Get A Grip!

Phare Circus live show "Influence" - 2 performers jump through human pyramid

Fitness Guys

By Sunita Mager – The performers at Phare Circus are awe-inspiring and their strength is phenomenal. Granted, these young athletes have been performing for a very long time. But everyone can build strength and improve their grip and we’ve put together a short list of easy ways to do just that.

Take it from our experts: If you can’t grip it, you can’t lift it.

Stronger grip means a lower likelihood for injury, a solid core and full body strength. It is essential for both lifting power and stamina. A weak grip can cause repetitive motions that strain and injure wrists, hands and forearms and most likely other parts of the body. Here is what you can do:

Hang, Hang, Hang

If hanging from a bar sounds easy to you, great! It’s the best way to improve your grip. If you don’t have any bars near by, go to your gym or look out for monkey bars at your nearest playground.

How to do it: If you’re not familiar with hanging, or haven’t done it in a while, start with a two-arm hang by hanging at arm’s length from a pullup bar. Once you build up a great amount of strength, you can challenge yourself by changing to a single-arm hang. This is a greater challenge because your hand must hold all of your body weight and you are less stable. To do this, hang at arm’s length from a  pullup bar using only one arm.

SSBD-Circus-Phare

Hammer Curls

Hammer curls are great to gain in strength. Unlike a regular bicep curl, a dumbbell can’t rest in your hand during this version. Intsead, you must constantly grab the weights in order to keep it from slipping.

How to do it: Grab a pair of weights and let them hang next to your sides, palms facing your thighs. Bend your elbows without moving your upper arms and curl the dumbbells close to your shoulders as you can.

Dumbbell Curls

Hex Dumbbell Hold

The math is easy. The heavier the weight, the more challenging this exercise and the bigger challenge on your grip. Why? Because you will only use your fingers.

How to do it: Grab the top of a hex dumbbell with each hand. Hold for as long as you can.

Squeeze a stress ball or tennis ball

Also meant as a stress relief, this exercise can work wonders – for body and mind.

How to do it: Place one ball in each hand and squeeze and release for as many repetitions as possible.

 

 

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