Hey…Get a Grip
by Roger LaPointe
An Old Time Strongman curling a York 45 by the hub!!!
Check out this photo from the April 1941 Strength & Health Magzine. What you see is Tarzan Lunt, the weightlifting coach of the Harrisburg YMCA, curling a York 45 pound Olympic plate, by the HUB. Pretty cool.
Now, you want a good grip? Sure, the guy with a crushing hand shake is a jerk. Yet, wouldn’t it be nice if your grip were so rock solid that you had to deliberately NOT crush people’s hands? It’s not merely and issue of spending hours a day doing specific grip work. You have to have proper rest, recovery and variety in your grip training.
Today, I spoke with a juggler, who has been in the Guinness Book, about heavy juggling. He found that more than an hour a day with 5 pound juggling weights lead to tendonitis in his biceps tendon, at the elbow. However, 4 pounds was OK. Crazy. Right? Today, at 70 years old, he has found that he loves training with our solid wood Indian Clubs that weigh 1 1/2 pounds. Guys, that is really significant. Look up the weight for juggler’s clubs. Jugglers use materials that differ by ounces, the vast majority less than one pound in total weight.
Why are clubs important?
They develop wrist and forearm strength, combined with flexibility. Then switch to something like grippers and thick bar work.