Everyone needs grip strength. And I mean everyone. Even if you don’t take part in sport or exercise you will be using your grip on a day-to-day basis, because we all use our hands. Common places where good grip strength is needed include; carrying groceries, picking up objects and even just holding onto the handrail on public transport.

Certain sports require even more grip strength. For example, climbers need an incredible amount of strength in their hands and forearms to be able to grab onto uneven, rocky surfaces and lift themselves up. Likewise, callisthenics is another sport where a lot of grip strength is required. But even if you just train to stay fit, many pulling exercises such as deadlifts, pull ups and rows require grip strength.

Lower muscle function is associated with greater mortality and with that, many studies have shown that low grip strength is associated with a range of poor health outcomes and in particular cardiovascular disease. Grip strength can be a sign of overall muscle function and therefore several studies that have found this recommend increasing grip strength as a means to improve overall health.

One of the main reasons people struggle with weak grip is because they don’t train for that purpose. To improve your grip strength, you need to focus on strengthening the upper body muscles such as the biceps and hands, and most importantly your forearms. The muscles in the forearms are associated with grip, therefore the stronger your forearms the better your grip strength.

Should I Use Lifting Straps?

Lifting straps are a gym accessory that can be used to support your grip during heavy lifts. If you are trying to lift heavy but wrist weakness is stopping you from maxing out, then straps are useful. However, if you continue to wear straps then you’ll never give yourself a chance to improve your grip strength. There’s nothing wrong with using straps to perform your lifts. It depends on what you want to get out of your training.

If you want to keep working on building strength, then you should consider mixing up between wearing and not wearing straps. Otherwise, if improving your grip is your primary goal then it’s time to scrap the straps and reduce the weight until you can build up your strength. 

How to Improve Your Grip Strength

Focus on Compound Movements

One of the best ways to improve your grip strength is by performing heavy compound movements. Using equipment such as barbells and dumbbells will improve your grip strength, but you’ll also be increasing strength across different muscle groups. It’s a way to train your grip without solely focusing on it. Examples of compound lifts that improve grip strength include -

• Deadlifts

• Farmer's Walk

• Pull Ups

• Barbell/Dumbbell Row

• Dumbbell Walking Lunges

Grip Accessory Work

If you specifically want to focus on improving grip strength, then you can perform specialised accessory exercises.

Wrist Roller

Wrist Rollers are ideal for building forearm strength. They come with an adjustable strap and carabiner clip so that you can attach a weight plate, dumbbell or kettlebell at the bottom to perform isometric holds.

Axle Bars

These are barbells and dumbbells with a thicker diameter than usual that have been designed specifically to increase grip strength. Mix up your workouts with a combination of traditional and Axle Bars to keep your workouts interesting and focus on different weaknesses.

Hand Grippers

They might be old school but Hand Grippers give you the ultimate hand and forearm workout. The best thing about grippers is that they’re portable and can be used anywhere and everywhere. Take 5 minutes each day at your desk with the hand grippers and you’ll notice a massive improvement.

Focus on the Squeeze

If you haven’t got time to include specific accessory work into your training, then you can improve your forearm strength by placing more focus on your grip during your workout. When you’re about to execute a lift, you probably target certain muscle groups and engage them ready for the lift. Next time, remember to engage your forearms by squeezing the bar/weight. By squeezing the weight you’ll instantly be centring your focus on your grip. 

Grip strength is so important but it’s also usually forgotten about. There are so many other things to focus on, why would you even consider grip strength? Well because without good grip strength, your other lifts won’t be as strong as they could be. It’s all about making small adjustments to get the most out of your body and your training.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Strength