A person’s ability to excel in a sport or to survive in a crisis can be greatly affected by one simple, often over-looked factor: grip strength.

That is a broad statement, it has to be. Most any activity you do in life or sport involves the use of your hands and wrists.

In fact, it might be easier to try to list the activities your hands are not used for than the other way around. Watch a mother with her children sometimes, and you can easily many examples of why strong hands and wrists are important. She’s probably lifting, carrying, turning, twisting, picking up or putting down something in rapid succession. Often performing numerous tasks simultaneously, her hands and wrists must be strong.

Now, jump over to the world of sports. If a basketball player receives a pass, grip strength is used to control the ball so the next movement can be completed. The same thing goes for football. If a pass receiver drops the football that was right in his hands, an important game or even a championship might be lost.

How about firefighters? Look at how much gear they have to carry up a ladder.

Weak hands and wrists are not an option in that job.

Law enforcement officers could hardly control a suspect with a lot of grip strength. You get my point, I’m sure.

My first question is why don’t more people work on improving their grip strength? Honestly, many people just do not realize the importance of it.

That includes athletes, too.

Even those who do workout, often use machines. Some use assistive lifting devices during their workouts. These things limit the development of grip strength.

Most anything that secures or stabilizes a load for you, will do that.

The next time you take a gallon of milk out of your refrigerator, see if you need to use both hands or not. If you cannot lift it easily with one hand, your grip strength probably needs some improvement.

So now let’s look at what you can do to develop strong hands and wrists without spending a fortune. If you don’t have a gym that you workout at already, that’s no problem. Many things can be done at home to strengthen your grip. By changing the way you do some common tasks, you can improve your grip. How about carrying your own groceries out to your car (without the cart) instead of letting the bag boy do it for you.

Maybe the next time you take a walk with your family, carry the baby or small child instead of using the stroller.

Take turns if you have to (guys, you might get outdone on this one), a child can get heavy fast especially when they are squirming around.

You can also mow your own lawn without a self-propelled or riding mower; and you can get a good workout by trimming your hedges the old-fashioned way.

Now for you guys and gals who do go to a gym regularly, get off the machines

and grab some free weights. They can be dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, medicine balls etc., as long as they are pretty heavy for you, they can work. My personal favorites are kettlebells.

One my friends , who is extremely strong, prefers dumbbells. He works out with two 120LB (or heavier) dumbbells at a time. His grip is like a vice!

You’ll want to keep the repetitions low to develop strength, usually 3 to 5 will be fine. Make sure the weight is heavy enough to challenge you. If you give your body a reason to change, it will. Light weights and lots of repetitions will not get the job done.

There are several simple exercises you can start with, like Rows or Farmer’s Walks.

Deadlifts are great grip developers if you don’t use lifting hooks.

Olympic lifts are fantastic also, but make sure you get proper instruction first.

Body-weight exercises are also good, such as pull-ups, and rope climbing. Once again, make your body do the work, not a machine.

As I said earlier, grip strength is a much overlooked component of overall fitness.

Being able to hold up your own body-weight just hanging from a pull-up bar is a start. That ability alone may save your life someday, take for example having to escape a burning building through a window (especially above the first floor). No second chances there for a weak grip!

Now, let’s take it a step further. Let’s say you have to help an injured person get out of that same building. If the burning building seems too dramatic; how about being able to hold on to your big dog when he decides to go after another dog, cat, or even a child? Or maybe helping another person stand back up who might have fallen?

For all the UFC and RFC fight fans out there, could imagine a mixed martial fighter not having a strong grip?

The examples could go on and on, but I’ll stop here.

As always, remember to train hard, train often, train smart, and “get a grip”.