Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

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Naperville
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#21

Post by Naperville »

mb1 wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:53 am
Pretty sure I saw Brian Shaw do the Inch dumbbell (?). Maybe it was a replica.

@The Mastiff Hey Joe, not to go too OT, but have you read any of Rory Miller’s books? You brought him to mind with your post about prison work and violence. Interesting subject.
I was just going to buy some Rory Miller’s books. They are on my list of wants.

Just purchased
- Tim Larkin, "When Violence Is The Answer."
- Marc MacYoung, "What You Don't Know Can Kill You" and "In The Name Of Self-Defense."
- Varg Freeborn, "Violence of Mind"
- Dave Grossman, "On Killing"
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#22

Post by Naperville »

Ahh... just bit the bullet and purchased the following:

- Training for Sudden Violence: DRILLS 2-DVD set

- Infighting (DVD)

- Training for Sudden Violence: 72 Practical Drills

- Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence

- Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#23

Post by The Meat man »

James Y wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:27 am
My late dad had freaky grip strength, but never did any grip exercises in his entire life. He grew up the youngest of 8 children on a farm, and later worked on a professional tuna boat ( back when those were a thing here). Even after he left the boat and became a gardener, his raw hand strength never seemed to leave him, even though he had those thick, sausage-like fingers many get through lots of hard labor. I'll never have the grip strength he had. However, he did lack some fine dexterity in his fingers because they were so thick.

I've met some guys who seemed naturally gifted with grip strength without doing any exercises at all. Some were not even laborers, but mostly because of their genetics, I suppose. They weren't all physically large men either, but most tended to have good-sized to large hands.

Jim
I've often heard that fishermen like that develop tremendous hand and finger strength without an ounce of training, simply all from their daily labor.
Hand strength can be subtle and difficult to recognize because it's got more to do with tendon and ligament strength than actual muscle. A guy can have super strong grip and yet have perfectly normal looking arms and hands. It's really the ultimate in function over form.

Large hands often do give a slight leverage advantage, especially with things such as thick handled dumbbells and such.
- Connor

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#24

Post by mb1 »

Same here @Naperville. Watched some YouTube stuff, but never did order anything. Hope you get some useful bits out of them.

Connor, I agree on the function over form. It’s almost like a secret weapon. You can have a monster grip and no one would necessarily suspect it. Most gym guys don’t even seriously train it.
- Mark

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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#25

Post by Bloke »

I developed better than average grip strength when I was a steel erector (Iron Worker) and once broke a mate’s hand when he squeezed mine in a hand shake. :eek:
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#26

Post by Doc Dan »

When I was younger I used to develop my grip strength because of the activities, like rock climbing, I was into. There are always muscular guys who like to crush your hand during a hand shake to prove their manliness. I used to enjoy making then cry, instead, when they would pull that.
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#27

Post by The Meat man »

Bloke wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 4:35 pm
I developed better than average grip strength when I was a steel erector (Iron Worker) and once broke a mate’s hand when he squeezed mine in a hand shake. :eek:
Good grief! :eek:
- Connor

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#28

Post by The Meat man »

Doc Dan wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 4:41 pm
When I was younger I used to develop my grip strength because of the activities, like rock climbing, I was into. There are always muscular guys who like to crush your hand during a hand shake to prove their manliness. I used to enjoy making then cry, instead, when they would pull that.
Ha ha!
So much for their manliness. :D
- Connor

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#29

Post by bearrowland »

Love it! I have a grip squeezer in my car that I use on my commute to work and do wrist curls and reverse curls. The forearms are the key to strength like Bill Pearl said.
Barry

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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#30

Post by bearrowland »

😂👍
The Meat man wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:18 pm
Doc Dan wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 4:41 pm
When I was younger I used to develop my grip strength because of the activities, like rock climbing, I was into. There are always muscular guys who like to crush your hand during a hand shake to prove their manliness. I used to enjoy making then cry, instead, when they would pull that.
Ha ha!
So much for their manliness. :D
Barry

Bonne Journey!

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have! Theodore Roosevelt

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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#31

Post by James Y »

The Meat man wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:58 pm
I've often heard that fishermen like that develop tremendous hand and finger strength without an ounce of training, simply all from their daily labor.
Hand strength can be subtle and difficult to recognize because it's got more to do with tendon and ligament strength than actual muscle. A guy can have super strong grip and yet have perfectly normal looking arms and hands. It's really the ultimate in function over form.

Large hands often do give a slight leverage advantage, especially with things such as thick handled dumbbells and such.
That's true, hand strength has little to do with how muscular someone is. Years ago during my time in Taiwan, I knew a young guy (maybe 19), who could grab a fairly heavy wooden chair at the base of one of the legs (the foot of the chair?) with one hand, then stand up and carry it around in front of him, right side up, at shoulder height and arm's length. And he'd have a big grin on his face while doing it. He was a bit taller than me (I'm 5'-9"), but didn't have an impressive physique, although he had large hands. He trained kung fu, but didn't do much if any supplementary exercises other than hitting things a lot. He also smoked a lot. I tried to do it and couldn't even come close to getting the chair off the floor one-handed with my arm straight, much less have the wrist and grip strength to carry it right side up. I knew him back in the '80s.

My profession is professional massage therapist, and that works your hands a lot, with kneading, pressing, etc. It also results in a strong grip. I've had some big new male clients come in, some in the military, and when introduced, a few large men tried that "crush the hand" thing while shaking hands. When I felt that happening, I squeezed back with a smile on my face, and they immediately backed off the pressure. It wasn't contentious and no words were said; it was a subtle nonverbal communication. If they booked again with me, they never tried that again. I've had some other clients, both male and female (most clients are female), express surprise at my grip strength as well as deep tissue pressure, because although I'm in decent-looking shape, I'm not impressive-looking in a physical sense at all. Also, for elbow/palm/fist and finger pressure, you press and move from the legs/feet and your core, similar to martial arts. I know some petite women therapists who are also MUCH stronger than they look because of that.

Jim
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#32

Post by Bloke »

The Meat man wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:17 pm
Bloke wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 4:35 pm
I developed better than average grip strength when I was a steel erector (Iron Worker) and once broke a mate’s hand when he squeezed mine in a hand shake. :eek:
Good grief! :eek:
It was quite a strange and freaky situation Connor, without malicious intent. Mitchoe was a scaffolder at the timer and a man mountain, at least 6’-4”, I’m 5’-9”. :confused:
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#33

Post by Bloke »

bearrowland wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:58 pm
Love it! I have a grip squeezer in my car that I use on my commute to work
Image
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#34

Post by The Meat man »

Bloke wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:40 pm
The Meat man wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:17 pm
Bloke wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 4:35 pm
I developed better than average grip strength when I was a steel erector (Iron Worker) and once broke a mate’s hand when he squeezed mine in a hand shake. :eek:
Good grief! :eek:
It was quite a strange and freaky situation Connor, without malicious intent. Mitchoe was a scaffolder at the timer and a man mountain, at least 6’-4”, I’m 5’-9”. :confused:
I'll bet he treated you with respect ever after. :D
- Connor

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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#35

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The Mastiff Hey Joe, not to go too OT, but have you read any of Rory Miller’s books? You brought him to mind with your post about prison work and violence. Interesting subject.
Never heard of him. I'll google him and maybe try to read the book. I rarely read or watch any shows set in prisons. I had enough of prisons and prisoners and now that I'm retired I try not to think about them when possible. I still have dreams at least once a week where I'm back there working and things go bad. One common dream is the guard tower dream where 20 or 30 inmates hit the fence simultaneously and my rifle jams. It's not funny in the dream like it sounds. The thought of prisoners getting out on my account to rampage and hurt citizens is worse than any of the countless fights including a couple that had me getting shanked ( real incidents) to my dreaming mind apparently. I never dream about the times I had to fight or even the things I saw inmates do to each other.

I always tell people I like to avoid ever going to work at a prison. They can be terrible places but at the same time can be super boring. Dealing with boredom followed by stressful adrenaline dump maximum effort physical situations followed by more boredom trains your body over the years to all too easily have certain things be a trigger. The sound of shuffling feet on concrete floors was for me enough to trigger that response. I gave up one easy second job in a small aquarium store for that reason. When customers started fooling around behind me I would be left with a full on adrenaline dump that did the usual physical stuff to my body but left me trying to go about my job without that adrenaline turning my anger response on. It wasn't appropriate having me start glaring at silly college kids who were just buying fish food. :o As is common with correctional officers I needed blood pressure meds by my late 30's even though I was in excellent physical condition, not overweight and not a smoker or drinker. Not too many made it to retirement like I did and of those precious few had their health. I knew several that died within a year of their retirement. I have my bone and joint issues and blood pressure that is pretty well under control and to be honest I consider myself very fortunate. I still have to watch the adrenaline though. I can go from low normal to very high BP in a minute just from the right sort of stimulus. I try to avoid that where possible but life doesn't always want to cooperate.
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#36

Post by bearrowland »

😂 Right Bloke!
Barry

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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#37

Post by ChrisinHove »

The Mastiff wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 9:08 pm
The Mastiff Hey Joe, not to go too OT, but have you read any of Rory Miller’s books? You brought him to mind with your post about prison work and violence. Interesting subject.
Never heard of him. I'll google him and maybe try to read the book. I rarely read or watch any shows set in prisons. I had enough of prisons and prisoners and now that I'm retired I try not to think about them when possible. I still have dreams at least once a week where I'm back there working and things go bad. One common dream is the guard tower dream where 20 or 30 inmates hit the fence simultaneously and my rifle jams. It's not funny in the dream like it sounds. The thought of prisoners getting out on my account to rampage and hurt citizens is worse than any of the countless fights including a couple that had me getting shanked ( real incidents) to my dreaming mind apparently. I never dream about the times I had to fight or even the things I saw inmates do to each other.

I always tell people I like to avoid ever going to work at a prison. They can be terrible places but at the same time can be super boring. Dealing with boredom followed by stressful adrenaline dump maximum effort physical situations followed by more boredom trains your body over the years to all too easily have certain things be a trigger. The sound of shuffling feet on concrete floors was for me enough to trigger that response. I gave up one easy second job in a small aquarium store for that reason. When customers started fooling around behind me I would be left with a full on adrenaline dump that did the usual physical stuff to my body but left me trying to go about my job without that adrenaline turning my anger response on. It wasn't appropriate having me start glaring at silly college kids who were just buying fish food. :o As is common with correctional officers I needed blood pressure meds by my late 30's even though I was in excellent physical condition, not overweight and not a smoker or drinker. Not too many made it to retirement like I did and of those precious few had their health. I knew several that died within a year of their retirement. I have my bone and joint issues and blood pressure that is pretty well under control and to be honest I consider myself very fortunate. I still have to watch the adrenaline though. I can go from low normal to very high BP in a minute just from the right sort of stimulus. I try to avoid that where possible but life doesn't always want to cooperate.
We rarely consider these sorts of consequences for public servants outside of war-time, do we?

I hope they paid you well enough, Joe.
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#38

Post by Naperville »

mb1 wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 3:58 pm
Same here @Naperville. Watched some YouTube stuff, but never did order anything. Hope you get some useful bits out of them.

Connor, I agree on the function over form. It’s almost like a secret weapon. You can have a monster grip and no one would necessarily suspect it. Most gym guys don’t even seriously train it.
I've watched a few videos on YouTube by Rory too. I watch as many videos from folks like him and martial artists to review what they have come up with for self defense.

I also bought 3 Martial Blade Concepts, Michael Janich(Spyderco), videos last week too.

I will have to watch the videos with my brother(cop) who is my training partner and see what we can learn.
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#39

Post by Naperville »

The Mastiff wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 9:08 pm
The Mastiff Hey Joe, not to go too OT, but have you read any of Rory Miller’s books? You brought him to mind with your post about prison work and violence. Interesting subject.
Never heard of him. I'll google him and maybe try to read the book. I rarely read or watch any shows set in prisons. I had enough of prisons and prisoners and now that I'm retired I try not to think about them when possible. I still have dreams at least once a week where I'm back there working and things go bad. One common dream is the guard tower dream where 20 or 30 inmates hit the fence simultaneously and my rifle jams. It's not funny in the dream like it sounds. The thought of prisoners getting out on my account to rampage and hurt citizens is worse than any of the countless fights including a couple that had me getting shanked ( real incidents) to my dreaming mind apparently. I never dream about the times I had to fight or even the things I saw inmates do to each other.

I always tell people I like to avoid ever going to work at a prison. They can be terrible places but at the same time can be super boring. Dealing with boredom followed by stressful adrenaline dump maximum effort physical situations followed by more boredom trains your body over the years to all too easily have certain things be a trigger. The sound of shuffling feet on concrete floors was for me enough to trigger that response. I gave up one easy second job in a small aquarium store for that reason. When customers started fooling around behind me I would be left with a full on adrenaline dump that did the usual physical stuff to my body but left me trying to go about my job without that adrenaline turning my anger response on. It wasn't appropriate having me start glaring at silly college kids who were just buying fish food. :o As is common with correctional officers I needed blood pressure meds by my late 30's even though I was in excellent physical condition, not overweight and not a smoker or drinker. Not too many made it to retirement like I did and of those precious few had their health. I knew several that died within a year of their retirement. I have my bone and joint issues and blood pressure that is pretty well under control and to be honest I consider myself very fortunate. I still have to watch the adrenaline though. I can go from low normal to very high BP in a minute just from the right sort of stimulus. I try to avoid that where possible but life doesn't always want to cooperate.
Appreciate your work. I hope that you get your health straitened out. High blood pressure can lead to heart failure so stay on it.
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T2T: https://tunnel2towers.org; Special Operations Wounded Warriors: https://sowwcharity.com/
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Re: Any grip/wrist strength enthusiasts here?

#40

Post by The Meat man »

Another thing I like to do which helps with hand strength is rock or stone lifting. I have a number of natural rocks ranging from 120 to 600+ lbs, as well as a homemade Atlas Stone. In fact I tend to prefer lifting stones and rocks to barbell training. Both certainly have their place, but lifting odd objects like rocks places a lot of stress on the wrists and fingers that a barbell never does.
Anyone here ever read Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik, or Rock Iron Strength by Steve Justa? Those are good books with great info. I especially like Justa's philosophy and style of training.
- Connor

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
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