Get a Grip

As a personal trainer and someone who enjoys physical labour, it never ceases to amaze me, how little effort (if any) people put into grip training.

Today I was building an allan block retaining wall, at my home in West Vancouver, with my father-in-law and boy did my forearms get pumped!

Pinch gripping the blocks and shoveling all day made me grateful for the grip work I do when I train. Now make no mistake. I don't screw around doing body part workouts where I do 3 sets of wrist curls on my biceps, calves and forearms day. Yes, I used to train like that as a kid, when I had no responsibilities, and didn't know any better. These days it's all about full body, compound movements. I get heaps of grip and forearm work from training with kettlebells, sledgehammers, ropes, chin-ups and sandbags.

I love this kind of physical labour almost as much as I love the training. If you want to check out a workout that will get you real life strong, check out Zach Even-Esh's Underground Strength Coach! program. Zach is a beast and is very passionate about training hard. I had the honour of listening to him in Connecticut last week.

So remember...don't forget to train your grip. Don't use lifting straps. Avoid machines. Lift odd shaped items. Swing kettlebells. Get stronger in ways that will make a difference in how you live, not just how you look.

That's all for today,

Dan Webster
Titanium Fitness

P.S. My "core" was really pumped after all the real work today and I didn't even have to go lie down at a "Pie Lattes" class.