How Can Newspapers Be Used To Train Grip Strength?
Table of Contents
Introduction
However, newspapers are actually very effective in doing so. They are also a lot cheaper than specialised grip tools. People of all levels of grip strength can use newspapers to work on their grip and develop their forearms.
How Can Newspapers Be Used To Train Grip Strength?
You would simply hold the corner of the paper with your thumb and forefinger. Then crumple it into a ball and make it as tight as possible. To make this more challenging you would use multiple sheets.
Doing this exercise with five sheets of newspaper at a time is challenging and will certainly fatigue your grip and forearms.
You can also work your grip with newspapers by holding the corner and rolling it up. This will work in a similar way to using a wrist roller. Again you can make this exercise more challenging by using multiple sheets at the same time.
Once you have the newspaper fully rolled up you can then work both wrist extension and wrist flexion by holding the paper with one hand at the top and one at the bottom.
Simply move your wrist in alternate directions for a great forearm burn.
Newspapers To Work On Crushing Grip
When we talk about grip strength we are often referring to crushing grip strength. This is the ability to crush things with our hands. Hand grippers are a great example of working the crushing grip.
If you don’t have hand grippers, you can use newspapers to work on this grip strength. Even if you own various hand grippers, you can still use newspapers to supplement your training and keep your grip strong.
It is important to note that grip strength fluctuates daily. It depends on your level of physical activity. If your grip is very fatigued from a day of hard training, the next day your grip will often not be as strong.
Using newspapers to train your grip strength is simple but effective. It is cheap and accessible to everyone, regardless of your current grip strength.
All you have to do is hold a sheet of newspaper at the corner with your forefinger and thumb. Then simply crumple up the paper into a tight ball. Make it as tight as you possibly can.
This will fatigue your grip and present a good challenge. To make this exercise harder you should crumple multiple sheets of paper at the same time. Personally, I normally use five sheets of paper for this exercise.
It is challenging and will pump up your forearms! This can be done pretty much every day and it will keep your grip strong.
Previously I have talked about hand grippers in depth on this site.
Using Newspapers As A Replacement For A Wrist Roller
Many people are not even aware that you can use newspapers to achieve a similar effect. Newspapers are cheap but they can be used to work your forearms really well.
You just have to hold the sheet of newspaper at the corner, then roll it all the way down. To make this exercise harder you can use multiple sheets at the same time.
You can also do this exercise regularly and it won’t hurt your recovery. Personally, I have the sidewinder grip tool which is a specialised tool that is better than a standard wrist roller.
However, if you don’t have this piece of equipment I would recommend using newspapers. They are accessible to everyone and can help to improve your grip strength and forearm size, regardless of your current levels.
Joe Musselwhite’s Views
Joe Musselwhite is highly respected in the grip community and is extremely helpful when it comes to sharing information regarding grip training.
He loves hand grippers and has a huge collection. I also enjoy using hand grippers and have many different types. I have hand grippers from a number of companies and I also have the heavy duty Vatiz hand gripper.
Joe explains how you can use newspapers to strengthen your grip. The CEO of the company Heavy Grips uses newspapers to work his crushing grip and keep his grip strong for when he trains hand grippers.
I have also noticed in my training that when I use newspapers regularly to work crushing grip, my grippers are also strong.
Joe shares how you can almost mimic tools like the Sidewinder with newspapers – you can roll sheets of paper up to mimic a wrist roller. Once you have the sheets rolled up you can work on both wrist extension and flexion.
This is achieved by placing one hand at the top of the rolled sheet and another at the bottom. Move your wrists in opposite directions and keep going until you break the rolled sheet in half.
This will be a tough challenge and will take a lot of reps. The more sheets of newspaper you use the more challenging this will be. This is a fantastic way of getting a great pump in your forearms!
Final Thoughts
How can newspapers be used to train grip strength? The simple answer is that you can use newspapers to work on your crushing grip, wrist flexion and wrist extension.
They are a simple and effective tool to train your grip and work your forearms hard. It just may not have crossed the mind of many that you can use newspapers to do this.
In all honesty, I only started using newspapers to supplement my grip training after hearing Joe Musselwhite’s views on this.
After implementing this type of training I noticed that I was stronger with my hand grippers. So this definitely works!
If you have any comments on this topic please leave them below. As always, stay safe and enjoy your training!
