Welcome to the Get Fit Guys, quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield. I'm the Get Fit Guy, and you're about to discover part two of my special series on how to increase your grip strength.

You're listening to episode number 274. If you want to go listen to

Part 1, just go to quick and dirty tips.com and look for episode 272. In my last episode,

you learn why grip strength and proper development of your finger, hand, wrist, and forearm

musculature is so darn important, whether you're an athlete

in just about any sport on the face of the planet, or whether you're simply spending your time

doing things like typing, driving, housework, cooking, or anything else that requires your hands.

Well, in this episode, I'm going to give you insight from a man who I consider to be a true

guru of grip.

My own fitness and obstacle course racing coach, Yancey Colt.

And here's what Yancey had to say when I asked him to give me his best grip-strengthening

tips for this article.

Yancey says, I grew up on a farm where I was required to work with my hands

literally seven days a week, performing various tasks from hauling hay to chopping wood to building

fences to working livestock to a variety of other farm duties. When I began competing in obstacle course

racing, affectionately known as OCR, I quickly realized that these

many years of working with my hands played a key role in my ability to complete the various

upper body obstacles. The moment I left the farm, I stayed active in various sports like powerlifting

and weightlifting and football, sports that required me to continue using my

grip. So I rolled right into the world of obstacle course racing without ever going through a

period of time where I allowed my grip strength to significantly decline. Once I began to hit

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