Displaying items by tag: grip strength

Oh boy.

I just saw a video I HAD to share with you guys.

I don’t normally watch videos in the first place, but this one was special.

The headline itself was special.

A 70 kg (yea, thats right – 70!) arm wrestler beat a veritable GIANT – and one of the world’s strongest bodybuilders Larry Wheels in a MATCH.

A 5 round match.

Rahul Panicker from Kochi was the arm wrestler who did it.

And while he looks FIT and hardly a midget as described in the headline, next to the gigantic Larry Wheels and the even more gigantic bloated muscles ??

It is indeed David VS Goliath, and then some!

The small dude lost the first two rounds, but he’s just getting warmed up it seems. Hehe.

And the match took place in “Jim Shim” of all places with boobybuilders with rippling muscles looking on. 

Round 3, 4 and 5 went to “Rahul”.

And as he walked away from the table smiling, I can’t help but LAUGH.

At all the people who say “size is really what matters”.

Or, “I could pick you up and throw you through the window”.

My former friend Charles comes to mind, hehe.

Can’t do a pull-up despite years of trying, finds every opportunity to criticize me for saying what I do the way I do, supports Bozo Schofield and his racist antic, and so forth ...

... and of course, says “he’s a big guy” when he’s actually FAT.

He’s bigger than me, sure.

But his grip is about 10 times weaker despite the deadlifts he supposedly does.

Now, this isn’t a rant against him or fat guys.

But the point begets.

It ain’t about size, or size of the dog my friend. 

It’s about the size of the FIGHT in the dog!

I still remember an incident in college, where a person named Bruce asked me if I Could arm wrestle him.

That was my pre Gorilla Grip days. But I did do pushups (albeit just one kind occasionally).

“Um, I don’t know”, I said. I was skinny and had a weak ass grip at that point, and Bruce laughed.

“Nah. You do pushups and you could probably beat me!”

And at that point, we never arm wrestled, but knowing his grip strength back then, built from a lifetime of working on cars?

He could probably have beat my ass at arm wrestling despite being even skinnier than I was.

His roommate Vincent was one of the gym gorillas, agood friend, and the same person who once told me that “you can’t be the strongest in the gym” when “Bimbo instructor” in physical education102 or some such BS was trying to get me on the machines and all “pumped and toned” and I threw a hissy (rightfully so).

But he had a weak grip, and I remember beating him at arm wrestling often.

But anyway, back to the video.

I see Larry Wheels’s biceps PEAK.

I see the peak of his biceps RIPPLE and RIPPLE MORE!

As he tries to defeat the much smaller guy.

Who then pulls his arm to the “floor” as it were.

And that, my friend, is all the proof you need in terms of real strength NOT being related to size (in case you needed any more, that is!).

And I don’t know what sort of training Rahul does.

Not yours truly.

Panicker.

But I bet the MAN from Kochi does pushups and pull-ups amongst other things ...

Anyway, thats the David VS goliath story for now.

And to get a grip as strong as Rahuls, or perhaps MORE – if you do the thing – here are the two courses that will do it.

Gorilla Grip

Gorilla Grip (Advanced).

Have at (Oh, and the book on tips is there too in case you so choose!).

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Be sure and pick up the best compilation on pull-ups right here.

PS – I was around 65kg when my wife said I was “too skinny and weak”. And people IN THE KNOW said I was in great shape (from following the 0 Excuses Fitness System).

Who was right? YOU decide!

This is something I’ve been meaning to write about for a long, long time but haven’t for whatever reason.

Once I was having a conversation with my friend from the Marines (an ex Marine, the same dude I’ve written about so often).

And we were talking pull-ups, and the right way to do ‘em.

And I think we ended up getting into a bit of a discussion about form and kipping, which apparently my friend said was OK to do to get your numbers have (if you have to!).

I disagreed. As I always HAVE Done, for reasons I’ve been pointing out a lot as of late.

And while that was the discussion, we ended with this.

“Rahul, the way you do ‘em is the RIGHT way” my friend said.

“But in the military, we do pull-ups in many different ways! You don’t always get a pull-up bar to perform that sort of movement, often under duress, in real life . . . “

I added the part about duress, but the rest of the quote is pretty much what he said.

Now, he’s spot on.

Pull-ups are a functionally effective exercise if there ever was one, and there are just so many different ways to do ‘em.

Ways that could well save your life even if you’re not in a war . . . or save OTHER lives with the brute strength it builds and the capacity to perform physically at higher levels for a much longer period of time.

This morning, there was a heavy ass plant at the house I moved.

I mean BIG and heavy.

And I pulled it like nothing - - like it wasn’t even heavy to start with (most men would struggle to budge it).

Most “modern day men “ that is.

And I don’t care if you’re doing pull-ups to build that sort of brute strength, or simply to be more functional and STRONGER in your daily movements (believe me, when you can move couches up and down stairs on your lonesome, it not only makes you feel good, but has a very practical aspect to it!).

Or, if you do what Sig Klein did during a fire which was to climb down a drain pipe with one hand, a lady in danger nestled in the other . . . while the entire damned building was on fire.

Now THAT is strength. Useful strength!

So back to uneven surfaces.

There are MANY ways to do pull-ups, my friend, and I’ve found that doing ‘em on uneven surfaces not only makes the exercise far more difficult, but also more interesting.

And more advanced.

Believe me, there is a reason I put out a TON of new pull-up movements in “Pull-ups - - from STUD to SUPER STUD within weeks” (my advanced course on pull-ups) and I would not be lying to tell you that most of these movements are anything but mainstream, and certainly anything but EASY (and usually way, way too ignored!).

That’s the advanced course, of course.

But what good is that gonna do YOU, you ask, if you can barely hang on to the bar, let alone even start to execute a proper pull-up?

Well, take heart for one. Tons of “men” are in your position, and that’s why I created the BASIC course on pull-ups – Pull-ups from DUD to STUD within a matter of WEEKS!

Definitely one you must grab, so do so NOW my friend, and once you’re done with THAT, and getting better at pull-ups, grab the advanced course.

Functional strength that can save your life one day, and definitely make the one you’re living a heck of a lot more convenient. Can’t and doesn’t get better than that does it mi amigo?

Hey, that should have been the title of the post!

Anyway, YES.

That’s what I thought too!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – I’ve been doing my pull-ups (some of ‘em) on a massive thick IRON monkey bar set out in the park, which is NOT even. It’s triangular, and doing “walks” up that sucker is something to be honest, not to mention the monkey bar work which is tough enough as it is, but doing them this way is not only more functional and productive, but also adds a whole new DIMENSION to things!

PS #2 – That above tip right there is worth it’s weight in GOLD, as are all the tips I put out in Gorilla Grip. Truly the definitive course in terms of developing that cast iron kung fu like grip, and to be honest, that can only HELP you while doing pull-ups!! ?

It's interesting, with my own injured forearm that I wrote about yesterday - really starting to hurt like a SOB now, hehe, but then again, its not going to stop me from going about my daily work! - and us grip maniacs - well, we're used to it - the REAL grip trainees, not the idiots sitting on the bench at the gym posing with heavy weights in hand (dont get me wrong, there is a right way to train at the gym, but preening with the "third peak" of the bicep popping up "under the bros shirt" isnt the way to go about it) ... 

I wrote about that HERE. 

But, I wrote about something far more inspiring, a story from one of my best and greatest customers John Walker in the UK - where he quite literally did a Cliffhanger to save his nephew's (and likely his own too) life out on the cliffs (in the UK John? I dont know, I never asked him - but I'm sure it must be out in the country there in Wales somewhere? John , if you are reading this, write back and let us know!). 

That was written HERE. 

But if you've seen the Sly flick Cliffhanger, you know what happens at the beginning. 

Three (or was it four?) people are climbing dizzying heights somewhere in the US - was it Montana??

And Sly of course is being Sly, "hanging out" under cliffs where he's not seen, and when his girl asks him where he is, thats his response. 

Anyway, his friend and his girl are there too. 

And while Sly, the friend, and Sly's woman are all experienced climbers, the other girl isn't. 

And disaster strikes, when her harness comes aloose (they were traversing the space BETWEEN cliffs, which looking down below, hell, I wasn't comfortable myself seeing it on screen - never been one for heights, though it's gotten better as I've grown older - so I can understand why in the movie SHE was nervous  - with her not being an experienced climber) - and Sly shows up, of course, on the line, and catches the girl just as she is about to DROP. 

Trouble is, he catches the glove, which slips off, and then so does, unfortunately the girl. 

Thats how Cliffhanger starts. 

No such unfortuante occurences in John's case - he literally ... well, let me paste his story again, like I said last night, it's just too inspiring not to keep sharing. 

Truly an unsung hero, a "real man" that trains hard and heavy - the right way - and well... here goeth again!

(his story was in response to something my old friend Charles was bitching about in terms of "how dare Rahul make it sound like grip strength is more important than breathing")

Hello Rahul

​Oh yes, I get the picture, it’s the same stupid logic the idiots use when they tell you they’re using lifting straps because their backs are so much stronger than their grip, well done geniuses, you’re now lifting something with your “inbuilt” safety mechanism overridden (you shouldn’t be able to lift what you can’t hold on to) and you’re only making the disparity between the two even greater, now that sounds like a devastating spinal injury waiting to happen to me.

​An example of why grip training is as important as breathing (to me anyway) is because it can save not only your own life but also someone else’s.

​I was climbing a 100ft cliff without any safety equipment because I know the cliff well I’ve climbed it many times before and I know the safe route up the cliff, however my teenaged nephew had never climbed the cliff before so I warned him not to try and follow me as it was too dangerous, nearing the top of the cliff I’d thought he’d listened until he was suddenly beside me with a huge grin on his face but that grin did not last long because as he passed me he grabbed hold of a large chunk of rock which immediately dislodged and he was hurtling down the cliff, in the split second that it took for him fall I managed to grab his left wrist with my right hand, so I had his whole bodyweight in my right hand whilst I was holding on for dear life with my left, I managed to stabilise myself by pressing my body flat against the cliff face, with every ounce of strength I could muster I curled my nephew with my right arm which allowed him to reach for the top of the cliff with his right hand, once he’d established a firm enough grip with his right hand I was able to let go of his left wrist so he could grab a hold of the top of the cliff with both hands, now that he was holding on with both hands I was able to place my right hand under his butt and I was able to push him up to the top of the cliff where he managed to scramble to safety and I (at last) was able continue up to safety as well.

​I tell you this not to make myself look like some kind of hero (I’m not) but to illustrate why I believe grip training is so important, if my grip had not been “rock solid” that day (no pun intended) I believe the sudden jolt of my nephew’s bodyweight hitting my right hand grip, would have been too much for me to hold on to, I also believe it would have also jerked my left hand grip away from the cliff face and we both would have gone hurtling down the cliff to the rocks below.

​People who neglect their grip are not only risking their own survival but also of those that they love and care for.
Buying the cart before you buy the horse would be one way of looking at the problem, another way of looking at it would be, if you’ve put the “cart before the horse” i.e. in front of the horse you’ve got things back-to-front, “horses pull not push” so neither the cart or the horse are going anywhere with that setup if you catch my drift.

​<chopped>

​Warmest Regards
John.

Now, that my friend is a story and a half - and a true one at that!

When I read it, I couldn't believe my "eyes". 

But, he did it!

John Walker keeps telling me he is not a hero, I keep telling him he is - an unsung hero - one of many! 

Much like the story of Sig Klein who saved the day (mentioned in Gorilla Grip (Advanced)) and countless other UNSUNG heroes – you – ARE a hero!

​Mucho kudos!

​Yes, as for the Bozos that claim “we’re big and not fat” and all that, well, enough said – I’ve said plenty in that regard, and so have you.

​I gotta share this with the fellas NOW – this is truly, truly inspirational!

Now, unsung heros... 

I've always been very effusive in my praise of cops, firefighters, first responders, and other people that DO - i.e. the day to day work we all take for granted, services we need - but never think about in terms of who is providing them ... 

The very people that are always talked about, blamed (often for things that aren;t their fault) - yet when we need help, who do we call? 

These very people. 

Doing a fine, fine, job out there on the streets - usually UNNOTICED and UNHEARD. 

Dont get me wrong, there are some bad apples everywhere, this applies to the above category too, but for the most part - outstanding and fine people! 

And Charles Mitchell, another one of my great customers responded back to the email about "Cliffhanger" with this. 

(he's an ex cop from NYC, as y'all are aware) 

Impressive story!  What's also impressive is that John was able to curl his nephew's bodyweight with one arm!  You're not going to be able to do that if your grip strength is not at the top of its game.  Good job John!

Indeed!

Here is part of what I replied with - 

Yes, not easy curling that sort of "moving" weight with one arm - not to mention the situation, which even though he was an experienced climber with a head for heights and everything else, that sort of life or death situation - requires not just rock solid grip strength - but superb OVERALL body strength to "pull-jerk" the person up - and most of all, a rock solid nerve!

John keeps saying he's not a hero - to me, thats one of the most (albeit) unsung hero stories I've heard of till date, and thats saying a lot - so I keep sharing it!

As an ex cop, you probably have some stories like this too - even if it's in "the city" as it were - feel free to share, and I'll share 'em with the world!

Now, think about this for a minute, my friend. 

First off all, the SITUATION. 

Even if that situation didnt require grip, or any strength, and was simply a mental game (which it ultimately all boils down to mental - dont get me wrong - the tools are necessary, but the MIND is what controls all) ... think about the REFLEXES John employed. 

Think about the "way" in which he did it - much like a leopard jumping on to it's prey - he did the same - in a split second - holding on to his nephew for "dear life" while trying to save his own - in that situation!

That doesnt just require rock solid NERVE - it also requires years of training - the right way - which develops your instinct - KILLER INSTINCT - and survival instinct - and GRIP AND CORE STRENGTH - real strength - and most of all, that SPEED with which he moved. 

Think about it, friend. 

A split second literally was the difference between life and death - and it wasn't over even then. 

Think about pulling up a "live, moving" weight like that - Ive no idea how much his nephew weighed, but I'd bet it wasn't anything pithy! - with ONE arm - suspended off a cliff (while HE Is hanging on for dear life) - think about the grip - but also the CORE and trap strength required for something like that. 

Or, try and do it at the gym - I dont know what they call the gym equivalent, the real equivalent - was it the "bent press"? (not the bench, hehe). 

Arthur Saxon would know!

But just try and do something like that WITHOUT The duress for one, WITH safety and such, and so forth ... 

John - you indeed are an unsung hero, I've said it before, I'll say it again!

And as I keep saying, grip strength, my friend is maybe not "as important as breathing", but damn near as ! 

And training wise, grip, core and legs - the MOST important. Train those areas right, you cannot go wrong overall. 

Training like an ANIMAL - much like I advocate in Animal Kingdom Workouts - and Advanced Hill Training - you CANNOT go wrong. 

Anyway, as an aside, I remember an instance in the Indian Himalayas once where an army man gripped my hand to shake it. 

ROCK SOLID!

He wasn't necessarily a big guy, or even overly strong or anything, but he had that grip, the same "pull" to the grip that my buddy from the Marines says I do. 

That "unnatural pull to your grip" which people pooh pooh as being "not required". 

But THAT,and your mind, my friend, will save you in life and death situations, or any situation for that matter, be it a fight in real life - or a street fight ... or, I dont know, ANY situation that requires some real strength,coordination and/or RESILIENCE. 

REAL MAN STRENGTH. 

When the going gets tough, the tough give it the BOOT .

Anyway, to Charles ... if you have such stories, and you probably do - share 'em with the world! I, and many of our readers, most I'd say - hold the "men in blue" in very high regard - and I'm sure you have stories you can share as well!

OK, this has been a LONG one. Hehe. 

Grip wise, here are the two books you need to get - Gorilla Grip, and Gorilla Grip (Advanced!) - or just the compilation if you so choose. 

And dont forget the tips. 

Last, but not least, and this is something we do EVERY year - we'll soon have an annoucement where I'll be re-directing ya'll to a link which has other fitness authors, people into bodybuilding and such on the page. 

I am NOT affiliated with or make any money off any of the products mentioned there in any way - but it's a "share" (quid pro quo) thing we ALL do every year to build our lists, and to share the word about other stuff to our lists - so I'll be doing it again this year. 

Starts on the 11th - Paul Becker, thank you - you're a great, great guy!

Much like the famous Boris Becker who I much admired, even when he climbed up to the referre's chair to "get in his face" about a tennis ball being called out or something, hehe. I believe that was the French Open I remember!

Back soon!

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - If you're talking GRIP? 

Tennis will build it!

But, those guys often have unbalanced development - especially the ones that hit the backhand and forehand one handed. I've always hit both with two hands, despite being told it was "girly" to do the backhand with two hands. 

I dont get it, why not? 

I mean, the more strength you put into the shot, the better it is!

Anyway ... I was once called "Michael Chang" on a tennis court. More on that later, but remember the tale of the tennis player that gripped my once injured right hand and I literally screamed with pain? 

That, and many other instances growing up are what caused me to have the grip I do TODAY - and teach things the way I do TODAY. 

Trust me, the courses above just work - they flat out WORK. 

Just read what John for one has to say about them if you "be doubting". 

And last, but not least - please leave reviews!

When Bozo Scofield sent me that long, rambling rant (about 10 of them from what I recall, or perhaps 15) a while ago, one of the comments he wrote was this.

Mad max comment to be sure …

“There is no way to prove you’ve sold X amount of books! Actually, I take that back. I bought one for my girlfriend and she hated it. (I think he said “didn’t like”, but I’m adding spice on, hehe) Please get a gorilla grip, Rahul and stop writing about me else I’ll “

… and the rest of it descended into such pure insanity that I had to shake my head and marvel.

At the insanity of his entire rant which bounced from one of the email to the other like space in his admittedly “empty” head (he doesn’t seem to have that thing we humans call a brain, or at least not that I know of).

Now, this isn’t about gorilla grips or non-existent girlfriend. (actually, it IS about the former. But we’ll get to that in a second).

First, why would I WANT to prove I sold X number of books?

Second, why would I care either way?

And third, the “2 followers” chant that this Bozo keeps referring to is actually something I sometimes wish I had (or 20, perhaps) as opposed to the 10 K or so people following me currently.

And growing, from what I can tell.

Why?

Well, I’ll reserve that bit for a marketing related email.

But let me just say that sometimes less is indeed more, and how!

And anyway, on to the main topic for today.

What is the ONE thing that really caused my grip to skyrocket beyond insane levels?

So much so that “mere mortals” ( I know, I know, but bear with me) shy away from gripping my hand and routinely call me out on my grip (in a good way)?

Well, it’s something that is revealed in Pull-ups from Dud to STUD within a matter of weeks. And to be kind and fair (not really, hehe), I put in the advanced book as well.

And no, I’m not going to reveal it for free in this email.

Despite the chorus of chants I’m sure to hear (I know, how dare I!!!) about “not providing value” or the righteous lot getting ticked off at “my fitness information not being helpful at all, since I say just do it!”

But hey.

More fuel to the fire.

This secret is NOT any of the following:

Doing a different type of pull-up. OR chin-up (which I don’t recommend). Or a combo therein.

It ain’t about flexing the intergalactic part of the inner forearm and doing endless curls that way with the pinkly ‘slightly more curled’ until your wrist falls off.

It ain’t about volume.

It ain’t about sets or reps.

It ain’t about mindless bozo like “workouts that last hours”.

It ain’t about pumping, toning, puffing, buffing, preening and posing.

About using thick bars (though that’s a great tip by itself right there).  

It IS this tho –

Something that everyone can do.

If you can do pull-ups, or even try, you can do it.

If you can hang on to a chinning bar, you can do it.

IF you have fingers, youc an do it (no, it’s not about how many fingers etc).

And here’s something it WILL Do –

It WILL SKYROCKET YOUR gains in ALL Exercises (upper body) through the ROOF. And your pull-up numbers too.

Not to mention give you that numbing, “kung fu” like grip I mention so often in Gorilla Grip.

And guess what you don’t have to be a Bozo, or Bozo Scofield, or his brother, or mother, or girlfriend to get it. Or anything related.

You just have to be dead on SERIOUS about grip strength my friend and getting down to brass tacks, and HOW.

HERE is where you can grab the entire compilation my friend. Do so now – truly worth it!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – And if you want to get better at pull-ups (and let’s face it, boys, boyo, brah, bruh, bro and everyone in between or not, we ALL Do) – HERE is the course that will get you from “dud” to STUD level very soon indeed (if you stop being lazy and just do what is required ie mentioned in the course) - - https://0excusesfitness.com/pull-ups-from-dud-to-stud-within-a-matter-of-weeks/

PS #2 – There is yet ANOTHER secret I mention in the first book, but NOT the second (As far as I can recall). See if you can find it. It’s something I talk about quite a bit here! ?