# Fat gripz- grip strengthening workouts?



## soliloquy (Dec 18, 2012)

i'm getting annoyed at the gym. and thats not good. gym was/is my place where i took out all frustration and enjoyed being there.

however, i've realized that my wrists wont allow me to lift the weights that my body can handle. let it be shrugs, pull ups(or latterel pull downs), deadlifts or other stuff that requires me to pull. my muscles say 'i need more weight', while my wrists say no.

i've tried wrist exercises and none really help a whole lot. i feel fatigue in my forarms, but not my palms. the only time i feel any fatigue in my palms is when i'm doing any exercise that requires me to pull the weight..

so i'm wondering if anyone has tried these guys
Fat Gripz at Bodybuilding.com - Lowest Prices on Fat Gripz!



its supposedly getting great reviews and i see no downsides to them. and helps with tendinitis and arthritis...supposedly





and i dont get why people are calling em 'expensive'. 30-40 bucks vs the 50+ you pay for protein, or any other stuff thats gym related...


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## UnderTheSign (Dec 19, 2012)

Haven't used them myself yet but I like the idea and a lot of guys I know use them and love them. Hell, the guys at EliteFTS use them, if they approve them I'm pretty sure they do the trick.


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## Winspear (Dec 19, 2012)

Never tried those but when I started I could barely hold 40kg to deadlift. Got myself a 100lb CoC gripper and did forearm curls - a few months later and was deadlifting 100kg no problem!


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## AxeHappy (Dec 19, 2012)

Chalk, white-knuckle your grip and hold the bar at the top of deadlifts for a couple of seconds. That will work your grip strength out.

I haven't tried the Fat gripz myself but I haven't seen a negative review of them yet. And on the internet, that's saying something...


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## guitarfishbay (Dec 20, 2012)

I have a set of Fat Gripz, and they're very sturdy and well made IMO. They really do make deadlifting difficult. Last time I tried I was failing under 100kg with Fat Gripz, and I can DL 150kg for a couple of reps. 

I actually don't use them with deadlifts anymore, I found the place I like them most is on my pull up bar. They make you do pullups/chinups with an open grip (unless your hands are big enough to go around) and this makes them extremely difficult. When I first started using them I felt it way more in my entire upper body - not just my wrists. Absolutely love them for pullups and chinups. Remember to follow instructions for putting them on - so if doing pulls/chins have the opening on the bottom so you can't slide it off accidentally.

If you do use them primarily for deadlifts remember to do some sets at a higher weight without the fat gripz too. If you only deadlift to your max Fat Gripz level then you'll be missing out on a lot of poundage with regards to loading your posterior chain. I understand the argument regarding 'only as strong as your weakest link' - but heavy deadlifts will improve your overall strength, which still includes your grip.


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## TheShreddinHand (Dec 20, 2012)

AxeHappy said:


> Chalk, white-knuckle your grip and hold the bar at the top of deadlifts for a couple of seconds. That will work your grip strength out.
> 
> I haven't tried the Fat gripz myself but I haven't seen a negative review of them yet. And on the internet, that's saying something...



If your gym is cool with chalk that's the route I'd take.

Also, it won't strengthen your grip but what about using straps? They'll at least help you to start handling the heavier weight you want and they're like $5 - $10.


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## soliloquy (Dec 20, 2012)

AxeHappy said:


> Chalk, white-knuckle your grip and hold the bar at the top of deadlifts for a couple of seconds. That will work your grip strength out.
> 
> I haven't tried the Fat gripz myself but I haven't seen a negative review of them yet. And on the internet, that's saying something...



chalk would allow the weights to not slip from your hands. but thats not the issue i have. the issue i have is the muscles in my hand (ie, fingers, thumb, palm) are not strong enough to hold the weight for as long as i want to hold them to complete that set/rep. if my body can handle, say 250lbs on deadlift for 5 sets of 8, 6, 4, 3, 2 reps each set, then i feel on the 6th rep, first set, my hands wont allow me to do another rep.

gloves to provide me with a decent grip, but its not strengthening my hands in anyway shape or form... 



TheShreddinHand said:


> If your gym is cool with chalk that's the route I'd take.
> 
> Also, it won't strengthen your grip but what about using straps? They'll at least help you to start handling the heavier weight you want and they're like $5 - $10.



my gym has free straps. never really used em

and as for chalk, i've seen some power lifters use it, and no one gives em shit for it. i get annoyed at times as they leave it all over the machines and it gets on your clothes


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## UCBmetal (Dec 31, 2012)

Straps are the way to go in my experience. you'll avoid frying your hands and forearms and hindering your physical ability to play music, and you'll also avoid the risk of injury to your wrists, hands and forearms. And the difference in what you'll be able to lift will be AWESOME. Trust me


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## Uncreative123 (Dec 31, 2012)

UCBmetal said:


> Straps are the way to go in my experience. you'll avoid frying your hands and forearms and hindering your physical ability to play music, and you'll also avoid the risk of injury to your wrists, hands and forearms. And the difference in what you'll be able to lift will be AWESOME. Trust me




Fat gripz are intended to improve grip strength; Straps take grip strength out of the equation. I wouldn't say they lessen grip strength as that's not quite correct, but they allow you to lift with less grip strength.


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## TRENCHLORD (Dec 31, 2012)

For me it's never been the pulling motions that caused any reel wrist discomfort, even without using straps (I just use chalk for an occasional dealift rep-out or heavy singles set/s).
Bare handed pulls (pullups, rows, deadlifts ect.) can definetly cause major hand/wrist/forarm muscle tightness, but some simple gentle stretches and relaxation or even guitar has ussually served to loosen them back up for me.
It's actually the push movements that are more prone to causing me wrist discomfort, which is why the wraps are important for the long term.
I ended up going with the Inzer True Black 20" wraps for a few $ more.
Now I've used them a few times I think I'd been fine with a 12" wrap, but it's better to have more support than you need instead of maybe not enough, and they're all black so they look better lol (confessions of a reverse poser).


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## EOT (Jan 1, 2013)

You could give these a try. I like to do them from time to time.
 
And since a lot you probably don't know who Kirk Karwoski is..

The best way to improve a weak point is just work the shit out of it. CoC grippers are really good to help work the grip as well. Another thing would be just picking up some relatively heavy dumbbells and just holding them for time, trying to hold longer and use heavier weights every time.


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## UCBmetal (Jan 1, 2013)

Uncreative123 said:


> Fat gripz are intended to improve grip strength; Straps take grip strength out of the equation. I wouldn't say they lessen grip strength as that's not quite correct, but they allow you to lift with less grip strength.



You're right about the difference in purpose, but I guess my (poorly expressed) point was that, like any muscle group, your forearms and hands need time to recover to avoid overtraining and injury. Since a lot of us spend a consistently significant amount of time each day playing guitar, the risk of overtraining and injury might be a bit more prevalent for us as compared to the risk among non-musicians, who would take the time to allow for proper recovery. Wraps have allowed me to reach fitness goals while minimizing (and even improving!) my carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel and tendonitis issues. Dat's all.


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## TRENCHLORD (Jan 1, 2013)

And some of us also spend excessive time wanking our puds, further aggravating the condition. (not me, but others do lol)
" I put my lady on the fatgrips workout"


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## morrowcosom (Jan 2, 2013)

Pull ups while hanging from towels draped over the bar are a grip and forearm builder from hell. 

Just hanging from the bar if you cannot do pull ups like that is pretty brutal. 


Also, from a deadlift front, set the rack a few inches above your knees, put a heavy ass weight up their and do three sets of ten lifts with a double overhand grip.

Or you could put a heavy weight up their and just hold it up as long as possible for two sets. 

Just focus on that grip and wear it out.


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## Uncreative123 (Jan 2, 2013)

UCBmetal said:


> You're right about the difference in purpose, but I guess my (poorly expressed) point was that, like any muscle group, your forearms and hands need time to recover to avoid overtraining and injury. Since a lot of us spend a consistently significant amount of time each day playing guitar, the risk of overtraining and injury might be a bit more prevalent for us as compared to the risk among non-musicians, who would take the time to allow for proper recovery. Wraps have allowed me to reach fitness goals while minimizing (and even improving!) my carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel and tendonitis issues. Dat's all.




Over-training is a lot harder than most people assume. The intent of 'straps' isn't to increase recovery time, so that's a moot point. I don't use straps anymore. I teach guitar every day for an average for 4 hours, I practice at home for at least two hours every night, and I've never had issues with forearms being over-trained or sore or any carpal tunnel/tendonitis issues.


Bottom-line, are fat-gripz helpful? Yes. Can you increase grip-strength without them? Yes.
And whoever mentioned the towel over the bar for pull-ups, yes, that too. Super forearm destroyer.


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## Infamous Impact (Jan 2, 2013)

Kroc Rows are insane for grip. I'm up to 130x15 now with them, my grip strength exploded after I started doing these.


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## UnderTheSign (Jan 2, 2013)

Matt Kroc is a fucking madman, haha


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## Lagtastic (Jan 3, 2013)

I'll grab a couple pairs of these and put them on dumbbells to see what happens. I normally do P90X 2 times a year and my next run is right around the corner(then spend the rest of the year drinking and eating cheeseburgers). There is so little forearm stuff in P90X I normally add some, maybe now I won't have to.


Another vote here for the towel on the pullup bar, but going straight to that exercise would be tough for a beginner.


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## soliloquy (Jan 3, 2013)

when you say towel on pullup bar, do you mean put the towel on the pullup bar, and do a regular pullup so the towel is the only thing separating you from the bar? or do you mean hang the towel, and you're grabbing onto the towel like its a rope, and you're using that rope to do pullups? 

like this?


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## UCBmetal (Jan 3, 2013)

Uncreative123 said:


> Over-training is a lot harder than most people assume. The intent of 'straps' isn't to increase recovery time, so that's a moot point. I don't use straps anymore. I teach guitar every day for an average for 4 hours, I practice at home for at least two hours every night, and I've never had issues with forearms being over-trained or sore or any carpal tunnel/tendonitis issues.
> 
> 
> Bottom-line, are fat-gripz helpful? Yes. Can you increase grip-strength without them? Yes.
> And whoever mentioned the towel over the bar for pull-ups, yes, that too. Super forearm destroyer.



Holy balls, you are a beast my friend. I wasn't trying to convince OP that the point of straps is to help recovery time, or that fat gripz don't increase grip strength. Your daily routine would cause the tendons and muscles in my arms to run away screaming, and while we are clearly on different ends of the "how much work before overtraining" spectrum, I guess my overarching point would be to be careful training hands and forearms, since they are the guitar players "money makers" (unless you're foot guitar guy, in which case, RESPECT) and also that in my case, and maybe for others similarly injury prone, grip strength is not worth the potential price of not being able to lift, or more importantly, play guitar.


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## Infamous Impact (Jan 3, 2013)

soliloquy said:


> when you say towel on pullup bar, do you mean put the towel on the pullup bar, and do a regular pullup so the towel is the only thing separating you from the bar? or do you mean hang the towel, and you're grabbing onto the towel like its a rope, and you're using that rope to do pullups?
> 
> like this?


Both. Wrapping the towel around a bar and doing a normal pullup is harder on your grip because you have a larger bar due to the bar adding thickness to it, which lessens the leverage(?) of your grip slightly.

Doing a towel pullup like in the picture is even harder because you don't get a solid grip on it, along with instability added in from the towel not being screwed down to something.


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## soliloquy (Jan 3, 2013)

/\ i'll be trying that with one of those assistance pull-up machine thing. god i love those!


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## avenger (Jan 9, 2013)

Infamous Impact said:


> Kroc Rows are insane for grip. I'm up to 130x15 now with them, my grip strength exploded after I started doing these.



I never understood this people say don't rock all over the place keep your form solid yet I see these massive gorillas rocking on 95% of their exercises even in things like curls.

Fuck that imma weight up and rock n roll.


XD


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## Aevolve (Jan 9, 2013)

avenger said:


> I never understood this people say don't rock all over the place keep your form solid yet I see these massive gorillas rocking on 95% of their exercises even in things like curls.
> 
> Fuck that imma weight up and rock n roll.
> 
> ...



Because keeping your form solid means less chance of injuring yourself and helps develop supportive muscles more effectively. The massive gorillas you're talking about have been lifting for so long and are dealing with such heavy weight that they can rock a bit without injuring themselves. It's still a much more effective exercise if you continue using good form.


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## SirMyghin (Jan 9, 2013)

^^

I still purport they shouldn't, as it loses the focus of the target to some extent. I equate it more to useful when trying to shock the system, but not something that is necessary for borderline routine. 

I find I will feel it a lot more doing fewer slow, perfect reps, than a couple cheat reps. Cheat reps are great for end of set type stuff though, to push when you can't anymore.


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## avenger (Jan 10, 2013)

I was kinda being sarcastic but I guess I used a poor example as guy in vid is jacked. I was poking fun at the guys who curl 20lbs more then you when you are working out while eye balling you yet they are rock n rolling like a mofo. 

XD


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