Grip Strength question

[Crusader8207]

Which hand felt like it needed a re-grip? Or was it both hands?

Are you well-read in varying grip techniques and confident in your grip application? Being able to explain it in great detail (not necessarily to me or us) is a good sign.

My buddy stipples the hell out of everything synthetic. His AR mags (duty gun) take skin off his arms. I have a devilish idea about introducing him to the automatic center punch for the metal parts...

I have read a lot and recently saw Claude's blog on the subject. However, I will investigate more. I do feel I need to work on both hands.

[buckskinjoe]

Excellent responses here!
Spent a day on the range with Robert Vogel in May at the Indiana SWAT Officers Association conference. He is a strong advocate of increasing hand strength with Captains of Crush grippers. I am, currently, working with the #1 gripper (140 lbs.) and hope to "graduate" to #2 later this year or early in 2014.

Bob also highly recommended Pro Grip.

[Crusader8207]

Excellent responses here!
Spent a day on the range with Robert Vogel in May at the Indiana SWAT Officers Association conference. He is a strong advocate of increasing hand strength with Captains of Crush grippers. I am, currently, working with the #1 gripper (140 lbs.) and hope to "graduate" to #2 later this year or early in 2014.

Bob also highly recommended Pro Grip.

Good to know, thank you!!

[GJM]

Excellent responses here!
Spent a day on the range with Robert Vogel in May at the Indiana SWAT Officers Association conference. He is a strong advocate of increasing hand strength with Captains of Crush grippers. I am, currently, working with the #1 gripper (140 lbs.) and hope to "graduate" to #2 later this year or early in 2014.

Bob also highly recommended Pro Grip.

There is at least one school of thought that C of C is an important component of Robert Vogel's overall "winning" strategy, but diffeerent than you might think. Week one, C of C seems great. Months into the program, apparently many shooters develop overuse injuries and end up shooting a lot worse than if they hadn't done "strengthening" exercises, making Robert that much further ahead.

[1slow]

C O C grippers are like doing heavy deadlifts for your hands. At age 56 1 time per week heavy is enough and maybe 1 lighter hand workout in the same week.
Also work extensor muscles.
In 1993 I gave myself over use injuries through 3 times a week heavy C O C workout along with thick bar and Blob lifts.
YMMV.

[buckskinjoe]

Almost any tool can be injurious, and CoC grippers are no exception. I cannot speak for Bob Vogel; however, I have found that just one repetition of full compression on the CoC gripper held until finger failure, i.e., can't hold it any longer, is enough. Repeat about three times per week. For dry-fire practice, I make sure that I am gripping the gun just as hard. Same for live fire.

Holding a handgun is not a fast series of grip-release repetitions; rather, it is a very hard grip maintained for the entire string of shooting. Hence, I use the grip-and-hold method. I find I can hold the #1 CoC gripper shut for about 20 to 30 seconds before my fingers start to give out. Then, about another 10 seconds before my fingers give out entirely. Very intense!

When I get to where I can hold it shut for a minute, I will "graduate" to the #2 CoC gripper.

Hope this helps a bit.

[JHC]

Almost any tool can be injurious, and CoC grippers are no exception. I cannot speak for Bob Vogel; however, I have found that just one repetition of full compression on the CoC gripper held until finger failure, i.e., can't hold it any longer, is enough. Repeat about three times per week. For dry-fire practice, I make sure that I am gripping the gun just as hard. Same for live fire.

Holding a handgun is not a fast series of grip-release repetitions; rather, it is a very hard grip maintained for the entire string of shooting. Hence, I use the grip-and-hold method. I find I can hold the #1 CoC gripper shut for about 20 to 30 seconds before my fingers start to give out. Then, about another 10 seconds before my fingers give out entirely. Very intense!

When I get to where I can hold it shut for a minute, I will "graduate" to the #2 CoC gripper.

Hope this helps a bit.

That makes pretty good sense. Some of the guys I've seen report injuries were USPSA shooters that caught up in the excitement and would work them every day while driving etc.

[BobLoblaw]

In my rock climbing phase, I read about and practiced countless grip strength exercises. Depending on your goal (speed, stability, endurance, power, injury resiliency) there are countless ways of achieving success.

The grip motion utilizes slow twitch and fast twitch muscle types so conditioning, nutrition, and rest are your playbook. Grip strength involves 10 different muscle groups (3 in the forearm and wrist, 7 deep/superficial groups in the hand) and thus requires different types of activities (finger extensions, crimping, clamping, pinching, crushing). Overuse injuries occur when consistently exercising one strenuous technique without allowing your muscles and more importantly, your tendons, to heal themselves. Tendons take a very, very long time to recover. If you are unsure if you have rested enough, you absolutely have not. Overuse will inevitably lead to wrist and elbow problems. Also, never ever work out your ring finger by itself. There is a muscle group that connects your middle finger to your ring finger and it can be torn easier than you would think. Those two fingers are the core of your grip so they must work as a team. Always stretch thoroughly before and after each exercise as you will definitely get an instant flash-pump if you're doing it correctly.

The most effective and difficult grip exercise for brute strength is the open hand pinch. The more difficult it is to hang on to something, the better. I used to hang onto dumbbells by the top/bottom or stacked barbell plates until failure. There's something about dropping items that bring the "the floor is lava" episodes of our childhood back and help us to push ourselves harder.

A good technique for closed/crushing stability and grip strength is simply hanging from a pull-up bar, door frame, or similar structure until failure.

After each exercise, counter the movement with an opposite technique (finger extensions, circumduction) to prevent injury. The best way I found to do this is to first, fill a bucket or large jar with flour, dirt, sand, rice, or the like. Then, insert your fist and open your fingers and repeat. Another exercise is to hold something small and heavy like a shot put ball and rotate your wrist in a circular motion.

Grip strength is very important and there are various studies that found it is a excellent predictor for total muscle strength, diet, vitality, and can even suggest your potential lifespan. Weaker grip strength has been linked to higher mortality rates whereas stronger grip strength was found correlating with higher cognitive function and higher hemoglobin levels. Crazy, huh?


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[Crusader8207]

In my rock climbing phase, I read about and practiced countless grip strength exercises. Depending on your goal (speed, stability, endurance, power, injury resiliency) there are countless ways of achieving success.

The grip motion utilizes slow twitch and fast twitch muscle types so conditioning, nutrition, and rest are your playbook. Grip strength involves 10 different muscle groups (3 in the forearm and wrist, 7 deep/superficial groups in the hand) and thus requires different types of activities (finger extensions, crimping, clamping, pinching, crushing). Overuse injuries occur when consistently exercising one strenuous technique without allowing your muscles and more importantly, your tendons, to heal themselves. Tendons take a very, very long time to recover. If you are unsure if you have rested enough, you absolutely have not. Overuse will inevitably lead to wrist and elbow problems. Also, never ever work out your ring finger by itself. There is a muscle group that connects your middle finger to your ring finger and it can be torn easier than you would think. Those two fingers are the core of your grip so they must work as a team. Always stretch thoroughly before and after each exercise as you will definitely get an instant flash-pump if you're doing it correctly.

The most effective and difficult grip exercise for brute strength is the open hand pinch. The more difficult it is to hang on to something, the better. I used to hang onto dumbbells by the top/bottom or stacked barbell plates until failure. There's something about dropping items that bring the "the floor is lava" episodes of our childhood back and help us to push ourselves harder.

A good technique for closed/crushing stability and grip strength is simply hanging from a pull-up bar, door frame, or similar structure until failure.

After each exercise, counter the movement with an opposite technique (finger extensions, circumduction) to prevent injury. The best way I found to do this is to first, fill a bucket or large jar with flour, dirt, sand, rice, or the like. Then, insert your fist and open your fingers and repeat. Another exercise is to hold something small and heavy like a shot put ball and rotate your wrist in a circular motion.

Grip strength is very important and there are various studies that found it is a excellent predictor for total muscle strength, diet, vitality, and can even suggest your potential lifespan. Weaker grip strength has been linked to higher mortality rates whereas stronger grip strength was found correlating with higher cognitive function and higher hemoglobin levels. Crazy, huh?


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Very interesting information. Thank you!!

[1slow]

Bobbj22,
Thanks for expanding on grip work, particularly about the ring finger connection with the middle finger.