{"id":290968,"date":"2026-02-19T03:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/290968\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T03:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:17:12","slug":"build-crushing-grip-strength-in-7-days-with-these-simple-drills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/290968\/","title":{"rendered":"Build Crushing Grip Strength in 7 Days With These Simple Drills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crushing an apple with your bare hands might sound like something out of a comic book, but it\u2019s a legitimate test of grip strength<\/a>. The challenge caught the attention of YouTuber Will Tennyson, who set out to try some of the internet\u2019s most viral exercises to see which actually improve grip strength.<\/p>\n

In a recent video<\/a> , Tennyson rated everything from rice bucket drills<\/a> to neck training<\/a>. \u2018I love training and I try to hit my entire body,\u2019 he says early on. \u2018But some muscles always get neglected, like my neck, my calves \u2013 even my forearm training is pretty one-sided.\u2019<\/p>\n

He spent a week testing viral exercises, tracking strength, soreness and muscle growth. But the goal of crushing an apple quickly became the main objective. \u2018If I could do that, I would not stop talking about it. I would be bringing an apple everywhere I go,\u2019 he joked. Later, he admitted: \u2018With all the training I\u2019ve done so far, I couldn\u2019t stop dreaming about crushing apples. I\u2019m more determined than ever to make one explode by the end of this video.\u2019<\/p>\n

The ExercisesRice Bucket Training\"rice\"<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

The first method Tennyson tried was rice bucket training, inspired by martial arts drills designed to strengthen the hands and forearms.<\/p>\n

\u2018This has gone viral for building superhuman forearm, wrist, hand and finger strength,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

The drill involves plunging your hands into a bucket of rice, opening and closing the fingers, performing wrist circles and rotational movements, and digging deeper to increase resistance.<\/p>\n

\u2018You\u2019d think putting your hands in a bucket of rice would be easy, but it wasn\u2019t. Within seconds, it started to burn, lighting up muscles I didn\u2019t even know existed.\u2019<\/p>\n

He performed the drill daily for around 10 minutes, progressively reaching deeper into the bucket as the week went on.<\/p>\n

Sand Striking\"person<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

Next came sand striking, another martial arts-inspired conditioning method.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is an old martial arts conditioning method used to toughen the hands, fingers, wrists and forearms by repeatedly striking or digging into a bucket filled with sand,\u2019 Tennyson explains.<\/p>\n

The drills include forward punches, backhand slaps, side strikes and finger jabs into the sand. He quickly realised it wasn\u2019t as easy as it looked. \u2018I thought striking sand wouldn\u2019t hurt. I was wrong.\u2019<\/p>\n

After one session, he admitted: \u2018I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s psychological or if my hands are just objectively weak. I honestly have no idea how this is all that I\u2019m bleeding on both of my hands just on that one knuckle. My hands feel like they are dripping with blood and they are burning and they are stinging.\u2019<\/p>\n

By the end of the week, he saw improvement in board breaking. \u2018On day one, I couldn\u2019t even make a dent in the board. But today, that was pretty neat,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

While the method likely improved pain tolerance and striking resilience, its direct carryover to crushing grip appeared less efficient.<\/p>\n

Grip Trainers\"hand<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

Tennyson also used grip trainers ranging from 50\u2013200lb in resistance. He began with the 100lb gripper for higher reps, aiming to eventually close the 175lb gripper.<\/p>\n

\u2018I started with the 100lb gripper with the ultimate goal of being able to squeeze the 175lb gripper,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

By midweek, he was progressing well. By the end of the week, he successfully closed the 175lb gripper.<\/p>\n

This exercise showed the most direct carryover to crushing an apple. It trains maximal finger flexion against heavy resistance, making it the most specific tool for improving crushing strength.<\/p>\n

Towel Dead Hangs\"individual<\/p>\n

YouTube<\/p>\n

To build grip endurance, he also incorporated towel dead hangs. This tougher variation of a standard bar hang increases the grip demand by thickening the handle and challenging finger strength.<\/p>\n

While towel hangs build endurance rather than maximal crushing force, they contribute to overall hand strength and fatigue resistance.<\/p>\n

On day one, he managed 22 seconds. By the end of the week, he held for 39.37 seconds \u2013 a significant jump in just seven days.<\/p>\n

The Results<\/p>\n

By the end of the experiment, Tennyson achieved his goal of crushing an apple.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the week, he said: \u2018I think this video proves something important. Sometimes the oldest training methods outlast the newest machines. These workouts are still talked about today for one simple reason. They work.\u2019<\/p>\n

While crushing fruit may sound like a novelty benchmark, the methods he tested highlight something simple: targeted, progressive grip training \u2013 even if it looks unconventional \u2013 can deliver real results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crushing an apple with your bare hands might sound like something out of a comic book, but it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[5218,161232,2117,565,134,2116,111,139,69,161231],"class_list":["post-290968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-content-type-default","tag-contentid-50230c44-b40a-4261-bea3-f58e0da292a4","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-locale-gb","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-shorttitle-build-crushing-grip-strength-in-7-days"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}