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While the best physical attributes for grappling and grappling sports are speed, flexibility, and agility, strength should not be overlooked. With so much on your plate, strength training tends to fall by the wayside in most wrestling programs; That’s right. Athletes who have brute strength as their best attribute are easily outmatched by faster or more precise technicians. However, when strength is improved in any athlete, overall performance is also improved. When timed and executed correctly, combat sport specific strength training will produce athletes who are bigger, faster and stronger in any arena. Grip training, for example, applies directly to many aspects of wrestling and is easy to fit into an already busy schedule.
Oddly enough, grip training has an interesting side effect; In addition to giving you an iron handshake, it will make your entire body stronger. As your hand strength improves, the strength of the rest of your body will also increase a bit. For a wrestler, stronger hands and wrists will allow full control of your opponent when he grabs you. When wrestling with hands in a standing position, the wrestler’s holds are challenged by catching their opponent’s wrist or grabbing the back of their head for complete control or a hard snap. Defensively, if your grip is better than your opponent’s, you’ll be able to take his hands off your wrists when he tries to take you down after you’ve escaped bottom position. If your hands are strong enough, your opponent will never get away once you’ve established a hold; likewise, he will never be able to keep his grip on you, as your strongest hands can break his.
Fortunately, improving your grip strength is easy and can be done with very little specialized equipment. However, significant strength gains in your hands will never be achieved with the generic pliers that can be purchased in the ‘sports section’ of Kmart; Grip training is a bit more complicated than that. There are several different types of grip training, all related to different functions of the hand. For example, the actions of pinching, squeezing/crushing, and holding should be trained differently to achieve the most complete and functional grip. The combat sports of wrestling and grappling use a variety of different grappling features, so all aspects need to be addressed when developing your training program for best success.
To break your opponent’s hold on your arm, it requires being able to force your thumb or fingers between your opponent’s hand and your arm to open your hold. This action requires a combination of manual force to squash and pinch. To improve this, emphasize the training by focusing on the pincer grip for both the thumb and fingers. Great exercises to use include mat holds and plate holds for time. These are performed by holding two 5-10 lbs. Weight lifting plates squeezed between thumb and fingers for 30 seconds to 1 minute or longer if possible. Do 3 sets and try to increase the time or weight each time you do this. Another great way to train the pinch grip (which benefits the fingers more than the thumb) is to tear up phone books. When tearing up phone books, start small and work your way up to thicker and thicker books; Work on breaking the binding of the book first, then tear off the rest of the pages.
Crushing grip strength is noted in a firm handshake and is developed by squeezing things with your hands. Super strong crushing grip force is important for fighters so they can dominate the match by controlling their opponent’s wrists/arms. It is also the easiest to train. Initially, you can significantly increase your crushing grip strength simply by focusing on tightening your grip harder on your opponent’s arm and weightlifting bars while you’re training. This is the most functional way to train crushing grip strength, however you can get even bigger improvements by using hand grippers for additional training. The best manual grippers are called ‘Crush Captains’ as they are rated for strength athletes; they can be purchased from a company called Ironmind.com. They come in various strengths so you can work your way up to the strongest model and record your progress as you go. Once you can close a Captains of Crush pincer ten times, you should start training with the next level pincer. While slightly more expensive than generic tongs, Captains of Crush are virtually indestructible and will stay strong throughout your run; they are a good investment as they will definitely improve your grip strength.
In many cases, mma wrestling and grappling often require controlling your opponent’s wrist or martial arts gi for an extended period. Grip training to improve hand strength for a sustained period will have a direct impact on a fighter’s performance very quickly and should be added to every program. This is trained by holding weightlifting bars, preferably the thickness of a human limb (any size bar will do, but thicker the better) for increasingly longer periods of time. A wrestler’s grip must be conditioned for a sustained force lasting more than 6 minutes in the event of a prolonged bout. An excellent tool for training a wrestler’s grip is with a towel. Use the towel as a replacement for certain handles in the weight room; use a towel for pull-ups, on a lateral pull machine, and when training your arms as much as possible. A towel can also be used as a grip for triceps extensions and wrapped around a dumbbell or kettlebell for hammer curls.
You can also use a towel on its own for grip training if you don’t have access to the weight room. Using an oversized beach towel, fold it (longs) and simply roll it up and down, paying particular attention to tightening your grip as tight as possible with each twist of your wrist. You can also improve your crush grip and wrist strength with a water-soaked towel. Submerge a towel in a bucket of water, hold the wet towel vertically with both hands placed side by side. Next, remove all the water from the towel by turning it upside down as you go; keep doing this until the towel is completely dry. If you do this correctly, just a few sets of this will exhaust your hands and totally fill your forearms with blood. Another great training tool for wrestlers for the wrestler’s grip is the rope. Rope climbing, rope pull-ups, and battle rope training are all great for producing a strong, sustained grip. For best results, use rope that is 1 1/2″ to 2″ thick (2″ thick being best).
While improving grip strength will go a long way for wrestlers and wrestlers, developing greater wrist strength should also be a priority. Having super strong wrists makes it nearly impossible for your opponent to break your hold or get away once you have a hold. Wrist strength can be developed by using a wrist roller; these are easily made with a thick piece of pvc pipe and string attached to a weight. This exercise is done by winding the rope while turning the pvc pipe up and down. You can also build great wrist strength by holding onto the end of a pole or bar with a light weight on the other end. Simply increasing the weight for numerous repetitions with radial and ulnar deviation works very well for building wrist tendon strength. A large frying pan or cast iron skillet is also a great tool for this exercise.
When scheduling grip training into your program, be careful not to overdo it. Remember that a lot of gripping work is already being done during your regular practices. You should never start your wrestling practice or weightlifting session with grip training, as this can ruin the rest of your work that day and easily lead to overtraining. Grip training should only be done at the end of a workout. Add only 1-2 exercises for 2-4 sets a piece and only on days that allow. In other words, if your wrestling practice session focused on hand wrestling that day and everyone’s grip is tired by the end, make the decision to do less or no supplemental grip training that day. In that sense, training your grip will only be effective if done on a regular basis, so it pays to push it as often as possible.
When incorporating additional grip training into your program, rotate different exercises to produce the best overall strength. Effective grappling training is easy to incorporate into a fighter’s schedule. Add a few sets of battle ropes to the end of practice one day a week. Another day scoop water out of a towel until your hands are exhausted. For the third day, practice the pincer grip by doing 3 sets of disc grips for 1 minute each. After three weeks of this, switch to different exercises. It’s also smart to tailor your grip training for a specific athlete’s need if you can figure it out. If your wrestler has trouble breaking another’s grip because he has weak fingers, supplement his training with exercises like holding plates and tearing up phone books to improve his pinch grip and thumb strength. However, most athletes will respond with very little additional grip training and simply adding something to your program often produces amazing results.