Grip Strength
Training — Six Tips
for Strongman Forearms

Grip strength is not just about
the forearms.

The grip is often the weak link for the typical trainee — and one of the key missing elements in modern muscle building programmes. This matters more than most people realise, because grip weakness does not only limit what you can hold. It limits what you can lift.

Research consistently shows that a strong grip is necessary to fully recruit strength from other major muscle groups. When the grip fails, the neural signal to produce force is inhibited across the chain — meaning your back, legs, and shoulders produce less force than they are capable of, simply because the hands cannot maintain tension. Grip weakness does not stay in the hands. It travels upstream.

• Stronger, more developed forearms — a visible indicator of overall training maturity
• Increased force output across all pulling and deadlifting movements
• Better performance in every sport requiring grip, throw, or swing
• Improved overall health markers — grip strength predicts longevity with remarkable consistency

How to build grip strength
systematically.

• Thick bar training — the most time-efficient grip builder

  The most efficient grip training method requires no additional equipment and no additional time — simply substitute a thicker bar for your regular bar during your existing training. Wrapping a towel around the bar or adding rubberised foam to increase the diameter forces the hand to work harder to maintain grip on every exercise you already perform. The forearms receive an intense stimulus as a by-product of the heavier grip demand, producing significant forearm development without an additional exercise in the session.

• Hex bar training — grip gains as a side effect

  The hex bar was designed by Al Gerard primarily to protect the lower back during deadlifting — but its neutral grip handles produced a notable secondary benefit. Gerard found his grip strength improved alongside his deadlift and squat numbers. The hex bar's handle diameter and neutral orientation place the grip in a mechanically challenging position throughout the pull, training the entire forearm musculature under significant load with every session.

• Sandbag training — crushing and pinching grip

  Sandbag training is one of the most comprehensive grip developers available precisely because a sandbag offers no fixed handle to grip. The shifting, uneven load forces the fingers to continuously adjust and reacquire purchase — training the crushing grip, the pinching grip, and the supporting grip simultaneously in a way no fixed implement can replicate. Lift, carry, and manoeuvre a sandbag and the hands, wrists, and forearms are challenged in ways a barbell session never demands. The additional whole-body stabilisation required is a welcome bonus.

• Time under tension — count seconds, not reps

  Trainer Charles Poliquin championed this approach for grip work — rather than counting repetitions, count seconds. Grip a thick-handled bar and squeeze hard for a predetermined time, such as 60 seconds, rather than performing a set number of repetitions. This time-under-tension approach creates a sustained isometric demand that produces deep forearm fatigue and stimulates growth across the full length of the forearm flexors and extensors. It is also highly compatible with the rest of a session — performed at the end of a workout, it requires no setup and produces a significant training stimulus in a very short period.

• The Bruce Lee approach — wrist curls and custom loading

  Bruce Lee's training placed special emphasis on grip and forearm development — driven by his understanding that hand speed and striking power both originate from grip strength. His approach included one-arm chin ups for 50 repetitions, systematic wrist curl work with progressive loading, and custom-built grip equipment designed to target the forearm musculature in ways standard equipment could not. His forearms, at a bodyweight of around 140 pounds, were considered extraordinary — the product of deliberate, specialised training applied consistently over years.

• Ditch the machines — train with free implements

  Exercise machines — lat pulldown machines, pec decks, leg press — provide handles, pads, and fixed paths of motion that eliminate the grip challenge entirely. Every session spent on a machine is a session where the hands, wrists, and forearms receive no meaningful stimulus. Replacing machine exercises with their free-weight equivalents — barbell rows instead of pulldown machines, dumbbell presses instead of pec deck — immediately restores grip training as a natural component of every set. The grip improves as a consequence of training properly, rather than requiring additional exercises to compensate for training on equipment that bypasses it.