Developing the Grip and Forearm

Let the strong man remember that 'a chain is as strong as its weakest link.' ... Often I have been very surprised to find that weight lifters with world-famed names have been possessed of very ordinary grip power. I imagine it was the realization of this which led me, even in my very early days, to deliberately develop my gripping power, feeling I would more or less have the field to myself if I could gain a huge forearm with gripping power in proportion. And it may be encouraging to the beginner who happens to have a light skeleton, i.e. small wrists and hands, etc., to know that whatever success I achieved was in the face of never exceeding a seven-inch wrist. For years I stayed around the 140 lb. mark, having light legs and bones on the small side. But eventually I worked up to being a real heavyweight (210 lbs.) with a 50-inch chest, 17 neck, 19 biceps, 15 inch forearm (measured with a STRAIGHT ARM, not a bent arm - this is important), 27 thigh and 17 inch calf. So don't allow yourself to become downhearted if you haven't heavy bones. I perfected a set of movements which definitely assisted forearm development and I will describe them for the readers' benefit because no matter what sport or game you may be interested in - golf, tennis, cricket, boxing, rowing, fencing and particularly WEIGHT LIFTING, you will be much handicapped if deficient in grip and helped considerably if you have a 'grip of steel.' - Thomas Inch This is a restored and re-formatted edition of Inch's 1930 classic. Visit our website and see our many books at PhysicalCultureBooks.com