Strangely enough, even the vast majority of weightlifters tend to neglect hand grip exercise.
If you belong to a gym, just watch other members going through their training routines the next time you go workout, and you'll see almost nobody working to build grip strength.
What strikes me as being so ironic is the fact that our hands are probably the most used parts of our body, and yet so few people are concerned with grip strength.
Not only is a strong grip beneficial when it comes to playing sports, but it's just as helpful in our day-to-day lives.
When you want to build grip strength, you need to adopt a slightly different approach to regular strength training exercises.
The reason for this being that a hand grip exercise involves the wrists as well as the hands, and of course this mean you're essentially working an area that houses a complex arrangement of tendons and muscles.
Furthermore, weightlifting routines include rest periods where muscles are given a chance to recover, but because we use our hands so much, they never really get time to relax and recover.
In order to build grip strength effectively and safely, you need to focus on three types of hand grip exercise: 1.
Squeeze Grip Training Squeeze grip training is just as the name implies, in that it improves your squeezing strength.
Picture holding a wet sponge in your hand and then squeezing it to get all the water out.
This is your squeeze grip, and in order to increase the strength of this grip, you should ideally work with relatively large items that are awkward to hold.
For example, if you regularly workout with dumbbells or barbells, try to use ones that have a bar that is at least two inches in diameter.
Lifting weights with a thick bar requires tons more effort with regards to your hands, hence the reason why this technique is so effective at allowing you to build grip strength.
2.
Pinch Grip Training As the name suggests this form of training focuses on increasing your pinching strength.
If you were to try to lift a heavy plate using only your thumb and forefinger, you'd be relying on pinch grip strength.
With the correct type of hand grip exercise, your pinching strength can be vastly improved.
One way to go about this is by incorporating the training into your regular workout routine.
Whenever you lift a weight off the rack, or you replace them on the rack, use a pinch grip to lift them.
After you finish your regular workout, dedicate a few minutes to lift weights with a pinch grip, and try to do this each time you visit the gym.
3.
Hold Grip Training Your holding grip is the type of grip you rely on the most in your day-to-day life, so of course it's advantageous to increase the strength of this grip.
Work on this grip at least two to three times each week by doing a farmer's walk using heavy dumbbells.
If you take this one step further and you do the farmer's walk for as long as possible, you can build grip strength you never before imagined possible.
There are so many reason why one should build grip strength, and the good news is that you can achieve your goals simply by doing the above hand grip exercises two to three times each week.
Of course, if you want quicker results and even greater hand strength, there are many other kinds of hand grip exercise you can do.