The grip is static.

If we’re pulling a lot of weight (let’s say we’re deadlifting, pulling on a block, etc.) or hanging on a bar, we use our hands as hooks. Heaviness has to be held with only four fingers, and the thumb is out of work. In this grip, the muscles of the forearm work only statically.

Exercises

The most effective exercise for developing a static grip is the so-called “farmer’s walk”. You take a heavy dumbbell in each hand and walk a certain distance with them. From 5 meters and beyond. You can hold them while standing still, but this is more tiring for the psyche.

The grip is dynamic.

The whole range of actions, from shaking hands to squeezing a T-shirt soaked in sweat during training, can be classified as a dynamic grip. Usually, four fingers take over the effort, and the big one insures against slipping or falling out of the object from the hands.

Exercises.

In this regard, there can be nothing better than the good old carpal expander. One of the best variants of it is called “Captain of Crush”. It looks just like two handles connected by a steel spring. The highest efficiency of such a simple design is time-tested. There are also exercise machines with an adjustable load that involve both hands at once. Example: Hammer Gripper. And, of course, do not forget about a simple rubber “ring” or a tennis ball. Although they do not have such high-profile and beautiful names, they can easily give odds to eminent simulators…

Finger grip.

Holding a glass of water or any other object of a sufficiently large diameter or size with your hand is a finger grip. In most cases, it is only static. We use this grip when the shape of the object does not allow pressing it with four fingers to the palm, so the thumb has to take the lion’s share of the load.

Exercises.

The most famous and probably the most effective exercise is holding the pancake from the barbell with your fingers. Choose a heavy pancake, put it on the edge, grab the upper edge tightly and lift it low above the floor. Hold for about 30-60 seconds. When you can hold it for a longer time, then it’s time to take a bigger and heavier pancake…

There are other techniques for developing a finger grip, but they, like as a rule, they require the presence of additional equipment (home-made), and in terms of efficiency they are in no way superior to the method of holding the pancake mentioned above.

Wrist strength. Dynamics.

Our wrists are very fragile joints. And this is an additional reason for their conscious strengthening. At the same time, the development of the dynamic functions of the forearm will lead to its growth, and it is much easier to become strong with large muscles than with small ones … Moreover, along with muscle growth, tendons, ligaments are strengthened, and even bone strength is increased. Not a bad prospect for a weak joint, right?

Exercises.

It is easy to guess that the most effective movements for the development of the flexor-extensor muscles of the wrist are the same flexion and extension with weight in the hands. Moreover, if in flexion (lifting the barbell with hands, palms facing you) only 4 fingers work, and even then not very much, with extensions (lifting the barbell with brushes, palms away from you), the situation is fundamentally different. The thumb is involved as much as possible in the exercise, and the 4 others insure the barbell from falling out. This feature allows you to very successfully develop both the extensors of the wrist and the strength of the finger grip!

Usually the starting position in these exercises is the position of the forearms lying on the bench so that only the hands hang from the edge. But there may be options, for example, bending the wrists behind the back or straightening in front of you with the arms vertical. No one can tell you whether this or that kind of exercise will act on you. You yourself must try, think, “try on” the movement and make your choice.