Tactical Grip Training

A tactical athlete needs both excellent grip strength and grip endurance.  Whether you are training for a selection course or doing the job day to day, grip strength/endurance is going to be one of the most important qualities you can develop.  People are routinely limited by grip strength on obstacle courses and tactical challenges.  There is a physiological reflex that shuts down your pulling muscles when your grip is about to go.  It takes considerable concentration to overcome this reflex, so most people never notice it.  As a result, in many lifts (like pull ups) people are limited by grip strength, even though it feels like the pulling muscles are giving out.  Don’t believe me?  Try doing pull-ups with wrist straps and see what happens.  Did you do better than usual?  I thought so.  Increasing grip strength makes you stronger overall, in a very real world, tactical sense.  This is usable strength.  "But I train with barbells and have a double bodyweight deadlift.  I should have enough grip strength/endurance, right?"  No, not really.  Barbells and dumbbells (and most other strength equipment) is designed to be as easy on your grip as possible.  Consider the diameter of the bars, the knurling, the balance.  They are designed  NOT to challenge your grip, so that you can lift more weight.  Nothing in real life is that easy on your grip.  In real life your are pulling and dragging odd shaped objects like the collar of somebody's shirt, a rope or some odd shaped piece of gear.  You are pulling up on tree branches, ropes, fences, walls, windows etc.  If you can't hold on to it, you can't lift it, drag it or climb it.  Because this could be a life or death situation for a tactical athlete, dedicated grip strength/endurance training is important.   One could argue that it is the most important strength/muscular endurance quality for a tactical athlete.