John Brookfield's Grip Tips

By John Brookfield

Author of Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition, Training with
Cables for Strength, The Grip Master’s Manual, and Real-World Conditioning 


Squatter's Rights

It is extremely important that we train our overall strength and conditioning to achieve success in our desired sport and for our overall health. When I say overall health I mean our heart and lungs, not just how strong we are. With this in mind, here is another simple yet effective training method to take your overall strength and conditioning to the next level; it will also motivate you to keep going.

With this workout once again you will have to push yourself to maintain the intensity and fight the urge to quit. I suggest using a stone or possibly a sandbag—as always you will have to experiment a little bit to find the right weight. If you don't have access to stones or a sandbag, you can use a basic barbell. However, try to use a stone. You will also need to keep track of the time during your workout so that you can try to go longer next time. It is crucial to try and improve yourself every time—this is what builds a winner’s attitude as well as confidence.

 

The object of the game is simple. To start, lift the stone off the ground and into a bear-hug position. Perform 10 front squats. Set the stone down and without hesitation, quickly perform 20 bodyweight squats. Lift the stone again into the bear-hug position and perform 10 more front squats, immediately followed again by 20 quick bodyweight squats.

Continue doing the 10 front squats with the stone followed by the 20 bodyweight squats. As you start to tire you can reduce the number of reps on the squats with the stone; however, continue with the 20 reps on the bodyweight squats. Go as long as you can sustain the workout even if you can only do 2 or 3 squats with the stone. Once you get to this point stop and evaluate your performance. If you need to, play around with this workout a bit to find the right poundage to work with—the goal is to maintain your intensity and push to continue.

This squat routine will give you a great overall workout, creating strength, stamina, and a winning attitude.

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Editor's note:  John Brookfield’s books Mastery of Hand Strength, Revised Edition, The Grip Master’s Manual, Training with Cables for Strength, and Real-World Conditioning combine John’s limitless creativity with his friendly, downhome manner. John’s articles are also regularly featured in MILO: A Journal for Serious Strength Athletes. 

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