London Kettlebells UK Kettlebells And Kettlebell Personal Training

The average person (what, they really exist!) can easily heft about 100lb with 1 hand on a standard bar. To up the weight endlessly is a great way of improving grip strength and has a direct effect on crush training - similar to grippers. For a twist on this conventional method, thick bar/fatbar training was introduced. Your numbers rapidly drop as a result of the thickness of the handle used - which can be anything up to and beyond 4" (10cm). As the hand cannot fully close, the thumb plays a dominant role in stabilising half of the lift: with a standard lift the thumb simply wraps over the fingers to "lock" the grip. Now we realise the potential problem with thick bar training- its main focus is on a training area that for most people is not only under-developed, but even for many athletes, rarely trained - the thumb. While pinch training works the thumb more than most conventional lifts - nothing competes with thick bar for thumb building.

Try a simple experiment -

Hold your hand out in a pinch position "U" shape and tense for a few seconds. The main work areas are the palm and fingers-as indicated by the strain on the back of the hand.

Now hold the hand in a "C" shape to represent a fat bar lift and tense again. The focus shifts to the thumb and thumb pad indicating their use in this hand position.

The important factor in increasing your thick bar lifts is how strong your thumb is. So here we will discuss the best ways to train the thumb in isolation.

The obvious exercise is directly related to bar lifts - the thumb closing towards the fingers like a claw action. However, this does not mean your thumb cannot benefit from indirect training angles and exercises as we shall see. Especially when attacking the Inch dumbbell - some thumbs angle away past the small finger in an attempt to get better contact.

Here are some easy exercises with a weight and a Close The Gap Strap that can be performed for a few minutes daily. You will see you fat bar work rocket and your thumb strength hit new levels!

Ex 1. Thumb curl

The arm is held up straight and the thumb is isolated, using a strap on the end of the thumb to lift the weight.

Ex 2. Palm rotation

With the palm starting in a flat position, rotate the hand 90 degrees to vertical and back to horizontal. Keep the thumb in strict isolation for maximum effort.

Ex 3. Palm tilt

As in exercise 1 - begin with the arm facing up like the thumb curl, but tilt the hand forward - keeping the thumb strict throughout the range of motion.

The great thing about these exercises is they require minimum equipment and you can train for reps or weight to vary your routines. Happy lifting!

We love kettlebells here at London Kettlebells - we love them so much we even named our company after them :)

Most people using them stick with the basic exercises and think that's all there is to them. Our aim is to show you the sheer variety of training available with them, a little bit of ingenuity and a penchant for training hard.

The exercise demonstrated here will build immense strength in the fingers, ligaments and tendons, perfect for grapplers and those interested in grip strength - however, it won't be for everyone. Go carefully.

Attach an Eagle Loop to the handle of a kettlebell. Deadlift the kettlebell using the Loop and hold it in the hang position.

From there, squat slightly and pull the kettlebell explosively upwards as if for a high pull. When it gets to the top of the pull catch the kettlebell handle with the same hand. Drop and repeat.

Start light and be careful not to strain ligaments and tendons.

Depending on the size of your kettlebell it can be easier to attach the eagle loop to the side of the handle and swing it from there. Play around and find a method comfortable to you.

Most people training grippers pick them up, squeeze them and put them down. Some people are a bit more inventive and use negatives, inverted closes etc. some use additional equipment like the gap straps and gripper helpers to improve their crush. Now you can give your Eagle Loops a new lease of life instead of just letting them hang from your chin bar.

Strap holds place a weighted load on the grippers meaning more force is required to keep the weight suspended at the same time as keeping the gripper nearly closed. The eagle loops add a new twist and angle to this by putting the extra load on the fingers and zapping your crush strength while trying to close the gripper.

For maximum difficulty, place the eagle loop with a comfy weight (5kg) on the tips of the fingers, have the gripper held down by the thigh (horizontal) and then squeeze with the weight hanging from the fingers - you have just "loaded" your crush with 5k. You can increase for time or weight and even weird and wonderful training tools. For bigger weight put the loops on the middle, or base of the fingers - closer to the palm.

Here at London Kettlebells we train with...you guessed it - Kettlebells, so they do the job for us:

http://www.londonkettlebells.com

Bending styles:

Many people who train can lift big numbers, use very heavy Kettlebells and do bodyweight exercises for hours at a time. However, a small 6 inch bar of steel may stop them dead in their tracks. Steel bending has for a long time been regarded as the ultimate test of strength, combining upper body strength with grip, wrist and endurance. It was a favourite among old-time strongmen and many shows would have demonstrations of iron bars, chains, and horseshoes, all being bent or snapped by the showman of yesteryear. These demonstrations were amazing, more so when people came on to the stage to try or test these tools of the trade. People are quite humbled when they puff and pant over a tiny bar of steel only to see someone else horseshoe it in 2 seconds like it was a straw.

WHAT IS IT?
The pinch plank is a 9 foot long piece of rafter wood measuring 2" thick. Two holes are drilled into the ends, and short pieces of 1" diameter bar are held in place with squeeze collars. Weight can easily be added to the rods on both ends of the plank - evenly, of course! A line is drawn to mark the centre so that it is easier to place the hands evenly when lifting.

"The Clamp" is a grip routine based around using 2 hand grippers: 1 you can close comfortably and 1 you are trying to close. As soon as you close your target gripper, that becomes the "easier" gripper and a new, stronger gripper is used for the target gripper section of the routine. In this way the routine can be used continuously based on only 2 grippers at any one time and you can see progress as you climb the ranks of the particular set or sets of hand grippers you are training with.

This article is aimed at clearly addressing and explaining several different types of grip strength and ways of improving them.

Whatever your chosen sport or hobby, an increase in grip and general hand/wrist strength can be enough to give you the edge over others or to continually set new personal bests. Whether you are swinging a golf club, climbing a rockface, entering a grappling competition, training with kettlebells or just trying to close a certain strength handgripper, just a few weeks of working your grip specifically and with a balanced and progressive routine can yield good - to great - results for nearly every one of us. The training sessions don't need to be long, just effective, quite challenging and above all- consistent! 10 minutes 2-3 times a week is more than enough to develop serious grip strength with several months of training.