How to Increase Your Grip Strength

Weight resistance training has grown by leaps and bounds as it has gained popularity with fitness enthusiasts and those who wish to lose excess body fat and gain better health. As this activity has gained popularity more time and money has been spent to bring more up-to-date information to the general public. More equipment and aids have come under scrutiny as this activity has become more main stream. The use of wrist straps have long been known in the body-building and power-lifting community. But does the use of this simple aid actually increase or decrease grip strength, the specific aim of using this equipment?

The concept of grip strength may be foreign to many who are gym novices or even those who are fairly comfortable navigating most weight lifting facilities. Yet we often see many using these thick straps. Which brings to light the questions that so many ask:

"What are those straps for?"

"Should I invest the money?"

"Will their use improve my performance?"

This short article should answer these common questions.

What is grip strength and why should it matter to you?

Grip strength is exactly what it sounds like. It is how securely your hands can hold onto an object. The more securely your hand can grip an object and manipulate it will greatly affect the amount of weight you can move with your upper body. In the case of compound movements it will affect your lower body and core strength as well. So for anyone who is interested in positively affecting their muscular strength this concept is one they should pay some attention to. The more weight you can safely grip and manipulate, the better your weight-resistance training will progress.

What are wrist straps for?

These thick woven straps are wrapped around your wrists, the loose ends then tightly wound around a barbell, dumbbell or other equipment. They artificially increase your grip strength by keeping the bar connected to your palms when your natural strength would have given out forcing you to open your hand and release your grasp of the object. This allows you to move more weight then you would be able to without the use of the straps. They also reduce the amount of painful friction you might feel when the bare metal bar rubs on your fingers and palms.

Should you invest the money?

The truth of the matter is that these simple straps can be found for sale at nearly every gym or sporting goods store and are relatively inexpensive so it's a no-brainer. Right? Not necessarily.

This is a decades old debate in the body-building and power-lifting community. Why wouldn't you use any apparatus that would help you move more weight with greater ease? The answer is because regular use of the straps actually weaken your own natural grip strength. The muscles of your hands and forearms actually become dependent on the straps thereby yielding the opposite result. Your grip will actually weaken with regular use thus defeating the purpose of using them to begin with.

Conclusion:

Though there is a very definite place in the pursuit of weight resistance training for wrist, wrist straps are definitely not for regular use. Wrist straps are an excellent aid when one is attempting to lift very heavy as in the case of one rep maximums for example. But these types of training techniques are only to be employed infrequently and with very specific types of training. They not for the average fitness enthusiast. It is far more beneficial to allow grip strength to increase naturally, over time without the use of such aids.