description several times but I still don't get how dorsal pushups are performed :oops: . Is there a video on youtube in which dorsal pushups are done? I searched "dorsal pushups" without success. Or could you please describe it in your own words once more?

That would be much appreciated!

Yea, I mean coach's wrist routine. It's on ivanovjet's youtube profile, search for the video "wrists and ankles" to find it. Do the stretches and the exercises. They do things more explosively than I do, I do controlled reps. Then again, I'm 220 lbs, so I need to be a little more careful As for the Dorsal Pushups, you should find them on the gymnasticbodies youtube page. There is a video for it. Search for wrist pushups and it will be the first video. It is for me, anyways. The actual link is

Hey!

Thanks for the reply

Congratulations for your wrist strength :shock: 220 lbs is a lot of weigth for HS wall runs, PL and Handstand on floor if the wrists aren't properly conditioned. I'm 205 lbs myself and I'm having some trouble with my wrists.

As for the Dorsal Pushups, you should find them on the gymnasticbodies youtube page. There is a video for it. Search for wrist pushups and it will be the first video. It is for me, anyways. The actual link is

Excuse me if I got you wrong.. the link above shows wrist pushups, not dorsal pushups, right?

Sorry for asking again but I really want to get bulletproof wrists :twisted:

I know how to do first knuckle and wrist pushups and the pushups where you use only your wrists to end up on your fingertips. The only thing thats missing is dorsal pushups

ryantherobot said:

I do pull-ups and hanging leg raises when I get to the gym but I'm looking for exercises I can do when I can't get to the gym.

Think outside the box. Look around your house and area. I have found lots of places to do chins, pullups & dips on. I can even do finger tip pullups on some doorframes. When walking down my stairs I can grab onto the floor (the "landing") above and do pullups. In another house I was able to loop a towel through the railings in a stairs and do towel pullups. I have put gymnastic rings over the goal posts in a local sport field. I have also opened the hole in my attic and put wood or a barbell across it, then used adjustable webbing straps to make a trapeze type chinup bar, I have also put rings on the same bar. Like this

Also lots of tips from John Brookfield here http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencm ... pTip1.html (click on "Stool Lift with Weight >> " for the next and so on, there are plenty)

Also lots of tips from John Brookfield here http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencm ... pTip1.html (click on "Stool Lift with Weight >> " for the next and so on, there are plenty)

wow, this site is awesome

just tried finger walking with weigth plate (2 kg) :shock:

if you can do this with 25 pounds you'll be a gripping MONSTER :twisted:

everything with such simple tools!

thanks for sharing rudabub

Hahaha, i take it you got Brookfield's book then THe simple stuff is the most effective. Yes, that link is the dorsal pushups. As far as wrist pushups go, you have dorsal, first knuckle, and palm to fingertip(where you start on the palms and lift to just fingertips and thumb tip) as the basics. I have done pushups on the sides of my hand and roll up to fist, but they don't seem to do anything to me. One fo the best things you can do is to go buy some 1.5 inch pipe and do deadlifts with the weight plates on that, or as an alternative, make wooden grips for the gym. Get a 2 inch thick dowel. and drill a one inch hole in it. Maybe 1.25 inches, to be safe. THen cut it in half. YOu can use that with velcro straps or a hinge as a handle thickener. Doing deadlifts and curls with very thick handles is one of the best ways to improve overall grip strength.

Brookfield's book really does have just about everything you need to know in there though.

now I get it. These are all diferent types of "wrist pushups". So I was doing dorsal pushups all the time without even knowing..

I learned something about gripping from Brooks Kubik's "Dinosaur Training". Grip strentgh is not really my problem although you probably never reach the point where you have enough of it

These days its all about the wrists! Many of Brookfield's exercises seem like a lot of fun. So I'll include one ore the other into my routine.

Thanks again for the wrist-dorsal-pushup-thing!