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We’ve enhanced our crush grip using grippers and built our support grip with hangs and deadlift holds. It’s now time to focus on a different kind of grip strength: the pinch grip.
A powerful pinch grip helps you hold objects you can’t fully wrap your hand around. The muscles used vary depending on the width of the object and whether your fingers are flat or curved. The way you engage your hands also changes when performing a pinch with one hand versus two.
Climbers appreciate how essential it is to pinch onto rock surfaces and use their hand strength to support their body weight. (I once heard a wild story about a climber who supposedly did pull-ups by pinching the bottom of a stop sign—though I can’t confirm it, climbers with an excellent pinch grip can do some truly jaw-dropping feats.)
For more information on what climbers need to understand about different pinch grips, this blog post provides a solid guide. As for us? Let’s keep it simple with some basic plate pinches.
How to Perform a Plate Pinch
For this drill, all you need is a weight plate that’s flat on both sides. I typically use rubber-coated bumper plates at my gym. A traditional method for training pinch grips with metal plates is to position two plates facing each other, so your fingers and thumbs contact smooth surfaces. It’s challenging! And don’t forget—you can use chalk. The recommended routine from r/GripTraining suggests wearing gloves to protect your skin.
If you don’t have plates that match this description, feel free to use any similar object. I’ve used a textbook and had my daughter try pulling it from my grasp. Alternatively, try pinching the edge of a door and lean back.
Find a weight you can hold for about 15 seconds, then work on extending that time. As you get better, progress to heavier weights. Last fall, I started with a 15 kg bumper plate (33 pounds) and held it for around 10 seconds, but now I can hold a 25 kg plate (55 pounds) for a full minute. Give it a try and let us know how it goes!
