F&%&$?%$ grip

[Pheedno]

Have you tried using straps. I have to use supports for extremely heavys otherwise my grip goes out before my sets are done.

[G-S]

Hand Grippers. Cost about 6 bucks. Try em out, they have worked for me.

[Billy Boy]

I do ju jitsu and to strengthen the wrists I do reverse pushups with the backs of your hands on the floor.Sounds painful but it isn't.

Also you could perform wrist rolls a weight is added to a rope and you rotate the bar in a stand to bring the weight upto the bar.I,ll try to find a good detailed description of it.

About touching your thumb with your little finger and keeping your fingers straight I,m not sure it is possible to do that

[jbrand]

Originally posted by Little Girl
I can't use it in competition. What would be their purpose in training if I can't use it in comp?

LG

Give dinosaur training a whirl. It is taking intensity to a whole other level, other women in the gym will bow in your presence

Take the heaviest dumbbells you can carry (without rounding your back, be sure to arch your back when picking these up from the rack <in a standard DL position>) and simply walk with them until you have reached the _maximum_ possible fatigue in your grip that they actually fall out of your hands. Be sure to do this with lots of space vacant of other people handling weights. I gave up all types of training accessories years ago, and the stabilizer recruitment has made me much proportionally stronger.

[Ermantroudt]

You could:
1. Use a wrist roller, which is easily made
2. Get a bucket of sand, put your hand in the bucket up to you elbow, then open and close your hand in the sand.
3. Forearm curls and Reverse Forearm curls
4. Hammer Curls
5. Use any of the available grip tools

Ermantroudt

[FREAK2]

when you do wrist curls let the bar roll down to your finger tips and roll it back up.
if you do side laterals for shoulders grab the dumbell with a suicide grip,
also when you pick up your plates to load up on a bar or something grab them the same way.

[DATY Fanatic]

Hands/Fingers! This might sound crazy because it’s totally outside conventional training methods. The good news is it can’t hurt you and it won’t cost you either. Get some thick rubber bands...with an open hand, loop around pinky and thumb so the tension is tight enough to keep all fingers together then separate your fingers…like when doing a hand tracing as a kid…do as many reps as possible. Then move the rubber band from your thump to your index finger and repeat…then middle finger…then go ring finger to thumb. I hope that make sense.

Like I said it won’t hurt you and you can literally do them anytime, anywhere. I use to do them while driving home from work.

IMO, The wraps and wrist exercises are great points as well. I’d also consider checking with rock climbers…climbing magazines...etc. They might have some unique ideas as well.

Just an idea. Good luck!

[EXCESS]

I hold a 45 lb plate by my side on my fingertips. Then I lower it and raise it, moving only my fingers.

[Ajax]

LG:

Here’s a long one for you. I got started and it just came pouring out!

It could just be a strength issue--however, in my experience, it's more likely to be a mismatch in strength around one of your joints that could be the problem. Let me diverge for a second to illustrate my point:

I had a really bad shoulder (right shoulder).. Every now and then, during a lift, I would experience something that felt like a tear; I would be too sore to workout shoulder/chest for weeks and it would take months to get over and back to working out hard. For years it limited my ability to work my shoulders (still my weakest part--but improving rapidly!) and also affected my bench/incline bench and sometimes lat exercises. (Delts are so critical!) Basically, it really stalled me.

A few months ago I saw a guy who posted with the same problem (on AR or someplace else, I forget) and he cured it by working his rear delts harder. (I was guilty of ignoring them--I had a “if I can not see them, why bother attitude.” Stupid, I know!). Well, I tried his suggestion and worked my rear delts hard. In a matter of weeks the shoulder pain stopped completely, I could work them a lot harder and my delt size/strength has gone up tremendously! My theory is my anterior/media delts & chest were stronger than my rear deltoid, so it put extra strain on the joints/tendons in one direction and allowed me to injure myself very easily. Strengthening the rear deltoid evened out the pressure all around, thus curing the problem.

OK, so here’s how that might apply to you: your sore wrist might be from the fact that one or more muscles in your forearm might be so much stronger than the others that it is causing stress on your wrist joint / tendons. If you can get ALL the muscles “in balance” you might find that the pain goes away and allows you to workout much harder. It’s worth a try!

Try switching grips on exercises (normal/reverse) to work the muscles evenly. Do some specialty exercises to strengthen all the forearm muscles.

While I used to work my forearms, I have found that the exercises I do usually work them enough that I no longer have to do get decent growth. (But then again, I am not competitive!)

On to exercises:

If having hand grippers sitting around everywhere looks weird, keep some racquetballs / tennis balls laying around; pick them up and squeeze to gain grip strength (when studying, watching TV, etc.). Tennis balls are firmer; racquetballs are softer. It's more for finger strength than wrist strength. You can also work each finger individually, two finger at a time, etc. I used to do that a lot in my younger days to improve my sex-life--um, I mean grip!

For wrist strength, sit down and rest your forearms on your thighs with your hands extending past your knees. Hold a bar in your hands and curl at the wrist. Do it palms-up and palms-down to work the whole forearm.

And all the other exercises the folks here recommended. (Try reverse grips on each one as well.)

Finally:

If the exercises don’t fix it, see a doctor to have him check if there isn't a nerve problem. Perhaps pressure on a nerve or, like you said, carpal-tunnel syndrome (which is a specific problem of pressure on the nerves in the hands). There are lots of exercises you can do to improve strength, but if it's a nerve problem (and you brought up the CTS, so you have some suspicions to that effect), the nerve will always be the limiting factor in getting the strength you want in your hands and that will limit the strength you can do (w/o straps) almost everywhere!

Perhaps it's even a joint/tendon issue? Look at them all--from following your posts I know you are seriously competitive and I know we'd all like to see you succeed!

[Tobey]

Good Post Ajax,

I particuarlly like the tip on putting your arm in a bucket of sand bt Ermantroudt. Never thought about that one before, sounds interesting. I was surpises that noone has mentioned useing a tennis ball. Now this primarily hits the forearm however alot of hand muslces are also incorporated as well.
IC

[tommybono]

Señora Little Girl (Señorita?),

Grip is grip. Not forearm. Grip very different from forearm. I think.

Personally what help me most with grip is to hang from thick (2 inch diameter) pullup bar. Just hang and take deep breaths, 20 breaths. When hit 20 breaths easy, hang weight from torso. Helps stretch spine too! Make all back pain disappear for me. Keep your thigh flexed 45 degrees or so (raise knees a bit) to keep spine straighter.

Another way is to throw towel over pullup bar and hang or do chinups holding each end of towel.

Biggest advise though is consider the hook grip. Nobody does it, but it has really helped me. The pain terrible at first. But after a year of hook gripping the pain does not bother me at all. Actually after a month all pain go away from hook grip. Also help with spine alignment and prevent bicep tear. See JV Askem's site for details (search google for his name if you want).

BTW congratulations on wonderful lifts. Are you nationally ranked? Buenos suertes with the progress.

[musclehed275]

I always had problems with my grip also!! It used to kill me, i would just stand up with a weight, and at lockout..boom, it pops out!! The one thing that has helped me a lot is plate pinches...take 2 25lb plates, press them against each other, smooth part, and hold them together with one hand as long as possible, time it, and try to beat your times..

[musclehed275]

Also LG..I forgot until after i posted the other thread...ever use the hook grip, that was a lot of help! You grab the bar, run your thumb longways on the bar, then bring the rest of your fingers over the top of the thumb...its very, very painful at first, and you wont think you can stand it, but you get used to it, and youll love it...it really helps...

[The French Curler]

The best exercise to increase grip strength is simply holding two heavy plates together with your fingers for 30 seconds at a time. Try it, it works!

[Ermantroudt]

Some other stuff: Pinch-Grip Plate holds, Thick Bar shrugs, and Eagle Loop Chins.

Ermantroudt