Grip and Neck Strength

As a strength coach in a collegiate program, I have noticed a lot more emphasis on neck and grip strength.  Prior to my work at FAU I did not know the extreme importance of neck and grip strength.  The average individual who simply trains for wellness or aesthetic reasons does not recognize or know much about incorporating such things into his/her program.

Grip strength is something that was always important for me in the sport of gymnastics.  I don’t think that any other sport demands as much grip strength.  Swinging around the high bar, if you lose your grip, you are going to be sent flying into the ground.  We use athletic chalk and grips, but the grip strength is still an important factor.  Most of our grip development comes from developmental training.  Swinging on the bar when you are young begins to work your grip.  As you grow as a gymnast, the skills become more demanding and you must naturally develop a stronger grip.  You do a lot of “pulling” in the port of gymnastics and this really helps to develop grip strength.

Sports such as football, golf, tennis, baseball, etc…. all require grip strength.  It is important not to neglect this area.  Non athlete individuals also require grip strength.  I can’t count how many times I have had to open a jar or loosen something for someone who had little grip strength.

There are several types of strength involved with “grip strength”.  I would extend this to mean hand and forearm strength.  There is the ability stabilize the wrist,  there is the ability to literally grip (crush, smash, grip) an object and there is the strength to grip with the fingers.  When you are training your “grip strength” you want to incorporate all these things.  I have found that pulling exercises in the weight room are a good way to get extra grip workout during your workout.  If your grip is failing before the main muscle targeted in an exercise, than you know you need more grip work.  I do one arm rows with 120lb dumbbells, and I know that if my grip strength was weak I would not be able to pull that kind of weight.  Additional exercises such as farmers walks, wrist rollers, wrist curls, etc have been important exercises in my own workout.

Neck work is even more neglected than grip strength.  It is common sense that one of the most vulnerable areas for injury in sport is the neck.  Football players are constantly putting pressure on the cervical spine.   A program that includes neck strength components might be the difference between a sore neck and an athlete sustaining a serious injury.  Neck training also improves posture and helps on lifts such as the bench and squat.    

One problem with neck work is the availability of equipment to work the muscles.  This is no excuse at FAU.  We manually work the neck with our athletes.  This is the most functional and cost effective method to training the neck.  To manually work the neck your simply resist the movement of the athletes head with your hand as they are lying down.  If you only rely on machines for neck work, you would need an awfully large facility.