Hand and wrist strength is often a forgotten part of many strength and conditioning programs. However, a weak grip can be extremely detrimental in your strength development. An example of this can be seen when doing an exercise as common as the deadlift because many times it is a person's grip that falters first, not her legs. When trying to improve hand and wrist strength, remember that both the flexors (muscles that make a fist), and extensors (open hand) are strengthened together to make the largest possible strength gains.
Thick Handle Adapters
One of the simplest ways to work on hand and wrist strength is by using thick handle adapters. These adapters slide onto the handles of many popular pieces of equipment. Having thicker handles requires a greater use of the forearms and hands to grip the handles and perform the exercise. The use of handle adapters creates a constant tension on the muscles throughout the duration of the exercise.
Wrist Roller
An tool to improve strength in both the wrist flexors and extensors is a wrist roller. A wrist roller is a bar with a rope or cord attached to the center with a weight hanging at the end. Hold the bar out in front of you and twist the bar, wrapping the rope around the bar until the weight reaches the bar. Then reverse the motion until the rope is fully extended. The direction of the rotation will determine whether you are working the flexors or extensors. Either way, you should do both to develop balanced strength.
The Blob
The Blob is a piece of equipment used to improve two types of grip strength; crushing, as in shaking a hand, and pinching, which is more about thumb strength. The Blob is a weight designed to be gripped and held. It is elliptical and does not have any grip holds, forcing your fingers and thumb to grip strongly in order to hold the weight.
Grip Pro
The Grip Pro is a thick rubber ring that can be used to improve overall hand and wrist strength, finger strength or thumb strength. Because it is just a thick rubber ring, rather than having spring-loaded handles like many of its predecessors, it can be used in many ways.
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