Chop wood with a big round handle. Your foreman-arms were on fire, blazen!! Gordie Howe has a famous pic of himself pitchin' hay. His fore-arms looked 12" across the top. Still got that pic, inspired me as a kid. By 22 I was kiddingly called Popeye, all because of your technique that I didn't even new existed. From the games I played, I'm pretty stoved-up now, but can hold and on not let go (your tech.). I give about as good as I get now. Thanks for the memories. 5'6"- 220. Keep happiness in your heart and ride with the Great One. Apache Carl

And, lol and behold, at work we have pull-up bar, THICK pull-up bar which I have always been avoiding!

1 week of Pavel Tsatsouline's ladders of pull-ups on this bar (it was really tough!) and suddenly I was able to press cleanly 32 kg (70 pounds) kettlebell which I had been trying to do for a long time before but seemingly was in a plateau phase!
And this 1 week injected 1 sm (0.4 in.) into my arms. Though it gave me some size also on torso which is not what I want but nevertheless, it's great.

I wonder how this simple concept is so freakishly effective.

Thank you very much for the top-notch information!

This is the first time I've ever seen fat gripz – I might have to order a pair as they look interesting.

As far as not using straps.. For the most part, I agree. However, sometimes they are necessary. For instance, if one is aiming to get a decent amount of volume in on back exercises and their grip wears out too soon, straps can come in real handy.

Same also goes with certain movements like the deadlift. If you're doing a hefty amount of volume working up to heavy weights, they could be useful if you've still got a few reps left in the tank despite a grip that's worn out.

just my .02 cents Rusty!!!

One other point to note with the type of grip training you are mentioning is that it can also be very beneficial for improving pull up ability – both in advanced trainees as well as beginners. Much of what I have found personally and with trainees (as well as heard from others) is that the flexor muscles of the forearms are actually what fatigue first when someone is trying to complete an extended set of pull ups. Many people (myself included) would argue that the lats are very strong and fatigue-resistant but the smaller muscles of the forearms actually prevent you from holding on long enough to fully exhaust the lats and the rest of the posterior chain!

A lot of marines (who of course partake regularly in challenging PT) have focused on simply hanging from the bar for extended periods of time to allow their distal muscles (forearms) to aclimate to to longer time under tension, thus allowing them to rest between pull up reps at the bottom, and then squeezing out more pull ups after the lats have recovered a bit.

While I'm on the subject of pull ups, there was a really great article done recently by Nate Green over at Tmuscle that talked about training with lat pulldowns using the upper lats, scapular retractors, and lower lats in three phases to ultimately improve pull up ability. Interesting read!
Great Article Rusty! I have followed your blog for quite some time but have never commented much so I figure why not contribute! One other point to note with the type of grip training you are mentioning is that it can also be very beneficial for improving pull up ability – both in advanced trainees as well as beginners. Much of what I have found personally and with trainees (as well as heard from others) is that the flexor muscles of the forearms are actually what fatigue first when someone is trying to complete an extended set of pull ups. Many people (myself included) would argue that the lats are very strong and fatigue-resistant but the smaller muscles of the forearms actually prevent you from holding on long enough to fully exhaust the lats and the rest of the posterior chain! A lot of marines (who of course partake regularly in challenging PT) have focused on simply hanging from the bar for extended periods of time to allow their distal muscles (forearms) to aclimate to to longer time under tension, thus allowing them to rest between pull up reps at the bottom, and then squeezing out more pull ups after the lats have recovered a bit. While I'm on the subject of pull ups, there was a really great article done recently by Nate Green over at Tmuscle that talked about training with lat pulldowns using the upper lats, scapular retractors, and lower lats in three phases to ultimately improve pull up ability. Interesting read!

For those who have to be active outdoors, rockclimbing has given me some of the best forearm workouts ever. You wont see a decent rockclimber with untoned forearms that's for sure!
Cracking post Rusty – I too have large hands at the end of long slender forearms. There is nothing quite like feeling some good forearm burn, so I will definitely be doing more thick grip stuff in my workouts. For those who have to be active outdoors, rockclimbing has given me some of the best forearm workouts ever. You wont see a decent rockclimber with untoned forearms that's for sure!

27! It took me 2 years to work my way up to it too (when I started out I had trouble doing one).

Also, the "irradiation" concept is very interesting and I've actually told a few friends about it who all were pretty impressed.

Yeah…I have the Naked Warrior book as well. Love all of the DragonDoor stuff.

@ Raymond,

The thicker bars feel better on my hands as well as wrist. I have a tendency to let the wrists flex back with a normal width bar…you aren't able to do this with a thick bar or it falls out of your hands.

@ Mike,

Do marathon cardio along with intervals. Get outside and jog for 30-60 minutes a few times per week. Boxers do this to make weight. You will lose a bit of fat and muscle on the lower body. Works like a charm.

@ Darrin,

I would love to meet Pavel some day. He seems like he would be hilarious. Power to the People is such an entertaining read. I agree if you can't grip a weight, then it doesn't count as lifting it.

@ Yavor,

I love seeing videos and footage of where you live. It is such a different world. The cool thing is that people no matter where they live are more similar than different. I'll take a look at that dip station. Sounds cool.

@ David,

Too funny. I do remember seeing footage of guys back in the Arnold days of lifting, using sponges. I think they were mainly doing it to pad the bar however. Those roided up guys were benching 400-500 pounds for reps. My 185-225 pound bench presses don't hurt the hands as much

@ Vortex,

I have e-mailed back and forth with Matt (the creator), he is cool as hell and actually purchased Visual Impact as well. I don't recommend products very often, but this one is ingenious and well worth the money.

@ sadman,

You certainly can use creativity. This just makes it easier.

@ Chris,

The best inventions are always like this, aren't they? In our neighborhood growing up, there was a mansion on the water by the inventor of those igloo houses for dogs. The couple was in their early 30's and never had to work again. A hobby when I was little was trying to think of things to invent.

@ Iris,

You can always get back to where you were really quickly after losing muscle. It is always a slower road when you are blasting past the point where you have never traveled (with muscle size)…but getting to a previous point is pretty easy. Some people call this muscle-memory (as Vortex noted).

@ Gus,

For chest width, flat bench press with a wide grip and try to touch the collar bone with the bar, not lower on the chest. Also, flat bench flyes where you go from the bottom to the 3/4 of the way up (don't touch the dumbbells at the top and just focus on the lower 3/4 of the movement). Shoulder width, lots of various lateral raises.

@ Vivian,

Thanks for the compliment! I enjoy posting and interacting with people on the site. I would recommend the exact same thing you are doing now, except do the lifting first. Intense exercise, even lifting, will release the Free Fatty acids from the fat cells into the bloodstream. The steady state cardio is what uses the fat for fuel. So when you lift you will begin the process where free fatty acids get released. This is like getting a jump start on HIIT…which will release these fatty acids in a big way. The steady state will be even more productive than normal, because it will have even more fat to use for energy. Hope that makes sense. Both ways work, it is just slightly better if you reverse the order.

@ Farley,

It does make sense that it would improve your strength on the regular chin up bar. 3-4" is a thick bar…but I would love to have a bar that width.

@ Kit,

No…the heat of your body is just as indicator that you did the right things to burn body fat, it isn't really what burns the fat. Back in the late 80's "cold water immersion" was a big thing in many of the fitness magazines. We used to alternate hot and cold showers after training. I did this for about 4-5 months and noticed ZERO difference in body fat composition. It really isn't worth the trouble. Followup studies showed that the effects were exaggerated. You will do much better with HIIT and some steady state cardio.

@ secret police,

First of all, this isn't anything you are doing wrong…you are just wired a little differently. Some people do feel faint if they attempt to train in a fasted state. Here is what I recommend to those people. Eat one Fuji Apple about 20-30 minutes before training along with water and perhaps a cup of coffee. It will be only 60-80 calories and if you do your lifting first, you will use up all of those calories before you ever do HIIT. You will still get outstanding results.

@ Will,

Funny you should mention using olympic bars for curls. My biceps improved dramatically when I was in my early 20's. It happened because I switched from the pre-set barbells with the thinner width bars, to an olympic bar. I was also eventually able to curl 120-130 pounds for reps…and when using the pre-set bars I only got up to 90 pounds. As far as Matt's site goes…he does have a bunch of roided body building mag type of images. I have teased him about this. He actually likes the GQ look better than the body builder look. He's a good guy.

@ Clement,

What I would recommend is to not do the one meal per day every day, or your body will adapt. Instead, do this 4 days max. For two of those days, eat less than what you have described and for two days more than you have described. Eat normal the other 3 days…and allow a higher calorie day maybe once per week. Your body will respond better if you mix it up. I wouldn't worry about food order either.

@ Rafi,

How many pull ups did you get up to? I forgot what it was, but remembered it was super impressive.

Great Comments!

-Rusty