what's up guys is Brian Shaw here with team redcon1 and I want to talk to
you a little bit about grip strength
I get asked a lot about grip strength and you know how to improve it and how to
just have a better grip overall and most of the time it's coming from you know
more normal guys that are just trying to get strong in the gym and be able to
hold on to what they're trying to lift because really if you think about it
your grip is your connection point so if your grip is not strong enough to lift
something then you're probably not gonna be able to lift it so first and foremost
I would say the biggest mistake that a lot of people make is going to straps
when they're trained so they really you know maybe get started early on thinking
it looks cool or whatever to have have a you know pair of straps and then strap
into the bar and you know even even a movement as simple as you know lat
pull-downs they're strapping into the bar and and not really making their grip
work so that's that's the first thing that I tell people is is you know what
get rid of the straps don't use them unless you absolutely have to so
inevitably if you're training on a consistent basis and holding onto bars
holding onto dumbbells your grip will have to improve over time
number two is then to add in a little bit more grip specific training into
your training routine so what I have here is I have a couple different
attachments that you that you could easily kind of grab and throw into your
gym bag now the first one it's gonna be something you can probably find in a gym
this is just a you know normal d handle but it rotates so it's free spinning
with this what I like to do is you know first for for you know type of exercise
like rows or you know any type of you know tricep work or or you know bicep
specific work I can throw this in and it taxes my grip really really hard
especially for heavier movements like rows I really really have to squeeze
this handle hold on it and as I get fatigued I'm making my grip work so my
hands kind of starting to open up but I have to squeeze even harder so that's an
easy one if you can find this your normal gym outside of that is
probably this next handle and this is this is just a 2-inch handle but again
it free spins so if you know if you were going to a normal gym you could
easily easily throw this into your bag of ways you know weighs a couple pounds
not something you certainly can't fit into your bag so you can you can grab
this then use this for your normal training so anything anything that you
would use a you know normal D handle for you could just throw this on and what
you'll do by throwing this on is is is you'll tax your grip even harder so
this is a great tool it's something you could throw in again it's free
spinning so that it you know as you're getting up to the bigger weights
especially it's gonna get a lot more challenging to work with but that's an
easy thing that you could throw in it opens your hand up a little bit more
and therefore makes it harder to grip so it's something that would be not only
you you know obviously great for building up the grip but it actually
adds a little bit of variety and fun to your training as well so it's something
easy to throw in that can be very useful and then the next attachment that I have
here this is just a pinch grip block that you know you can attach weight to
so this is something that would be even more grip specific and the reason that
I'm showing you this is a lot of times in in normal training if you think about
it your first four fingers get used a ton so if you're grabbing a barbell or a
dumbbell your first four fingers are wrapping around it and then your thumb
is closing on top but a lot of times that doesn't make your thumb strength
improve so what using a pinch grip block can do is separate your thumb away from
your first four finger so as you can see when I'm when I'm grabbing this handle
here this attachment I'm setting making my thumb do its own work so I've
got four of my fingers obviously on one side thumb on the other side but as I
add weight to this it's gonna make my thumb work even harder and independent
of my first four fingers so thumb strength is gonna go up and and I'm a
very big believer in in any type of pinch grip building up grip strength
overall so I think if your pinch grip goes up you're gonna be able to hold on
to more things you know whether it's a barbell or dumbbell or anything else
just by building that thumb strength up because that's something that often
times gets very neglected so all you'd have to do is have this you always could
you know carry a bigger carabiner like this as well in your gym bag now I'm
gonna show you here a load loading pin that you could bring with you as well
this is empty I've just got 50 pounds on it all I would do is just hook this
carabiner on and then just pinch that and pick it up so you could do any
number of different things with this you could pick it up with lighter weights
and do holds for maybe say 10 you know 20 seconds something like that you
could go for a maximum lift you could you could do it for reps so there's a
lot of variety that you can do with with something like that grip is fun in
general if you've got a training partner it's a great way to kind of you know
have some fun with training and go back and forth see who can lift the bigger weight
and and challenge if it is not your training partner challenge your training
partner challenge other people to get involved with it you know it's just
something that can add a lot to a training session and it's a great way to
start a great way to finish or you can throw it in the middle whatever but
hopefully you guys have enjoyed this and you're able to use some of these tips to
improve your grip