My first introduction to hand strength was when I, as a 13-year old, joined an Olympic
wrestling club.
Grip strength in Olympic wrestling is massively important and the coach used to start each training session with a good grip workout. Often my hands would be so exhausted after a session that I would get cramps in my palms during the night.
A strong grip is always an advantage as it improves control of hand tools and is a key component in sorts as diverse as golf, wind-surfing, skiing and climbing.
In the jungle a good grip is necessary when moving outside established footpaths, where you have to hack your way with the
machete.
In this series of postings I will be showing several hand strength exercises that I use and have had good results with.
I will cover
warm-up, stretching and main workout.
Warming Up
 |
| Normal Grip - Open. |
As with all body parts I always try to warm-up before my main hand work-out. One of the tools I use for that is a pair of hand grips. People often don't realise how versatile these things are and that they can be used in a variety of ways to achieve the desired result.
 |
| Normal Grip - Closed. |
I start by using a "normal" hold using my whole palm and do a few reps with each hand. This exercise favours the fingers further from the thumb so I then reverse the grip to work index and middle fingers.
 |
| Inverse Grip - Open |
 |
| Inverse Grip - Closed. |
I then move on to work the thumb itself. Note the modified grip I use.
 |
| Thumb - Open |
 |
| Thumb - Closed. |
Then I begin to isolate the top two or bottom two fingers like so:
 |
| Top Two fingers Only - Open |
 |
| Top Two fingers Only - Closed |
 |
| Bottom Two Fingers Only - Open |
 |
| Bottom Two Fingers Only - Closed. |
There are different "strength" hand grips on the market and I make sure to use the appropriate strength for a warm-up, i.e. not too challenging.
