Hand Grip Exercises – Before & After Benefits, Exercises & More

When it comes to working out the fingers and forearm muscles, most people either forget or neglect it. Having strong fingers, forearm muscles and a strong grip is vital for everyday activities, and not only in the gym.

If you are a regular gym member that focuses on exercises such as the deadlift, pull-ups, lunges, and the bench, you’re missing out on not having a strong grip.

In this article, we discuss hand grip exercises, that can be done at home and in the gym. However, if you are not overly athletic or like to lift weights, don’t worry. Hand grip exercises can help keep mobility and strength in the forearms, wrist, and fingers, which can help you through daily activities.

So if you struggle with weak hands, grip, or even forearms, keep reading as we show you some of the best hand grip exercises you can do.

What Is A Hand Grip Exercise?

So, now you are probably wondering what a hand grip exercise is? Generally, a hand grip exercise is when your hands perform a crushing movement. This is a movement when you close your hand together to make a fist. Resistance is then added to help develop more strength. This type of exercise usually follows a protocol of both high and low repetitions, eccentric and isometric reps.

Performing hand grip exercises regularly is not only good for your fingers but also to strengthen the wrist and forearm muscles. So, if you are someone that uses your fingers and wrist a lot, plays sports that require a strong grip, or even rock climbing, these types of exercises will help you strengthen the hand and surrounding muscles.

Doing hand grip workouts regularly is also a great way to build forearm size and help prevent injuries when doing barbell curls, lunges, deadlifts, and other weight training exercises.

Examples of Hand Grip Exercises

Some examples of hand grip exercises can be done at home, while others should be performed at the gym. Ultimately it depends if you have access to the equipment needed.

Most of the time hand exercises are performed using a resistance gripper. This tool is designed to provide resistance when both closing and opening the hand. The resistance gripper is a relatively inexpensive tool that can be found at any sports store or gym.

To perform a basic hand grip exercise using the hand gripper. All you need to do is squeeze the hands together. Once the handles touch each other, you can slowly release the hand. This should take anywhere from 4-5 seconds to complete. You should then perform this movement until fatigue sets in.

However, the above is just a basic exercise for beginners. If you are wanting to focus more on a stronger grip, fingers, and forearms, some of the below exercises may be better suited to you.

Crush grip exercise
The crush grip is when you perform the action of closing your hand or squeezing the hand together. This is similar to what you do when you hold a dumbbell or barbell in the gym.

Pinch grip exercise
Pinching is a form of exercise or movement that requires you to squeeze or hold an object with your fingertips. This could be pinching a small weight while lifting it, or even pinching something together multiple times.

The open crush grip
Similar to the crush grip, the open crush grip is an exercise that requires you to perform a hand grip exercise but doesn’t allow the fingers to touch when you make a fist.

All the above movements can be performed using different objects or tools. However, below are some more popular handgrip exercises performed at a gym.

– Rack pull
– Plat pinch
– Towell pull up
– Reverse curl
– Deadlift with a pause

Do Hand Grip Exercises Work?

The short answer is yes. Hand grip exercises work by strengthening your fingers, wrist, and forearm muscles. However, you need to have the right strategy paired with the correct exercise to improve grip strength.

Performing a few of the above exercises we mentioned in this article 3-4 times a week can help build strength but also improve the muscularity of your muscles in your hands and forearms.

However, there are a few things you should remember when purchasing a hand gripper and using this to strengthen the hands.

First, make sure the tool can provide enough resistance for you. Secondly, you need to make sure you can work your extensor tendon, as this will complement your flexor tendons. Lastly, having the ability to work individual fingers.

If you find you cannot work the fingers properly with a hand gripper, other tools on the market can help. One of these is called Powerfingers. Powerfingers are a great tool for musicians or for someone that needs injury rehabilitation, or generally anyone that wants to fix muscle imbalances in the fingers.

Benefits of Hand Exercises

There are many benefits to doing hand exercises regularly. This can include:

– Increased strength in the hands
– Improved forearm strength and definition
– Better mobility in the fingers, hand, and wrist
– Prevents hand and wrist injuries when lifting
– Increases the strength of the flexors and extensors tendons
– Complement your physique

The benefits are even greater for someone that plays a sport where grip is important (baseball, hockey), or someone that uses their fingers to perform rapid movements (musician).

Alternatively, if you spend a lot of time in the gym, focusing on hand exercises a few days a week can help improve your lifting and prevent hand, finger, or wrist injuries from poor technique and lack of strength.

Even though hand grip exercises are often neglected by most people, it is an important part of your training. It can help your technique when lifting, help you have a stronger grip, or even prevent injury in the fingers when playing an instrument.