Your overall grip strength is NOT determined by the strength of your thumb and second finger...
Your grip strength is determined by the strength of your 3 OTHER fingers...the middle, fourth finger and pinky.
THOSE are the fingers that fatigue first, which then transfers the load onto your thumb and second finger...which THEN causes your grip to fail.
So to maximize grip strength, you need to bring the strength of those fingers up to speed with the primary two.
That's what THIS simple technique does...I call it the 3 Finger Exploding Forearm Technique as a callback to the Kill Bill movies.
I got the idea for this method from my friend and colleague, Will Chung, who got the idea from Josh Bryant of Jailhouse Strong.
To do this one, you'll need Fat Gripz or a barbell pad...
Because what you're going to be doing is "fattening" the grip for ONLY those 3 smaller fingers...the thumb and second finger will grip the bar just as they normally would.
Only those 3 fingers will be placed on the Fat Gripz (or bar pad, or piece of pipe insulation).
This means you'll be able preferentially challenge those 3 fingers while the thumb and forefinger maintain strength.
Here's what it looks like with the barbell pad...it's not quite as effective because you'll be able to mash the pad down more than a solid Fat Gripz thing, but it'll definitely still work pretty well. If you only have one bar pad, you'll need to alternate which hand grips on it, otherwise, you'll need two pads.
Then just put the Fat Gripz onto the bar (barbell or chin-up bar) and perform the exercise as you normally would.
Here's what it looks like for Pendlay Rows (setting the bar on the floor between reps). You can also do continuous tension loading with a normal barbell row where you don't set the bar on the floor until the set is done.
Start LIGHT the first time you do this...it's going to be an eye-opener and your grip will be challenged.
What other exercises can you do with the 3 Finger Exploding Forearm Technique?
It's a great method for any sort of pulling exercise...even barbell curls.
It's NOT going to be effective for any sort of press or pushing exercise...it just throws off the hand position too much. Stick to pulling exercises like rows, deadlift variations (stiff-leg, RDL, that kind of thing), curls and chins/pull-ups.
When using the Fat Gripz, ideally you want the open seams to be rotated around so that the fingers aren't on top of them. Not the end of the world if you don't but it'll feel better if they are.
This shows an underhand chin-up position - hands on the outside of the Fat Gripz. A single bar pad will work perfectly for this.
This is an overhand, prontated close-grip pull-up. The hands will be on the inside of the Fat Gripz.
And this is a wide-grip pull-up (hands inside but with Fat Gripz further out).
When you've finished sets of any of these exercises, your forearms will be LIT UP, especially along the pink-sides of the forearms.
Over time, this is going to massively improve your grip strength.
Why not just use Fat Gripz with your whole hand like it's intended?
You absolutely CAN and it'll work well for overall grip strength...however, that'll leave you with a fatter version of the same problem of the 3 smaller fingers being the weak link.
Just like on a regular bar, if you work the whole hand all at once, those 3 fingers won't get preferentially trained, which is the entire point of this gripping method.
As well, you'll likely find that you have to really limit the loads you can use on your pulling exercise to compensate for the wider hand position. This means you'll be training those 3 fingers with less weight.
When you're able to grip with those two stronger fingers, you can use more weight to train those smaller ones.
Bottom line, this method is FIRE for building forearms and grip strength.
---
Gain 5-7 lbs of mass in the next 4 weeks? Sounds impossible, right? Not with the Muscle Explosion program. Using a powerful, strategic approach to nutrition and training, you'll see gains in mass and strength the likes of which you've never experienced before.
Share This Page...
Want More Strength-Building Techniques and Programs?
You'll find them here...
Support