A black belt in both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Claudio Calasans is one of the best conditioned athletes competing today. 2015 IBJJF World champion, 2015 ADCC Absolute champion, PanAm champion, European champion...  His list of achievements goes on and on. 

Every grappler knows the importance of having strong grips, and Calasans is known for having paws that will tear your gi apart. He has an assortment of tools in his gym that he uses to develop his grips, in addition to the strength and conditioning work he does with his trainer. 

Check out some of the insane exercises he does to work on his grip strength. 

Rope climbs 

Exercise is always more fun when it’s competitive! Rope climb racing won’t be working it’s way into the Olympics just yet, but it’s still a lot of fun to watch Calasans and his training partners sprint to the top.

Double rope climb 

What’s better than one rope? Two ropes, of course!

Climbing boards 

Rock climbers use finger boards to train their hands for hanging onto cliff faces. Calasans uses them so he can hang onto your collar! 

 

Got any exercises you like to do for working your grip strength? Leave them in the comments!