Start off the new year by paying attention to an essential aspect to lifting weights – grip strength. As you know, you rely on your hands, wrists and arms to hold onto weights and keep them in control during movements. As such, it makes sense to specifically pay attention to them from time to time to keep them primed to perform when lifting weights. While these parts of the body will develop and strengthen when lifting weights, it is also beneficial to give them specific attention with this exercise.
With your palms facing down towards the floor, grip a barbell or EZ curl bar with both hands. Squeeze your hands to hold it tightly and bend your shoulders slightly to raise the bar towards your chin. Maintain this position for as long as you can until you need to put the bar back down on the floor again. This exercise keeps your wrists and forearms engaged and in doing so works to strengthen the muscle fibres. This in turn strengthens them so that they can become stronger when lifting weights. When you gain more confidence in this exercise, consider adding light weight plates to both sides of the bar to increase the difficulty and to work the wrists and forearms (grip strength) further.
By incorporating this quick grip and forearm builder exercise into your fitness routine, you are sure to see your grip and wrist strength improve. This will then benefit each of your weight bearing and resistance exercises which require you to life and hold weights. As such, this simple addition has long-reaching effects on your entire fitness routine and can help you reach your health and fitness goals.
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