Give 100% Toward Everything You Put Your Hand To

Give 100% Toward Everything You Put Your Hand To                Mike Gittleson was the Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Michigan for 30 years and was a part of 15 Football Championships in that time. He explains, what you do speaks so well.
As a coach in the off season after every run I would huddle the players and read or tell them something that I felt was important to their growth. This would often require extensive preparation and memorization on my part, and if the message was particularly meaningful memorization on their part.
I spent a great deal of my evenings during my career reading and studying to find appropriate communique. To me the significance of the point presented after the run was an important part of the development of the 'will' of each athlete.  After all, to continually compete for the championship of your conference requires a special resolve and discipline.  Make no mistake the athletes  were in college and there to learn more than just weight training and running.

Tyler Hobson the inventor of Pendulum sent me a note and in it he described his father.  I think his description of his Dad and his beliefs would be worth reading to your athletes.

Kentucky Weight Room

He believed that a man should do what he said he would, and that you should give 100% toward everything you put your hand to.  He was a man that believed the products of your efforts was a signature for everyone to read, and it should be something you are proud of. At the end of the day you could rest knowing you gave your best, you held nothing back.

Kansas State Weight Room

Giving 100% toward everything you put your hand to is the way to Get Strong.

Tags: success

Getting A Grip On Things

 Get Strong

 Getting A Grip On Things

Most people agree that combative sports require training your hands to reach your maximal potential.

Little agreement exists among research studies on the optimum position of the wrist to facilitate optimal grip strength. Knowing the exact position would certainly aid in hand strength development.
Standardizing how you hold your wrist when applying force and how you deviate your ulnar or radius is a factor in replicating results.

What researchers are in agreement upon, is that  standing and testing your grip strength is the strongest position to be in. Some studies have showed that there is not much different in sitting or supine gripping strength, all acknowledge that in a  supine position the grip is the weakest.
There is no real consensus whether gripping with your arm at 90 degrees or 180 degrees or somewhere between is the best.

Yet 90 degrees of elbow flexion is the recommended testing position by the American Society of Hand Therapists for grip strength measurement.
Wrist position is another factor that affects grip strength. Wrist  extension somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees of the 70 degrees of movement with very little radial and ulnar deviation, seems to be the strongest position and most repeatable.
The bottom line is this: in order to maximize your hand strength you must keep your wrist extensors extremely strong to fixate the wrist providing a stable base for squeezing the hand closed.
Three excellent movements to maximize hand closing strength.
1). Start with a great gripper that allows you to stand. A gripper allows you to be systematic and progressive so you 'overload'.
2). Follow the gripper with wrist extension. Order of exercise is important in this series of exercises as you need the wrist extensors to remain strong when doing the gripper to maximize hand closing.
Wrist extension is the upward movement of the hand. The wrist movement starts and returns only a few degrees or so below parallel and extends upward.  Your forearm should be at  a 45 degree angle below parallel relative to the upper arm while seated. Start this exercise with a very light dumbbell. Slowly adapt to the movement.
3). The wrist roller is a great finisher to augment wrist extensions. Wrist rollers are notorious for being inaccurate in trying to be progressive. There are so many muscular groups that enter into the movement.You must have very strict form during this exercise.
First select a thin wrist roller. Thin wrist rollers require a great deal of wrist extension.  Stand with your arms full extended with the roller directly in front of your chin. Select a weight you can roll up and down twice without bending your elbows or deviating from your beginning position. This means that your arms must remain straight and not drop or raise above parallel and your body must remain still with the exception of the movement of your hands.

Have We Missed Training Our Hands In Athletics?

Have We Missed Training Our Hands In Athletics?

Association Of Oldtime Barbell And Strongmen

Attending the AOBS dinner in New Jersey is quite interesting. At the hotel and throughout the evening you have a chance to visit with some of the greatest strength performers throughout the world.

In casual conversations you can learn tips about training. It is fun to listen to the avenues that these athletes take to enhance their enormous strength.

After the dinner ends strongmen bend steel in the lobby of the Marriott until the wee hours of the morning.

This year about 300 people attended to honor the great Dennis Rogers, the Grandmaster of Strongman. Following the reception the young strongmen of America put on quite a show.

They ripped up New York City phone books

They busted baseball bats across their heads

They bent steel while held in their mouths

They rolled up steel

They snapped chains

They drove spikes through 3 inch planks with their hands

What you learn is that we have a long way to go in developing the hand strength of our athletes that play sport. Those that attend to hand strength will change the game. Get Strong!