Diameters Matter

A lot of training articles assume that you have standard-size hands when they provide instructions on how to increase grip strength. There are a lot of reasons to want a stronger handshake, and not just to intimidate the people you greet. Multiple studies suggest that stronger hand and forearm muscles might not only serve as a general indicator of upper body strength and health, but also indicate frailty, potential disability, and possible heart disease later in life.

It would seem to make sense to increase hand strength where possible. But correlation is not the same as causation. Having weak hands doesn't necessarily mean you have a weak upper body. It might just mean you have ridiculously tiny hands for your body size.

Most training sites offer the same basics -- there are three types of grip: 1) crush grip for monster handshakes; 2) pinch grip (useful for rock climbing); 3) support or carry grip for endurance (think carrying lots of packages). Most sites will also tell you that each grip needs its own type of training. Squeezing a rubber ball isn't one of them. Most of them involve carrying or holding very heavy objects. To make the exercise more difficult you can add thick foam grips or a towel. This forces the hand open. I know from experience that it's much easier to pull yourself up if you can close your hand around the bar. I also know that my forearms don't get stronger or bigger when I stress them with unwieldy grips -- they just give my elbows tendonitis.

Top: too wide and thick. Bottom: too thick.

After my cardio warm-up today, I sat down at the Lat Pull Down station and tried the shoulder width neutral grip handles already affixed. The black rubber sleeve is cracked on the right side and I find that distracting. The handles themselves fall below the bar so that you must pull down past your chest. After two sets, my right elbow starts to complain. It's the same discomfort I get when I attempt too many hammer grip pull-ups.

Thinner neutral grip.

I swap the handle out for the feather-light aluminum close grip neutral one. During the heavy sets, I realize that my hands and forearms are more tired than the rest of me. It seems counterproductive to continue this way so I search out the thinner handles. They're an older pair made of steel, so they're also heavier. But for what I'm doing, the actual weight of the handle impacts me less than the grip diameter. I confess to leaning back as I bring the handles toward my chest. It's a bit like seated cable rowing, but I don't do that anymore because it aggravates my sciatica -- that type of pain borders on disability and that's something to be avoided at all cost.

I don't have a particularly weak grip, just extremely small hands and short fingers. My hands are 10-year old child-size with a ring finger taking a size 3.25. Average ring sizes for adults are 5-10. My grip is good enough, once I get my hands around the bar, for me to knock out almost two dozen hammer grip pull-ups. The neutral grip is vital since my shallow overly-flexible joints are prone to tendonitis. I've not discovered any means to get past this except avoidance. Avoid pull-ups and chin ups. Substitute where possible. Use a neutral grip, preferably one with a small enough diameter that can be fully grasped.

WannaBe is at the Smith with the obese client, mostly talking while the client is leaning on the bar for what seems like forever. I skip Smith RDLs today and move on to T-bar Rows. Later, I use the Smith for RG BB Rows. It's a Pull Day but without pull-ups. I do try to strengthen my hand and forearm muscles by doing high-rep sets of Reverse Grip BB Curls. These are tiny muscles. While my biceps, triceps, lats, delts, quads, and calves are fairly responsive, the hands and forearms remain slender and delicate. I've known people with thick muscular hands. It's not in my genetics and I will never be one of them.

Non Sequitur: 
I discovered Alec Benjamin a few weeks ago and I swore it was a girl singing. But he's a young man. With a voice like an angel... I haven't decided if anything is appropriate for my workout mix yet, but I'll share a song popular on the radio:


Cold Sunny Tuesday Pull

30 min elliptical + 5 cd
Program 3
Calories 333
Miles 2.95
HR 145-207 (87)

Push Ups 50
Crunches Legs Up
30 Bicycles 50
Crunches knees bent 40
Horizontal Scissors 50

Lat Pull Downs (medium dip grip)
70lbs x 12
85 x 12 (right elbow)
Change grip to close neutral
100 x 12
115 x 8, (narrower grip) 10, 12
100 x 12

T-Bar Rows
Bar x 20
10 x 20
25 x 20

Smith RG BB Row
80lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
(Thinner handle grip)
30lbs x 12
40 x 12
50 x 10, 8, 8

RG BB Curls
35lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Mat Stretch