Get Your 6 Pack Abs

Yesterday at the gym I was doing Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs), it’s been a while since doing these and I quickly found out that my back strength completely out weighs my grip strength. My grip strength quickly became the limiting factor for this exercise.

If you’re in the same position as me, try adding some of these exercise to the end of your workout.

Here are some of the best grip strength training exercises and grip strength equipment:

Sandbags: As mentioned by my friend Andy, Sandbags are definitely a very good grip strength builder. Since the sand is always moving and re-positioning itself in the bag. Adding any sandbag lifts to your routine will definitely increase your grip

Power holds: Take a bar and just hold it, like at the top of a deadlift. The key is to load it up with a heavy poundage so that you cannot hold it for more than 20-30 seconds at a time (you can experiment with the duration). To make the exercise more effective, get some super thick foam rubber, like the kind used to insulate pipes (Home Depot has ton of this stuff, matter of fact, Home Depot is awesome for making workout equipment). Grab the bar with the heavy insulation, and hang on with all you got.

Farmer’s Walk: Take to heavy dumbells, grab them and hold them at your sides. Now, walk as far as you can. You can use the fat grips here too, but the plain grip is tough as well. This exercise, when used with heavier weights, is just brutal for the whole body (great finishing move).

Gripper Work: Get a good set of athletic grippers. Ironmind makes some heavy grippers, and there is an adjustable one called the Super Gripper or something. However, most grippers are too weak, so if you can’t find the above grippers you can improvise with a power rack. If you have a power rack, try this next exercise.

Power Rack Grabs: Take the pin of your power rack, and set it to just below your hip. Now, get a heavy duty bucket, and make the handle nice and thick, but make sure it still rotates. Place the heel of your palm on the pin, and dangle the bucket from your fingers with some plates in it. You will be able to develop some demented hand strength with this exercise.

Hangs: Grab a chin up bar….and hang. : )

Pinch grips: Take two plates, put them together so the smooth side is out, now grab it so your thumb is on one side, and your four fingers are on the other. When you get up to two 25’s, your getting strong. When you get up to two 45’s (long way off for most of us), you’ll have vices instead of hands.

Miscellaneous: Find things like cinder blocks, big rocks, and hold and carry them in difficult ways. Take a iron rake, and walk it up and down with your fingers (hands together, moving the rake vertically).

Use one of these exercises after a workout, 2-3 workouts a week for a couple sets. Use good form and go heavy. Hand strength will benefit ALL of your upper body exercises, and a lot of lower body exercises. Hand strength is very functional in everyday life and is one of the most basic indications of a man or woman’s strength. After about two months of doing these exercises, shake someone’s hand and see if they don’t wince in pain.

Since most people correlate large forearms with grip strength, even though there is no strong correlation, I thought I would add some good forearm exercises as well. Strong forearms will add to your grip strength, as the wrist is involved in stabilizing and moving the hands.

Wrist Curls/Reverse Wrist Curls: These can be done seated, while resting the forearms on the edge of a bench or on your thighs. Another good way to do wrist curls is while standing, and holding a barbell behind your back. You also can do the same for reverse wrist curls, holding the barbell in front of the torso. The standing version will hit the forearms in their position of peak contraction. Go as heavy as is comfortable to your wrist joint.

Wrist Rollers: Take a wooden handle, hang rope from the middle, and put a weight on the other end. Roll the weight up and down, rolling in each direction. Try making the handles thicker if you want to challenge your grip at different angles. Grade your effort by both the number of times you completely roll and unroll the weight, and the speed at which you can roll the weight. Many strongman competitions do a wrist roller race.

Lever lifts: Take an object like an axe, and hold it either in front of you, or sticking behind you. Now, lever it up and down. The further a way the weight is from your hand, the harder the lift will be. For the front lever lift, just try a baseball bat at first. For the rear lift, try an axe holding it halfway. When you get used to the movement, go heavier. Your wrists are in a little bit of a delicate position with lever lifts, be careful.

Plate Curls: Take some Olympic plates, grab them with a pinch grip (one in each hand), and curl them, it’s that simple, in explanation at least. Wait till you try this exercise, you’ll be shocked at how hard this it is.