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Friday 10 February 2017

Hand Day

People joke about skipping leg day.  But most of us skip "hand day" far more frequently.
The article link got me thinking and probably repeating myself, and definitely repeating others.
Little summary
- Inverse correlation to all risk mortality (5kg drop in the grip test linked to 17% increase in mortality risk)
- decreasing grip strength in elderly linked to cognitive decline
-nearly 20 percent decrease in grip strength [...] in one generation.

The irregular objects we have to manipulate in life aren't as forgiving as a bar and we're not preparing for it.
Ever since Fighting Monkey in Athens last year, I've been spending more time with my hands. And this was further reinforced by Rafe Kelly in the summer (Evolve, Move, Play).
Using clay, playing with the wooden ball, more time on the Chinese pole, more aware of it during partner carries in the circus training, isometric grips and compressions while i walk around or sit.
It is something I intellectually appreciated, but I am only now physically realising how complex the hand is.  All the different joints and structures in the hand mean there are a nigh infinite number of situations to develop strength on dexterity; A pole expert will have a different hand to a climber to a hand-balancer to labourer to a parkour athlete to a judo-ka to a kungfu practitioner, every time slightly different response to requirements.
One of the reasons the bar is so popular is because it's the easiest grip we do and means we can lift more weight or do more reps because we've removed the hand as a weak point. We avoid learning how to selectively apply force in the palm, fingers and wrist; am I pinching, poking, grabbing, enveloping, holding, "sticking", smashing, etc.
The consequence is that the hand doesn't develop a proportionate capacity to the rest of the body; an ability to deadlift x3 bodyweight is less relevant when we are trying to carry furniture on our own.

http://m.nautil.us/issue/45/power/raising-the-american-weakling