GET A GRIP!

One of the most neglected areas of the average gym goers training is grip strength, I know this because I too neglected this aspect of training until it really began to hold me back, I was also guilty of relying on lifting straps and hooks!
over the years I had read articles on why you should not use them, then other articles advocating them saying why should you let a week grip hold you back in say the deadlift or rows when you can simply strap up, this is fine if you train purely for aesthetics but when you are walking through the airport with your 17 inch arms but have to keep stopping to change hands with your suitcase because you have the grip of a little girl not cool! not a lot of functional carry over there right? hence I consider the farmers walk one of, if not thee most functional exercise in terms of direct carry over to everyday life! 
Back to the straps, I began to use them as a crutch, every exercise that involved a pulling motion I would strap or hook up from the start, which only served to exaggerate the imbalance, and as we all know imbalance leads to injury,
Then I introduced farmers walks to my routine regularly switching between using them as a warm up then on other days as a finisher, if I was deadlifting for example I would do them as a finisher so as not to fry my grip prior to deads, but man they are a killer as a finisher on a deadlifting day! 
I would do four or five  laps of the outer edge of the tennis court at the gym with a pair of 85lbs, one full lap then rest for one to two mins then go again and within three to four weeks of doing this twice weekly my grip improved tremendously,
all of my lifts improved and not just the pulls, I had much greater control and confidence when pressing heavy dumbells, also my upper back traps and my posture reaped the benefits from this relatively simple but effective addition to my training,
Now weighted carries of all manner and description are a regular part of my training and if you look through this blog you will see everyone at the Sunday madness doing farmers walks or some version of a weighted carry.
Now I don't even know where my straps and hooks are, and to be honest I don't care either!
So forget those wrist curls your doing pick up something heavy and go for a walk, time yourself or set a distance then aim to beat it, if you don't have space just pick up something heavy and hold it for as long as you can and get yourself a vice like grip.