Last Update: 28 October 2021
When we ride a motorcycle our hands are managing key controls. This involves grasping, twisting, holding, pulling, and squeezing – all dependant on power in our grip. This can often be a challenge for not only women riders but for men too. As a rider, to strengthen your grip will result in better motorcycle handling and control. This equally will help avoid fatigue and make you feel more confident to your overall motorcycle operation.
The power and strength of your grip is dependent on many factors. Such things as the size of your hand, and density of the bones. Even the muscles of the hands and fingers which support wrists and forearms are relevant to your strength and staying power. If you’ve ever had to ride your motorcycle in rush hour traffic, in a so-called “bumper-to-bumper” situation you’ll understand the muscles required to keep your clutch lever under good control.
Strengthen Your Grip With These Exercises
Though any workout or weight training exercise which relies on your grip, is a sure-fire method to increase your hand strength. The following exercises have been specifically selected with a focus to creating a strong hand and tireless grip for any motorcycle rider!
Coil Spring Hand Grips
These are our favourite! You can find coil spring hand grips at most any sporting goods store or any department store with a sporting goods department. These are so handy to carry around making their use simple to do anywhere – even at your desk during work. Simply grip the handles and squeeze. Pull your hands together as tightly as you can, then release and repeat. As a tip-use only the hands; anything more and you won’t really be working to the goal of strengthening the hands.
Coil spring hand grips will result in the following:
- Forearm Muscularity: Muscles in your forearms are the ones controlling your fingers. Your forearm flexors control the closing of your hand, while your forearm extensors control the opening. These muscles will be the primary beneficiaries of using hand grips and so important to tireless clutch and brake lever control.
- Hand Endurance: Your hand endurance is automatically increased when you work out with hand grips, because you are increasing the measure of force that your hands can apply. Another way that your hand endurance gets a big boost is in the length of time that you can apply force. As you work with hand grips, you can train yourself to apply pressure for longer periods of time. A practical area for which this provides instant benefits is, for instance, when you are riding the clutch in bumper-to-bumper traffic. After building up your hand endurance for a while, you will notice how you will not as easily succumb to fatigue from clutch use.
- Increased Hand Strength: The third benefit of working with hand grips is the result you’ll get of increased hand strength. Your training is to increase the power of both your fingers and your wrists.
- Improved Dexterity: Hand grips will work to build up the strength in your fingers independently, thus improving dexterity. This is also a practice of musicians and typists.
Squeezing A Rubber Ball
In the same way as coil spring grips – intermittently, or instead of using a gripper.
Cable Dumbbell + Barbell Wrist Rolls:
Performed with cables you pull a light-weight up slightly drawing two cables directly up in front of you. Bend only at the wrists, curling them up and down. Alternate between an overhand and underhand grip. With the dumbbells hold your arms straight out in front of you so the arm gains from this exercise. Now first overhand, curl the wrists up and down; be sure to use a very light set of dumbbells. Now rotate the wrists. Perform these same two manoeuvres with an underhand grip. With the barbell version of this you will hold a barbell, first overhand then underhand, arms tight against your sides. Curl the wrists up and down.
Finger Weights Or Weighted Gloves: Guitarists often wear finger weights during routine activities to strengthen fingers for playing. Weighted gloves carry out a similar goal.
Wrist Roller – Uses A Rod, Rope + Weight Plate: You hold the rod out in front of you, arms straight. You roll it lifting the weight with the rope as it twists around the rod. Roll the weight all the way up and down again.
Reverse Curl: In a reverse barbell curl you curl the barbell up backward toward your chin and back down again.
Preacher Forearms Curls – Done over an incline bench and otherwise looks like the reverse forearm curl.
! Be cautious. Wrist and forearm injuries are possible. Start slow with proper form and breathing. Use light weights and increase as you go along.
