I have heard good things about the rice bucket method. It also allows you to work extension and contraction.



https://youtu.be/Lzrib1c5EK0?si=49OZLhEhHBz23ZBD

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I can't believe this far into the thread and nobody has recommended frequent and lengthy masturbation!

Or you could "crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women." -Conan The Barbarian

In my mid seventies I’m finding I have to be a little more aggressive in maintaining strength. Grip strength is also hampered by arthritis. Telltale swelling on then knuckles as well as pain at the thumb base. I use any rubber or sponge ball. The dumb bells at the gym probably help too as you’ve gotta hold on tight.

I still play acoustic guitar which the doc says may forestall the effects of arthritis. The rubber ball helps too.

I've used one of these Eggsercizerr devices for decades.

Here is a great video on grip strength from GBRS and Vernon Griffith.

Farmers carry al la deadlift (using hexbar) just holding the weight for a few seconds, assisted deadhang using bands. I don't necessarily see grip strength as an isolated thing but in conjunction with shoulder, arms, and core strength. Swinging a mace bell tends to encourage you to hold on tight, ask me how I know.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I can't believe this far into the thread and nobody has recommended frequent and lengthy masturbation!

Probably explains why my grip strength is my super power.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I can't believe this far into the thread and nobody has recommended frequent and lengthy masturbation!

didn't think it was necessary

Every time I watch Bob and Brad I'm in pain. They usually help fix me. Great guys.

I'm sure they can help with the grip on the pistol, which isn't going to take that much improvement seems like.

The things I notice do the most for me are HEAVY farmers walks until you drop whatever you're holding. For me it's those fat grip 100 lb plates. At around 100 yards I'm dying. Or less if pre exhausted.

1 arm at your side Static holding a barbell with whatever weight makes you fight to get to the 30 second range is also a fast remedy. Ed Coan swears by this one.

Poliquin liked doing pull ups or just hanging for time on a towel or GI for Jui Jitsu folk or some cloth/rag type thing. Fat bars also.

Heavy lat pulldowns, especially fat grips with SLOW eccentric (fighting the weight back up) does it too.

None of these are any fun and your pain tolerance directly correlates to progress. Luckily my limiting factor on Deadlift isn't my grip so I don't have to engage in this torture very often. When you take it over the limit the pain is excruciating.

Dumbbell flips are also great for building finger strength and forearm strength.

I do 10lb x 20 flips, each arm.

quote:

Originally posted by Ogie:
I use Ironmind's green egg, the Captains of Crush trainer and #1 grippers. I also use their "Expand your Hand Bands" to work your extensor muscles.

The extensor muscles which spread the fingers out are very important to train also and some say they keep carpal tunnel at bay from training the grip. They're shown on the left side of @Sigolicious post above. I use those and do pull-ups, push-ups and swing a mace for grip strength.

I watched a video by Robert Vogel about increasing grip strength recently, here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkXHPiWYuew

Interesting discussion. During annual exam, I had a grip strength test. Apparently, grip strength is some indicator of heart health. I discussed with my personal trainer who has a degree in physiology and kinesiology, besides having been a college athlete. She recommended holding a 25 lb kettlebell in each extended arm for as long as possible; over time, your grip strength will improve. When subsequently using the MantisX system, I did notice an improvement in scores.
Somewhat related, during recent LEOSA qualification at the end of March, range officer noticed that a space gradually opened up between my support hand grip and the firearm. Support hand is also hand which has emergent arthritic condition. Once I concentrated on making sure to keep grip tight and close the gap, my score improved immediately.
Both conditions a result of increasing age, according to my primary physician. I am over 75 years old so just learning about these subtle changes due to advancing age.

Rock climbing is good for developing grip strength .

I like farmers carry, dead hangs, and pinching weights but honestly most are not going to be able or want to do the first two.

For fairly easy at home I would suggest an adjustable grip strengthener and isometric pinching a weight such as a hex head barbell holding on the sides with finger pressure only until you just can't any more letting them drop onto something safe, repeating around three times after a minute or two rest, and doing that maybe a few times a week giving at least a days rest in between. The goal is to increase the duration you can hold the weight over time and when you get up to about a couple minutes go to a heavier weight. This is called progressive overload.

As far as adjustable grip strengthener I suggest something like this in link below. Again the goal is progressive overload. Find a resistance setting where it is very difficult to complete maybe 8 reps and then as you can do more say around 12-15 up the resistance so that you are back to around 8 reps and start over. Again around 3 sets with 1-2 minute rest between sets and a few times a week with at least a day rest in between. Stop any exercise immediately if experiencing pain. Endless easy reps on a lighter grip strengthener will improve endurance but not so much increase strength. Remember it is critical for muscles to get a proper rest period between exercise for strength training. The intense exercises are the stimulus for the muscles while the rest period is where the growth in strength occurs. A diet that includes plenty of protein is very beneficial when trying to increase and even maintain strength. At 72 I supplement my diet with a big protein shake every day and try to get 120-150 grams of protein in my diet daily. Sarcopenia, age-related progressive loss of muscle mass and strength, is a big risk to our health as we age. See the last link below if interested in more info about it.

https://www.amazon.com/GD-GRIP...s%2C105&sr=8-28&th=1

https://my.clevelandclinic.org...ses/23167-sarcopenia

This message has been edited. Last edited by: grumpy1,

I am a similar age and I have begun doing weight training more aggressively to help maintain my general health and mobility. I have found that as a result of getting old many exercises are too targeted to provide overall strength and resistance to injury. For example if I do push ups regularly I can still pull muscles sanding my deck.
I would recommend loading and unloading magazines repetitively as well as handgun manipulations. Target the muscles you are concerned with in your workouts to ensure you get the results you desire. Other exercises are useful to augment this and to maintain strength for other tasks as they come up.

I also have this: The Sidewinder Pro Plus – The Ultramodern Wrist, Forearm, Grip Strengthener #2, Adjustable Resistance
It also can be found on Amazon. It works really well for grip, wrist and forearm work.

.

Hi Para,
I didn't find anyone else using the grip exercise devise I've been using for over 15 years.

I like Grip Master because each finger is isolated to ensure all finger are exercised individually vs. devises where all the fingers work together against the same resistance source.

Direct Link to YouTube Video:
www.YouTube.com/watch?v=LdWbFMjH7ww


Grip Master's website:
www.ProHands.net

This PDF document demonstrates the different hand, finger, wrist, and forearm exercises you can perform with the Grip Master:
https://CDN.Shopify.com/s/files/1/0098/3449/6059/files/Prohands_Sports_Exercises_REV_3_19.pdf?4

I hope this helps...

.

Extensors can help a lot - so can juggling a bank bag full of screws/nuts/whatever is cheap at a hardware store. (If you cannot juggle, just toss it back and forth)

I've smashed up myself in many ways, and thought losing function in my hands was just part of it.

Doing PT for my back and knees, helped with my hands - so did working more with my hands. (I had lost a lot of dexterity, but I could still hold shovels, etc.)

Lots of good suggestions, thank you. The gadgets seem like a great way to go, but the twisty things I posted at the outset, and the finger thing posted above have a drawback- they have several different weights to them, and I think in order to make the correct choices, one would need to try them out, but they are available by mail only.

The exercises using basic things like sacks of whatever or rocks on strings probably are better choices. A set of dumbbells would be a good investment, no doubt.

I'll have to go through all the suggestions and make a choice.

I have the gripmasters in red and black and they are okay.

I just dug up my Ivanko Super Gripper that I had in a closet. I hadn't used it in a long time and I forgot how awesome it was. On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ivanko-...o%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-2