1945. World War II was finally coming to an end. Hitler committed suicide, leading to the declaration of V-E Day (Victory in Europe) several days later on May 8, 1945. Out of the ashes of a devastating series of events, Edward Aston penned his treatise on hand strength in 1946. Understanding this historical context leads more bearing on the written word found in the forward to Aston’s How to Develop a Powerful Grip.
Edward Aston was the World's Middle-Weight Weightlifting Champion and the British Heavy-Weight Champion Weightlifter. He also held the title of Britain's Strongest Man from 1911-1934, retiring undefeated. His ‘how to’ publication includes many useful training tips which are recycled into most of today’s articles and tips offered by the “experts.”
Aston’s forward to How to Develop a Powerful Grip speaks to the importance of lower arm training. Coming out of the WWII period, the message is clear that hand strength and physical development can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. This is just as valid today as it was in 1946, while we still remain in a global conflict. Aston further asserts that hand strength and physical conditioning is important for both sexes; “In those days of enemy action every man or woman could be called upon at any hour of the day or night to use the power of their hands.” Although he was speaking towards the war, the assertion holds true in today’s unpredictable society.
The forward then goes into what I believe to be one of the most neglected areas of training today: the power of the mind. Go into any gym today and I’m sure you will find 90% of the people in the building with their I-pods blasting or their cell phones glued to their ears while they workout. Some will be watching random music videos on one of the numerous television screens; others will be reading a magazine while walking on the treadmill. If only they could be reading Aston’s words; “You may perform free exercises until the cows come home with little benefit to your health, strength or muscularity if your mind is wandering from the thoughts of breakfast to your best girl, for it is only when you focus your full attention to the muscles being used that the work becomes strenuous and result-getting.”
The middle section of the publication, Aston talks about the feats of strongmen such as Vansittart "The Man with the Iron Grip", Sandow, Breitbart, Marx, Topham, Samson, and the Inch. Aston describes a lot of the famous feats performed by these men and shows us why they placed a high value on strong hands. One of the points that I found interesting was how Aston spoke about the would-be strongmen who would place decks of cards into a metal sleeve and slowly bake them to reduce their strength. They would then use these cheat cards in exhibitions of strength. It seems that there will always be individuals whose egos are so fragile that they feel the need to fake a feat of strength - reminiscent of the blow-torched and foot-stomped grippers used by people today in feeble attempts to impress.
The final section of How to Develop a Powerful Grip talks about the different exercises that Aston believes to be important for lower arm development. A lot of these exercises will be familiar, and there might be some new ones to you. You could also make a lot of progress taking the ideas and applying them to modern grip products, or by making your own variations using the DIY links to your left. For example, rope hangs could be performed with a standard bath towel draped over a pull-up bar or tree branch. The newspaper twisting can be effectively performed with a cordless wrist roller (two 6 – 10” sections of pipe, (1) pipe repair clamp, and (1) wing nut to fit the bolt on the pipe clamp). With a little creativity the ideas are endless. So without further adieu I give you Edward Aston’s How to Develop a Powerful Grip with thanks to our wonderful friends at Sandow Plus.
Aston Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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