This is going to be my best attempt at a be-all, end-all grip workout plan (and video!) Grip training is one of those universally “good” forms of strength to practice, because not only does it carry over into all areas of life, it also helps to prevent common injuries that come with normal everyday life. There have also been a number of studies showing grip strength to be a very strong indicator of mobility, longevity, and quality of life while aging. Even if you don’t want to gain the power to crush apples and rip phone books, you should still definitely be devoting some time to developing stronger, healthier hands.
This blog post is going to have three parts: A basic grip program that everyone should be doing, able to be tacked on to basically any other workout program you’re doing, regardless of what kind of equipment you have (or don’t have.) Instructions on the movements in that program, and how you can perform them with any type of (or no) equipment. Finally, a SUPERHUMAN grip program with optimized exercises for developing hands that can crush rocks, bend steel, and carry cars!
The Basic Program
Do all sets of one movement before moving on to next movement. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets.
3×15-20 Crush Movement
3×15-20 Finger Extension Movement
3×15-20 Pronation Movement
3×15-20 Supination Movement
Workout Notes: If there is danger in grip training, especially starting out, it’s straining your connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) by asking too much of them in terms of intensity. So, we’re keeping things relatively light by using a resistance level that we can do for three sets of fifteen to twenty reps without risking failure. Now, you may be asking what does crush/extension/pronation/supination movement mean? In the next section, we’re going to be going over a variety of methods to perform each movement depending upon what equipment you have on hand, and what preferences you have. So basically you’re going to pick a movement from the list below for each of those, depending on what you have and what you like.
The Movements
The muscles of the forearms and the jobs they do can be broken down to roughly four categories: Flexion (curling your hand or fingers in towards you,) extension (curling your hand or fingers out/away from you,) pronation (rotating your hand/wrist inward/in the direction of the palm,) and supination (rotating your hand/wrist outward/in the direction of the back of the hand.) Building strength in grip just means adding sufficient resistance to these movement in an appropriate manner, and we’ll talk about methods for each across a variety of equipment. We’ll mention a couple of movements also that will factor into the more advanced workout at the end of the article, too. Let’s get to it.
Crush
Crush grip is the action of squeezing your fingers together, like making a fist. The muscles in your inner forearm are responsible for this movement, and they are known as your finger flexors. There are a number of tools we can use to provide resistance to these muscles, and we’re going to take a look at the best options most people have available to them.
Finger Resistance: This one is simple enough. Hold your hands in front of you, one palm up, one palm down. Lock your fingertips on the “palm up” hand in a hook position. Curl the fingers of the “palm down” hand around this hook, and – while using your “palm up” hand to provide resistance, curl the fingers of your “palm down” hand into a fist. Repeat for prescribed reps, then switch hands.
Pros: Zero equipment needed.
Cons: Difficult to measure accommodating resistance, difficult to scale up.
Dumbbell or Barbell Crushes: If you a have access to any sort of gym, you probably have access to some dumbbells or barbells. For this movement, you’re going to grab the dumbbell/barbell in an overhand grip, and allow your hand to unroll almost all the way without actually letting go of the bar. Once your fingers are as outstretched as possible, curl the bar back into your hand again using just your fingers. This movement is often easier with a barbell because you can brace the barbell against your legs or the uprights of a rack to keep it from slipping out of your fingers.
Pros: Easy to scale up difficulty as you get stronger, near ubiquitous equipment availability.
Cons: A little awkward at first to get full range of motion without dropping the weight, especially with dumbbells.
Resistance Band Crushes: Secure a resistance band around a solid upright object. Grip the band with just your fingertips, lock your arm at a 90 degree angle at your side, and step away from the anchor point until there is tension in the band (the locked arm helps keep you from cheating with your bicep/back pulling.) Make a fist to curl the band in to your palm.
Pros: Easier to grip without slipping than free weights, easy to isolate individual/small groups of fingers if you want to.
Cons: Needs an upright to secure to, not an even difficulty curve (gets harder as tension on the band increases.)
Cable Crushes: Similar to the resistance band crushes, but use a cable stack or weighted pulley instead of a band. Same set up, lock elbow at 90 degrees, and curl your fingers into a fist with handle attachment of your choice.
Pros: Even strength curve due to pulleys, easy to ramp up intensity by increasing resistance/weight.
Cons: Pretty specialized equipment, not a common thing to have in home gyms.
Spring Loaded Hand Grippers: Pretty popular equipment purpose-built for the task, hand grippers are very straightforward in their design. Hold the gripper in your hand, engage tension, squeeze closed.
Pros: Purpose built, readily available online.
Cons: Single use equipment, uneven effort distribution between fingers due to angled handles, usually a pretty large difficulty jump between levels.
Finger Extension
Finger extension is, basically, exactly what it sounds like: the act of extending your fingers from a closed fist into an outstretched and splayed position. This is accomplished with the finger extensor muscles, found in the top of your forearm. These muscles are infrequently used in both the gym and normal day-to-day life, and this infrequent use can lead to muscular imbalances leading to a whole host of problems in your hand/wrist. As such, you want to make sure you give them serious attention in any grip program, because although they won’t make your grip stronger, they will greatly increase your quality of life and decrease your chance of injury. Let’s look at a few ways to work these!
Finger Resistance: Our most minimal equipment option is actually a pretty good one as far as our finger extensor options go. Press together the fingertips and thumb of the hand you’re looking to work, almost as though you’re trying to pinch the end of a rope using all of your fingers/thumb. Now, press the matching fingers/thumb of your other hand on the outside of these digits, right on top of the fingernails of the hand you’re trying to work. Try to open the hand you’re trying to work, while providing resistance with the fingers pressing against your fingernails on the working hand.
Pros: Since crush grip is almost always stronger than extension, it’s easy to provide serious resistance to the hand you’re working.
Cons: Difficult to measure that strength output, which can make it difficult to track progress. Resistance can also go down at the apex of fingers extension.
Fingertip Plate Slides: Place a weight plate flat on a surface with a bit of friction. Curl your fingers up, press your fingernails against the plate, and push it away by extending your fingers. Increase difficulty by going heavier with weight, or more traction on the surface (carpet vs rubber, for instance.)
Pros: Pretty standard equipment. Easily incrementable.
Cons: Rounded shape doesn’t lend itself well to the task, kind of awkward overall.
Fingertip Extensor Bands: These are, by far, my favorite extensor workout option. Yes, they’re another mono-purpose gym item like grippers, but they’re significantly cheaper than grippers, and you really only need to buy a single three piece set to keep yourself challenged for a long time. If you want to grab a set and support the blog at the same time, click here to order from Amazon! They’re super simple to use, just place the rings on your fingertips/thumb (right above the first joint,) and extend your fingers apart. Try to keep your fingers straight or slightly flexed while extending them, don’t allow them to bend backwards.
Pros: Cheap, easy, portable, easily scalable.
Cons: Single purpose item, you do have to buy them.
Pronation/Supination
Pronation and supination are the act of rotating your wrist left and right. While not technically part of “grip,” they contribute greatly to overall grip health, and assist in controlling any loads you’re trying to hold. All pronation/supination movements are done with your arm at the side, elbow at a 90 degree angle, unless specified otherwise. This keeps you from using your shoulder to effect the rotation you’re aiming for.
Hammer/Dumbbell/Stick Twists: These are pretty straightforward, and can be done with basically any implement that’s heavier on one end than the other. If you’re doing this with a dumbbell, pick a light dumbbell and hold one end of it to offset the weight. Start with your “stick” implement held vertically and rotate your hand 90 degrees inward, stopping when your fist is palm down. Then, rotate 180 degrees outward, stopping when your fist is palm up. Then, return to the vertical stick position. Be very slow and controlled in your movements! This counts as a rep for both a pronation and supination movement, for purposes of the workout programs here.
Pros: Can be done with a variety of implements, quite a few found around the house.
Cons: Can be difficult to increase difficulty, doesn’t have a smooth weight curve (it gets harder the further you rotate outwards rather than being consistently hard through the whole motion.)
Band Twists: Similar to the above exercise, for these you want to attach a resistance band to something sturdy, and then attach the other end to a stick or handle somehow (even just tying it on.) From there, step away from the object your band is anchored to, with your stick pointing towards your anchor point and the palm of your hand facing up, until there’s slight tension on the band. Rotate your hand 180 degrees inward until palm down, and then return to palm up. This is one pronation rep. After doing your pronation reps, switch the direction your hand is facing and rotate away to perform your supination reps.
Pros: Minimal equipment, steadier power curve than a hammer or dumbbell.
Cons: Can be very hard to gradually increase difficulty as bands have pretty big difficulty jumps as you move up in sizes.
Cable Twists: Literally the same exercise as above except instead of tying your stick to a band, you attach it to a cable machine or pulley.
Pros: Smoothest difficulty curve of all three options, easier to increment difficulty.
Cons: Requires specialized equipment a lot of home gyms don’t have.
Wrist Flexion
Now we’re heading into the bonus rounds, as it were. Like supination/pronation, strong wrist flexion (and extension, which we’re covering next) doesn’t really directly increase your grip strength, but it does come into play and assist with basically any grip-engaged motion in either exercise or daily life outside the gym. Strengthening your wrist flexors and extensors also contributes towards overall wrist, hand, and elbow health over the long term. While not part of the basic workout above, wrist flexion and extension will both be found in the advanced workout at the end of this post. Let’s jump into the exercises!
Hand Resisted Wrist Curls: Sit on a bench or chair. Rest your forearm on your leg, elbow at roughly a 90 degree angle, hand open with palm up, handing off your leg. Bend your wrist backwards as far as it will go towards the floor. Place your other hand over your fingers and push down gently as you curl your whole wrist back up again, providing steady resistance through the motion until your hand is curled up all the way with your open fingers pointing towards the ceiling. This is one rep.
Pros: Basically zero equipment needed, very progressive resistance curve.
Cons: Difficult to track progress accurately as your providing your own resistance, can be hard to smoothly provide resistance as you get stronger.
Dumbbell Wrist Curls: Sit on a bench or chair. Rest the back of your forearm on your thigh, elbow at roughly a 90 degree angle, holding the dumbbell in your hand, palm-up. Slowly and controlled, let the back of your hand bend down towards the floor as far as you can, and then curl it back up to a neutral position. This is one rep.
Pros: Very common equipment, easy to increment difficulty.
Cons: Not a steady strength curve as gravity acts most upon the weight at the beginning of the motion.
Banded Wrist Curls: Similar set up to above, but this time place a resistance band under the foot of the leg your arm is resting on, with just enough length to make it to your hand at it’s most curled-back position. The motion is the same as before: curl the band up with your wrist, except this time you can curl higher than neutral because the band continues to increase in difficulty as it gets further from its anchor point (your foot.)
Pros: Fuller range of motion than dumbbell curls, very portable (you can take bands with you everywhere.)
Cons: Difficult to increment up as bands typically have big jumps in intensity between sizes.
Cable Wrist Curls: Same set up as the dumbbell and banded wrist curls specified above, but this time you’re using a cable machine with the attachment at it’s lowest point.
Pros: All the pros of the banded curls, plus a smoother power generation curve.
Cons: Specialized equipment not frequently found in home gyms.
Wrist Extension
As above, this movement doesn’t contribute directly to grip strength, but it assists in most motions where you’re engaged in gripping something. It’s also great for hand, wrist, and elbow health! Our exercises here are basically going to be the inverse of the exercises above.
Hand Resisted Wrist Extensions: Sit on a bench or chair. Rest the underside of your forearm on your leg, elbow at roughly a 90 degree angle, hand open with palm down, hanging off your leg. Bend your wrist forwards as far as it will go towards the floor. Place your other hand over your fingers and push down gently as you curl your whole wrist back up again, providing steady resistance through the motion until your hand is curled up all the way with your open fingers pointing towards the ceiling. This is one rep.
Pros: Basically zero equipment needed, very progressive resistance curve.
Cons: Difficult to track progress accurately as your providing your own resistance, can be hard to smoothly provide resistance as you get stronger.
Dumbbell Wrist Extensions: Sit on a bench or chair. Rest the underside of your forearm on your thigh, elbow at roughly a 90 degree angle, holding the dumbbell in your hand, palm-down. Slowly and controlled, let the palm side of your hand bend down towards the floor as far as you can, and then curl it back up to a neutral position. This is one rep.
Pros: Very common equipment, easy to increment difficulty.
Cons: Not a steady strength curve as gravity acts most upon the weight at the beginning of the motion.
Banded Wrist Extensions: Similar set up to above, but this time place a resistance band under the foot of the leg your arm is resting on, with just enough length to make it to your hand at it’s most curled-down position. The motion is the same as before: curl the band up with your wrist, except this time you can curl higher than neutral because the band continues to increase in difficulty as it gets further from its anchor point (your foot.)
Pros: Fuller range of motion than dumbbell extensions, very portable (you can take bands with you everywhere.)
Cons: Difficult to increment up as bands typically have big jumps in intensity between sizes.
Cable Wrist Extensions: Same set up as the dumbbell and banded wrist extensions specified above, but this time you’re using a cable machine with the attachment at it’s lowest point.
Pros: All the pros of the banded extensions, plus a smoother power generation curve.
Cons: Specialized equipment not frequently found in home gyms.
Isometric Holds
The last of our categories of grip strength we’re going over today, isometric holds are here primarily for the advanced workout. They don’t contribute significantly to overall health if you’re doing all the above, but they will help with some sport-specific events (or even job-specific activities) like rock climbing, ninja warrior/OCR, strongman, martial arts, and other areas. There’s a wide variety of isometric holds here so we’re just going to go over them briefly here. If you’re doing the advanced workout you can just pick whichever of these options best favor your preferred application.
Hanging Hold: Pretty simple! Grab onto a pull up bar, hang for as long as you can. You can do this with one or both hands.
Barbell/Dumbbell Hold: Hold a heavy barbell with a double overhand grip (no hook or mixed grip!) or dumbbells in each hand. Start from a high rack position just out of reach of your hands so you don’t have to deadlift the bar up every time. For extra challenge, do a one handed barbell hold, gripping the barbell in the center.
Axle Bar/Fat Grip Hold: Similar to the above, but using a wide axle bar or putting “Fat Grip” bar thickeners on a standard bar.
Fingertip Ledge Hold: Popular among rock climbers and ninja warrior enthusiasts, you can do this on rock rings, a 3D trainer, the molding above your door, or any other narrow, flat surface. You can also do pull ups this way!
Rope/Towel Hold: You can either hang from a rope, or drape a towel across a pull up bar, and hang from it. You can also wrap small towels around a barbell or dumbbells for similar effect. Great for martial artists that need to hold onto a gi/uniform.
Pinch Grip Hold: There are a number of implements out there for this like the Saxon bar, various pinch blocks, and other toys. I have some rudimentary pinch blocks I just made out of a couple of pieces of 2×4 and some rope. Pinch rectangular object between hand, attach other end to weight, lift!
Anvil Horn Hold: This is an implement that looks like the pointed part (the horn) of an anvil. Old time strongman implement, back when they just picked up anvils, but you can usually find it as an attachment object for loading pins or bars these days. Great for strongman and rock climbing competitors.
The Advanced Workout:
Here is is, folks, the final form of our initial grip workout. Don’t jump right into this if you don’t already have experience training grip! Your tendons need time to adjust to the increased wear and tear because you use your hands every day. Run the beginner program for 3 months or so before jumping up to this. Your hands will thank you!
Do all sets of one movement before moving on to next movement. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets.
2×15-20 Crush Movement
2×5-10 Crush Movement at Higher Weight/Intensity
2×15-20 Finger Extension Movement
2×15-20 Finger Extension Movement at Higher Weight/Intensity
3×10 Wrist Flexion Movement
3×10 Wrist Extension Movement
3×15-20 Pronation Movement
3×15-20 Supination Movement
3xAs Long As Possible Isometric Hold
Workout Notes: This is less of a “tack onto the end of your workout” and more of a “workout in and of itself” kind of deal. I’d say pick a day once a week where you’re not doing any other major workouts and make that your grip day. Then, do the basic grip workout at the top of the article another day of the week after one of your regular workouts (give yourself at least two days of recovery time between grip workouts.) That should give you plenty of volume to trigger muscle growth without overdoing it on your tendons.
That’s it for our super grip program! There are definitely other grip tools, exercises, and methods out there, it would be impossible to include them all, but in my 20+ years of martial arts, parkour, rock climbing, ninja warrior/ocr, and lifting experience, this is all you need to build some serious, serious grip strength.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you again next week with a new blog post! Until then, as always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Dan Wallace
