When I first started lifting, I went up to the biggest guy in the gym (Kody Sanders – USAA Powerlifter) and I started a conversation. I was a super small guy, and he was HUGE. He told me that something I should really focus on was grip strength, he said it was one of the most important things that nobody focuses on. And boy, was he right! So, here are 5 hand grip strengthener benefits!
#5 – Getting Better Grip Strength Means You Can Lift Heavier
This is probably one of the best hand grip strengthener benefits out there. All of us want to lift heavier! When it comes to deadlifting or bench pressing, we ALL want to get bigger.
That’s the thing though, having a better grip strength means you can lift heavier. People don’t realize this though.
People Don’t Realize How Important Grip Strength Really Is!
How often do you see a workout program that includes grip and forearm workouts?
Rarely. In fact, Arnold’s Blueprint to Mass, the program I recommend to everybody, only has few forearm workouts- but not grip strength workouts.
But people generally skip working forearms because they don’t realize how important grip strength really is!
Your poor grip strength WILL hold you back!
Here’s the thing. When you deadlift or even bench press, you usually don’t take into consideration how important your forearms are in the lift.
And I’m not one to lie and say I didn’t do this too. My forearms are still small and I’m working on building them with my hand grip strengtheners.
But I learned the hard way. If you’ve read my 20 rep squat program post, you’ll know I skyrocketed from deadlifting 135 lbs, to deadlifting 300 lbs nearly 6 months later.
But, then…it HALTED. But I didn’t get it? My legs were huge! I was squatting 300 lbs in just two months after that, so why was my deadlift only 315? Something was incredibly wrong.
It was my poor grip strength.
You didn’t even need a trainer to see this. My forearms are incredibly small in comparison to my absolutely massive biceps and triceps (ok, I’m not 23.5 inch arms Rich Piana massive, but you can actually see a big problem with how small my forearms are).
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know I suffered from anorexia. This was unfun, obviously, but it caused a ton of muscle breakdown in my forearms that I still haven’t got back.
I got sick of it. I wanted to deadlift more! So I started working out my grip and forearms. I saw BIG results. (315 -> 350)
I was sick of being locked to 315 on the deadlift. No matter how big my squat got, it wasn’t going up.
That’s when I had to own up and started busting my forearms. I did grip strengthener exercises with a grip strengthener, pull-ups/hanging leg raises, and forearm reverse arm curls.
I did this for just a month and had already seen massive results. My deadlift steadily climbed from 315 -> 350. It truly was my grip strength holding me back.
This is one of those hand grip strengthener benefits you can prove in real life. Try them out with a forearm exercise, 2-3x a week, for about a month- and you’ll see a ton of results.
My bench would not go up until I increased my grip strength.
I was always known for having an incredibly weak bench.
At 155 lbs, I could barely bench 135 lbs for 4 reps. The entire time, my arms were shaking like they were two wooden sticks trying to support a concrete building.
That’s when it hit me. Dude. Maybe it’s because your forearms ARE tiny wooden sticks trying to support weight it’s not capable of.
This was around the same time I realized my deadlift wasn’t going up because of this either.
So, I tested out if this was one of the hand grip strengthener benefits I could use to my advantage.
Yes, it was. Literally less than one week of doing the forearm exercises with the grip strengthener, it was a night and day difference. My arms didn’t shake that much anymore, albeit a little bit- but again, this was the first week.
Then within a month, my bench had went from 135 lbs for 4 reps, to 195 lbs for 8 reps.
It’s kind of scary how much grip strength can hold you back. (Note: I did have a very defined chest from me doing pectoral flyes and benching, albeit low weight. But once my grip strength got in order, my bench press number finally aligned with it).
#4 – Forearms Grow! These are a HUGE part of the physique.
Bodybuilding is a sport that is all about the muscles. Everybody coming into the gym wants to grow a ton of muscle, of course, what else are we really doing there?
But, forearms are a very neglected muscle. This is because they:
- A: are incredibly hard to grow
- B: are relatively small comparatively to the rest of the body
- C: it’s hard to find exercises that grow them.
Think about it. You use your forearms ALL the time. Guess what? You used your forearms to look this article up and read it! You REALLY need to break down your forearms with INTENSE training to make sure they grow.
Because that’s how muscles grow- progressive overload. And again, because your forearms are constantly stressed throughout the day, you need to do something crazy to build them.
Furthermore, they are smaller than the rest of the muscles. You don’t notice them as much as say the biceps or chest muscles.
Lastly, the exercises required to grow them are weird. Luckily, this is one of the hand grip strengthener benefits you can reap.
Use Your Hand Grip Strengthener To Grow Your Forearms
Combining your hand grip strengthener with some forearm reverse curls or normal curls will put TONS of forearm muscle on you.
Here’s what I recommend, on your arm day do this:
- Hand grip strengthener: 3×10, 2×20 (change weight accordingly)
- Forearm curls: 5×8
- Reverse forearm wrist curls: 3×5
That will put a ton of muscle on your forearms.
Forearm muscle actually contributes heavily to the physique. If you see somebody with a big chest but tiny forearms, don’t you get a little confused?
Don’t be like a T-Rex out here and have mini arms but a huge back.
#3 – Helps You In Daily Situations (ie: opening a jar, moving something in your office)
Grip strength is incredibly important in just everyday things.
I just got done moving houses actually! Sounds fun on paper, but when you realize all of the furniture and boxes you have to move, it just isn’t all that.
Thankfully, where my family lacked with their poor grip strength, I won. I was able to move a ton of heavy things and save a lot of money on the moving bill.
Plus, when it comes to things like opening the pickle jar or even just ripping boxes, the increased grip strength will help a ton.
It’s truly one of those hand grip strengthener benefits nobody talks about. Sure, everybody is always talking about how great it is to put on muscle and stuff.
But when it comes to things like shoveling your driveway, working on your car (read: rhinoramps review, best ramps to work on your car with!), moving furniture, bringing groceries in, or even an emergency where you might have to push your car out of the ditch, any grip strength helps.
#2 – MMA Uses
If you’re in mixed martial arts like me or my friends, hand grip strengtheners are a MUST!
If you’ve been training a bit, you’ll learn the hard way that grip strength plays a way bigger role in martial arts than you ever thought.
I personally, after doing a mix of muay thai/BJJ for 6 years, lost a fight to my friend that barely knows what he’s doing just because his grip strength was so massive.
While I had him in the RNC to make him submit to the fight, he grabbed my arm off and put me in an armlock. What? This dude is like thor, but that’s when I learned the hard way how important that stuff really is.
Even if you’re just in high school wrestling, having a strong grip can turn a match around completely if you’re able to lock your opponent from doing a fatal move on you.
Regardless, even if you don’t train, a good grip strength can help you in a sudden street fight. Say some angry guy jumps on you, instead of being completely screwed over, you might be able to peel him off of you better and run for the hills. (although, I just recommend going to martial arts classes, but hey- this will help, you’d be surprised!)
Or like in the movies, how someone will stop someone from stabbing them by holding the knife in place. This actually can work if you’re smart enough, fast enough, and strong enough.
Just be sure to run faster than them once you get away!
#1 – THE BEST STRESS RELIEVER, EVER.
I have a ton of anxiety. I’ll admit it, but this thing helps a lot. In fact, it’s one of the best hand grip strengthener benefits on this list.
Imagine a stress ball on creatine. That’s what this kind of is.
Whenever you get stressed, up the weight on your hand grip strengthener and just start hammering away.
How many of you have gone to the gym sad, and left happy? It happens all the time, the gym helps us clear our mind and settle our emotions!
This is very similar. When you start working out your forearms, it takes your mind off of what is going on and your body releases a ton of chemicals to make you feel better.
Plus, all that stress is now being converted to something useful. Instead of being like me and shattering a picture frame into 50 pieces on the ground, you will now have tons of muscle to show around. (like that rhyme?)
But seriously, it can help a lot for people like me or maybe even you that can channel that anger into something more productive.
Then you don’t beat yourself up as much after. This is because you didn’t do anything really bad, but you did grow your muscles and safely get rid of your anger.
I’m surprised more places don’t recommend these things as a way to deal with anger. I feel like the stress ball just doesn’t weigh enough- when you get really heavy with the hand grip strengthener, then it’s a whole different ball game.
Conclusion of 5 Best Hand Grip Strengthener Benefits
Overall, the hand grip strengthener benefits are too good to not buy one! These things run pretty cheap, so check the price on amazon here.
Honestly, grip strength is super important. And I don’t think anybody is ever disappointed buying one of these, as you can see results fairly fast.
So get out there and get one! You might just be surprised how much more weight you can lift.
