Lifting heavier requires a stronger grip. Many women experience the “slipping out of hands” phenomenon when deadlifting. Your hands can’t grip the barbell enough to maintain the hold.

Interestingly, this isn’t necessarily connected to your total body strength; often, when women try using a lifting wrap or lifting strap, they can do it. If that’s you - it’s time to work on your grip strength!

Fortunately, grip strength is something that can be improved with proper training and exercises. In this blog post, we will explore the science behind grip strength and provide tips for women to improve their grip strength.

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What is Grip Strength?

Grip strength is a crucial component of women's weightlifting. It is not just about holding onto weights but also about preventing injury and increasing overall strength.

Grip strength is the force that is generated by the muscles in the forearm, wrist, and hand when they contract to hold onto an object. There are several types of grip strength, including pinch grip, crush grip, and support grip:

 
- Pinch grip is the ability to hold an object between the fingertips and the thumb.
- Crush grip is the ability to hold an object with a closed fist.
- Support grip is the ability to hold onto an object for an extended period of time.

In women’s weightlifting, the type of grip strength required is usually crush grip - e.g. holding a barbell, and support grip - e.g., farmer’s carries.

 A 2011 study evaluated the grip strength of nearly 3,000 men and women to get average grip strength values. Here are the results:

As you can see, female average grip strength is naturally lower than men. But don’t worry, your grip strength can be improved with proper training and exercises, including using hand grippers and grip strengtheners. We’re going to come onto this shortly!

Why is Grip Strength Important for Women's Weightlifting?

The average female grip strength may seem like a strange metric to track, but if you’re into women’s weightlifting, it’s an extremely important indicator. The importance of grip strength comes down to two things: longevity and performance.

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Grip strength is linked to how long you live and well you live. A 2019 study discovered that in more than 140,000 adults, individuals who had the highest levels of grip strength had the greatest reduction of disease risk, specifically metabolic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

Secondly, having good grip strength improves athletic performance. A study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that grip strength is linked to overall body strength, impulsive ability, lean muscle mass, capability to move across movement patterns, and in generating force. Thus, making it essential for athletic ability.

How to Improve Grip Strength for Women's Weightlifting

Use Hand Grippers and Grip Strengtheners
Hand grippers and grip strengtheners are effective tools for improving grip strength. Hand grippers are devices that have two handles that can be squeezed together to strengthen the grip. Grip strengtheners are devices that can be squeezed, stretched, or twisted to improve grip strength. They come in different levels of resistance, allowing women to gradually increase their grip strength over time.

Incorporate Forearm Exercises
Forearm exercises are essential for improving grip strength. Some effective forearm exercises include wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, and farmer's walks. These exercises target the muscles in the forearm, wrist, and hand, which are essential for grip strength.

Use Women’s Weightlifting Grip Tools
If you want some help with your grip strength, there are a variety of tools you can try out, like lifting wraps, lifting straps, and liquid chalk.

• Lifting wraps provide extra support to the wrist, reducing the strain on the forearm and hand muscles, allowing you to lift heavier weights without worrying about your wrists giving out.
• Lifting straps allow you to maintain a secure grip on the weight without relying solely on your hand strength, transferring some of the weight to the wrists and forearms, reducing the strain on the hand muscles, enabling you to perform more reps or lift heavier weights.
• Liquid chalk can improve grip by providing a dry, tacky surface for your hands, improving friction between your hands and the weight, increasing your grip strength and allowing you to hold the weight for longer periods without slipping.

Use Static Holds
Static holds are exercises in which a weight is held in a specific position for an extended period of time. They are an effective way for women’s grip strength to improve, as they work the muscles in the forearm, wrist, and hand. Women can incorporate static holds into their workouts by holding a weight in a specific position for 30 seconds to a minute.

Increase Overall Strength
Finally, increasing overall strength can also improve grip strength. Women who lift heavy weights and focus on compound exercises like deadlifts, squats, and bench presses will naturally improve their grip strength over time. So crank up the weights and give it your all! You might surprise yourself with how strong you are when you’re tested!

The Best Exercises to Improve Women’s Grip Strength\

1. Deadlifts - a compound exercise where you lift a barbell from the ground, improving grip strength by engaging the fingers, hands, and forearms to hold onto the bar.

2. Farmer's Walks - holding heavy weights in each hand and walking for a distance, improving grip strength by challenging the fingers, hands, and forearms to maintain a secure grip on the weights.

3. Pull-ups - a challenging bodyweight exercise that engages the grip and upper body muscles, improving grip strength by requiring a strong grip to hold onto the bar and pull oneself up.

4. Kettlebell swings - a dynamic exercise that requires grip strength and explosive power to swing the kettlebell, improving grip strength by engaging the fingers, hands, and forearms to maintain control of the kettlebell.

Source: Getty Images

5. Plate Pinches - holding weight plates with the fingertips to improve grip strength and endurance by challenging the fingers and hands to grip and hold onto the plates for an extended period.

6. Wrist curls - a targeted exercise for the forearms that helps increase grip strength by working the muscles responsible for wrist and hand movement and grip strength.

Final Words of Advice

Grip strength is crucial for women's weightlifting, and there are several effective ways to improve it. We hope this helped! Muscle Mommy is your go-to hub for all things women’s weightlifting. For more content like this and to join our community of women who like to lift, subscribe here.