Grip Strength for Grapplers

Jul 26, 2024 9:14 pm

The Ultimate Grip Strength Guide for Grapplers

Read Time: 8 mins

Read the online version here (recommended)

Every grappling exchange begins with the grip fight.

Developing an iron grip is a necessity for all grapplers.

Your grip strength and endurance are crucial in controlling your opponent and executing your techniques effectively.

This understanding should motivate you to focus on improving your grip strength.

The Different Types of Jiu-Jitsu Grips

Grips are using your hands to control or make contact with your opponent.

Jiu-jitsu grips are either hand-to-hand contact or hand-to-opponent contact.

Hand-to-Hand

Gable Grip:

S-Grip:

Ball & Socket:

Butterfly:

Wrist to Wrist:

Bicep Grip (RNC Grip):

Seatbelt:

Figure-4:

Hand to Opponent

C Grip:

Monkey Grip:

Collar Grip:

Pistol Grip (Sleeve):

Pistol Grip (Lapel):

Thumb-In Collar Grip:

Collar Tie:

Scoop Grip:

The Anatomy of Jiu-Jitsu Grips

In addition to hand-to-hand and hand-to-opponent, we can categorize grips as 'thumb-over' and 'thumb-under'.

The gable grip is a thumb-over grip, whereas a pistol grip is a thumb-under grip.

Many beginners make the mistake of gable gripping with their thumbs under.

Your thumb becomes a weak link in the chain, decreasing the strength of the grip and making it easier for your opponent to break.

The thumb is not the primary contributor to overall grip strength. The following is a breakdown of the research conducted on comparing the total grip contribution of your fingers and thumb (source: Cameron Gill's incredible article on grip training via strongerbyscience.com):

"Cha et al (2014) attributed 17% of total grip strength to contributions from the thumb, which was less than the contributions from the middle (31%) and index (22%) fingers. Cha et al reported the contributions of the ring and index fingers together (29%)..."

The stronger grips in grappling are often 'thumbless' or 'thumb-over' grips.

Aside from the anatomical reason for removing your thumb joint (metacarpophalangeal joint) from the equation, there are practical considerations.

Removing your thumbs from a gable grip removes more space in your grip and makes it much harder for your opponent to pry open your grips.

Another example of when a monkey grip or 'thumb-over' grip is preferred is when finishing a Kimura shoulder-lock submission.

Despite the technical and mechanical advantages and disadvantages of grips within the grappling context, our goal is to improve your overall grip strength and endurance.

Anatomy of Gripping

Your hands are complex, with 27 bones and many interconnected muscle tissue systems involved in gripping.

When training the muscles involved in gripping, we predominantly focus on the finger flexor muscles of the forearm.

Two flexor muscles (flexor digitorum and flexor digitorum superficialis) control the grip of the four-digit fingers, and one (flexor pollicis longus) controls the thumb.

Some of the more dominant grips in grappling involve the 'thumbless grip,' which involves the muscles that control your finger strength.

Strengthening flexor muscles will yield more benefit than thumb flexor strength.

However, this may be semantics as the exercises and recommendations discussed in the next section will develop your total gripping strength, including your flexor pollicis longus.

How to Develop Iron Grips for Jiu-Jitsu

Developing iron grips for grappling is more than simply picking up the heaviest barbell you can or training more jiu-jitsu.

Let's look at what I consider to be the most effective grip exercises for grappling.

Heavy Barbell Lifts

Picking up heavy barbells (think deadlifts) is a tried-and-true method of developing grip strength.

As a grappler, I recommend never using straps or other lifting assistants when performing barbell lifts. You will miss out on developing your finger flexor muscles in short lengths.

Examples of heavy barbell lifts that develop grip strength are:

Performing heavy deadlifts can only take your grip strength so far, as echoed by Cameron Gill:

⁠"...if you want to improve your strength with a particular type of grip, you should be training that specific type of grip. However, this does not mean that maximizing specificity is the key to maximizing results. There is a reason why training for successful powerlifters is not exclusively composed of maxing out in their competition style squat, bench press, and deadlift."

Training more jiu-jitsu will not significantly improve grip strength, and there are other solutions than heavy barbell work.

Dead Hangs

Dead hangs involve hanging from a pull-up bar with your shoulders at full extension. The dead hang develops your grip strength and endurance and has the added benefit of decompressing your spine and supporting shoulder mobility.

The dead hang exercise is straightforward and can be modified to suit your current grip strength and overall fitness level.

For example, you can perform a one-handed hang, add additional weight with a weight belt or perform scapular retractions while hanging.

Farmers Carry

The farmers carry is the 'bread and butter' grip and carry capacity exercise for grapplers.

Along with developing the upper back, shoulders, traps, and arms, the farmers carry exercise engages the finger flexor muscles, resulting in neurological and muscular adaptations of grip strength.

Kettlebells have an advantage over dumbbells in the farmers carry due to the lack of knurling (the rough-textured metal found on barbells). The smooth texture and the thicker diameter found on heavier kettlebells make them superior for grip strength training.

If your gym doesn't have heavy kettlebells (or if you cannot carry heavy kettlebells yet), you can add fat grip attachments to your dumbbells to achieve a similar result.

Wrist Curls and Extensions

Wrist curls enable you to lengthen the finger flexor muscles of the forearm, which usually are in a shortened state during other grip training exercises.

There are two preferred methods for performing wrist curls.

The first is utilizing a barbell or dumbbell (preferably with fat grip attachments) with your hands hanging over your knees or a bench as support.

The image below shows an example of this:

The second method is arguably superior. With this technique, you use a dumbbell and let it roll down your fingertips.

This method enhances the wrist curl's range of motion, providing a more challenging workout for your finger flexor muscles at longer lengths.

This second version benefits from using much less weight. You can also perform additional "finger curl" reps once you achieve muscular failure in the full range of motion.

"Ending a set with these finger flexion reps essentially acts as a mechanical drop set". - Cameron Gill

Wrist Extensions

Wrist extensions are called 'reverse wrist curls' or 'palms down wrist curls'. Unlike wrist curls, wrist extensions do not predominantly target the finger flexor muscles.

Research has shown that wrist extensions improve grip strength. In one study, 13 subjects performed one set of 30 reps of wrist extensions five times per week for eight weeks and saw an increase in maximal gripping force by 19.2%.

Plate Pinch

The plate pinch is an excellent isometric exercise that trains your maximal hold time and grip endurance.

The plate pinch exercise involves using your fingers to pinch and hold a weight plate in your hand, relying on friction to keep the plate suspended against gravity.

You can use one plate, two plates, a larger-diameter bumper plate, a dumbbell, or another pinch grip attachment.

An alternative method of achieving similar "pinch training" is to hold a dumbbell by the weight, allowing it to hang below your hand.

The plate pinch changes the direction of the force (downward with gravity), challenging your flexor muscles with an alternative stimulus compared with other grip training exercises.

If you're lucky and your gym has a "grip city" (a grip training section), you may have access to other grip training accessories, such as pinch blocks, different-size balls, or other grip attachments.

Hand Gripping Accessories and Tools

One of the first things people think about when it comes to grip strength training is hand grippers.

These training tools can supplement your grip strength training in the gym.

They work by providing a constant and opposing opening force via a coiled spring, challenging your finger flexor muscles.

I recommend performing 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps on each hand to failure.

Following these "rep sets", I recommend including 1 set of maximum holds, where you close the hand gripped and keep it locked for as long as possible. This isometric hold challenges your grip endurance.

The benefit of hand grippers is that you can perform reps while watching TV, taking a break from work, or having them lying around the house to remind you to work on your grip strength. I have kept hand grippers on my desk, and I go through my sets while on my lunch break.

Fat Grips

Fat grips are rubber attachments you can place on barbells, dumbbells, pull-up bars and even kettlebells to increase the diameter of your grip on the bar.

Fat grips allow you to train your finger flexors in a more lengthened state than a standard barbell lift. The more your hand opens, the more your finger flexors will lengthen.

Do not put fat grips on all your barbell and dumbbell exercises.

It's important to include fat grips only in exercises that do not predominantly fatigue your grip or for exercises where grip training is the primary outcome.

For example, including fat grips onto your deadlift will reduce your 1 rep max by around 28-55%, defeating the deadlift's primary purpose (engaging your posterior chain muscles).

Including fat grips on a dead hang, bicep curl, hammer curl, farmers carry, or a single-arm dumbbell row would be beneficial (as long as grip is not your limiting factor for the 'non-grip-focused exercises').

Towel Grips

Using an old Gi during all your gym exercises and calling it "jiu jitsu specific" training is a joke (and a waste of time).

Towel and gi grips on specific exercises can be helpful alternative means of challenging your grip.

Like fat grips, towel grips are for exercises that already focus on challenging grip strength as one of their primary outcomes or during exercises where grip is not a 'failure point' for you.

For example, towel bodyweight rows effectively modify the bodyweight row exercise as they increase the challenge to your grip without removing the exercise's primary purpose, stimulating your upper back.

I often program the farmers carry utilizing a towel for the same reason: it changes the orientation of the wrist, providing a different grip strength stimulus compared to traditional farmers carry exercise.

Max Squeeze

Although not a purely grip training exercise, I still wanted to discuss the exercise isometric med ball squeeze.

The med ball squeeze involves gable gripping and squeezing a medicine ball in a 'body lock' position as hard as possible.

This closed-chain isometric squeeze challenges the entire 'body lock system', from the gable grip to the arms and upper back.

You can modify this exercise by changing your grip to a butterfly grip, S-grip or ball & socket grip.

Grip Training Protocols

Grip training works best as a 'supplemental add-on' to your regular strength training.

By following the add-on approach, you can easily incorporate grip training into your regular programming without sacrificing your primary lifts or having to rework your programming competitively.

For example, here is a sample way of organizing your grip strength training to be completed at the end of your strength training sessions in the gym.