March 2019: Cannonball Rowing
To develop great finger strength, try cannonball rowing. Using a grappler and two spherical handles, you can really stress those hand muscles in a very functional way - just trying to hang on! The larger the diameter of the sphere that you use, the more difficult the exercise becomes. Turn your grappler/landmine into a finger strength building machine.
To do the exercise, set up your grappler with a double chain attachment collar, hooked up to two spherical rowing handles. Put on the weight plates, and begin rowing as if you were doing T-bar rows. You won't be able to handle much weight compared to your regular T-bar rows, so this is a finger and hand building exercise, not an exercise for your lats and back. To really make it tough to hold on, do not hook your fingers underneath the sphere near the carabiner hook (see the pictures below). Keep your fingers away from the carabiner hook, so that you must squeeze the sphere to hold onto it; this is MUCH harder, but a lot more effective.
Starting position...
Finish position...
An effective grip; note the distance between the finger tips and the carabiner hook:
An ineffective, cheating grip; note that the finger tips surround the carabiner hook:
Many thanks to our top notch welder Paul, for modeling in these pictures after a long day of making excellent Mercury and Thor Products for you. A few of you have commented, "Why don't you use a model with clean hands and fingernails?" Folks, that's what a hard day's work looks like! LOL, Mike