Gym equipment: Hand Grips

There are two schools of thought for building up forearm strength/size. The first is intense reps, the second is an iron grip.

Personally, I favour the second school of though. I don't do any forearm isolations, but deadlifts and barbell shrugs have made my forearms grow really nicely.

Forget those dude, start deadlifting heavy and holding onto a heavy bar for shrugs, and possibly even doing farmers' walks. Your forearms will get big in no time, trust me.

Reply 2

just t

if ur gonna get a gripper get the ivankp supergripper

Reply 3

OP

Mr.God

There are two schools of thought for building up forearm strength/size. The first is intense reps, the second is an iron grip.

Personally, I favour the second school of though. I don't do any forearm isolations, but deadlifts and barbell shrugs have made my forearms grow really nicely.

Forget those dude, start deadlifting heavy and holding onto a heavy bar for shrugs, and possibly even doing farmers' walks. Your forearms will get big in no time, trust me.

I only have dumbells, is it still possible to do shrugs? Also, whats the correct technique, because I have heard that many people do that type of exercise incorrectly.

Reply 4

OP

just t

if ur gonna get a gripper get the ivankp supergripper

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/images/products/ivankosupergripper2.JPG

Above: are those the ones you are referring to? Are they better than normal hand grippers in that case?

Also, can the supergrippers be bought from any sports shop? And if so, how much?

Reply 5

theepw

I only have dumbells, is it still possible to do shrugs? Also, whats the correct technique, because I have heard that many people do that type of exercise incorrectly.

You can shrug with dumbbells, yeah. The point I was trying to make is that to increase grip strength and forearm size, you need to hold onto a heavy weight of some description until you can't hold it any more.

As for how you shrug, you simply hold onto some weight and... shrug! Shrug your shoulders. I find leaning forward a touch helps me to feel it better. Don't rotate your shoulders either.

Reply 6

OP

Mr.God

You can shrug with dumbbells, yeah. The point I was trying to make is that to increase grip strength and forearm size, you need to hold onto a heavy weight of some description until you can't hold it any more.

As for how you shrug, you simply hold onto some weight and... shrug! Shrug your shoulders. I find leaning forward a touch helps me to feel it better. Don't rotate your shoulders either.

Okay, that did sound like a silly question, but I have just heard that a lot of the time people do shrugs incorrectly.

I presume its just holding the weight by your side, keeping everything else still and just raising the shoulders up to about earlobe height?

I presume shrugs will work the back and shoulders too?

Reply 7

Shrugs are primarily a trapezoid exercise. If you want to hit your shoulders, go with military press, wide grip military press, dumbbell shoulder press, arnold shoulder press.

For your back, you'll be good if you go with deadlifts, pullups, ultrawide grip pullups, lat pulldowns and bent over rows (dumbbell and barbell).

Reply 8

OP

Okay, but the dumbell shrugs would help to build up forearm size then?

Would the hand grippers be beneficial if used in conjunction with shrugs or are those hand grippers a waste of time?

Reply 9

Heavy dumbbells should help to build up grip strength, because they'll be trying to constantly roll out of your hand. If you hold onto them for as long as you can then you'll definitely notice growth.

As to the hand grippers... personally I wouldn't use them. I've tried doing forearm isolations before with intense reps, and in my book they don't hold a candle to forearm exercises that purely involve holding onto a lot of weight for as long as you can. Once you feel your forearms burning and your fingers slipping, you know you're going to get good growth.

Reply 10

OP

Thanks for the advice.

As I am hoping to get into weight lifting again when I get back to uni, I have some dumbells, and I also go to the gym.

I have heard that its really important to have a good diet, if wanting to put on muscle. Is it best to have something like a protein shake before every weight workout?

Reply 11

You need protein throughout the day to keep your muscles anabolic. I'd have a whey shake in water immediately after a workout along with some simple carbs like dextrose, potatoes or white pasta, and some more complex carbs like maltodextrin, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal rice, etc.

I'd also have a meal rich in protein and complex carbs not more than 2 hours before you work out, too.

Reply 12

Spent

Hey thanks for that, my forearms haven't been growing as much as the rest of my body after I started lifting. Shall give this a go.

Reply 13

just t

theepw

http://www.atomicathletic.com/store/images/products/ivankosupergripper2.JPG

Above: are those the ones you are referring to? Are they better than normal hand grippers in that case?

Also, can the supergrippers be bought from any sports shop? And if so, how much?

better as it is fully adjustble to a damed high resistance you will likely never close

Reply 14

OP

Mr.God

You need protein throughout the day to keep your muscles anabolic. I'd have a whey shake in water immediately after a workout along with some simple carbs like dextrose, potatoes or white pasta, and some more complex carbs like maltodextrin, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal rice, etc.

I'd also have a meal rich in protein and complex carbs not more than 2 hours before you work out, too.

Is whey protein the best source of protein to actually build muscle?

Also, one question about protein shakes, is it possible to purchase tubs of just pure whey protein which can be mixed in water or milk? I ask this because I dont want to buy a branded protein shake mix, but rather make my own as I will know exactly whats in it.

Reply 15

OP

just t

better as it is fully adjustble to a damed high resistance you will likely never close

Okay, can they be bought from any gym shop? Any idea how much they go for? Do they do the same job as normal hand grippers but just have more resistance?

Reply 16

theepw

Is whey protein the best source of protein to actually build muscle?

Also, one question about protein shakes, is it possible to purchase tubs of just pure whey protein which can be mixed in water or milk? I ask this because I dont want to buy a branded protein shake mix, but rather make my own as I will know exactly whats in it.

You'll get the best results from a mix of protein. Chicken, fish, turkey, beef, eggs, milk, whey, casein, whatever sort of protein you can get your hands on. However, whey has a complete amino acid profile, so to be honest you're not going to get much better.

For pure whey go to http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk

Reply 17

just t

39 quid!

most gripper have only one resistance! so once you can do it you need to buy a harder one! or if you cant do it you need to buy one with less resistance which sucks!

its like 100grippers in one!

http://www.pullumsports.com/ sell it!

bout 40 quid inc p&P sounds alot but if you bought the seperate grippers (COC ones) comes to over 150 quid for a full range plus trainers etc!

Reply 18

OP

Mr.God

You'll get the best results from a mix of protein. Chicken, fish, turkey, beef, eggs, milk, whey, casein, whatever sort of protein you can get your hands on. However, whey has a complete amino acid profile, so to be honest you're not going to get much better.

For pure whey go to http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk

http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/product.php?xProd=84

Above: I presume that is the pure whey protein tub you are referring to? It has 2g of fat for every serving (per 30g).. do we have any idea what composition that fat is? The last thing I want to be doing is putting on muscle, but also increasing my chances of having a heart attack because of saturated fats :p:

Reply 19