do you all do any grip training outside of what is naturally happening when you lift?

I have one of those little kneadable balls that i buy at a big-box hardware store here although I've seen them sold elsewhere like Wal-Mart and I have it in my truck. Whenever I go somewhere on the same day I'm working out, I alternate squeezing and kneading it with each hand, Definitely improves grip strength for me. Starting to get addicted to the damn thing as well.

do you all do any grip training outside of what is naturally happening when you lift?

Not grip training per se (though it's not a bad idea). But I do additional barbell and dumbell work for forearms. It does work on forearm strength. Deadlifts, shrugs, etc... do a great job building grip strength too.

Train your forearms and your grip will improve.

Only if I'm entering a farmer's walk or a deadlift and hold competition. I'll usually just load the bar up with way more weight than I should be holding and just hold it for as long as possible. I'll do this until I can't lift the bar anymore. I usually use the smith machine for it.

Earlier this year, when I started lifting hard I found that my wrists would pain like hell and my grip would give out long before my arms did. So, I started doing forearms once a week (before I started HIT) with as much weight as I could suffer. I did 3-4 sets to failure (weighted so that I could get about 8-12 reps) of behind-back wrist curls using an EZ-curl bar. Then I'd do 3-4 sets (to failure; same weight) of wrist extensions, with an EZ-curl bar on top of my quads.

I'd then take some dumbbells and do some angled wrist curls with my forearms perched on top of my knees. The trick with these is to hold the dumbbell at a 45 degree angle towards the floor, thumb up, pinky down (picture trying to stab yourself in the quad with the dumbbell). Then flex your forearm and curl the weight up at a 45 degree angle so that your pinky fingers point out towards your shoulders. 3-4 sets of these should do (to failure).

After a while, I added another exercise -- a superset of 3 sets (to failure) of dumbbell rockers (parallel to my thighs) followed by 3 sets of dumbbell rockers (perpendicular to my thighs). After 8-12 reps, the pain gets so intense that I literally drop the dumbells on the floor. As soon as this happens, I pick them up and do the next set (opposite direction). To do these, sit on the end of a bench and hold some heavy dumbbells at your side. Flex your forearm do a wrist extension, hold for 1 sec, and then do a wrist curl, hold for 1 sec, repeat. The key here is to go heavy as you can... the dumbbells should fall from your hands between 8-12 reps, whether you want them to or not! (I got this from another forum that I am on BTW). The first time I did these, I dropped the dumbbells and one of them bounced off and mashed my pinky toe... :d_frown:

freddy

Only if I'm entering a farmer's walk or a deadlift and hold competition. I'll usually just load the bar up with way more weight than I should be holding and just hold it for as long as possible. I'll do this until I can't lift the bar anymore. I usually use the smith machine for it.

Yes-a static hold for deadlift after your last set is actually another great way of improving forearm and grip strength.

I finish my "A" workout with thick bar holds.
It's done wonders for my grip.

2x60 sec.