Grip Strength Exercises: Simple Ways to Build a Stronger Grip
The most effective grip strength exercises are simple: carrying heavy dumbbells (farmer’s carries), hanging from a bar, holding a loaded barbell for time, and pinching weight plates together. Two or three of these, done for a few hard sets twice a week at the end of a normal session, will build a noticeably stronger grip within a couple of months. You do not need gadgets or a separate “forearm day”. The bigger win is to stop letting other exercises do your gripping for you: fewer straps, thicker handles where you can, and a deliberately firm hold on every pull.
Which kind of grip is letting you down?
“Grip” is really three or four different qualities, and the right exercise depends on which one is failing. Before choosing exercises, notice where it goes wrong.
| Type | What it looks like | Where you notice it | Best exercises |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support grip | Holding something heavy for a long time | Deadlifts, rows, carrying shopping up Highgate Hill | Farmer’s carry, barbell hold, dead hang |
| Crush grip | Closing the hand hard around something | Opening jars, a firm handshake, racquet sports | Thick-handle holds, towel hangs, hard squeezing on pulls |
| Pinch grip | Thumb against fingers, palm not involved | Carrying a board, picking up plates, lifting a toddler under the arms | Plate pinch |
| Wrist strength | Keeping the wrist stable under load | Pressing, carrying, golf and padel | Wrist curls, suitcase carry, slow dumbbell work |
For most people who train with weights, support grip is the one that limits them first, usually on deadlifts and heavy rows. Start there.
Six grip exercises worth doing
1. Farmer’s carry
Pick up a heavy dumbbell in each hand, stand tall, and walk. Shoulders down, ribs stacked over the pelvis, short quick steps. It trains support grip, the upper back and the trunk all at once, which is why it is the first exercise I reach for. Work in sets of 20 to 40 metres, or 30 to 45 seconds if space is tight. Start with a weight you can hold with clean posture for the full distance and add a little each week. In a small studio, a carry can be done as a walk out and back along the room, turning carefully.
2. Dead hang
Hang from a pull-up bar (many squat racks have one built in) with a full grip, arms straight, shoulders gently engaged rather than hunched up to your ears. Build towards a total of 60 to 90 seconds across a few sets. If a full hang is too much at first, keep your toes lightly on a box to take some weight. Hanging is also a reasonable shoulder exercise for many desk workers, though anyone with a current shoulder problem should check first.
3. Barbell hold
Set a barbell at mid-thigh height in the squat rack’s safety arms, load it heavier than your best deadlift if you are experienced (or simply heavy if not), and stand up with it for 10 to 20 seconds. Double overhand grip, no straps. Because the range of movement is tiny, you can train the grip with weights the rest of your body would not yet allow you to lift from the floor. Keep it in the rack so you never have to lower a heavy bar a long way.
4. Plate pinch
Place two smooth weight plates together, smooth sides out, and pinch them between fingers and thumb. Lift and hold for 15 to 30 seconds. It sounds trivial until you try it. Start with two small plates and progress slowly; the thumb tires quickly.
5. Towel or thick-handle hold
Wrap a towel around a dumbbell handle, or around the cable attachment on a seated row, and grip the towel rather than the handle. The thicker, softer surface makes your hand work much harder to close, building crush grip. A towel row on the cable station is one of my favourites: you train the back and the hand at the same time.
6. Suitcase carry
A farmer’s carry with one weight instead of two. It trains grip on one side and the obliques on the other, because you have to resist leaning toward the load. We have a full guide to the suitcase carry if you want the detail.
How to fit grip work into a normal week
Grip training recovers fairly quickly but tires your forearms for the rest of the session, so put it last. Two sessions a week is plenty for most people. A simple structure:
- Session A (end of a lower-body day): farmer’s carry, 3 to 4 rounds of 30 metres; plate pinch, 2 to 3 holds.
- Session B (end of an upper-body day): dead hang, 3 sets to just short of letting go; towel cable row, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12.
- Every session: hold every pulling exercise with intent. Lat pulldowns, rows and deadlifts done with a deliberately firm grip are free grip training.
Progress one thing at a time: a bit more weight, a few more metres or a few more seconds. Grip responds well to steady overload and badly to occasional heroics.
Straps, chalk and other help
Lifting straps have a place. If the goal of a heavy set of deadlifts or rows is to train the back and legs, and your grip fails first, straps let you keep training the bigger muscles properly. The mistake is using them for everything. My usual rule: warm-up sets and the first working sets without straps, straps only on the final heavy sets if the grip is clearly the limit. Chalk helps with sweaty hands and costs almost nothing. Mixed grip (one palm forward, one back) is another option on deadlifts, though I prefer to build a strong double overhand grip first. For more on the bar itself, see barbell basics: how to load, grip and unrack safely.
Spring-loaded hand grippers are fine for crush grip if you enjoy them, but they do little for the support grip that most lifters actually need, and high-repetition gripper work is a common source of sore forearms and elbows.
Common mistakes
- Training grip first. Tired hands make every heavier lift after it worse and less safe.
- Going to complete failure every set. Dropping a heavy dumbbell is how toes get broken. Stop a second or two before you think you would lose it.
- Too much, too soon. Forearm and elbow tendons adapt more slowly than muscle. If the inside or outside of the elbow starts to ache, reduce the volume for a fortnight.
- Shrugged, rounded posture during carries. The carry is a full-body exercise. Stand tall or it becomes a neck exercise.
Is a strong grip actually worth having?
Practically, yes: it makes heavier pulling possible, everyday carrying easier and many sports more comfortable. Grip strength is also widely used in research as a simple marker of overall strength. That link, and why it matters more as we get older, is a separate subject covered in grip strength and ageing. Here the point is simpler: a stronger grip makes the rest of your training work better. The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week, and the NHS summary of the guidelines counts carrying heavy loads among the options.
Check with your GP or a physiotherapist before heavy grip work if you have arthritis in the hands, carpal tunnel symptoms, an existing elbow problem, a heart condition or high blood pressure (long, hard holds can raise blood pressure), or if you are returning after a long break.
Grip work in a private studio
Grip training needs heavy dumbbells, a barbell and room to carry, ideally without queueing for any of them. In the private studio on Archway Road, the dumbbell rack, squat rack and cable station sit together, so carries and holds slot in at the end of a session in a few minutes. In 1-1 personal training sessions in Highgate I watch for the point where grip starts to limit your bigger lifts and add the right work before it holds you back. More about the building is on the Highgate House homepage.
Questions we get asked
How long does it take to improve grip strength?
Most people notice a difference within four to eight weeks of training it twice a week, particularly on carries and hangs.
Can I train grip every day?
Light hanging or squeezing, possibly. Heavy grip work is better kept to two or three times a week, because forearm tendons need time to adapt.
Why does my grip go before my back on deadlifts?
Support grip is a small muscle group being asked to hold the same weight as your legs and back. It is very common, and barbell holds and carries usually fix it.
Should I use straps?
Use them selectively on top sets when grip is the limit, not on every set, or your grip will lag further behind.
If you would rather someone programmed this for you, see how coached sessions at the studio work.
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