One Hand Pinch
Pinching 2 25lb plates.
To perform well on this exercise, it is important to be sure the hands are well chalked. Initially, the webbing between the pointer finger and thumb may be damaged during the plate pinch. Allowed to heal, the skin will become tougher and ultimately stand up to the stress with little problem. Many find training the plate pinch with two hands on the plates at once to be key to developing a strong one handed pinch.
Pinching 2 25lb plates should be a readily obtainable goal for most. Working up to 2 35lb plates is more challenging. Progressive resistance can be obtained by running a piece of 1.5” inner diameter pipe through 2 olympic plates and adding weight as needed. One can also make the plate pinch work more challenging by doing timed holds or passing the plates from hand to hand. Note that these exercises are more likely to cause trauma to the thumb webbing than simply deadlifting the plates and setting them back down.
