Fat Gripz Review
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The title of this article might seem a little bit far-fetched. But an important part of barbell workouts that most people neglect is the grip.
Gripping a barbell is not rocket science. Most people grip this equipment without even thinking about it. But how you grip could determine the benefits you could get from a barbell workout.
The first time I heard about Fat Gripz was a couple of months ago. I and a few gym buddies were talking and one of us mentioned it.
It seemed like a good product so I decided to try it out because I had been having a little trouble with my grips whenever I used barbells. And in this article, I’ll be reviewing it and telling how it was for me.
Firstly, the Fat Gripz are just that - grips. They are grips that are fixed around the handles of dip bars, pull-ups, machine weights, barbells, cable handles, and so on.
They come in a total of three sizes:
The larger the size of the grip, the more difficult exercising with it will be. I tested the pro version. The Fat Gripz adds value to any workout you couple it with because it makes the weights harder to grip.
As a result of this, just to carry the weight, you'll need to recruit a lot more muscle fibers! This will result in rapid increases in both power and muscle mass.
Muscle irradiation is a term that refers to an increase in muscle strain.
Muscles produce force as they tense. The harder you tense your muscles, the more force you create.
Benefits of Fat Gripz
Honestly, serious workout freaks will not pass this up. Using the Fat Gripz has a lot of benefits.
I used it for only a couple of weeks and I could not help but notice how much of a difference it made.
After a while, I could not do without it. It had to be with me whenever I was going to the gym.
A few weeks in and my gym buddies noticed and they started using it too.
It goes without saying that the Fat Gripz could be the best strength accessory you could invest in. I’ll be highlighting a couple of the benefits I noticed in my weeks of using the Fat Gripz.
More Grip Strength
The Fat Gripz made gripping a lot more difficult, so I had to deliberately transition into using more strength to grip. It took a while but my hands got used to it and my grip got significantly stronger.
When utilizing thick bar conditioning for the first time, it's not unusual for power to decrease by as much as 40%.
Of course, this isn't a permanent lack of strength; it's just a reflection of not being able to accommodate the additional grip challenge, but it's a loss of strength in any case.
Remarkably, a recent study showed that using Fat Gripz for pull-ups increased pull-up strength while reducing the number of repetitions that could be done over the course of the 5-week training period.
Fat Gripz provided for a lower training volume to produce the same outcomes as a higher volume of training without Fat Gripz, according to the findings.
Forearm Size Increase
In just two weeks of using the Fat Gripz, I noticed a marked increase in the size of my forearms.
This is a straightforward idea to understand. The thinner the bar is, the quicker it is to grip the bar and do some action.
Your fingertips won't be able to "hug" the bar as quickly as the bar becomes thicker, resulting in more wrist, forearm, and arm muscle engagement in all upper body workouts.
When you use the Fat Gripz, you aren't necessarily contracting or stretching any forearm muscles, but you are holding them active at all times, at least during your sets.
We know that movements like the plank are great for strengthening your heart, so there's no excuse Fat Gripz couldn't do the same for your forearms.
I usually feel my forearms doing the work when I use the Fat Gripz, as opposed to without it when I didn’t feel it as much.
Increased Upper Arm Strength
Stronger forearms mean I can easily lift an extra 5-10kg in my workouts. This then has a resultant effect on my upper arms.
They visibly got bigger in a shorter time than I am used to because of the increased strain on them caused by the Fat Gripz.
This just goes to show the role that bar thickness plays in upper arm strength. During arm drills, the thicker the bar, the more your biceps, and triceps have to do.
Do you want more proof? Give the Fat Gripz a shot and you'll see what I mean. Curls, extensions, pushdowns, pulldowns, and other arm exercises will also be enhanced using the Fat Grips.
Upper Body Muscle Activation
I know what you’re thinking. What does bar thickness have to do with upper body strength? I was a bit surprised at the results myself.
The fact is that your body works like a kinetic chain, and the more work is done on the arms, the more it affects the upper body. This means that you will be engaging a lot more muscles throughout your entire upper body by using thicker barbells and dumbbells.
My Rules For Use
- 1Try to Limit Upper Body Pulling Exercises: A good example is the Chin-up. Since the forearms have two-joint movement, meaning they contract to both stretch the elbow and curl the hand, chin-ups with fat grips will put a lot of strain on the elbow. Since it has to perform two things at once, the muscle may easily get overworked, resulting in cramping and ripping.
- 2Go For High Reps Or Finishers: High-rep sets are beneficial to the forearms. Both forearms and upper arms appear "full" due to the prolonged period under stress. Since the two-joint movement of high-intensity upper-body exercises may be risky, reducing weight on fat-grip exercises and concentrating on fewer reps and longer duration under stress is a better solution. This combination will provide a great pump and cause the metabolic stress that helps break down muscles, forcing them to grow bigger.
- 3Don't Rely On Them To Build Absolute Strength: When an exercise aims to improve maximum strength, such as with a 3-rep max deadlift, the goal is to carry as much weight as possible. Using Fat Gripz on such attempts, on the other hand, would lower your results by making your grip the weak point. If strength is your goal, this combination of endurance work and heavier-resistance work will lead to fantastic results.
Final Thoughts
In recent years, utilizing the Fat Gripz and other gripping accessories has gained a lot of traction.
Until recently, the only issue was that very few gyms have thick bars or thick pull-up bars in stock.
I'm a big fan of fat-grip workouts. I've seen how a larger grip will help athletes develop power and muscle mass, and they're a must-have in my workout.
