Hand Grip Exercise - How To Grow Your Grip

This is probably one of the most commonly asked questions we get, what is the best hand grip exercise?

In simple terms there is no one specific hand grip exercise. It is more an accumulation of different exercises combined with consistency that will improve / rehabilitate your grip.

It also depends on your current level of grip strength and goal.

However, we have added some of our favorite hand grip exercises below.

Hand Grippers

You simply can't go wrong with a pair of hand grippers, they are one of the best hand grip exercises.

Available in all shapes and sizes there's something for everyone. If you are just starting out the best one to start with is an adjustable hand gripper.

They have padded handles and the resistance usually goes from around 10kg-60kg.

The resistance is easily adjustable so you can set it to your current level of hand strength. Then just squeeze away.

Hand Grippers are best used in sets and reps, an example of this is 5 sets of 10 reps with around 30 seconds/1 minute between sets.

Do this a couple of times a day for a week or so, then you will start seeing the results.

We have adjustable hand grippers available in our store.

Alternatively you can go for some heavier duty hand grippers which come with a rated resistance. Our godlike hand grippers come in resistances from 100lb up to 300lb.

100lb is a great starting point for most people and the 300lb is for the best of the best!

These hand grippers provide a much different test from the adjustable grippers and have different handles. If you're used to adjustable grippers then making the move to godlike grippers may feel strange at first but is well worth it. We regularly post videos of gripper crushes on our Instagram.

Finger Extensor Work

The key to maintaining a good grip is making use of all the muscles in your hand / forearm on a regular basis. This will actually help prevent problems such as arthritis and wrist pain long term. The finger extensor's are often rarely utilized but they play a big part in the mobility of your hand. The usual motion of your hand is closing, such as picking things up, typing on a keyboard, opening a jar ( crush grip + pinch grip).

You can train your finger extensors in a few different ways. The simplest of which is using an elastic band. You can position this over tips of your fingers, then just open your hand up, close it and repeat the motion.

Alternatively you can use one of our finger exercisers, they are specifically designed for training your extensors and come in three different resistances. This outward movement is not something you would usually perform but in terms of recovery and improving mobility it is a key hand grip exercise.

Improving the strength and power of your extensor movement will also result in a more powerful crush!

Stretching & Mobility

Not quite as glamorous or fun as crushing a hand gripper. But something that is very important for keeping your hands healthy long term.

You don't have to do these stretches every day but you should do them once a week.

The Prayer Stretch

1. Start with your palms together fingers pointing up near the chin.
2. Lower your hands down to your waist, keeping them close to your body then stop when you feel a nice stretch.
3. Keep this position for around 10-20 seconds, then raise the hands back up to your chin.
4. Repeat this 3 times.

Wrist Flexor Stretch

1. Fully extend your arm out in front, palm facing upwards.
2. Using your other hand, bend your wrist making sure the fingers point up to the sky.
3. Do this until you feel a good stretch in the wrist forearm and hand.
4. Hold the position for around 10-20 seconds then repeat 3-5 times on both hands.

Wrist Extensor Stretch

1. Fully extend your arm out in front, palm facing down.
2. Using your other hand, bend your wrist towards you making sure the fingers point down to the floor.
3. Do this until you feel a good stretch in the wrist forearm and hand.
4. Hold the position for around 10-20 seconds then repeat 3-5 times on both hands.

They are 3 really simple and quick to perform stretches that are a great hand grip exercise.

The Squeeze - Grip Rings

Objects similar to stress balls are a great way of using your grip.

Star Grippers or Grip Rings are perfect for this type of motion. These are ideal for keeping in your gym bag, on the desk at work or at home. Squeezing them throughout the day is a great way of keeping blood flowing in the hands and stretching the muscles.

A few examples of different exercises you can perform are;

1. Squeeze and hold for around 15 seconds
2. 5 sets of 10 Squeezes with around 30 seconds rest between sets
3. Using different combinations of fingers to squash
4. Squeeze tight and slowly release over around 15 seconds.

You could even use a tennis ball for this which does a similar job.

Pinch Me - Plate Pinches

Another great hand grip exercise is the plate pinch. This will require you to be either in the gym or at home if you have some weight plates.

A really easy and effective exercise, training plate pinches is both beneficial for pinch and support grip, especially when doing holds for time.

Bumper plates are ideal for this scenario, but any will do.

1. Grab a weight you can pick up pretty comfortably.
2. Clamp down on it using your hand similar to a crocodiles mouth.
3. Pick the weight up keeping it by your side.
4. Hold it for around 10-20 seconds or perform single reps with higher weight.

The longer the hold the more you will be also training your support grip. This is beneficial for those legendary 'one trip' shopping bag hauls.

Dumbbell Pinch

Last but not least.. The dumbbell pinch. A great exercise that will help grow your pinch strength and improve finger dexterity. For this you will need at least one dumbbell.

• Place the dumbbell facing upwards
• Wrap your hand around the top of it
• Pick it up, try either hold for time or max weight
• Place it back down on the ground

Simple.. Effective and one that will give you great results

To summarize the keys are really just keeping consistent with your exercises, mix it up and make sure to perform them correctly.

If you just want to maintain your grip or improve mobility, stick to the basics, light weights and weekly stretching.