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Other/Mixed The Grip Master's Manual

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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somanaut

somanaut

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Have any of you strong ladies and gentlemen read this book? Would you recommend this or is there something better to learn from?
Looking to increase grip strength, endurance and general hand health (I work as a clinical massage therapist).
Best Regards
Jesper
 
Awesome resource thanks for the heads up. Cool exercises, but to bad he does not offer any programs.

Jedd Johnson is also a great grip resource.
 
If you want to improve your hands, I've learned one drill from Systema that has done wonders for my hands. Just take a glove off...with your gloved hand. No other assistance allowed from the other hand, your mouth, any surface, anything. Just put the glove on and wriggle the hand out on its own. Develops patience and excellent hand mobility and sensitivity...strengthens all sorts of little muscles you didn't know you had in there. You can vary the challenge by changing the glove or trying to do both hands at once....at the exact same rate. I'm currently trying to do it with a nitrile medical glove. Unbelievably challenging. Your hands feel different after one session.
 
somanaut said:
Have any of you strong ladies and gentlemen read this book? Would you recommend this or is there something better to learn from?
Looking to increase grip strength, endurance and general hand health (I work as a clinical massage therapist).
Best Regards
Jesper
Click to expand...

I used to own a copy of mastery of hand strength (don't lend strength books to friends) and it is a great reference. John Brookfield is the gripmaster.

Personally, I believe it better to begin grip strength with some sort of timed hanging (bar, towel, etc.), the barbell finger roll/reverse wrist curl in BB, and an extensor exercise. This seems to work the hand as a unit, the hangs filling the static requirements. Once some competency is developed, then I believe that the approach in the book, which tends to be more isolation-oriented, is appropriate. I think of it as the hangs are to grip training what the TGU is to the KB C&P, and finger rolls are to grip training what deadlift is to whole body strength.

YMMV, given your injury history and occupation. I recommend purchasing either mastery of hand strength or grip masters manual and exploring the movements to discover what may help you.

Jon
 
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Have you ever tried the gymnastics goose neck grip. I have been using it for hangs and negatives from a bar, and rows and hangs from rings. Brutal on wrists and forearms burn like hell if you like that sort of thing. My grip on the kettlebell feels a lot stronger after a few weeks of practicing.
 
Geoff Chafe said:
Have you ever tried the gymnastics goose neck grip. I have been using it for hangs and negatives from a bar, and rows and hangs from rings. Brutal on wrists and forearms burn like hell if you like that sort of thing. My grip on the kettlebell feels a lot stronger after a few weeks of practicing.
Click to expand...
Can you explain this? Nothing came up when I googled it.
 
JonS said:
I used to own a copy of mastery of hand strength (don't lend strength books to friends) and it is a great reference. John Brookfield is the gripmaster.

Personally, I believe it better to begin grip strength with some sort of timed hanging (bar, towel, etc.), the barbell finger roll/reverse wrist curl in BB, and an extensor exercise. This seems to work the hand as a unit, the hangs filling the static requirements. Once some competency is developed, then I believe that the approach in the book, which tends to be more isolation-oriented, is appropriate. I think of it as the hangs are to grip training what the TGU is to the KB C&P, and finger rolls are to grip training what deadlift is to whole body strength.

YMMV, given your injury history and occupation. I recommend purchasing either mastery of hand strength or grip masters manual and exploring the movements to discover what may help you.

Jon
Click to expand...
Thanks Jon. Good advice about TGU = hangs. So if I start with the most basic, the bar/rings hang. Any technique tips or benchmarks I should aim for?
 
Kyrinov said:
If you want to improve your hands, I've learned one drill from Systema that has done wonders for my hands. Just take a glove off...with your gloved hand. No other assistance allowed from the other hand, your mouth, any surface, anything. Just put the glove on and wriggle the hand out on its own. Develops patience and excellent hand mobility and sensitivity...strengthens all sorts of little muscles you didn't know you had in there. You can vary the challenge by changing the glove or trying to do both hands at once....at the exact same rate. I'm currently trying to do it with a nitrile medical glove. Unbelievably challenging. Your hands feel different after one session.
Click to expand...
Tried it with my gloves...got absolutely nowhere! I like the idea and applicability but need something more basic I think. So I can track progress.
 
Geoff Chafe said:
Have you ever tried the gymnastics goose neck grip. I have been using it for hangs and negatives from a bar, and rows and hangs from rings. Brutal on wrists and forearms burn like hell if you like that sort of thing. My grip on the kettlebell feels a lot stronger after a few weeks of practicing.
Click to expand...
ouch...think I that I will wait a bit with that:)
 
somanaut said:
Thanks Jon. Good advice about TGU = hangs. So if I start with the most basic, the bar/rings hang. Any technique tips or benchmarks I should aim for?
Click to expand...

It depends. Personally, I like 1 minute as a benchmark for most static exercises when used in conjunction with a dynamic exercise (like the finger roll, in this case). For example, 3-6x3-6 barbell finger rolls, 3x5 extensor exercise, followed by 1 minute hanging.

If just doing hangs, then it may be wise to shoot for 2 minutes (recommend an extensor exercise either way). When in doubt, choose the lower duration. In your case, I would recommend starting with hangs/extensor only for 1 minute 3x per week and then reassess. 2-4 times per week is the usual frequency range, depending on your current program.

Work on slowly getting total time under tension to the benchmark, then slowly increase set duration until you can do it in one set. Once you own the variation, then change the intensity (say, from two handed bar hangs to one handed or with a towel). Generally, try to separate the grip session from your main practice if you can. If not, take a break at the end and do it last. Keep your shoulders packed at all times, squeeze the bar/towel. Thumb should be below the bar, like a fist.
 
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somanaut said:
Have any of you strong ladies and gentlemen read this book? Would you recommend this or is there something better to learn from?
Looking to increase grip strength, endurance and general hand health (I work as a clinical massage therapist).
Best Regards
Jesper
Click to expand...
I was just reading Grip Master's Manual and it has a lot of unusual grip drills and strongman feats. None of these appear at John Brookfield's home page since he does Battling Ropes there (ropes as cardio equipment) so if you want some grip drills, overall hand dexterity exercises, or want to bend iron or crush tennis balls he talks well about the technique. I believe at Ironmind.com that he has a lot of other tips for exercises for free. The programming, something I was particularly looking forward to, disappointed me - it was just that people need to decide what is right for them.
I am also curious about books people might recommend about grip strength.
 
One of Pavel's grip training methods is to wring out a wet towel of every last drop of moisture over a bucket. The larger and thicker the towel the better. Rinse and repeat.
 
GreenSoup said:
I was just reading Grip Master's Manual and it has a lot of unusual grip drills and strongman feats. None of these appear at John Brookfield's home page since he does Battling Ropes there (ropes as cardio equipment) so if you want some grip drills, overall hand dexterity exercises, or want to bend iron or crush tennis balls he talks well about the technique. I believe at Ironmind.com that he has a lot of other tips for exercises for free. The programming, something I was particularly looking forward to, disappointed me - it was just that people need to decide what is right for them.
I am also curious about books people might recommend about grip strength.
Click to expand...

Grip training programming is similar to old time strongman training. Do as much as you can do but not all you can do. Stay fresh. Your hands can only take so much. Grip training can be fun. Brookfield says one of the hardest grip feats is to toss an apple in the air and grab and crush it in one motion. An impressive feat. He describes it as being like a bird of prey snatching an animal with its talons. To train this he takes a money bag from the bank, fills it with steel shot or small screws (cheaper than steel shot), zips it up and duct tapes the whole bag. He then tosses it up and snatches it out of the air.
 
somanaut said:
Have any of you strong ladies and gentlemen read this book? Would you recommend this or is there something better to learn from?
Looking to increase grip strength, endurance and general hand health (I work as a clinical massage therapist).
Click to expand...

Hey Jesper

I haven't read the book, so I can't help with that.

I see you are a massage therapist, do you have any hand massage techniques that have worked well on patients ?

I do a Chinese/ Win Chun style of hand massage on myself and others with good results. I can also fix a lot of hand problems around the carpal and metacarpal joints with various traction and twisting techniques. A lot of those small joints are prone to subluxation in some people, especially people over about 45.

The Chinese believe that several crucial energy meridians run through the hands and untreated hand problems can cause problems in organs. I don't know if that's true but their massage techniques help me a lot.

The Chinese also use dit da joa which is also known as hit fall wine or iron palm liniment and is a essential part of iron palm hand hardening techniques. Since I started using the dit da joa liniment my hand health has improved out of sight (I've comprehensively smashed both hands in a car accident). I also use the dit da jao on my elbows as I was getting a lot of tendonitis from heavy pullup work and it works wonder for that too.

 
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