Don’t Lose Your Grip

I posted a few weeks ago on Facebook about how tired and rickety my hands have been feeling.  At the end of some workouts they are shaky and weak.  I took some time off and felt better, but as soon as I returned to heavier lifting sessions, the ailment resumed.  I did some research.

“…during relatively light lifting, grip strength inadequacies will probably not cause you too many concerns. However, if you start to develop your training through enhanced resistance then you will potentially reach a plateau whereby your target muscles will be able to lift more but your grip strength simply cannot cope.”

This quote by Marcus Day elegantly sums up the situation.  I’ve been lifting heavy for 16 months now, and my strength is outpacing my grip.  To quote a reader who responded about this issue, “What’s a strong girl to do?”

Well, I noticed some of the big lifters at my gym use straps.  I looked into this, and apparently it’s a bad idea, and only helps if you already possess a grip of steel.  The squeezy hand-gripper thingies are out as well.  To those of us who need to work on this lesser-known muscle-set, it’s advised to incorporate a regular routine of diverse strength building exercises.

ixnay on the adgetsgay

I researched quite a bit and would like to recommend Marcus’ article, How to Increase Your Grip Strength from Fitnessbeans.com.  It’s short and sweet, and lays out 4 simple exercises to help alleviate the problem.

I plan to build this into my plan once a week so I can continue to go big.  I’ll keep you posted on my experience.  In the meantime, let me know if you’re experiencing this issue, and if you’ve got any tips or suggestions.

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