Grip Training
GET A GRIP I love grip training. Having a strong grip is not only impressive but a necessity. A stronger grip is essential for better pull up performance, better deadlift performance, better grocery carrying performance. These things are obvious. But that barely scratches the surface. Some fantastic research from early 2018 by Celis-Morales and colleagues highlighted the importance of grip strength (the full article can be easily found: https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1651). Their study looked at 502,293 people from the general population, aged 40 to 69 years. Follow up measurements ranged from three to nine years. What they found: ‘’Grip strength was strongly and inversely associated’’ with negative health outcomes; Weaker muscles = more death & disease (specifically, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and many cancers); Grip strength was a better indicator of mortality than blood pressure and total physical activity levels;
It’s well established that grip strength can be extrapolated to overall strength. Grip strength is simply an efficient way of measuring. Tips to improve grip strength: Do farmers walks (heavy for short, light for long); Hang from bars; Any time you grab a bar, use a ‘white knuckle’ grip i.e. squeeze until your knuckles are white. To quote Louie Simmons, WEAK THINGS BREAK. Not only do weak things break, weak things get sick and weak things die early. Take home - Grip strength (and strength in general) is important for your length and quality of life. Get strong and stay strong! #one22