Grip pro / Fat bar training

[Tony Ferous]

Anyone tried these? Maybe good to have in the desk drawer.

www.gripprotrainer.com

What about fat bar training? Apparently very useful for building the forearms, do people use a towel, or a special attachement etc?? Towel is cheap i guess!

[Jay Cohen]

Don't waste your money, Deadlifts work grip, forearms, so, do more of them.

[Peter Dell'Orto]

I can't comment on the gripper. I've got a few Captains of Crush grippers and a few similar ones, but I haven't been using them lately.

Towels are good. I've done towel pullups and I've seen someone doing towel barbell shrugs. Ropes work the same way - pullups from two thick ropes, for example, really challenges the grip.

So are fat bars - I've done lots of thick-handled and fat bar pressing and pulling lately. Even barbell pushups off the fat bar instead of a normal bar. I actually feel like the thick bar makes some of these easier - I really grip the bar tightly when it's 2" or so in diameter.

My gym has a pair of Tyler Grips (http://www.tylergrip.com/) (W/FS) - I've used them for dumbbell exercises and for pullups on the rack's pullup bar. The softness makes them a little easier on the hands, but the thickness is enough to make it really challenging to keep your grip on the bar. They aren't cheap, since you can use them on any 1" thick handle they're really versatile compared to buying a dedicated thick barbell or DB.

Adding a thicker handle makes it harder to do most of the pulling exercises, and the forearms and grip really feel it.

And oh yeah, rice digs are really good for your hands if they're getting beaten up from training. They are harder than they look, but also more fun than they look. Just imagine you're in that panoramic shot from "Enter the Dragon."

Hope that helps,

Peter

[Jacob Rowell]

I've done some fat bar training, as well as gripper training. I've entered a few strongman contests prior to doing much grip training (like Jay was saying, I did lots of deadlifts and that that would be sufficient), but I found myself lacking in both of the grip-related events at my last contest (axle deadlift and farmers).

I haven't gotten much of a chance to really retest since then since I'm doing mostly o-lifting at the moment, but I do think at fat bar training would be helpful if you're looking to improve your grip.

[Garrett Smith]

Being that supporting grip is mainly an isometric type of strength, it would make sense that the grip required for an OL bar versus a fat bar may not be within the 20-30 degrees of overlap that isometric strength covers.

[Donald Lee]

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

Being that supporting grip is mainly an isometric type of strength, it would make sense that the grip required for an OL bar versus a fat bar may not be within the 20-30 degrees of overlap that isometric strength covers.

I believe you can get up to 3'' fat bars.

[Garrett Smith]

Blog entry on thick bar usage at the Poliquin Performance Center:
http://definingedge.blogspot.com/200...hick-bars.html

I can say that I visited a PPC when they were in Phoenix and witnessed thick bar handles on practically everything I saw in their gym. I wonder where I'd be today if I ended up doing the internship I was looking into there...

[Dave Van Skike]

JMO but grip is wildly variable based on the type of grip: pinch, crush, fat bar sloper grip, open hand, one and two finger, grip for time, explosive grip etc.

I've got weak ass hands but don't lose much on fat bar lifts overhand pulls or presses. conversely my crush grip is weeeeeeeek, I've done farmers with no hook up to about 300# but have lost my grip many many times on even light sandbag and stones.

train a lot of different events that tax grip to get good at those events, train crush grip and phonebook tearing to impress your friends at parties or be lucky enough to have spent your teens and twenties doing hard labor, mason, carpenter, logger, farmer.