Many benefits to improving grip of fingers, toes
You don’t have to be a rock climber to desire a stronger grip for your fingers and toes. Improving your grip can come in handy for many things. For example, carrying a heavy or awkwardly shaped item to or from your vehicle is a lot easier if your grip is strong. Grabbing a ball out of the air and holding onto it is easier for a person with a powerful grip.
You may not have the toe structure that will allow you to curl your toes around a pen or pencil horizontally and lift it, but with practice and training, you can place that same object between your toes and lift it vertically, gripping it hard between two toes.
At first, you may lose even your vertical toe grip before you can lift the pen or pencil from your toes to your hand, and the object will drop to the floor. But with practice (best done at home), the endurance of the tiny muscles in your toes will significantly improve. You may be wondering why you should even bother with this. It comes down to one word: balance. Toes that have a strongly developed range of flexion can keep you upright if you’re about to fall. Toe flexibility and strength can also help protect against a sprained ankle.
Strong toes will also help your athletic skills. You’ll be able to sprint with more precision, and you’ll definitely be able to get a stronger start in a race. If a surface is slippery, you can grip your shoe with clenched toes, and have a more secure gait.
One way to train your toes is to walk around barefoot at home. That will automatically make the toes stronger. Another exercise is to stand up on the toes and ball of your foot, lifting your heel so that all the pressure is transferred to the front of your foot. Do this repeatedly in a short session of 20 or more a few times a day, every day.
Building a strong finger grip will also make you a better athlete. If you are throwing a baseball back and forth or even a tennis ball, a strong finger grip will help you grab the ball and have it roll securely into your palm, rather than end as a fingertip fumble. There’s also a social context. A strong grip allows you to make a strong handshake. That creates a good impression, whether you are a male or female
Work on your ‘close’ grip by squeezing a Nerf ball — a sturdy foam ball — as hard as you can. Do only about five repetitions, no more, especially when starting out. As the strength of your grip improves, you can raise the reps to 10.
Work on your ‘wider’ grip by squeezing a softball hard for a few seconds, between five and 10 times in one day. Allow your finger muscles to recover and develop strength the following two days. Remember how tiny these muscles are. If you exercise them too much or too often, you can damage the tissues and even the joints.
There should never be pain, during or after a grip strengthening session. If that occurs, you’re working those tiny muscles and tendons too hard. Back off and don’t do any more grip training for that week. It might be best to skip the week, rather than let the small finger or toe joints become inflamed. Inflammation will certainly interfere with your athletic performance, and sometimes can take months to fully heal.
But if you do it correctly, improving the grip of your digits will offer so many benefits in both your everyday and your athletic life, you’ll never regret taking the time to do it.