It’s no secret, I have an agenda to get YOU in to a grip competition.
Matt Cannon, Jedd Johnson, and I at the 2011 US Grip Nationals
Really, I do.
I will keep trying to set up events to entice you, soon will come the titles, prizes, and rewards…at some point you will give in. Everyone does.
I think Grip Sport is awesome.
I think it’s both an excellent way for you to compete in a strength sport and a fabulous off season sport for you if you play another game. Come on now, why wouldn’t you want stronger hands and arms?
Grip Sport is a strength sport which will allow you to compete in a sport where the you are not limited by shoulder or back mobility
I know a lot of people who would love to get back to O lifting, or Power lifting, or strongman, but no longer are able to do many of the required movements due to injury and pain. By contrast most lifts in Grip Sport are fairly light weight compared to a DL or Sq because the limiting factor is hand strength. The world record deadlift is 1015, the world two hand pinch lift deadlift is 264.
Grip Sport is a strength sport which will not likely derail your current fitness pursuits
If you are already lifting you will not find yourself having to completely design your fitness regime to get in to grip. For many people simply plugging in some hand and wrist work and modifying drills you already like will improve your grip potential to a substantial degree.
Grip Sport is a strength sport of high variety and many opportunities for victory
There are several events which are considered standard such as Grippers, Axle lifting, and two hand pinch in grip sport. After those, there are over a dozen over lifts which are contested, not including the medleys. To this end you have many different roads to travel with grip. Much like Macy’s, we have something for everyone.
Grip Sport has an outstanding community of great people who you will love being friends with
I think you get the point of that bullet.
How to get started
The Pinch, high pay off in all areas.
I don’t know anyone who is good at pinch lifting but sucks at other events. That is how useful a strong pinch is.
The number one lift for you to start training is a two hand pinch lift. Take two 35 lbs plates and sandwich them smooth side out. Grasp over the top and lift them off the floor. When these get real easy run a bar through the plates and add more weight.
Fat Bar work, makes everything else stronger
Literally the simplest change of all- make the handle thicker. A standard size bar handle is no challenge to the hand for most people in the majority of lifts (excluding poundages of course) but a fat bar is a new game. I will present the fastest solution to the equipment side of the problem- get a pair of “Fatgripz” handles. These rubber handles attach to nearly any piece of equipment you will find in your gym and allow you to work with a thicker handle.
Fat bar work will dramatically increase your finger and thumb strength and will inject some variety in to your training. That’s a good thing IMO.
Need more? Upgrade to Industrial Strength Grip Vol 1
Get the mother load for beginners in grip training. How to train grippers, pinch, support grip, levering, and programming it all in to your routine. Check it out here.
These two steps will make a huge improvement in both your primary sport or goal, and get you ready for your first contest. If you need a location for a contest, the Worlds Strongest Hands Series begins in August, which 13 locations world wide.
World wide competition, all that is missing is YOU
{ 8 comments }
I love this post. I can relate to the part about people who have injuries still being able to participate in grip. Having a herniated disc is brutal to an acive, athletic type such as myself, but grip has given me a part of my life back. The other day, I was helping my brother build his deck. My father was there. We had some metal post clamps, but with a change in design plan, we needed the clamp to be at a 90 degree angle. Jokingly, my father said, “Here, Shane, bend this.” My brother said, “He can’t bend that.” I took it and promptly bent the brace into 90 degrees. Insert manly grin here.
Shane to me the safety of the sport will be a major selling point. Competitive men don’t lose their mental game when the body is on the side lines. I think grip is a perfect way for many to get back in to a sport where they can go head to head with others and feel the excitement of game day.
Exactly. And I’ve been after my brother to get into grip for quite some time, but he’s been reluctant. I think the bend I did might kick him into finally trying it. That’s why I think the strongman exhibitions are so beneficial to grip.
Nice post Adam and I hope more people take it to heart and get their feet wet in your grip comp in November.
By the way, is your contest date for sure yet? I have to get time off and am quickly running out of time. Also – my wife’s friend who lives up there just moved back to Lawrence. So I thought my chances of going to the contest just ran out due to planning and other financial reasons. But my wife is awesome. And she knew I was really looking forward to your contest so she said just go ahead and rent a car anyway and drive up to do the contest. So I’m pretty happy about that and my training is going to be focusing even tighter on the events so that I don’t lose as many points as I normally do on the pinch events.
Ben I will get you an email out tomorrow with more info
Great post! I look forward to competing soon. Thanks for the help, man!
I think you could be really good at this Ryan, I want you to get in to it
Grip is massive fun. Whether it’s cranking the Vulcan or just chucking the FatGripz onto something, I have come to love it and people that train with me are rapidly adopting grip training into their own work.
For people in my line of work who need to physically escort people, working strength movements with a grip diameter closer to a human arm makes SO much more sense than “normal” barbell work.