Grip Strength: No-Nonsense Methods To Forge Elite Grip & Hand Strength For Weightlifting, Martials Arts & Rock Climbing

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Grip Strength No-Nonsense Methods To Forge Elite Grip & Hand Strength For Weightlifting, Martials Arts & Rock Climbing

1st Edition By Frank Sasso

©Copyright 2021 by Frank Sasso. All rights reserved. This document is geared towards providing exact and reliable information in regards to the topic and issue covered. The publication is sold with the idea that the publisher is not required to render accounting, officially permitted, or otherwise, qualified services. If advice is necessary, legal or professional, a practiced individual in the profession should be ordered. - From a Declaration of Principles which was accepted and approved equally by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations. In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. The information provided herein is stated to be truthful and consistent, in that any liability, in terms of inattention or otherwise, by any usage or abuse of any policies, processes, or directions contained within is the solitary and utter responsibility of the recipient reader. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly. Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher. The information herein is offered for informational purposes solely, and is universal as so. The presentation of the information is without contract or any type of guarantee assurance.

Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 – Benefits of Building Grip strength Chapter 2 – Why Most Fail to Build Grip Strength Chapter 3 –Types of Grip Strength Explained Chapter 4 – Warm-Up Techniques & Drills Chapter 5 – Grip Strength Exercises Explained... Chapter 6 – Recovery Techniques For Grip Training Chapter 7 – Your Grip Strength Regime (Putting It All Together!) Conclusion

Introduction Before we delve deep into the specifics of building immense grip strength I want to thank you and congratulate you for purchasing this book. Very few people end up taking action and pursuing their goals or dreams – by obtaining a copy of my grip strength book you’ve taken the first step in turning your grip strength goals into a reality. You’ve spent a portion of your hard-earned cash and you’ve acquired what I deem to be the ultimate and only guide to getting a vice-like grip. From my experience the majority of guys know one or two grip strength exercises, but they don’t actually know how or why they work (or the fact that there are several different types of grip strength you can target!) therefore we’ll begin this book with the elaboration of the big benefits you can experience from purposefully training your grip strength. Afterwards we’ll delve into the common mistakes that the vast majority of guys make when it comes to building up their grip strength (yep, I made a bunch of these mistakes in my younger years). Once we’ve discussed the benefits of building grip strength and the mistakes that many make while attempting to do so we’ll look at the different types of grip strength – maximum grip strength, endurance grip strength, pinch grip strength and crushing grip strength. After I’ve made you an expert on the types of grip strength it’s time to delve into what I’m sure you came here looking for… the grip strength exercises, workouts, warm-up and recovery drills to forge hands, fingers. forearms and most importantly a grip of steel. Thanks again for purchasing this book, I truly hope you enjoy it! But remember, once you turn the last page of my book it’s all on you to follow through and put the exercises and grip strength workout regimes elaborated upon in this book to action… I can give you all the information, but YOU must put in the work… I can’t do that part for you.

Chapter 1 – Benefits of Building Grip strength Let ’ s start off with one of my favorite metaphors for explaining the importance and benefits of grip strength... imagine a glistening Red Ferrari F430 with top of the range ceramic brakes, upgraded Challenge wheels and an aftermarket tune to unlock every conceivable bit of horsepower out of that high revving exotic Italian engine.

Sounds pretty good so far, hey? Now imagine that Ferrari is sitting on 4 of the cheapest tires on the market. You’ve got the power; you’ve got the style but your potential is truly limited due to the tires – the part of the vehicle that is making contact with the ground is your bottleneck. That is essentially what most trained individuals are dealing with… they isolate their biceps, their triceps, the vastus medialis in their quads to form that tear drop shape, they isolate every conceivable muscle group and spend an eternity under the bench press when their true potential is being limited by their fingers, hands, forearms and overall grip strength. Think about it…

If you can’t grip it you cant lift it. Whether you are swinging a baseball bat trying to drive home your team mate on first base. Whether you are tightening the rear naked choke on your Jiu Jitsu adversary. Whether you are a quarterback on your 3rd down preparing to throw a long pass for a touchdown in order to send the game to overtime. Whether you are about to attempt to beat David Goggins pull-ups in 24 hours record. your hand and grip strength will be tested… Your shoulders, chest, back and overall explosive athleticism may be up to scratch, but if your grip strength isn’t developed that can often be the miniscule difference between success and failure in all of these situations. In short, regardless of whether you’re an athlete, everyday gym-goer, tradesmen, farmer etc. the development of grip strength will allow you to harness your full potential… you will no longer be held back like the cherry red Ferrari on a cheap and nasty set of tires.

Chapter 1 Summary Grip strength is often the weak link, the difference between success and failure in a large variety of sporting endeavors. By honing in on your grip strength with a specific set of exercises you’ll be able to unlock your physiques full potential. Picture your body as a supercar and your grip strength as the tires – with cheap tires you’ll never be able to transfer your full power (athletic ability) to the ground.

Chapter 2 – Why Most Fail to Build Grip Strength

Perhaps you’ve made an attempt to build up your grip strength before – most guys go through stages of incorporating some forearm and grip oriented exercises in their workout regime from time-to-time, be it the reverse grip barbell curl or the farmers walk... both legitimate exercises, yet they fail to see the results and as such give up shortly thereafter... rinse and repeat this cycle of trying and failing every year and quite often the conclusion is drawn that “I can’t build great grip strength due to genetics.” No doubt, some guys are genetically blessed with a pretty solid grip strength without directly training it, although regardless of your genetics you can vastly increase your grip strength – if you’ve tried and failed before it’s likely due to one of the following reasons…

Consistency Is Non-Existent If you trained your chest twice one week then forgot about it for the next 3 weeks, rinsing and repeating this cycle over the course of a few years you wouldn’t be shocked that your chest had not developed as well as you may have liked, would you? The exact same principle applies to training your grip strength – you must hit it consistently with a variety of exercises multiple times per week for a sustained period of time. Our body does not want to change… we must force it with relentlessly consistency of sets and reps. Using Straps Lifting with straps is a Band-Aid fix for a weak grip. It makes no sense to focus on grip specific exercises while continuing to perform your pull-ups, bent over barbell rows, deadlifts and the like with a pair of figure 8 straps. If need be reduce the weight when you perform these compound movements of yours and use this as an opportunity to further your grip, wrist and hand strength. Falling In Love With The Hand Gripper As you’ll soon see there are a ton of grip specific exercises that can be implemented to build that vice-like grip strength you desire, and yes indeed – the hand gripper is one of tools and exercises I recommend you include. However, unless your primary goal with your grip strength is to close a certain level of gripper or compete in gripper competitions I recommend viewing the hand gripper as one of many exercises in our arsenal when it comes to building great grip strength – don’t be one of those guys that ditches all other grip strength exercises as if functional grip strength is your goal (be it for lifting or a specific sport) you won’t unlock your full potential with solely with hand gripper exercises. Failing To Understand The Different Types Of Grip Strength In Chapter 3 I will delve into the specific details of the different types of grip strength, however the biggest mistake here is not understanding that there are different types of grip strength – relating this back to bodybuilding this is the equivalent of aiming to build a large thick Arnold Schwarzenegger style chest while only performing pressing based exercises and neglecting to incorporate any fly exercises (i.e. the incline dumbbell fly, the pec deck).

An elite grip must be built with a combination of pinching and crushing exercises in rep ranges that focus on building both maximum grip strength and grip strength endurance.

Neglecting Warm-Ups & Recovery Techniques You cannot build an impressive pinching or crushing grip if you’re injured! Performing warm-up stretches before delving into your grip training routine and allowing sufficient rest & recovery between workouts is key. Rolling into the gym and loading up a barbell in the squat rack with 315lbs and dropping straight into an ATG squat is asking for an injury so you know that you should stretch your quads, hamstrings, glutes and lower back and perhaps do a little bit of foam rolling beforehand too... this exact same principle applies when it comes to grip strength. Expecting Colossal Results Immediately When the results we see don’t match up to the effort we perceive to be expending we quit. Here’s the thing though – you aren’t going to see much in the way of results within the first few days or weeks of training. Real gains, be it in grip strength, back development or chest thickness take months and years. Trust the process and put in the work and the results will come – don’t expect huge results immediately and throw in the towel when they (surprise, surprise!) fail to come within a few days of you starting your grip strength training regime.

Chapter 2 Summary There are many different reasons why guys enthusiastically attempt to build their grip strength then fail, the most common issues I’ve witnessed firsthand include: 1 - Performing their grip strength training regime extremely inconsistently. 2 - Using straps when performing deadlifts, bent over rows and pull-ups. 3 - Falling in love with the hand gripper and ditching all other exercises. 4 - Not working pinch grip, crushing grip, maximum and endurance grip exercises. 5 - Not stretching or allowing adequate recovery between grip strength workouts. 6 - Getting discouraged because they fail to understand that results take time.

Chapter 3 – Types of Grip Strength Explained Grip strength can be categorized into one of two types, the crushing grip and the pinch grip. The Crushing Grip

The crushing grip entails holding onto an object between your fingers and palm – when preparing to deadlift I always advise my clients to ‘crush’ the barbell to ensure they have an adequate grip to get the loaded barbell off the ground. The other most common example of the crushing grip is the closing of a hand gripper, regardless of whether your hand gripper is rated at 20lbs or 200lbs the aim is the same – to grip the two handles and crush them until they are touching each other, a feat of pure crushing grip strength.

The Pinch Grip

Exercises targeting the pinch grip entail holding a heavy object between your thumb and fingers – holding a 45lb plate in each hand, pinched between your thumb and fingers is a common example of targeting the pinch grip.

Crushing grip and pinch grip strength can be targeted for one of two goals: Maximum Strength Maximum strength is essentially your 1 rep max, the sheer amount of weight you can bare for one repetition. Endurance Strength Endurance strength focuses on high repetition and time-based feats, when we’re talking about grip strength the dead hang (hanging from a pull-up bar) is likely the most common example of endurance-oriented grip strength training.

A Few Examples Of Grip Strength Types & Goals

Hanging from a pull-up bar for 3 minutes is an example of endurance-based crushing grip training. Closing a 200lb hand gripper is an example of maximum strength crushing grip training. Walking 500 yards holding a couple of 45lb weight plates is an example of endurance-based pinch grip training. Picking up a 140lb slab of concrete once between your thumb and fingers is an example of maximum strength pinch grip training.

Chapter 3 Summary Crushing grip involves squeezing an object between your fingers and palm. Pinch grip involves pinching an object between your thumb and fingers. Maximum strength is the amount of weight you can crush or pinch for 1 repetition. Endurance-based grip strength training revolves around crushing or pinching weight for a prolonged period or high number of repetitions.

Chapter 4 – Warm-Up Techniques & Drills Look, I’m guilty of it too, back in the day I’d see warm-up exercises or drills and I’d scoff before quickly flicking through the pages until I got to the exercises themselves... I urge you not to do that. It might not happen next week, next month or even next year but eventually if you continue to neglect the warm-up portion of your grip strength training regime you will end up injured. Hell, I’m not asking you to spend an hour performing a rigorous warm-up before every grip strength workout. All I’m asking is that you spend a few minutes to pick and run through a few of these techniques and drills before jumping into the fun stuff (heavy crushing and pinching!). One excuse I often hear to justify skipping a warm-up routine is that by performing warm-up exercises you’ll be depleting your strength before going into your actual workout. That’s BS. legitimate studies have been conducted on doing a warm-up vs. going straight into feats of grip strength – here’s what the research indicates... Journal of Hand Therapy Volume 5, Issue 3, July–September 1992, Pages 143-146 “Two studies are reported that investigated the effect of warm-up exercises on maximal grip strength. Warm-up, a submaximal rehearsal or practice of an intended activity or event, is used to enhance athletic performance and reduce injury. Previous research on lower extremity performance has not found that activities designed to produce a warm-up effect increased strength. We hypothesized that subjects who engaged in mild warm-up exercises would have higher maximal grip force than would subjects with no warm-up period. The hypothesis was supported by both studies. The increase in grip strength due to warm-up was statistically and clinically significant (an increase of about 1 standard deviation).”

The Elastic Band Warm-Up Drill

Put your fingers together and place an elastic band over your fingers and thumb. Stretch out your fingers and thumb (as if you were waving to someone) before slowly allowing the elastic band to close your fingers and thumb together again. Perform reps for one minute per hand as part of your warm-up. This should not be a strenuous drill, if you’re struggling consider finding a band with a bit more elasticity.

The Sand Drill

Fill a container or bucket up with enough sand to submerge your hand. Begin opening and closing your hand, spreading and closing your fingers. The sand will provide an optimal level of resistance to get your fingers ready for performing your grip exercises. Perform reps for one minute per hand as part of your warm-up.

Finger Stretches Hold each finger stretch described below for 10 seconds before immediately proceeding to the following finger stretch. Once you’ve completed one round of each of the stretches below take a 20 second break before performing your next round. I recommend performing 3 rounds as part of your warm-up routine. Finger Stretch #1 Begin by squeezing your fingers and thumb together. Finger Stretch #2 Begin by separating your ring and middle finger and squeeze. Finger Stretch #3 Separate all fingers as if you were performing the elastic band drill we discussed earlier. Flex your fingers once separated. Finger Stretch #4 Form a fist and squeeze while flexing your fingers tightly.

Wrist Stretches Perform each wrist stretch for 10 seconds before immediately proceeding to the next wrist stretch. Once you’ve completed one round of each of the stretches below take a 20 second break before performing your next round. I recommend performing 3 rounds as part of your warm-up routine. Wrist Stretch #1 Form a fist and curl your wrists forward, as if you were holding onto a big high pair of handlebars on a Harley Davidson motorbike. Wrist Stretch #2 Spread your fingers as wide apart as possible while curling your wrist backwards as far as possible, this never fails to give a great stretch. Wrist Stretch #3 Interlock your fingers with palms facing towards each other, begin to alternate rolling your wrists clockwise and counterclockwise. Wrist Stretch #4 Assume a prayer position with your palms pushed together and elbows flared out. Begin around nose height and begin to lower your hands until around waist height – the lower you go the more intense you’ll feel this wrist stretch become.

Myofascial Release

If you have access to a foam roller or trigger point ball fantastic! If not the stretches and drills mentioned above are more than sufficient for your warmup regime. Foam Rolling Spend a couple of minutes slowly rolling down both sides of each forearm – if you find any particularly tender spots while doing this pause and hold for a moment on that area (it doesn’t feel pleasant, I know!).

Trigger Point Ball

Place your trigger point ball between either a wall and the palm of your hand or the palm of your hand and a desk or table – press firmly against the ball with the palm of your hand to increase pressure while moving your palm up and down, ensuring you use the trigger point ball to hit all areas of your palm. Spend 2 minutes per palm. You can also use your trigger point ball on your forearms as a secondary measure (or if you don’t have access to a foam roller).

Chapter 4 Summary One often overlooked key to building immense grip strength is the preparation before each grip strength workout. Two studies drew the conclusion that a proper warm-up increases maximum grip strength. Utilize an elastic band to begin your warm-up, opening and closing your fingers. Proceed to perform 3 rounds of the 4 prescribed finger stretches, holding each stretch for 10 seconds before immediately going into the following stretch. Once your finger stretches are complete proceed to perform 3 rounds of the 4 prescribed wrist stretches, holding each stretch for 10 seconds before immediately going into the following stretch. If you have access to a small foam roller spend a few minutes foam rolling your forearms to increase blood flow and relieve tension. Use a trigger point ball on a desk or up against a wall and roll it over the palm of your hand, pushing against the ball to increase the pressure. Feel free to also use your trigger point ball on your forearms. Spending 5 - 10 minutes warming up will improve overall hand health, flexibility, reduction in risk of injury and increase the longevity of your training.

Chapter 5 – Grip Strength Exercises Explained... Now that you understand how to optimally warm up your palms, fingers, forearms and wrists prior to performing your grip strength exercises, as well as the different types of grip strength we can target (crushing and pinching) with different aims in mind (maximum strength and grip endurance) it’s time to explain the exercises! On the following pages you’ll find an explanation and form guide to each exercise I personally use and prescribe to my clients to build a vice-like grip. Don’t concern yourself with a routine just yet as we’ll be putting all of these exercises together into a series of different workouts in a later chapter. For now, focus on understanding what each exercise is along with how to perform it with correct form.

The Farmer’s Carry

If a bodybuilder and a farmer were about to have a competition to see who could carry the most weight over a certain distance, I’d place my hard-earned cash on the farmer every single time. Farmers pick up heavy barrels, buckets, bails of feed for their livestock,

fencing equipment… you name it they pick it up and carry it. They are not wearing straps, using chalk or getting any form of assistance. And that’s why every farmer has tough, strong hands and fingers with the grip strength to match. To perform the farmer’s carry you’ll be picking up two object (one in each hand) and carrying them for a set distance or time. If your goal is maximum strength perhaps, you’ll be carrying a pair of 90lb kettlebells for a handful of steps, or a couple of buckets filled with concrete. Want to use the farmer’s carry for grip endurance? Take a 500-yard walk with a pair of 18lb kettlebells or dumbbells and fight the fatigue. Farmer’s Carry Form Guide Pick up your kettlebells, dumbbells or object of choice with a solid grip, drive through your heels and maintain a straight back until you’re upright. Walk for a reasonable distance with small, quick steps – focus on your breathing as you walk.

Fingertip Push-Ups

Bruce Lee, hailed as one (if not THE) greatest martial artists of all time was known for incorporating fingertip push-ups into his workout regime – as he knew increased grip strength, finger strength and wrist strength were all byproducts of mastering this feat of strength. If you look up photos of Bruce performing fingertip push-ups you’ll notice he often performed them on two fingers! Performing the fingertip push-up on five fingers with correct form is more than difficult enough. If you’re unable to perform the fingertip push-ups with traditional push-up form I recommend doing your push-ups on your knees instead of on your feet, thus reducing the weight you will be bearing on your fingers until strong enough to support your entire body weight. Once you’re comfortably able to perform high rep sets of the fingertip pushup on your knees your fingers should be conditioned enough to go back to attempting them with traditional push-up form (although you will most likely need to drop your rep range down a bit).

Fingertip Push-Up Form Guide Position your hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder width. Straighten your arms while ensuring they remain perpendicular to your body, walk your feet backward. Lower your chest down to the floor by flexing and bending your arms. Once your chest has touched the floor proceed to drive your body back up through your fingertips until your arms are fully extended.

Dead Hangs

The dead hang is a personal favorite of mine, the mental fortitude required to see through a few long dead hangs is unlike anything I’ve experienced – don’t get me wrong there isn’t a grip strength exercise in existence that I’d deem particularly comfortable… but dead hangs are just something else. The dead hang is a simple exercise – you’ll be grasping a pull-up bar and hanging with your arms fully extended for a prescribed amount of time. The first 30 to 45 of a dead hang never really seem to cause too much trouble for most guys… it’s when you begin to venture into the 90 to 120 second area that time seems to slow down as your fingers, hands and forearms scream for mercy. Once you’ve mastered hanging for prolonged periods of time (or if maximum grip strength is your primary goal) strap on a weight vest to add another 45lbs or so to the weight you are bearing on the pull-up bar. Dead Hangs Form Guide Begin with a pull-up bar. Grasp the bar with a shoulder width (or slightly wider) grip with your palms facing away from your body (overhand grip). Wrap your thumb around the bar. Ensure your arms are at a dead hang (straight, no bend in the elbow) you should not feel any muscle engagement from your lats. Relax your body while you hang for the desired amount of time – no swinging, no fidgeting. Focus.

The Dumbbell Wrist Twist

The dumbbell wrist twist is an exercise that truly has stood the test of time, hell – this was one of the first dumbbell exercises I ever saw being performed. It’s simple – grab a reasonably weighty pair of dumbbells and rotate your wrists inward and outward for the desired number of repetitions. Why did the dumbbell wrist twist stand the test of time? Because it works. I primarily recommend and prescribe the dumbbell wrist twist for endurancebased grip strength training – if maximum grip strength is your goal this is still a great exercise to add into your regime to target a bit of endurance… I just wouldn’t recommend going overboard with the amount of weight on your wrists for this twisting movement.

Dumbbell Wrist Twist Form Guide Grasp a pair of dumbbells with a neutral grip (palms facing towards you). Stand with a slight bend in your knee with your feet shoulder-width apart. Twist your wrist outwards in a slow and controlled manner. Once you’ve twisted your wrists as far outward as comfortable begin to twist your wrist in the opposite direction, until twisted as far inward as comfortable. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions or time.

The Hand Gripper

You’ve probably stumbled across hand grippers before – whether it be on the shelves of your local Walmart, in your parents shed or perhaps you’ve seen a bunch of grip strength aficionados attempting to close the legendary 365lb Captains of Crush gripper. Regardless of how much you develop your grip strength there will always be a hand gripper out there that’ll kick your ass. The hand gripper will keep you honest… if you haven’t been putting in the hard yards it won’t budge. Not only is the hand gripper an excellent exercise to incorporate in our grip strength routine it’s also a fantastic gauge of progress, as such I recommend that all of my clients own 3 different hand grippers. 1 – a fairly easy hand gripper to use for recovery and deloading. 2 – your ‘work’ hand gripper – used for performing your regular sets and reps. 3 – a ‘challenge’ gripper, a gripper that’s damn difficult to close which can be used to continually gauge your overall grip strength and progress.

There are a ton of generic and odd-branded hand grippers on the market, however the gold standard are the Captains of Crush range… anyone that is serious about building a damn strong grip will invest in a few of the Captains of Crush’s grippers – they aren’t particularly cheap but they last a lifetime (and you sure as hell won’t fit a gripper that requires 365lbs of pressure to close on the shelves of your local Walmart). For a repetition to count with your hand gripper it must be completely closed – half reps don’t count. Hand Gripper Form Guide Begin by grasping your gripper fairly high up in your palm with your four fingers grasped around one side of the gripper (your pinky finger should be on the very end of the gripper handle) and your thumb wrapped around the other handle on your gripper. Begin to squeeze until both handles of the gripper touch each other. Hold for 1 second. Release until the gripper handles have returned to their original position. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions per hand.

Finger Walking

You don’t need any fancy equipment to perform the finger walk – I recommend beginning with a light broomstick. Once you’ve developed your grip strength a bit and the broomstick becomes a little too easy it’s time to progress to a sledgehammer (or similar weighty object with a reasonable length handle). You’ll find finger walking not only improves your grip strength, your shoulder strength and your shoulder endurance but your finger coordination will vastly improve too – don’t get discouraged if you feel a little uncoordinated trying to walk your fingers in the beginning… practice, practice, practice! So, what exactly does the finger walk entail? Grasping a broomstick handle with one hand you’ll begin to extend it out to the side before ‘walking’ your fingers from the top of the handle all the way down to the bottom, the lower your fingers walk down the handle the harder it becomes.

Finger Walking Form Guide Begin grasping the top of a broomstick handle with your arm fully extended out the side (horizontal to the floor). Begin slowly ‘walking’ your fingers down from the top of the broomstick until you reach the broomstick head. Walk your fingers back up until you reach your starting position at the top of the broomstick again. Repeat for the desired number of walks before switching hands.

Pinching Plates

When it comes to building pinch grip strength the ‘pinching plates’ exercise will without a doubt give you the best bang for your buck. There’s not a ton of explanation required for this one – you’ll be holding onto (pinching) a weight plate between your four fingers and your thumb. A 45lb plate is a great starting weight for most guys when it comes to pinching plates, either stand stationary while gripping a plate in each hand or opt to perform a Farmer’s carry using weight plates (forcing you to use a pinch grip) as opposed to the crushing style grip used on a traditional Farmer’s carry with dumbbells or kettlebells. Once you’ve mastered the 45lb plate why not add another and pinch 2 45lb plates together? If you’d rather work on a wider pinch grip (you may wish to do this if you’re training for a specific sport that requires you to have your palm open further when utilizing your pinch grip) then consider pinching 3 or 4 22lb plates

together.

Pinching Plates Form Guide Grasp a weight plate in each hand, pinched between your four fingers and thumb. Pinch the weight plate for time or perform as a Farmer’s carry – taking small steps and focusing on your breathing for a specified number of steps or distance.

Thick Bar Training

It’s pretty rare to come across a legitimate thick barbell in gyms these days, unless you’re training at an old school strongman gym you’ll likely find the squat racks and deadlift platforms have a standard Olympic size barbell present. Nowadays there’s a simple solution to replicate thick bar training on dumbbells, barbells and machines very inexpensively… The solution is Fat Gripz.

For $30~ you can pick up a pair of Fat Gripz that simply slide on and slide off your dumbbells, barbells and machines to replicate training with a thick bar. Why would you want to train with a thick bar you ask? Training with a thick bar (or replicating training with a thick bar) will increase your finger strength, thumb strength and overall grip strength, you’ll build a pair of thick and powerful forearms too. When performing thick bar exercises, you’ll be working your open hand crushing grip (as you won’t be able to wrap your hand the entire way around the grip). There’s not one specific exercise I’m recommend here, more-so I recommend incorporating some thick bar movements in your regular gym training regime. Deadlifting? Chuck a pair of Fat Gripz on the barbell. Getting a bicep pump? Do a few sets of dumbbell hammer curls with Fat Gripz.

Hell, from time to time I even chuck my Fat Gripz on the pull-up bar and smash out a few sets of weighted pull-ups – that’s a guaranteed method to building strong as hell open hand crushing grip. Below are a number of exercises I regularly perform with Fat Gripz: Dumbbell hammer curls Barbell deadlifts Barbell bent over row Dumbbell skull crushers Pull-ups Flat barbell bench press

Reverse Grip Barbell Curls

When curling with your palms facing away from you (as opposed to your palms facing you in a regular bicep curl) you will be targeting your forearms and grip strength instead of the short or long head of your biceps. Ensure you do not lift too heavy and begin swinging the way, if you do you’ll be taking tension of your forearms and as such won’t be growing your forearms! Reverse Grip Barbell Curls Form Guide Stand up straight while grasping a barbell with a shoulder width grip, elbows tucked in and palms facing towards you. Curl the barbell up by contracting your biceps and moving your forearms, your upper arm should not move at all. Curl until the barbell is at shoulder height. Squeeze and hold this contraction for one second. Slowly lower the bar back down until your arms are extended in front of you.

Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.

Towel Pull-Ups

Instead of gripping directly onto your pull-up bar opt to hold onto either end of a towel, draping it over your pull-up bar. The towel pull-up is harder than it looks and is fantastic for developing both grip and core strength as well as smashing the lats. Keep in mind these are extremely difficult… do not be shocked if you can only struggle out two or three reps when you started incorporating the towel pull-up into your routine regardless of how many regular pull-ups you can do.

Towel Pull-Ups Form Guide Begin by folding a beach or bath towel in half. Drape your towel evenly over your pull-up bar. Grasp one side of your towel with each hand. Lean back slightly and begin to contract your lats to pull yourself up until your chin is above your pull-up bar. Slowly lower yourself back down to a dead hang while maintaining a firm grip on your towel. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Plier Bucket Lifts

Here’s an extremely unconventional grip strength exercise for you – the plier bucket lift. I’m sure you’ve got a fairly good idea of what this entails… For this old school unconventional grip strength exercise, you’ll need a few things including: 1 – a pair of pliers 2 – a bucket 3 – a piece of cloth or leather 4 – something to fill your bucket up with (sand, concrete, rice, rocks) The idea is to grasp your pliers firmly around the handle of your filled bucket and perform repetitions lifting the bucket with your pliers with one hand, some guys simply pick the bucket up with the pliers and place it straight back down in a deadlift fashion, others like to perform more of a hammer curl movement with their bucket and pliers.

Plier Bucket Lifts Form Guide Begin by filling your bucket with some form of weight, be it rocks, sand, rice, or concrete. Don’t have access to any of those? Throw some books in your bucket. Wrap a piece of cloth or leather around your buckets handle, this will allow the pliers to get a firm grip on the handle without slipping or damaging your bucket handle. While pinching the bucket handle with your pliers as firmly as possible begin to lift the bucket off the ground with your pliers. Lower the bucket back down to the ground, do not release the pressure of your pliers until the end of the set. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Rope Climbs

Rope climbs are a badass exercise that’ll not only assist in further forging your grip strength, they’ll toughen up your hands too. Before incorporating rope climbs into your workout routine I recommend being able to comfortably rep out a set of 10 bodyweight pull-ups (or at least 3 towel pull-ups). These days I loop my climbing rope around a gigantic tree branch at a park down the road from my gym, that said that is not how I begun performing rope climbs… I recommend you begin exactly how I did for your own safety and to build confidence in your rope climbs – visit your local rock climbing gym. Most rock climbing gyms will have a large rope for you to climb with a harness attached, once you’ve gained confidence (and grip strength) I recommend transitioning to a large rope without a harness – most CrossFit gyms will have a number of these ropes available for you to climb.

Then finally (at your own risk!) consider setting up your own climbing rope in a tree in your backyard or down at the local park.

Rope Climb Form Guide Start by firmly grasping the rope with one hand above the other (I begin with my left hand being higher up) while you allow the rope to pass between your legs. To place emphasis on grip strength we will not be using our legs at all to assist us – begin pulling yourself up the rope using only your arms, continually reach up with alternating hands as you grab and pull yourself slightly higher up the rope until reaching the top. To lower yourself back down I recommend performing using the same technique you used to climb the rope, gradually lower each hand as you bring yourself down the road. You can allow the rope to gradually pass through your hands to lower yourself however I’ve had far too many rope burn incidents to recommend this method. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions (climbs).

Chapter 5 Summary There are a heap of different grip strength-oriented exercises out there, some are extremely effective, others are quite frankly a waste of time and require equipment that costs an arm and a leg… the grip strength exercises I’ve shared with you are easy to perform, don’t require any complex machinery and will need you results. These exercises include: The Farmer’s Carry Fingertip Push-Ups Dead Hangs The Dumbbell Twist The Hand Gripper Finger Walking Pinching Plates The Thick Barbell Reverse Grip Barbell Curls Towel Pull-Ups Plier Bucket Lifts Rope Climbs

Chapter 6 – Recovery Techniques For Grip Training In Chapter 4 I stressed the importance of a proper warm-up before delving into your grip strength exercises, on your rest days (and when you feel particularly fatigued) there are a few recovery techniques I recommend incorporating… I see recovery techniques as tools in a toolbox, you carry around your toolbox with you and take out the appropriate tool as needed – I view recovery techniques for grip strength (or for any muscle group for that matter) the same way. You don’t need to drop what you’re doing at 6pm every Tuesday and pull out one of your tools – simply use them as you see fit. Feeling sore? Struggling to progress? Reach into your recovery technique toolkit and use the appropriate tool.

Grip Training Recovery Technique #1 – The Ice Bucket

Essentially an ice bath for your hands! Grab a bucket (5-gallon capacity will do the trick, you should be able to pick one up for a few dollars) and fill it with cold water and ice. Submerge your hands and forearms in the bucket for 10 minutes. I generally spend the 10 minutes opening and closing my hand, spreading my fingers and just generally moving and stretching my fingers and wrists while submerged in the ice-cold water. One word of advice - do not do this BEFORE your workout – only perform the ice bucket recovery technique after your grip training workouts and/or on rest days.

Grip Training Recovery Technique #2 – Contrast Bucketing

The grip-oriented alternative to a contrast shower! For this recovery technique you will require two buckets (once again, around 5 gallons in capacity will do the trick). Fill one bucket with hot water, although ensure it’s not too hot that you’ll burn yourself by submerging your hand and forearm into it. Fill the other bucket with cold water and ice. Spend between 10 and 20 minutes alternating between the two buckets. As a general rule I always recommend spending twice as long in the hot bucket. Here’s the contrast bucketing regime I performed earlier this week: 1 minute ice cold bucket 2 minutes hot bucket

1 minute ice cold bucket 2 minutes hot bucket 1 minute ice cold bucket 2 minutes hot bucket 1 minute cold bucket As mentioned with the ice bucket method recovery method, I do not recommend performing contrast bucketing before your grip strength workout – save it for after your workout or on rest days.

Grip Training Recovery Technique #3 – Massage

Spending a few dollars on a deep tissue massage from time to time works wonders for bodybuilders, powerlifters and the like – the same can be said for those who place a large emphasis on their grip training. Every few weeks I spend $20~ to get a professional shoulder, forearm and hand massage. Hell, if you are not a fan of receiving a massage or spending money to get one you could give yourself a firm forearm and hand massage. Pick up some tiger balm and use your thumb to really dig into the palm of the hand you’re massaging. Spend 10~ minutes per hand and forearm.

Grip Training Recovery Technique - #4 – Infrared Sauna

The infrared sauna is a fantastic recovery method not just for your grip strength, but for your overall health and well-being. I particularly find that whenever my tendons and ligaments seem to be a little sore or overworked, I jump in an infrared sauna for 20 – 30 minutes and come up feeling superb. Your gym may have an infrared sauna available for use or you may wish to purchase one, I picked up a small one-person infrared sauna that I assembled under my patio for a few hundred dollars… that’s a small price to put on an overall improvement in physical and mental health.

Grip Training Recovery Technique #5 – Deload Week I’ll be the first to admit it, a deload week isn’t a great deal of fun however it is without a doubt a necessary tool in our recovery toolbox. A deload week is the reduction in weight/workload for one week of your training regime. When performing a deload week I recommend reducing the weight being crushed/pinched/lifted by 50%. Normally perform your farmer’s carry with 100lbs? This week it’ll be with 50lbs. For time based exercises such as the dead hang I recommend reducing the time per rep or set by 50% too. Instead of aiming to hang for 2 minutes per dead hang you’ll halve that to 1 minute per dead hang for the next week of training. A deload week isn’t challenging or mentally stimulating and you may feel like you’re merely going through the motions BUT you need take a step back and view this as the long game that it actually is. Elite grip strength takes years to achieve – an occasional deload week here and there helps our central nervous system recover and ensures we don’t burn out physically.

Chapter 6 Summary There’s no single be all-end all recovery technique when it comes to grip strength training, keep the following recovery techniques in your proverbial toolbox and use them as you see fit: The Ice Bucket Contrast Bucketing Massage Infrared Sauna Deload Week

Chapter 7 – Your Grip Strength Regime (Putting It All Together!)

Now that we’ve covered an extensive number of highly effective grip strength exercises it’s time to put it all together! Below you’ll find a number of grip strength regimes from those suitable for beginners through to those that’re best suited to the more seasoned grip strength enthusiast. Don’t like a particular exercise or don’t have the equipment to perform it? Feel free to swap and substitute an exercise here or there as required – provided you’re swapping a crushing exercise out for another crushing exercise (or a pinch exercise for a pinch exercise) and complete the same prescribed volume you won’t run into any issues at all.

On the following pages you’ll find 4 beginner grip strength workouts, 4 intermediate grip strength workouts and 4 advanced grip strength workouts. There’s no right or wrong way to implement these. Some guys like to perform workout #1 for a few weeks before moving on to workout #2 and so on. Others like to perform workout #1 on Monday, workout #2 on Wednesday and workout #3 on Friday before starting the cycle again with workout #1 the following week. It’s a matter of personal preference, find what works best for you.

Beginner Grip Strength Workout #1 Farmer’s carry – 3 sets – 30 seconds per carry Dead hangs – 3 sets – 30 seconds per dead hang Broomstick finger walking – 3 walks up and down broom handle Hand gripper – 3 sets of 10 closes per hand Beginner Grip Strength Workout #2 Dead hangs – 3 sets – 30 seconds per dead hang Plate pitches – 3 sets – 1 minute per plate pinch Reverse grip barbell curls – 3 sets of 10 reps per set Dumbbell twists – 3 sets of 10 reps per set Beginner Grip Strength Workout #3 Fingertip push-ups on knees – 3 sets – 10 reps per set Plier bucket lifts – 3 sets – 10 lifts per set Hand gripper – 3 sets of 10 closes per hand Plate pitches – 3 sets – 1 minute per plate pinch Beginner Grip Strength Workout #4 Towel pull-ups – 5 sets – 1 rep per set Plate pitches – 3 sets – 1 minute per plate pinch Broomstick finger walking – 3 walks up and down broom handle Reverse grip barbell curls – 3 sets of 10 reps per set

Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #1 Farmer’s carry – 5 sets – 30 seconds per carry Plate pitches – 5 sets – 1 minute per plate pinch Towel pull-ups – 3 sets – 5 rep per set Hand gripper – 2 sets of 10 closes per hand Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #2 20 minutes of thick bar training (use Fat Gripz if necessary) Hand gripper – 4 sets of 10 closes per hand Towel pull-ups – 10 sets – 1 rep per set Dumbbell twists – 3 sets of 10 reps per set Plier bucket lifts – 3 sets – 10 lifts per set Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #3 Dumbbell twists – 5 sets of 20 reps per set Reverse grip barbell curls – 5 sets of 20 reps per set Plate pitches – 5 sets – 1 minute per plate pinch Dead hangs – 3 hangs ‘till failure Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #4 Hand gripper – 4 sets of 10 closes per hand Fingertip push-ups – 3 sets – 8 reps per set Plate pitches – 3 pinches ‘till failure Plier bucket lifts – 2 sets – 6 lifts per set Dumbbell twists – 2 sets ‘till failure

Advanced Grip Strength Workout #1 30 minutes thick bar training Fingertip push-ups – 5 sets – 10 reps per set Rope climbs – 5 reps Dumbbell twists – 2 sets ‘till failure Advanced Grip Strength Workout #2 Sledgehammer finger walking – 3 walks up and down broom handle Farmer’s carry – 3 sets – 1 minute per carry Fingertip push-ups – 5 sets – 10 reps per set Rope climbs – 5 reps Plier bucket lifts – 1 set ‘till failure Advanced Grip Strength Workout #3 Plate pitches – 3 pinches ‘till failure Sledgehammer finger walking – 3 walks up and down broom handle Fingertip push-ups – 5 sets – 10 reps per set Reverse grip barbell curls – 5 sets of 20 reps per set Dumbbell twists - 5 sets of 20 reps per set Advanced Grip Strength Workout #4 Hand gripper – 4 sets of 10 closes per hand Plate pitches – 10 pinches – 1 minute per pinch Sledgehammer finger walking – 4 walks up and down broom handle Fingertip push-ups – 2 sets – 15 reps per set Dumbbell twists – 2 sets ‘till failure Reverse grip barbell curls – 2 sets ‘till failure Dead hangs – 3 sets – 30 seconds per dead hang

Weekly Grip Training Example (Beginner) Monday – Beginner Grip Strength Workout #1 Tuesday – Infrared sauna Wednesday - Beginner Grip Strength Workout #2 Thursday - rest Friday – 20 minutes thick bar training Saturday – contrast buckets Sunday - rest

Weekly Grip Training Example (Intermediate) Monday – Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #3 Tuesday – Ice bucket Wednesday - Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #2 Thursday – Contrast buckets Friday – Intermediate Grip Strength Workout #1 Saturday – Massage Sunday - Rest

Weekly Grip Training Example (Advanced) Monday – Advanced Grip Strength Workout #1 Tuesday – Infrared sauna & massage Wednesday - Advanced Grip Strength Workout #1 Thursday - Contrast buckets Friday – Advanced Grip Strength Workout #1 Saturday – Contrast buckets Sunday – 30 minutes thick bar training

Conclusion Thank you again for purchasing my grip training book! I hope you’ve found this book to be valuable; I can still vividly remember the day I picked up an entry level hand gripper and struggled with all my might to try and close the damn thing… building vice-like grip strength is a hell of a journey. While my journey continues yours is just about to begin, as I mentioned in the introduction of this book I can equip you with all the knowledge on types of grip strength, specific warm-up and recovery techniques, exercises to target endurance based pinch grip and the like but it’s up to you to put this newly acquired knowledge to work. Lastly, if you enjoyed this book I’d be ever so grateful if you could share your thoughts in a review on Amazon.com. It’d be greatly appreciated. Best of luck on your journey my friend, now go out there and get strong as hell. Frank Sasso.

Want To Build An Unbreakable Mindset? Check Out Frank’s Other Book…

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