Part II: Why Your Grip is Weak and What to Do About It...
Last week, I talked about the reasons your grip may be weak, no matter your experience level in the gym or on the mats.
This week, I wanted to get into ways you can effectively train your grip. This is probably what a lot of you “came to see,” but I can’t stress enough how important it is to figure out where you are on the grip strength continuum. Meaning, if you have some gnarly pec-minor issues and a weak core, I don’t care what number of Captains of Crush grip you use. So, go read last week’s blog first.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk actual grip training strategies.
Fat Gripz or Thick Dumbbells
Use these and use these often. Most of you won’t have Watson Dumbbells at your gym (and if you do, consider yourself VERY lucky), so you’ll want to purchase some Fat Gripz. Use these on just about anything you do with dumbbells. I don’t advise using these on barbell compound lifts, as the lack of control will take away from developing the bigger muscle groups you’re probably targeting when you deadlift, for example.
Train the eccentric grip, or at least use some therapeutic measures
Bring your finger-tips all together on one hand. Now, put a rubber band around your fingers, including the thumb. Open, and hold. Close back til all finger tips meet. Repeat.
Simple as that.
You concentrically use your grip muscles CONSTANTLY in jiu jitsu… and life. You need to train the eccentric portion of a true “grip” to stay balanced and healthy. It’d be like training your chest and not your back… quads, but not hamstrings. We can elaborate more in the future, but for now, understand this is a great way to passively work on your grip at your desk.
You can train the grip nearly every day, just vary the modality
The late Charles Poliquin was an advocate for every day grip training, provided you change the exercise daily. I always liked this advice, because all things considered and compared to other athletic populations: I feel grapplers develop excellent grip strength for the very reason they use their grip strength every time they hit the mat, especially while training with a gi. They have a high volume of grip training by default.
A schedule for daily grip training may look like:
Monday: Heavy Farmer’s Carrys with Thich Handled DB’s
Tuesday: Plate Pinches for time
Wednesday: EZ Bar Pronated Wrist Curls superset with Supinated Wrist Curls.
etc…
Do Relatively Heavy Deadlifts with a Barbell
I am not suggesting you become a powerlifter if jiu jitsu is your main-stay, but I certainly think and believe deadlift cycles are important in the macro view of a good strength and conditioning program for a jiu jitsu athlete. Don’t use straps.
Hang time
Get good at hanging from a bar in the “dead hang.” If you’re able to dead hang from a bar for 70 seconds or more as a jiu jitsu athlete, you’re in good company. In my own collection of data over the years, hang time is a fantastic indicator exercise for jiu jitsu.
Lastly, I’ll say that if grip training is a priority, do a few exercises for it at the TOP of each workout. If it’s your priority, it should be treated like something with priority.
Until next time,
Mark
About the Author: Mark DiSalvo, CSCS
Mark is the founder and owner of DiSalvo Performance Training. He brings over a decade of experience training clients and athletes of all backgrounds and is the strength and conditioning coach to grapplers of all levels and disciplines: from youth to professional and Olympic-level. He is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu himself, with 10 years of experience in the sport. You can read more about him here.
A graduate of Northeastern University, he’s an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Sports Performance Expert with a specialty in combat sports. He’s also a Steve Maxwell Certified Kettlebell Instructor (Levels 1 & 2).