Keep a Tight Grip When It Matters

The 10 Muscles That Are Most Neglected But Most Important!

Hands and Fingers!

We use them every day and need them to be healthy just to carry out those daily things. Also you see a lot of bad wrists, carpel tunnel syndrome (overuse damage) and joint pain in the hands. It’s also not a “show muscle” like biceps or shoulders so not many really think about it.

But your grip is needed for things as simple as carrying groceries to your car or home or holding on standing in the bus. Things like wrist curls are great for forearms but I’d also say doing things like rolling a towel into a ball and back out or crumpling a piece of paper as small as you can or squeezing those stress balls or just standing holding a weight in hand suitcase style is good as well and practical to use.

The ancient Wrist Roller is a great overall conditioner as well if you had no time to do anything but one exercise! For lack of the Wrist Roller (not all modern gyms have them sadly!) you may take a light barbell and starting with it at your upper thigh level, arms straight down “Roll” the bar up your body as if rolling up a newspaper.

First, do a roll up flexing your wrists downward with each repetition so your knuckles point toward the floor each time. Repeat this til the bar reaches the top position (upper chest just below your neck). Lower slowly and controlled and repeat the exercise until you can’t complete the trip to the top position.

Rest a bit, then perform the same motion in a reverse direction where your wrists flex upward each time with the knuckles arching skyward and infront of you.

Lower slowly and controlled and repeat the exercise until you can’t complete the trip to the top position.

Another way would be to set a barbell up in a squat rack and tie off a length of rope and knot it in the end (smooth loading end of an Olympic bar is thicker and slick thus more challenging.) or centre of the bar and run it through the weight plate(s) and use your wrists and forearm power raising the weight by turning the bar set in the pins of the rack. (This version can be seen and demonstrated in the excellent WORLD’S STRONGEST ARMS dvd from www.ironmind.com with former European armwrestling champion and world strongman Magnus Sammuelsson of Sweden. )

One full roll to the top in each of the 2 directions equals 1 set of the exercise. Repeat the exercise until you can’t complete the trip to the top position.

Add weight when you are able in either/each variation.

GET ON A ROLL!!

TIL NEXT TIME GRIP TITE!