how to build grip strength for obstacle course

3 Ways to Build Grip Strength for an Obstacle Course Race

1. Dead Hang This movement could be quite possibly the most important movement to an OCR racer routine. Regardless if...
2. Farmer’s Walks Yet another move that is simple in execution but will crush a ton of muscle in your body and prepare...
3. Plate Pinch

Full Answer

How can I build up my Grip strength?

 · 3 Ways to Build Grip Strength for an Obstacle Course Race 1. Dead Hang This movement could be quite possibly the most important movement to an OCR racer routine. Regardless if... 2. Farmer’s Walks Yet another move that is simple in execution but will crush a ton of muscle in your body and prepare... ...

Which grip Weight should I get?

 · Weighted Holds. Alternate between three holds, starting at :30 each and working up to 1:00 each, adding :10 to each workout session – I find it easier to walk around with the weights to keep my sanity.; Hold 1: Holding dumbbells vertically, use the pads of your fingers to grip the weights…and hold. Hold 2: Using a lighter weight, but still held vertically, use the tips of …

Is a strong grip always helpful?

 · Increase your grip strength with these hand grip exercises to prepare for your next Tough Mudder obstacle course race. Grip strength training is essential to...

How to improve your grip strength and wrist mobility at home?

The medicine ball burpee exercise is exactly like a regular burpee, except you do it with a medicine ball. This way, you build upper body strength, core strength, and grip strength while …

What is the fastest way to increase grip strength?

6 Tips to Build Grip StrengthMix Up Your Handles. If you lift weights, simple tweaks to your equipment can add an extra grip challenge, says Gagliardi. ... Take a Heavy Walk. ... Hang Out in a Dead Hang. ... Reverse Your Biceps Curl. ... Flip Your Kettlebell. ... Grab Some Battle Ropes.

How can I increase my grip crushing strength?

Here are the best exercises you can do to strengthen your grip quickly:Dumbbell head grab: Put a dumbbell on its end and pick it up by the head. ... Farmer's walks: Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells (heavy for you) and walk around! ... Plate curls: A wrist strengthener that works the biceps too!More items...•

How do you build grip endurance?

Best Bodyweight Exercises to Improve Grip StrengthPull-Ups. Pulling your body up to a parallel bar requires serious strength and solid grip. ... Dead Hang. Dead hangs are a great way to build grip strength. ... Press-Ups (fingers only) ... Reverse Press-Up.

How do you build upper body strength for obstacle course?

Top 12 Exercises to Prepare For An Obstacle Course Race2-Kettlebell (or Dumbbell) Front Squats. Play. LIVE. ... Cliffhanger Pull-ups. Play. ... Plank Kettlebell (or Dumbbell) Drag. Play. ... Kettlebell (or Dumbbell) Suitcase Carry. Play. ... Heavy Cable Lift. Play. ... Burpees. Play. ... Single-arm Kettlebell (or DB) Walking Lunges. Play. ... Plank Crawl. Play.More items...

Why is my grip strength so weak?

Poor grip strength can be a sign that the muscles are wasting or shrinking. In most cases this is caused by disuse of the hands and fingers but it can also be a sign of peripheral neuropathy, cervical compression, brachial plexus syndrome, MS, parkinson's, and arthritis.

Does grip strength increase punching power?

3:0319:07Strong Hands For Boxing??? More Grip = More Power, Less injuriesYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYour hand is almost closed and it closes completely on contact right before contact it closes a lotMoreYour hand is almost closed and it closes completely on contact right before contact it closes a lot of times that gives you a little better accuracy. And it also saves fatigue in your hand.

Can you train grip strength everyday?

Train your grip often. Your grip is something that you can and should be training every day. Chad Howse, trainer and owner of ChadHowseFitness.com, adds that every time you're in the gym pulling or lifting anything is an opportunity to train your grip. Incorporate pulling and lifting in every routine.

How do you train grip strength and endurance?

For General Strength: Walk with a challenging weight for 30-40 steps and perform 3-4 set on back days. For Endurance: Walk with a slightly lighter weight for 40+ steps and add holds at the beginning and end of your step count. For Maximal Strength: Walk with a very challenging weight for 20-40 steps for 2-3 sets.

What muscles cause grip strength?

During grip work the muscles used are the flexor digitorum superficialis, flexor digitorum profondus and the flexor policus longus, which all originate in up between the elbow and the upper portions of the forearm bones (ulna and radius) and insert down into the thumb or fingers (phalanges), so as you can see they add ...

How do I get better at obstacle courses?

How to Train for an Obstacle Course RaceSign up. ... Get your gear. ... Mix running and strength training. ... Increase muscular endurance. ... Get grip strength. ... Bring a friend. ... Clean up your diet. ... Pack a travel bag.

How do I get in shape for an obstacle course?

An Example Obstacle Race WorkoutRun 400-800 meters at about 5k race pace.Perform 10-20 bodyweight squats + 10-20 push-ups.Run 400-800 meters at 5k pace.Perform 10-20 walking lunges + 1-minute plank.Run 400-800 meters at 5k pace.Perform 2-8 pull-ups + 1-minute side plank (both sides)Run 400-800 meters at 5k pace.More items...•

How do I train for a 10k obstacle course?

6:0810:18How To Train for Your First Obstacle Course Race? - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipRight doing pull-ups is going to be super beneficial. In any obstacle course race. It's going toMoreRight doing pull-ups is going to be super beneficial. In any obstacle course race. It's going to help with rope climb it's going to be able to help if you feel like you're slipping on those rings.

Why is grip strength important in obstacle course racing?

Grip strength is increasingly important in obstacle course racing, and can often be a key determining factor in whether you fail or succeed at a given obstacle. Races are frequently including more technical obstacles, such as spinning wheels, ninja rings, offset monkey bars, and ever expanding and complicated rigs to traverse.

What to do if you don't have dumbells?

If you don't have dumbbells, then you can use weight plates, weighted buckets, weighted shopping bags, etc. Anything that is heavy and/or difficult to grip.

What is bouldering without ropes?

"Bouldering" is basically climbing without ropes or equipment, and is pretty good fun!

How to stop swinging?

Go slowly, keeping your core engaged to minimise any swinging motion.

Where to repeat the pull up?

Repeat movement pausing at the bottom, halfway, and top of the pull up.

Can you use a grip trainer while watching TV?

You can also supplement these exercises with a grip trainer (shown in the main image for this post). Definitely not a substitute for the above exercises, but a useful addition, and you can easily use it while watching TV or reading a book. Again, you can get one of these fairly cheap online:

Can you buy a pull up bar?

You can of course buy a pull up bar, which you can find fairly cheap online. The one I use in the video was from Amazon, and can be found here. It should comfortably support up to 150kg, doesn't require any screws or fixings, and the grips are reasonably comfortable. As long as your palms are facing the correct direction, the bar tightens into the door frame as you are using it. Just make sure you are facing the right way each time you use it!

How to get a strong back for obstacle course?

Have you been getting the sense that you need a strong back for obstacle course racing? Being able to hoist yourself up and hang on for a long time are featured components in probably every obstacle course race ever. Perform pullups if you are able, as they will be more specific to what you will encounter on race day. Use different grips, and grab onto different types of materials/objects to become well-rounded in the exercise. Even if you can do pullups, consider adding dead hangs for time on bars, rings, and ropes. Take advantage of stur dy door frames with a short lip – just big enough to get your finger tips on. If regular door frames are too narrow and you happen to have access, industrial building ceiling frames often have a bit more of a lip to grab, probably can get 2/3 of a finger on one.

How to build leg strength?

Squats are the ultimate exercise for developing leg strength. You can, and should, do back squats, front squats, goblet squats, zercher squats, and more. All are great and worthwhile exercises. In all cases, make sure you’re loading the posterior chain. Many athletes make the mistake of moving just up and down. This causes them to place too much load the knees and quadriceps without hitting the primary locomotion and power muscles, the hamstrings and glutes. Think of squats as a forward and backward motion of the hips, the further you push your hips back, the lower you will go. Keep your chest up and stand up at the right time, and you will be good to go!

What side of the body do you do unbalanced deadlifts on?

Unbalanced Deadlifts – Unbalanced deadlifts are performed with uneven loads between the left and right side of the body. This practice increases core engagement, and it should be performed for an equal number of reps on the left and right sides to prevent developing imbalances.

What is the best exercise for back strength?

2. Deadlift and Deadlift Variations. The deadlift exercise is the best back strengthening exercise available to athletes. It works not only the back muscles, but the arms, core, hands, and legs. Regularly departing from the typical barbell deadlift is what will set the OCR athlete apart from the typical gym bros.

What is the most love hated exercise in OCR?

Burpees are the most love-hated exercise in OCR. Medicine Ball Burpees are a little more advanced and make regular burpees look like a walk in the park. The medicine ball burpee exercise is exactly like a regular burpee, except you do it with a medicine ball. This way, you build upper body strength, core strength, ...

What is a kettlebell swing?

The Kettlebell Swing is a great exercise for the posterior hips and thighs. However, most people end up doing this one wrong. You’re not supposed to lift the weight with your arms, they are just there to hold the weight. To perform the exercise correctly, grab each end of the kettlebell’s handle, keep it out in front of you, squat down, then explode up while pushing your hips forward, let the momentum generated from your legs transfer into the kettlebell and send it upwards.

What is the best exercise for hips and thighs?

You may have a hard time finding stones to carry, and while the round aspect is difficult to replicate, you can still replicate the front loading part with a heavy bucket or a log, which might be another obstacle! 9. Kettlebell Swing . The Kettlebell Swing is a great exercise for the posterior hips and thighs.

How to build grip strength?

Other easy grip exercises to integrate: Bar hang: Simply hanging from the bar or gymnastic rings will build up your grip strength! If you can’t hang freely, put your feet on the ground for an assist. Couldn’t be simpler! Work up to one minute or more!

What does "strong grip" mean?

This is what you probably think of when you think of a “strong grip”. This is the whole hand closing in around something. A strong handshake. None of that dead-fish handshake stuff!

How many repetitions of wrist band?

The band should be pulling in the opposite direction of the stretch (fingers face one way, band pulls the other way). 10-15 repetitions.

What is a false grip?

The false grip is an incredibly challenging grip variation that one must learn to build up to a muscle-up (a pull-up that transitions into a dip). Just like before, you can put your feet on the ground to assist this exercise.

What exercise can you do while on a phone call?

This is a super easy exercise to do while you’re on a phone call or that conference call (that you’re not paying attention to anyway) that gets the blood moving through the hands and helps balance out your vice-grip like hands. Another grip exercise that can easily be done at your desk is closing grippers.

How to stretch your fingers back?

Again, stretch straight backwards, or rock gently left to right. 10-15 repetitions. Fists together, back of hands on desk: Make two fists, with the thumbs on the outside of your fingers.

What to do when one band is too easy?

If one band gets too easy, put two or more on! This is a super easy exercise to do while you’re on a phone call or that conference call (that you’re not paying attention to anyway) that gets the blood moving through the hands and helps balance out your vice-grip like hands.

How to build grip endurance and adaptability?

When training pull ups on a bar, you can build grip endurance and adaptability by switching your grip while hanging after each rep. You never know what a course might throw at you, so this will make you both strong and adaptable.

How to train for obstacle course racing?

To that end, try doing your squats and lunges while pinching a pair of disc-shaped barbell weights ( grip weights) between your fingers.

Can you train your grip on a course?

While there’s some truth to that, that strong full-handed grip is the easiest hold to train with, and there will be many times you can’t get a great hold on the course.