Get A Grip on Grip Training: The Crush Grip:

We all remember the tough guy in all 1980s high school movies - to show his dominance he crushes an empty pop can with his bare hands - very intimidating. Crushing is the motion of closing your fingers into the palm creating a fist. Go on and squeeze as if your life depended on it, the harder you squeeze the more force you are transferring into the squeeze-ee - in our case the barbell or dumbbell. Think crushing grip does not have much relevance in pressing and squatting? Next time you attempt a max lift on bench press - have no mercy, grab onto that bar and show it who's boss; imagine yourself squeezing so tight that the bar shatters into particles of dust - and guess what will happen, that weight will fly up. The same thing with squats; obviously your grip is going to have minimal contribution to your lift but that minimal contribution could mean the difference between a 495 pound squat and a 500 pound squat - which number looks better?

To have a strong crushing grip you will have to train for a strong crushing grip and the best way to do that is to get a set of hand grippers. I am not talking about those grippers you get at Wal-Mart; I am talking about the stuff the World's Strongest Man uses, grippers that will make you cry: Ironmind's Captains of Crush Grippers. Before you begin thinking this article is a sales pitch, I would like to express that I am not sponsored by any company and any recommendations made for any product are based on my experiences using said products. There are many other reputable companies that offer heavy grippers but the Captains of Crush are the Rolls Royce of hand grippers - and we work out with class. The chart below shows the resistances offered by the Captains of Crush :

Guide: 60 pounds

Sport: 80 pounds

Trainer: 100 pounds

CoC No. 0.5: 120 pounds

CoC No. 1: 140 pounds

CoC No. 1.5: 67.5 pounds

CoC No. 2: 195 pounds

CoC No. 2.5: 237.5 pounds

CoC No. 3: 280 pounds

CoC No. 3.5: 322.5 pounds

CoC No. 4: 365 pounds

Captains of Crush Trainer to 4

Training your crushing grip is like training any other muscle; would you attempt to squat a personal best without warming up? I didn't think so, and hand grippers are no different. Do a few warm-up sets and then move to your working sets. Give your forearms the same respect that you give your chest - allow ample time to rest, vary rep ranges and most importantly have pride when you hit a new personal best.

👉 Get A Grip on Grip Training:  The Support Grip
👉 Get A Grip on Grip Training: The Pinch Grip