Grip It By The Horns

    Being able to crush something in your hands is a powerful entity. What would it feel like to destroy metal in your hands, lift more weight, having to pay attention as you shake someone's hand or better yet, have a grip so powerful it makes the rest of you that much better? One of the most fascinating things about training is the variety of ways for you to become practically superhuman. Your hands are your tools to develop strength and power in ways the average person can't even fathom. Compete with a mighty grip that will have your opponents running for the hills, how about being a ball player and knocking dingers out of the park without steroids or PEDs, using your strength in an MMA fight and being to swing a heavy hammer with ferocious intensity. Having a crushing grip is a great thing.

 
    The strength to be able to grip long enough to handle a heavy weight or your bodyweight can help you in other endeavors. Rock Climbers have some of the strongest fingers on the planet and have tendons that are like eagle's claws and being to hang on one arm is just incredible. One of the most basic ways to begin doing pull-ups (or advancing for that matter) is to practice as if you were a wild gorilla or ape. No I'm not talking being an actual ape but learning to a degree how to gain grip strength just by hanging on a pull-up bar. Hanging by your hands builds strength not just in the fingers but elongates the spine, stretching the shoulders and eliminating fat from your obliques. Another great way to train is to use thick handles like Fat Gripz that you can attach to your barbell or dumbbell set (I prefer cables but that's just me) and tackle your workout like the old-time strongmen. Thick bar training has many distinct advantages and not just for building a mighty grip but build natural growth hormones, thick and powerful tendons, superhuman like power in your entire body from your neck to your toes. Why not swing a heavy sledgehammer for a long period of time, this alone builds insane strength and a grip that even Slim The Hammerman would be impressed by. Hold on tight if you want to develop grip power.

 
    The ability to squeeze with intense focus where the whole body is in play, you're on the verge to developing a powerful physique with real strength and muscle that is useful and resourceful, not petty and weak like a modern day bodybuilder. The old-timers knew of this long before this generation of roid-heads can possibly notice. Men like Reg Park, John Grimek, Bob Peoples, Brooks Kubik knew the real deal when they found it and that was training the grip in complete detail and not just using thick bars but odd objects and specific feats that required the outmost concentration on the grip and the body itself. When you have to squeeze hard enough to lift or hoist something up it doesn't have to be a barbell or dumbbell but yet you're turning on the juice in your nervous system and unlocking those muscle fibers to fire more than they normally would and unleashing your hormones into overdrive. A mighty squeeze for a mighty body.

 
    This is most crucial if you ever want to develop real strength and muscle and that's training to where if it came down to it, it can be life-saving strength you'll need to help someone in need. I've helped my family over the years (not always on free will) move other people and help carry very heavy pieces of furniture, shoulder-carrying a thick carpet, bed frames, drawer sets you name it and I was mostly called upon because they were impressed by my strength. Now helping someone move may not always be "life-saving" but if there was ever a situation and you have that powerful grip to use, make it happen and turn on that power within you. Even the most ordinary and average person can have some superhuman qualities in the blink of an eye when that adrenaline starts flowing but if you already have that within you already, imagine having a super grip beforehand. Train with intensity when you can and to make your workouts shorter but effective throw in some grip exercises to ease yourself along the way. Basic, simple and uncomplicated to create some serious packing power