Mention grip strength to most men and the image that springs to mind is cranking out innumerable reps on a rusty gripper that you happened to find in your old man’s garage.
According to Chad McMurren, former natural bodybuilding champion and owner of grip-training store Grip & Lift Australia, “getting a $2 gripper and squeezing it mindlessly for hours on end doesn’t do a whole lot for your grip. The fastest way to increase your grip strength is to chase a specific one-rep max using grippers which have specific poundages.”
With poundages ranging from 63.5kg for a Number 1 gripper, to an immovable 165.5kg for a Number 4, Captains of Crush grippers are the gold standard in grip training and competition.
Follow this workout from McMurren to build a knuckle-crushing grip
Click here for your can’t-fail plan for XXL biceps
Equipment
This workout requires three grippers: a warm-up gripper (which allows you to do 10 reps easily), a working gripper (which allows you to 5-7 reps) and a goal gripper (which you can’t quite close).
Directions
Warm-up gripper
2×10 reps (your effort level should be low)
Working gripper
3×5-7 reps (if you can go higher than this rep range, you need to up the poundage)
Goal gripper
3×1 rep (close the gripper as far as you can, then hold this position for 3-5 seconds)
Warm-up gripper
1×10 reps (focus on maintaining perfect form)
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