Battle of the Bands

As part of my exploration into ways to improve my grip strength, I recently ordered a pack of IronMind's Expand-Your-Hand Bands from Amazon. They're easy to use: Just pick a band, loop it around your thumb and fingers and try to open your hand.

Unlike hand grippers, wrist rollers, thick bars, Fat Gripz and the like, these elastic bands work your finger extensors and abductors, counterbalancing all your other grip work and thereby reducing the likelihood of repetitive stress and overuse injuries.

But at the end of the day, could you use just plain old rubber bands? TOTALLY. You won't be able to easily replicate the Expand-Your-Hand Bands' conveniently color-coded resistance levels, but you know what? All you have to remember is this: The more bands you use, the greater the resistance. And while regular rubber bands are more prone to snapping, you can always grab some more for free in the produce section of your supermarket.

Getting a Grip

As soon as a phone book get dropped off at my doorstep (who even uses those anymore?), it goes straight into the recycling bin. It never occurs to me to tear it in half first. Same goes for our old frying pans -- I never think to bend and squish ‘em up them with my bare hands before tossing them.



The reason, of course, is that I can’t. I can offer a firm handshake, and I don’t have baby-hands like Kristen Wiig's Junice, but I don’t exactly have an arm wrestler’s grip, either.

Frankly, I never really thought to develop it. But a strong grip makes it easier to lift heavier. My lack of hand strength will eventually limit my overall ability to optimally perform everything from deadlifts to kettlebell swings to pull-ups. And that just won’t do.

More after the jump...

Monday's Workout

I woke up earlier than I should have. Tried to go back to sleep, but just tossed and turned, still sore from Saturday's high-volume craziness. Finally, I decided to haul my creaky ass out of bed to try to work out the kinks.

Strength Skill:

• Cleans - 3 sets of 5, and then 3 sets of 3

I haven't practiced cleans in a couple of months, and they've never been my favorite, but definitely feel like my form is getting smoother and faster. My landings are (for the most part, anyway) nice and hard -- I love the solid THUNK! that resonates when the wooden heels of my weighlifting shoes slam into the floor. I don't know that I'll ever become a huge fan of cleans, but I'm happy that I'm not totally sucking at them anymore.

Metcon:

For time:

• Run 400 meters
• 24 Toes-to-Bar
• 24 Plyo Box Jumps
• Run 200 meters
• 16 Toes-to-Bar
• 16 Plyo Box Jumps
• Run 200 meters
• 8 Toes-to-Bar
• 8 Plyo Box Jumps
• Run 400 meters

I know some folks have trouble with toes-to-bars -- especially those with relatively shorter torsos and longer legs (and therefore less favorable leverage). Thankfully, I'm built like a typical Asian male -- stretchy torso, stubby legs -- so I can use the length of my core to quickly kick my little legs up for a ton of reps. Also, I don't weigh very much, and I've been diligently working on improving my grip strength (Captains of Crush, holla!), so I'm able to comfortably do two dozen toes-to-bars without having to drop off the bar.

As for the box jumps: I'm a jackrabbit. I love 'em.

Result: I kind of blazed through the toes-to-bars and box jumps. The running slowed me down a bit -- that's where having short legs doesn't help -- but I still managed a respectable time of 10:23. Not bad for an old guy!