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The hand is an amazing human instrument, which can be used to grip objects in several ways.
These different ways, and different types of grip strength, are typically quantified based on
the way the hand is being used.
Strong Hands carry - over to just about any sport or daily activity.
Grip feats have recently gained acceptance as a sport in its own right
Grip Competitions are being held regularly all over the world.
Events include Captains of Crush Grippers, Thick Bar Deadlifts, Blob lifts,
Nail Bending, Vertical Bar, Olympic Plate Pinching and Rolling Thunder.
Grip Training can heavily influence the amount of weight lifted, and
most of all its fun to see what grip feats you can accomplish.
The final state of any discipline is where you forget what you have learned, discard your mind, and accomplish whatever you set out to do without being aware of it yourself. You begin by learning and reach the point where learning does not exist.
- from The Sword & the Mind
“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential”.
- Bruce Lee.
“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them”.
- Bruce Lee
"Strengthen your mind, the rest will follow"
- Joseph L. Greenstein The Mighty Atom
By the IRONMASTER, STEVE JUSTA
Done for Grip Empire 2009
In my years of training I have found that their are many different types and or applications of different kinds of hand strength.
For example you need a certain type of hand strength to be good at the sport of arm wrestling. I read a book by an all time World Arm Wrestling champ and in his book, he says that arm wrestling should actually be called hand wrestling. That it all starts in the hand, and when you lift grab a hold of anything it all starts in the hand, a good example would be the deadlift in powerlifting, if you can't grip it you cant lift it!
I have found their are many different types of hand strength. You have thumb strength, finger strength, palm strength, muscles between the fingers, muscles that move the thumb in different directions. There are also wrist tendons and ligaments which connect your forearm and wrist to the hand. This creates different types of strength when the wrist is bent in different directions. Don't forget that their is bone strength of the hand which comes into play in mma fighting, boxing, or breaking things (martial arts, Karate demonstrations) Every different position you use your hand in brings a slightly different type of hand strength into play. Their is
crushing strength like you need when closing heavy hand grippers. Their is locking and pulling strength( which is my specialty)
When I do heavy 1/4 Deadlifts or lifting the Truck wheel off the ground with the truck attached to it! Theirs a certain type of
strength needed to lift small diameters bars. A certain needed to lift large diameter bars. A certain type of strength needed to tear things.
To have a truly strong hand you have to train it on a lot of different things ( variety is key ) Look at these Martial Artist who can stick their finger through a pop can. Just an unbelievable type of hand strength. Once I saw a guy bend a 8" crescent wrench into a U shape, and a guy tear a license plate in half with his hands. These types of hand strength I would not be able to duplicate because I never practiced them. Then there are feats of hand strength that I can do like lifting the wheel of a big dump tuck off the ground with the truck attached. What im saying is that just because you have a strong hand in certain types of hand strength, doesn't mean it will strong in other types of feats you don't practice. Basically the more different types of training you do for your hand the better off you'll be, and the tougher your hand will be. The tougher you get your hand the tougher your wrist and forearm will be as well. If you get your hands stronger your lifting numbers will go up as well.
Use your imagination just see what type of strength training works best for you. Work your hand in a lot of different applications, different angles on different implements. The more you practice something the better you get at it, which is the way things work, the more time you put into something the better you'll get at it. When you do practice something give it everything you've got, and when you think you've had enough, just Stop! Rest and when you feel rested up enough practice again. Learn to listen to your mind. Keep telling your mind what you want and it will eventually show you and tell you what to do, Learn to feel.. this is my theory on building strength. Be consistent and practice as often as you feel it is necessary. Apply this in the Quest to build hand strength. Hand strength is a definite plus in any strength application.
Steve Justa
IronMaster
PS I also want to say that ive never touched steroids or any kind of man made lifting Drug, and at one time or another ive lifted and moved some of the Heaviest Iron on the planet, If you want to take something that builds strength all you have to do is look at the animal world, for example lets look at the elephant The Strongest thing that walks the face of the Earth. What does the elephant eat? mainly grass, and the Rhino their diet is also mainly grass, tell me and make me believe that greens don't have everything you need for Building solid Strength.