Top Techniques to Improve Grip Strength for Jiu-Jitsu
As a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist, you will notice that BJJ is very different from most of the other martial arts. Where other martial arts will restrict you to just primary defense that will allow you to strike your opponent and leave the place, BJJ will offer you secondary as well as primary defense so you can stay, fight and win. This is not just limited to kicking and punching but also to the technical knowledge that helps you execute these chokes and holds properly. Moreover, with the help of these moves, you will be able to control the body movement of your opponent, make him lose his consciousness and also make it painful for him to breathe. All this is possible only because of the better grip and better handling of the opponent which is otherwise impossible especially when you want to just rely on striking power.
Can You Fix Your Grip Power?
One of the common misconceptions about grip power is that the girth of your muscles, the size of your hand, and the structure are the only reason you can have a firm grip. There is no doubt that a hand with a relatively big size will help you grip something in a much better way. Moreover, this will also enable you to have better surface area contact allowing you to have more place for the grip. Similarly, the structure of your hand and the strength of your muscles play a very important role. However, when you learn something new that will help you focus on the strength of your grip, you have to consume the muscle memory and the posture that will favor your grip. This will not just be limited to the size variation of the objects but also the precision. A simple example is that you might be able to hold a bigger ball coming at a slow speed but as the ball becomes smaller, heavier, or the speed increases, you will notice that you will not be able to have a good grip. Apart from this you also need to make sure that your muscle memory is not just built on regular objects with firm surfaces but also with arbitrary objects that allow you to build grip with different objects, different textures, sizes, and shapes. With the help of this article, we will look at some of the ways you can excel in your grip strength. We will also look at some of the main exercises that can help you improve the strength of your grip and also improve the strength of your hands.
What Makes Your Grip Stronger?
Most people claim that if you have small hands your grip will not be strong. However, experts believe that the firmness of the hand is also dependent on the surface area of the object it is holding. Usually, if the object is small you will have a much firmer grip, on the contrary when the object is large, the grip will be lost. Moreover, the object texture also plays a very important role. Strong objects like rocks require you to hold strong and eventually you will notice that the grip will become loose. On the contrary, if the object is soft, you will be able to maintain the grip for the long run. In BJJ, you will notice that most people tackle the opponent by using a firm grip on the clothes and belt. This means that your muscle practice for the grip should be based on softer objects that can be easily handled. Moreover, you need to practice with objects of different sizes.
Top 5 Techniques to Improve Grip Strength For Jiu-Jitsu
Ball Grip
This is the most simple and fun workout where you will stand at one end and they will be able to meet the person on the other end. The focus is on catching the ball. You can start by using a football or basketball but you can also use a tennis ball or any other ball available.
Grip with Resistance
For this workout, you will be required to start with a rope and then tie this rope to a heavy tire. You then have to firmly grip the rope and drag the tire around with full force. This will help you with a resistance-based grip that is common when you have to pull an opponent toward you.
Grip Pull Up
For this workout, you will use the monkey bar and then hand your uniform with the bar. The idea is to firm your grip directly on the cloth rather than using your hand grip on the bar. This is one of the most effective and useful workouts so far.
Bar Walk Grip
This workout will require you to use a monkey bar. You need to hold the bar and then you will move from one end to another. Make sure the grip is firm and you are holding the bar with both hands. Since you will be hanging with full body weight you will also feel the weight tug so this is very good for human weight reference.
Swinging Grip
This is a very different workout because sometimes when you hold the opponent, you will notice that they will try to move away as you extend your hand forward. This requires you to have a firm grip even when the things around you are sliding or swinging. For this workout, you will take a kettlebell and then make your grip firm as you move it around, especially when you move it forward and then all the way backward.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, you cannot just jump straight to the gripping workouts. You also need to keep in mind that the recovery phase, warm-up phase, and workout phase will be completely different. Each phase will have its significance and the things that you will use for gripping will also differ. You need to start with hard textures, soft textures, and adjustable textures of different sizes and shapes. Finally, the way you will help your hand recover is also very important because this will also improve the grip of your hand.
