During my first in-person workshop, I was witness to something few have ever seen. I watched the Grandmaster Strongman, Dennis Rogers roll up a teflon coated frying pan so tight, that after snapping off the handle, he was able to stuff the entire thing into a re-usable water bottle! And I was, and still am, in awe of what I witnessed. I would now like to pass some of that knowledge on to you. Disclaimer: If you decide to try this on your wife’s favorite pan you might end up sleeping in the shed. You’ve been warned!
Rolling Frying Pans Doesn’t Happen Overnight
As often as I can, I try to give “would be” performing strongmen (and women) the same advice: If at all possible, learn from the best, in either a one-on-one setting or as part of a workshop. I have had the blessing of learning hands on from some of the best and brightest strongmen to ever walk the face of the earth. Since that time, I have been able to step-up my own game by practicing what I had been taught. Before we begin, I would like to give you a friendly warning: There are no tricks, no gimmicks, and no shortcuts. Having the strength to roll a teflon coated frying pan by hand will take lots of time, energy, and dedication to training. With that said, I believe the serious student of physical culture will be able to glean some sound advice from this article, whether you ever perform in front of a crowd, or not. What I mean is, adding these exercises to your training repertoire WILL result in superb hand strength and healthy hands.
Strength and Health
When it comes to rolling frying pans, you have need of two very important tools: a pair of strong, healthy, tough hands! We will begin with an exercise that will serve to strengthen and toughen the entire lower arm:
Building Strength – Wrist Roller
The type of wrist roller I recommend for this would be the type that can be mounted on a power rack. Using this type of wrist roller will enable you to utilize heavy weights without negatively impacting your deltoids / shoulders. I use the one that can be purchased from Ironmind. The reasons I like their wrist roller include:
- It is hollow, enabling it to be mounted on my power rack safety pins
- It has very heavy knurling, which bites into the hand and builds toughness in the skin of your palms. (See picture below-left)
NOTES:
- I recommend doing this exercise for four to five sets of one rep, one time per week. One rep is equal to bringing the weight attached to the device from the floor to just below shoulder level, then back down to the floor again.
- This wrist roller should be used in conjunction with weights loaded onto a loading pin
- Exercise both hands. Concentrate on trying to bring the strength of your non-dominant hand in line with your other hand.
- I recommend doing this exercise on a non-lifting day so that your grip is not compromised before doing compound barbell, dumbbell, or odd-object movements.
As you can see from the video, the wrist roller exercise will be performed in a manner that closely mimics the movements used in rolling a frying pan. This variation of the exercise works one hand at a time, rather than both at the same time.
Execution
Place your right hand on the top of the roller using a thumbless grip (your thumb will be on the same side of the roller as your fingers). Your left hand will act as a brake, holding the weight in place each time you need to reset your right hand at the end of each rotation forward. Move the weight up by moving your right hand forward and away from your body, resetting your hand whenever you have moved the weight as far forward as you can. Repeat this process until the weight stack is as far as it can go. On my setup, the top of the loading pin would be touching the bottom of the wrist roller. Now begin moving back down, repeating the entire process in reverse. Each movement bringing the weight stack all the way up and back down again equals one rep for one hand. You will now work your left hand using the same process, and your right hand now acts as your brake. One rep for both hands equals one set. Start light with 10-25 lbs (4.5 – 11kg), adding weight each successive set until you have completed 4-5 sets total. I would suggest making a goal to eventually work up to using 75-100 lbs (30-45 kg) for your top set in this exercise.
Doing this exercise alone will strengthen the muscles and connective tissues of the entire lower arm, including the forearm, wrist, and hand. It will also serve as a means of toughening the skin of your palms, which is needed when performing any of the feats of strength practiced by performing strongmen.While the wrist roller will definitely contribute to the strength and toughness of your hands, it will not do anything for their health. What I mean is, your hands take a beating with this type of training. To keep them in the game, something must be done to ensure their recovery ability is not compromised.
A picture of the band I am currently using
Health – Hand Gripper + Band
This exercise was suggested to me by the Grandmaster, Dennis Rogers. He pointed out that I needed to work my hands everyday in order to promote quality blood-flow in the hands. He told me to get a set of hand grippers and knock-out 100 reps per day, seven days per week, three-hundred sixty five days a year. Thankfully, I took his advice. After a few months, I remembered someone else suggesting the importance of working the extensors, so I added in 100-125 reps of band extensions with the fingers, Both the grippers and the rubber bands can be purchased from Ironmind, Amazon, or any number of other retailers. Since I do not train in the mornings, I try to get my “Daily 100” knocked out in the morning. This works both the crushing and extending muscles of your hands. I perform the finger extensions first, as they do not take as much time or effort as the grippers. If you wish to progress with the rubber bands, you may do so by moving up to a thicker band.
NOTES:
- Do not “over do” things. Start with a band you can knock out 100 reps with fairly easily. Blood flow is more important than how many bands you can open with your fingers.
A picture of two of my grippers
- See this as a means of building longevity into your hands. Keep them healthy and youthful.
The philosophy behind using the hand gripper should be the same as what we have discussed in regards to the band. Be sensible with the strength of gripper you choose. Make sure you buy one that you can get 100 reps with. When I say 100 reps, I do not mean to say that you buy a plastic hand gripper that you can easily close 100 times in a row, I am talking about using something that is challenging enough to make you break your daily gripper routine into 5-10 sets. You can do this in sets of 5, 10, 15, 25, etc. so long as you get 100 reps per day. I also suggest buying several grippers so that you can use a more challenging gripper in some of your daily sets. Some days you will be able to use your more challenging gripper, while some days you will not (such as the day after a tough lifting session).
NOTES:
- Do not “over do” things. Start with a gripper you can knock out 100 reps with, even on a rough day. Blood flow is more important than how hard of a gripper you can close.
- See this as a means of building longevity into your hands. Keep them healthy and youthful.
- Have fun with this. Remember this is not in vain. After a few months of doing this, your hands, fingers, and forearms will be noticeably thicker and stronger.
- For more questions related to the gripper/band “daily 100”, check out this video.
Besides improving your lower arm recovery ability, this one-two combination will actually lessen the impact of the bumps, bruises, and dings we all encounter after years of hard, heavy training, While this “daily 100” superset is great for anyone, it is essential for those lifters 35 and older. Age thirty-five + is the time you begin feeling your mistakes and accidents over the years. It is at this time in life that you must begin taking preventative care of your body, so that you will be able to keep living a healthy, active lifestyle well into your golden years.
Final Thoughts
I hope by now that you are able to see that I am not just trying to fill space for a deadline, but I am giving you proven exercises that DO work and WILL lead to success in improving lower arm and hand strength, as well as giving you the ability to roll frying pans with your bare hands. I can also report to you personally that these exercises, more than any others, have directly contributed to the size and strength increases I ave experienced over the last couple of years. As a matter of fact, I have noticed that when making videos lately, I can see for myself that my lower arms have noticeably changed for the better. They also hurt less, and as stated above, recover much quicker than in the past.
If you watch carefully and follow the exercises I have listed above, you will become much of a man (or woman) among men, and you too, can begin traveling down the road that leads to strength that few can even dream of. They will give you the strength and toughness required to turn frying pans into metal burritos. Continue down this road and maybe, you too can become a performing strongman.
