The life of an elite athlete often revolves entirely around his/her training routine and diet. Everything has to be perfect, especially at the top levels. For this type of athlete, every percentage of improvement can make a world of difference.
No effort is spared to make sure to perform at the maximum ability. However, when is the last time you saw someone train their grip? If you live in the same world as we do, the answer is probably: almost never.
Strange, because grip strength is a crucial aspect for a wide variety of athletes. From arm wrestlers to climbers, powerlifters to judokas and bodybuilders to MMA-fighters. Grip strength is easily one of the most underrated factors in many different sports.
At the same time, this is good news for all sportsmen and athletes who do train their grip. After all, you can gain a nice competitive advantage over your fellow athletes with a rock-solid grip and take your own performance to the next level. Of course, you don't have to be an elite athlete to do this. Even if your only goal is simply to get better yourself, you can get plenty of benefit from this!
A first example is martial artists. Athletes active in judo, jiujitsu, wrestling, MMA etc., will all be able to confirm that grip strength is an important element in their sport. Large forearms and muscular hands not only give the athlete an intimidating look, but the strong grip of these is also of great use when grabbing someone.
In fact, almost all of these martial arts are practiced with an open hand, which is used to constantly try and get a hold of your opponent. When you know that your grip strength is many times stronger than your opponent's, this allows you to easily control their hands and arms. A strong grip can also make all the difference when performing holds, take-downs and other movements.
As a second example, let's go to the powerhouses of the world: strongman, powerlifters, crossfitters, bodybuilders, etc. They too will all recognize the importance of strong grip strength. For example, it's going to be pretty difficult for a strongman to perform a 300kg farmers walk on a 30-meter incline without having a brutally strong grip.
For powerlifters it is again especially important with deadlifts, since wrist straps are not allowed in many competitions. You can have the strongest back and legs in the world, but if your grip can't handle the weight then your lift is doomed to fail.
Of course, the same goes for all other gym exercises where your grip strength is taxed. Pull-ups, rows, curls, etc. Ultimately, you're only as strong as your grip, and if it lets you down, it's game-over.
There is also an added benefit for bodybuilders, as a set of developed forearms can add a lot to a bodybuilder's appearance. Most people have been brainwashed with the thought: big biceps = big arms, partly because of all the famous biceps poses of Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, strongly developed forearms will contribute much more to this than the biceps.
Furthermore, we have athletes such as climbers and arm wrestlers who can get the edge over their opponents with grip strength. Climbers are completely dependent on having the right grip strength. Their entire body weight often hangs from 1 hand, usually even the fingertips, so a strong grip is vital.
Arm wrestlers can use their strong grip to control the opponent's hand, after which they can use their powerful forearms to pin the opponent as quickly as possible.
In summary, grip strength is an important factor for athletes in many different sports. There are different exercises for grip training, such as hand grippers, farmer walks, dead hangs, grip tools, etc. We wish you good luck with training so you can have a "Golden Grip" as soon as possible!
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