Squeeze

Someone asked me how to get better at opening jars. I said, all the grip training you’re doing must be helping with that. She of course asked, well what am I doing for my grip?

Grip strength is a side benefit of many exercises in the gym. In fact, grip strength is a good predictor of total body strength. Carry variations, deadlifts, hanging/pull ups, inverted rows, dumbbell rows, gorilla rows, rope climbs, sled drags and the first several that came to mind. It’s important to note, and this is what our jar opening discussion led to, you have to squeeze what your holding.

When you grip the bar firmly, say during a bench press, not only are you getting benefits of improving grip and forearm strength, you’re actually turning on more muscles throughout your arms and shoulders. Getting all the muscles to fire will help you maintain good form and get more bang for your buck in training.

In summary, if you’re holding something in the gym, be sure to squeeze it, hard, like you’re trying to melt an ice cube in your hand.

Justin Miner

@portsmouthcoach