If You Want Your Bench Press To Go Up, Train Your Hands
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, hand strength changes the athlete.
If you go to the NFL combine in Indianapolis you will observe hundreds of coaches, scouts, and front office officials writing down numbers as they announce arm length and hand size. I have observed this on numerous occasions.
They announce: Terrence Cody, Alabama 11", Tim Tebow, Florida 10 1/8", Andrew Quarless, Penn State 10 1/4". Hand size is measured from the tip of the digtus minumus manus, the pinky, to the tip of thumb with all the fingers spread as wide as possible. And wide as possible occurs as money is involved.
Football is a game of inches and big powerful hands can be the inches that change the game.
I like to think of big hands as big levers. Big strong hands not only change the game, but their strength changes the athlete.
In my 30 years of coaching this always amazed me..... if I changed the athletes hand strength all their lifts went up as well...... I mean all.
If your hands are stronger you can do more chins, if you can do more chins your bench press goes up. When you can hold bars and dumbbells easier, believe it or not, the leg strength begins to creep forward.
The very best way to develop your hands is lengthening contractions. Many strength coaches call training with just lengthening contractions negative only training.
In 5- 6 weeks by doing poweful lengthening contractions of the hands, hand strength will explode.
Grippers are great way to accomplish this style of exercise. The best thing about Tyler Hobson's Pendulum Gripper is that it has a foot pedal that allows you to do negative only training without any assistance.
Do negative only training with a goal of 8 reps at an 8 second count. Lower the weight so that you are exactly half way back on a 4 second count and all the way down in 8 seconds. When you can get 8 reps at an 8 count then add 5 pounds.
Your weight will sky rocket and you will be glad that you have the Pendulum foot pedal for assistance.
Hand strength couldn't be more important to Get your Entire Body Strong.