Ask the Strength Coach
By Mark Philippi
Philippi Sports Institute
How can I improve my grip strength?
First off, ditch the straps. Nothing looks worse in a gym than guys doing biceps curls with straps. Their grip fails before their biceps tire. Guess what? Time to work on the grip strength. Here are a few good exercises.
Bar holds. Put a moderate amount of weight on the bar. Start by adding weight to a bar so that weighs 100 to 150lbs. Put it in a rack that allows it to be slightly lower than waist height. Stand beside the bar like you are going to grab a suitcase and grab the bar in the middle. Stand up with the bar and hold as long as you can. If you can hold longer than 45 seconds choose a heavier weight. Make sure you do both hands. This will improve your grip and will also improve your lateral torso stability.
Towel pull-ups. This one is easy. Tie a towel around a chin-up bar and do your pull-ups hanging onto the towel instead of the bar. If you can’t do pull-ups, just hang onto the towel as long as you can.
Wrist rollers. Strengthening your forearms will also help to improve your grip. Place a bar on a rack chest height. Put a 45lb weight on one side of the bar as a counter balance. On the other side of the bar where the weights go tie or tape a thin piece of rope to the bar that will be long enough to tie to a weight on the ground below the bar. Roll the rope around the bar a few times to tighten it before the weight comes off of the ground. Face the bar and grasp the bar in an overhand grip position. Start by turning the bar towards your body. Each twist the bar will raise the weight. Stop when the weight almost touches the bar. You are forced to squeeze the bar to prevent the weight from falling back to the ground. This will make your forearms burn. Control the weight on the way back to the ground also. After doing one set rolling the bar towards you, do another rolling the bar away from your body.
Plate holds. Put a 45lb plate on each side of your body. Pick each one of the plates up by pinch gripping the edge of a plate. Thumb on one side, fingers on the other. Hold the weights for as long as you can. Watch your feet if you drop them. You can also get a little leg exercise in at the same time if you want to walk around with the weights.
Try a few of these exercises to improve your grip and no one can accuse you of having a dead fish handshake.