I hit a 450-pound deadlift sometime before I decided to drop deadlifts and squats. Four plates and a 25, no straps. I like to remember that the whole gym was watching . I stood up with that bar like I was pulling Excalibur out of the earth itself. I made it.
Then today I watched the maintenance guy at the office carry two busted office chairs in one hand, a ladder in the other, coffee balanced on top. I tried to do the same, my fingers would hurt. Never gripped anything on this angle. I asked him how he grabs it and he showed me, gave me handshake that crushed my bones and made me realize.
Blue collar grip strength is from another planet. I'm not talking about full body, I don't believe in that "gym strength is not real strength" BS. It's usually just shorts of gym-bros doing manual work for the first time, ofc they don't know how to use their body to do it. But grip strength? Shit, that's amazing.
I train “pull day.” with bars. Easy to grip, even when heavy. These dudes train “every object humanity has ever invented and some.” pulling day. I don't even use lifting straps much. I even do wrist curls and all. My forearms look nothing alike, they have forearms that look like braided extension cords.I deadlift 450 once a week. A plumber named José has been farmer-carrying water heaters since the Bush administration. Doesn't even know accurately what protein really is.
I'm very strong overall. Very ;). But shit, that grip strength gave me a reality check. You can wrist curl all you want, deadlift all you want. Real life requires angles, finger strength, a shit ton of wrist movements that you just don't get in the gym unless you dedicate a full day to it. I don't think I will.