Develop Your Grip Strength | NYC Personal Training

The other day I watched a trainer doing wrist curls and wrist extensions with his client. While there’s nothing in particular wrong with these exercises, it just lacks training efficiency for a client. As a personal trainer in NYC, one of the biggest aspects when training your client is workout efficiency. This basically means that the personal trainer needs to maximize the session time with the biggest

bang for your buck exercises. In this case, wrist curls/extensions are probably not the best for the clients time, especially if they are looking to gain other aspects of fitness aside from bigger forearms and/or grip strength. With that said I believe these 4 exercises/tools would be beneficial to share if you’re looking to gain grip strength, Popeye forearms, all while increasing your overall fitness level.

Grip Strength

Farmers Walk

Grip Strength

If you’re not familiar with the “Farmers Walk”, you simply pick up a heavy set of dumbbells and walk down and back. While it may sound simple, if loaded correctly, this exercise can really be a big bang for your buck finisher or dumbbell complex for anyone. I’ve used this with a wide array of fitness clients, for my athletes to my upper east side workout parents, so it as a lot of carry over for various clients regardless of their fitness goals. Benefits: great conditioning tool, grip strength, and back/trap builder. *There are many variations but we typically use the single arm and double arm carry. As of now I’ve been more keen to the single arm carry to really develop trunk strength through a dynamic motion.

Deadlifts

The deadlift is clearly a very beneficial exercise for your glutes, hamstring, lower back, upper back, and grip strength. Needless to say it’s a staple exercise that’s extremely beneficial for those that want to work on their grip and forearm strength/size.

Benefits: strength, hypertrophy, can be used in a complex and conditioning tool.

Holds

Grip strength can be developed simple by increasing your time under tension. Variations such as eccentric timing, holding for time at the end of your set, high rep deadlifts, high rep rack deadlifts, or even plate pinchers:

…can significantly challenge and strengthen your grip.

Benefits: Really challenge the grip while still maintaining overall fitness levels.

Fat Gripz

“Fat Gripz” are another tool that you can add to your arsenal for grip strength. You can put them on pretty much any bar and really challenge your grip. When I’m deloading, I like to place these on the bar to still challenge my self without taxing my lower back and legs. Aside from the deadlift/pulls, you can attach them to a dumbbell when doing farmers walk, single arm rows, press, and so on. Simply put they are well worth the $40 investment.