Grip Exercise Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Chinese Stone Locks

Posted on Monday, November 13th, 2017 by John Wood

Kettlebells go back a long way but Chinese Stone Locks predate them by several thousand years. Martial artists in China have been using stone weights like these to develop their bodies for centuries. There are, of course, many ‘kettlebell’ exercises that can be done with stone locks, but they carry with them their own specific kind of training — and a specific set of results. Stone locks training is particularly good for grip and forearm work.

Plate Curls

Posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2017 by John Wood

One of the most effective exercises for developing grip and forearm strength can be done with a simple barbell plate. Just grab it by the lip and attempt to curl it — no swinging, slow and controlled all the way up and all the way down. You’re fairly strong if you can do a 25 lb. plate … really strong if you can do a 35 pounder under the same conditions … and if you can do this with a 45 lb plate, you’d be one of the strongest of all time. The steep strength curve from the leverage involved can impose quite a challenge — even when using a very light plate. You can also “cheat” the plate to the top position and then lower it under control to add a new wrinkle. You can progress incrementally by attaching smaller weights and then increasing or decreasing the leverage based on where they are positioned on the plate. You can expect some pretty sore wrists the morning after. Try it!

Arthur Lancaster: The Man With The Grip of Iron

Posted on Monday, February 10th, 2014 by John Wood

Arthur Lancaster, of Brixton, England, desired to do something that had never been accomplished before, and on July, 4th, 1908, he accomplished his goal. It was on that date, at the Crystal Palace (London), that he swung an eight pound blacksmith’s hammer for twelve straight hours. It was supposed to be a contest of endurance against a Frenchman, but the latter did not keep his engagement, so the Englishman began his task alone (albeit, still in front of two judges.)

Lancaster swung the hammer with one hand during meal breaks and resumed two-handed swinging once finished. It was estimated that Lancaster “lifted” over 350 tons over the course of his hammer-swinging session. Unsurprisingly, Lancaster reported that his performance was as much a triumph mentally as physically. Thereafter, he was known as: “The Man With The Grip of Iron.”

John Grimek’s Wrist Roller Training

Posted on Thursday, August 29th, 2013 by John Wood

John Grimek trained in every way imaginable and he sure didn’t neglect his grip. One of his favorite pieces of training equipment for building grip and forearm strength was the simple wrist roller — and it’s still great choice.

Wrist rolling can be done as shown, or holding the arms downward with a heavier weight.

The One-Arm Deadlift

Posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 by John Wood

There’s no question that if you want to be truly strong you’ve got to have a strong grip. Many people think you need a laundry list of exercises to accomplish this goal but the truth is that focusing on a few simple exercises is all it takes. One of the very best exercises for doing so is the basic one-arm barbell deadlift, a lift that can be done in any gym in the land.

Above is Mr. L.A. Chappell, the World’s Amateur Heavyweight lifting champion lifting 448-1/2 pounds. A short while later, he improved this lift to 502 pounds! Chappell was a studen of J.C. Tolson, The Young Mighty Apollon.

Note the unusual cambered bar used for the lift. Though it may make the lift a little easier because it does not rotate like a normal Olympic barbell, notice that this bar is also a little thicker. We may possibly have a bar like this available at some point.

If you are interested in learning more about the One-Arm Deadlift, or possibly adding it to your workout, there is a fantastic article about it in The Dellinger Files, Volume I.