Are wrist curls useful?

[Dastardly]

Im looking for a simple accessory exercise for grip and was wondering if wrist curls actually work?

I have seen them recommended in Bill Starrs book, but it seems the fingers do not have enough of an active role for developing bar gripping strength.

I could make myself one of those stick & string grip trainers but wrist curls would be more convenient if they actually work.

Any thoughts?

(sorry for posting in this section, but grip forum seemed kinda dead)

[gzt]

dammit, dastardly, you don't need grip work yet.

[Rorschach]

How much grip work do you really need to do? My metric for grip strength is the deadlift. If you're failing on grip there, then do some more grip work, if not, concentrate on getting strong.
Wrist curls do work the grip, but IMO they put strain on the wrists which is unnecessary as there are better grip work techniques out there.
Chins and heavy deadlifts are enough for most people - try hanging to exhaustion at the end of chins/DLs, it's worked well for me.
Thick-bar deadlifts and towel-chins are other variations that work very well.
I've never needed more than isometric work for grip strength.

Try not to overcomplicate things, you're still on novice progression.

[Dastardly]

Lol GZT

thanks Rorschach.

I switched to hooking my deadlifts as mixed grip was screwing with my form. It has been working well for a few weeks, managed to exceed my previous best mixed grip effort. But grip is now starting to give way and be the limiting factor.

I do chins/pull ups occassionally, and do try to hold on for long. But as they are only occasional, I was wondering if wrist curls were at all effective. If they are it would be handy, as they are still doable when tired.

I was just wondering if they worked, thats all. Might consider doing them occasionally if so.

[mstrofbass]

I was just wondering if they worked, thats all. Might consider doing them occasionally if so.

You're just looking for reasons to do what you want to do, msingh.

[Rorschach]

Ouch.
If you're that exhausted at the end of your session that you can't handle one chin-up (be honest now ), then just hang for as long as you can. Time it, and try to beat it each session.
Also, get a chin-bar and whack it in a door-frame at home. Do a quick set first thing in the morning to help you wake up, and a couple whenever you go past (perhaps not on training days, especially DL days). You're not going to overtrain from a few chins, and it'll do wonders for your grip strength in my experience.

[milesdyson]

i started adding dynamic effort wrist curls on my press days and it really got me through a sticking point.

[Dastardly]

i started adding dynamic effort wrist curls on my press days and it really got me through a sticking point.

[Magnetotail]

Are you using chalk? That should come way before specific grip training for your deadlift.

[Platus]

I trust Andy Bolton's opinion on this matter.