By 2014 and 2015 I had been contacted by parties interested in creating a Strength and Conditioning graduate program. While we were working on what would be the program structure, required courses and innovative ideas about making it modular, semi-virtual and flexible, I added one last independent course to the program: grip training.
I had recently published an e-book on grip and grip training and the foundations were there. Also, grip had been a practical interest to me for decades: while I was a fencer, as a child and adolescent, I had developed some mysterious muscle disorder on the right hand. It showed in image exams but no diagnostic was reached. Finally, I received a few cortisone shots and my hand was never the same: it spasmed and lost grip of the weapon. We managed to handle that with a special device. Sadly, it ceased to be a problem when I had to quit fencing.
Years later, when I started lifting, I realized I would never be able to perform the three lifts because my hand wasn’t prepared for the deadlift. I decided to try to recover grip strength and emphasized static holds. It worked: my hands are very small, not that strong but my deadlifts have given me the win in full power meets more than once.
As with the odd objects' course, I created stations according to movement type:
- Squeezing
- Pinching
- Static holds
- Finger extension
- forearm
There were not more than three editions of this course. I use many of the exercises taught there with my athletes and myself.
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