Kettlebell My Hands are my weakest Link. How to fix that?

[Kev]

The original post has realised his hands are his weak point. The good news is if he hits grip work he won’t recognise his own grip and Popeye forearms in 6 months to a year. Grip work is the utter business and as we all know, it makes you live longer. Also he will never struggle with a jar of pickles ever again.

 

[watchnerd]

The original post has realised his hands are his weak point. The good news is if he hits grip work he won’t recognise his own grip and Popeye forearms in 6 months to a year. Grip work is the utter business and as we all know, it makes you live longer. Also he will never struggle with a jar of pickles ever again.

I think my brachioradialis is bigger than my bicep.

Although that might be more of a sad commentary on my lack of bro-ceps than anything.

 

[Kev]

I think my brachioradialis is bigger than my bicep.

Although that might be more of a sad commentary on my lack of bro-ceps than anything.

My biceps are guff but I have a decent set of forearms. It all began doing indoor climbing and since then I’ve always done some grip work but since this post I’ve realised it’s all kinda been token grip work. I’m still a “baw hair” (Glaswegian slang) away from closing a number 2. I own CoC up to a 4 which a very large blacksmith gifted me along with a load of Robert Baraban grippers and some of those things I cannot budge despite some of them allegedly being the same poundage’s as lesser CoC. So that’s it settled. More and more grip work for the foreseeable.

 

[silveraw]

A couple things to add that I didn’t see addressed yet.
When doing a lot of CoC work I’ll get calluses on my pinkie where the end of the gripper handle sets. I could see where that would tear especially if you start out with a 1 when you should be starting with a T.

Second work your pinch strength. Grippers and kettlebells pretty much neglect this completely. Ironically working this seems to help non pinch grip. An easy one if you have hex dumbbells is doing hub lifts and pinch curls with them after S&S. As a bonus it is real hard to tear skin doing these. Adam T Glass has a great article on programming pinch work into the PM.

 

[bencrush]

Hello to all. I think this is the first post I write here, but I've been reading for a very long time.
I've been doing kettlebell training since 2013, training relatively intensively for the first two years and then only on and off. Since the summer of last year, however, I train intensiev again and have already achieved great success this year. While a 24kg snatch was extremely difficult for me a few years ago and I could only do one now and then, I can now implement them in a training program. Since summer I have done timless simple and then Q&D for 12 weeks. I found both programs excellent and especially Q&D was very good. At the moment I am in the seventh week of an A+A snatch program with 24kg for up to 100 and 20kg for over 100 reps.
However, I have already noticed with Q&D that my hands are the first thing to go. With the snatches, I get calluses with high reps and they interfere with my workout. Of course I have already researched here and also found many tips that have helped me. Hand care has made my hands soft again and freed them from calluses. This has also helped well with the snatches and I could increase the volume again.

The problem is that I now got my first Captains of Crush and although it is No.1 with him to fight. And while training with him, I tore my hands or skin again. This leads again to the fact that the snatches give me problems again. No matter how you turn it around, it seems to me that my hands cause me the most problems and hinder me the most during training. There must be more helpful tips on how I can get a handle on this. I would like to despair with snatches because I can't get them lifted and not because my hands are broken. I got some crossfit gloves that only cover the palm of my hand and at least they allow me to keep working out. But as soon as I switch to gloves, I immediately notice a significant deterioration of the grip or even a slightly different grip, which is already somewhat disturbing during training.

I generally have pretty soft hands. Like an angel. But there must still be a way to somehow harden them. What are your tips for this? I would be interested to know if more people struggle with their hands every workout.

P.S.: I am not a native speaker and wrote the text in German and had it translated with DeepL. I understand English very well only when writing such a long text it would cause me problems. That's why I hope that the AI translation works so well that you have the feeling to communicate with a native speaker.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

I don't know if you did the #1 gripper training the same day as your snatches. If you did, I'd recommend putting as many rest days between them as possible. You didn't mention how much gripper volume you did either. Fixing your hands might be as simple as just giving your hands time to acclimate to the sharp knurling of the gripper.

 

[bencrush]

I don't even know how it's possible.

There is no dynamic movement in CoC causing it to roll around.

With enough reps, even done as singles, it is more than possible. It's inevitable. The handle slides through the fingers especially on harder grippers. At my peak on grippers I did high volume singles with the #3 (no set, both hands, so more movement of the handle over my skin), around 150+ closes on both hands. I mostly knew when to stop the workout when my skin started to get super hot or bits of blood showed up on the handles. I worked up to it though. At the same time period of the above referenced strength with the #3, I would do over 500 singles with the #2. Had the same feel on my hands as the much lower reps with the #3.

 

[bencrush]

@Kayodoubleu
Are you aware that you can buy grippers with much smoother handle knurling than the Ironmind grippers? I'm a fan of Ironmind grippers. But Heavy Grips brand is much smoother and easier on the hands, for example. GNC grippers and Grip Genie grippers are also noticeably less sharp knurling.

 

[Jossie]

Are you using chalk?

 

[watchnerd]

With enough reps, even done as singles, it is more than possible. It's inevitable. The handle slides through the fingers especially on harder grippers. At my peak on grippers I did high volume singles with the #3 (no set, both hands, so more movement of the handle over my skin), around 150+ closes on both hands. I mostly knew when to stop the workout when my skin started to get super hot or bits of blood showed up on the handles. I worked up to it though. At the same time period of the above referenced strength with the #3, I would do over 500 singles with the #2. Had the same feel on my hands as the much lower reps with the #3.

500 singles?

You use way more volume than I ever have on CoC in a single session.

But if I fatigue my grip too much, it fries my snatch, so I'm pretty cautious about supplemental volume.

 

[Kayodoubleu]

I don't know if you did the #1 gripper training the same day as your snatches. If you did, I'd recommend putting as many rest days between them as possible. You didn't mention how much gripper volume you did either. Fixing your hands might be as simple as just giving your hands time to acclimate to the sharp knurling of the gripper.

Yes i am trying to do Gripper Training daily. My Volumen is pretty low i think. Nothing in comparison to your 500. Round about 8-10 Force Closes per Hand. Now that i also get the CoC T (and Nr. 2) i am changing between forced closes with the Nr.2 and normal closes with the T (found an article somwewhere which recomends that).

I didn't know about other brands of Grippers. I think i have to just man up now. My problem with my hands seems really to be a grip problem. I trained 150 snatches on monday with gloves (because of blisters on both hands). And while the first 130 or so went preatty easy i noticed that it got suddenly harder even with gloves. I had to rearange the glove after every set of five. In the first 130 i never had to do that. So this should be a sign, that something hase suddenly changed. I think it have to be my gripstrenght.

 

[offwidth]

@Kayodoubleu
Are you aware that you can buy grippers with much smoother handle knurling than the Ironmind grippers? I'm a fan of Ironmind grippers. But Heavy Grips brand is much smoother and easier on the hands, for example. GNC grippers and Grip Genie grippers are also noticeably less sharp knurling.

Hey Ben…
I think that Ironmind may have a smooth handled gripper now (Zenith?)

 

[Steve Freides]

@Kayodoubleu

My Hands are my weakest Link. How to fix that?

Something I have mentioned on the forum before bears repeating here - early in my training, whenever my deadlift grip progress would stall, I'd switch to kettlebell swings, and whenever my kettlebell swing grip progress would stall, I'd switch to deadlifts. Holding onto a heavy deadlift will strengthen your grip and toughen your hands, and so will swinging a kettlebell.

@bencrush has done a lot of grip work - I'd reread his messages if I were you.

And perhaps the most important question - what is your goal? Personally I have seen no improvement in either my barbell deadlift or my kettlebell swing from gripper work so I've given it up entirely. Carryover between different movements can be highly individual - not saying my experience will be that of everyone.

-S-

 

[Kev]

John Brookfield has highlighted that gripper work doesn’t actually translate into anything other than gripper work. That’s why in his book he did weird things with his gripper like doing a “1 arm swing” and choosing to close it either at the backswing or the top of the swing. I think he also did that with a “1 arm snatch” too. John Brookfield recommended a tonne of implements from chopping steel wire with cutters to walking a sledgehammer to putting his hand in sand and working his extensors. I like Ironmind grippers but I also have a plate loadable “telegraph key” and a wrist roller etc. The things that have really made a difference have been the climbers training tools I do pull ups and chin ups with. Even squeezing a foam stress ball for high reps has increased my gripper strength but I would also agree just using grippers isn’t enough. The biggest my forearms ever got was using Fat Gripz on lat pulls and seated rows but I still wasn’t clicking a CoC 2. Which is a tad annoying. Oh yeah and then right when you pick up a Robert Baraban gripper that is graded LESS than a CoC you can close and you can’t budge the thing. So there’s that too. Gripper calibrations have been a controversial subject among grip enthusiasts. I know a guy who has closed a 4, bent horseshoes in front of me and he was only interested in Baraban grippers.

 

[TimothyGander]

econd work your pinch strength. Grippers and kettlebells pretty much neglect this completely.

Can't you work your pinch strength with a gripper?

 

[Kev]

Can't you work your pinch strength with a gripper?

Apparently an Imtug has that as a move. Those are the smaller grippers. I have a telegraph key for that purpose but, plus a pinch hub attached to paracord for chins or deadlifts. Climber training tools off Amazon again or if you are handy easily constructed.

 

[offwidth]

Can't you work your pinch strength with a gripper?

Yes you can, but there are better methods

 

[GaryT]

Can't you work your pinch strength with a gripper?

Pinch grip involves the thumb in opposition of the fingers; think similar to pinching a weight plate. Pinch is the only major grip work that uses the thumb other than extensor tng. Crush grip uses the fingers against the lower palm; eg grippers, tennis ball, etc

 

[offwidth]

John Brookfield has highlighted that gripper work doesn’t actually translate into anything other than gripper work. That’s why in his book he did weird things with his gripper like doing a “1 arm swing” and choosing to close it either at the backswing or the top of the swing. I think he also did that with a “1 arm snatch” too. John Brookfield recommended a tonne of implements from chopping steel wire with cutters to walking a sledgehammer to putting his hand in sand and working his extensors. I like Ironmind grippers but I also have a plate loadable “telegraph key” and a wrist roller etc. The things that have really made a difference have been the climbers training tools I do pull ups and chin ups with. Even squeezing a foam stress ball for high reps has increased my gripper strength but I would also agree just using grippers isn’t enough. The biggest my forearms ever got was using Fat Gripz on lat pulls and seated rows but I still wasn’t clicking a CoC 2. Which is a tad annoying. Oh yeah and then right when you pick up a Robert Baraban gripper that is graded LESS than a CoC you can close and you can’t budge the thing. So there’s that too. Gripper calibrations have been a controversial subject among grip enthusiasts. I know a guy who has closed a 4, bent horseshoes in front of me and he was only interested in Baraban grippers.

I concur. Whilst I own and use CoC grippers, I really only use them as a warm-up for real grip training.

 

[Kev]

I concur. Whilst I own and use CoC grippers, I really only use them as a warm-up for real grip training.

I still want to close a 3.

 

[GaryT]

Pinch grip involves the thumb in opposition of the fingers; think similar to pinching a weight plate. Pinch is the only major grip work that uses the thumb other than extensor tng. Crush grip uses the fingers against the lower palm; eg grippers, tennis ball, etc