Fat Gripz Review: Benefits, Uses, Pros & Cons, Alternatives

Fat Gripz are one of the simplest and most underrated tools in the fitness world, yet they’re also one of the most effective.

As a professional basketball player and certified personal trainer with over fifteen years of experience training for elite performance, I’ve used Fat Gripz extensively to improve my grip strength, increase upper body muscle mass, and reduce joint stress during heavy lifts.

These rubber attachments instantly convert barbells, dumbbells, and pull-up bars into thick bars, amplifying forearm and upper arm activation during compound and isolation exercises.

Whether your goal is hypertrophy, functional strength, or injury prevention, Fat Gripz offer a simple yet highly versatile solution.

In my Fat Gripz review, I’ll explain how Fat Gripz work, the science behind them, and why they’re a game-changer for serious athletes, average gym-goers, and bodybuilders alike.

I’ll also highlight the primary benefits of Fat Gripz and the negatives I’ve noticed.

Lastly, I’ll compare the original Fat Gripz to a few alternatives so you can determine if they’re worth adding to your training routine.

Backed by research and firsthand experience, this Fat Gripz review will help you make an informed, confident decision.

What Are Fat Gripz?

Fat Gripz are high-density rubber grips designed to convert standard barbells, dumbbells, pull-up bars, and cable attachments into thick bars.

By increasing the diameter of the handle, they immediately elevate grip demands during strength training, making every lift more challenging and more effective for building muscle and functional strength.

Fat Gripz eliminate the need to purchase expensive thick bars or specialty gym equipment, as you can simply clamp them onto your existing equipment, and you’re ready to reap the benefits of thick bar training from virtually any gym setting or home workout environment.

Thick bar training has long been a staple among elite athletes, powerlifters, and bodybuilders because it increases neuromuscular activation in the forearms, biceps, and upper arms.

Research supports the idea that thicker bars recruit more muscle fibers, particularly in the gripping and pulling muscles, compared to standard bar diameters (Krings et al., 2021).

Built from military-grade, high-density rubber, Fat Gripz are ultra-durable and designed to withstand years of heavy use without cracking, slipping, or compressing.

Unlike many cheaper knock-offs or DIY versions, they maintain their shape under intense pressure and offer a reliable, consistent grip during every workout.

Because of their portability, affordability, and performance-enhancing benefits, Fat Gripz have become one of the most recommended grip training tools for athletes, fitness professionals, and strength coaches worldwide.

I’ve used this tool for years, and it is one of the simplest and most effective ways to shake up your workout routine and break weightlifting plateaus!

Last update on 2025-04-28 / This article includes affiliate links/Images via Amazon Product Advertising API. I may earn commissions on purchases made through these links.

What Do Fat Gripz Do?

Fat Gripz increase the diameter of any barbell, dumbbell, or pull-up bar, turning it into a thick bar.

This simple change significantly enhances grip activation, forearm engagement, and upper arm muscle recruitment during strength training exercises.

By forcing your hands and arms to work harder to hold the thicker surface, Fat Gripz amplify muscle activation, leading to greater hypertrophy, improved grip strength, and better joint stability—especially in the wrists, elbows, and shoulders.

They also help correct muscle imbalances and reduce overuse injuries by recruiting undertrained stabilizer muscles.

Whether your goal is to build bigger biceps, improve deadlift performance, or reduce stress on your joints, Fat Gripz are a versatile tool that makes every lift more effective and functional.

How to Use Fat Gripz

Using Fat Gripz is surprisingly simple—and that’s one reason they’ve become a staple in my training routine.

Within seconds, you can upgrade a basic barbell, dumbbell, or cable attachment into a tool that challenges your grip, recruits more stabilizer muscles, and stimulates more muscle growth.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using Fat Gripz:

1. Open and Attach: Gently pry open the Fat Gripz and clamp them around the handle of a barbell, dumbbell, pull-up bar, or machine attachment. Align them so the opening faces away from your palm to avoid slippage.
2. Center Them Evenly: Make sure they are positioned symmetrically on both sides of the bar for balanced grip engagement and joint safety.
3. Grip and Go: Once secured, grip the Fat Gripz firmly and perform your exercise as usual—only now your hands, forearms, and upper arms will be working significantly harder.

Key Tips for Training with Fat Gripz:

• Start Light: Since Fat Gripz drastically increase grip fatigue and muscle activation, begin with lighter weights than usual. Focus on form before loading up.
• Limit Frequency Initially: To avoid overtraining your forearms and hands, start by using Fat Gripz 1–2 times per week. Overuse can lead to strain or joint discomfort, especially if you’re new to thick bar training.
• Prioritize Form: Fat Gripz can subtly change your hand position. Always maintain proper biomechanics, especially on compound lifts like the bench press or rows.
• Use the Closed Side for Presses: When performing bench press or overhead press variations, ensure your palm presses into the solid, non-opening side of the grip to improve bar control and safety.

Recovery Considerations

Because Fat Gripz significantly increase forearm activation, your hands and arms may take longer to recover after training.

If you integrate them into your workouts regularly, rotate their use across different exercises to allow muscles adequate recovery time.

In my personal training, I’ve found that alternating sessions by using Fat Gripz one workout and skipping them the next leads to optimal results in both strength and hypertrophy, especially when paired with adequate rest and grip-specific mobility work.

Safety Tips for Using Fat Gripz Effectively

Fat Gripz are a powerful tool for building muscle and enhancing grip strength, but like any training accessory, they must be used correctly to avoid injury and maximize their benefits.

Because they significantly increase grip demand and forearm engagement, improper use can lead to overuse injuries or compromised form.

Avoid Certain Exercises with Fat Gripz

Some lifts simply aren’t safe with a thick bar grip.

You should never use Fat Gripz for Olympic lifts, including power cleans, hang cleans, or snatches.

These movements require dynamic wrist positioning and fast bar movement, and using Fat Gripz can compromise your grip stability and increase the risk of wrist or shoulder injury.

Watch for Grip Fatigue and Overuse

The added grip challenge of Fat Gripz can quickly lead to grip fatigue, especially for beginners or those new to thick bar training.

Overuse of the small muscles in your hands and forearms—without proper rest—can result in overuse injuries, tendonitis, or chronic strain.

Limit usage to 2–3 sessions per week and monitor how your forearms and hands recover between workouts.

Prioritize Proper Form

Fat Gripz will slightly alter how the bar sits in your hands.

This can cause shifts in wrist, elbow, or shoulder alignment, especially during pressing movements.

Always prioritize proper form and reduce weight if necessary. Keep your wrist in a neutral position and avoid letting the bar roll forward in your hand.

If you’re unsure about your form, consider consulting a qualified personal trainer or strength coach to observe your movement pattern with Fat Gripz.

Know Your Injury History

If you have a pre-existing wrist, elbow, or shoulder injury, approach Fat Gripz cautiously.

The increased grip demand may aggravate joint pain or inflammation.

If in doubt, consult with a physical therapist or sports medicine specialist before incorporating them into your routine.

Train Smart, Recover Smarter

Always listen to your body. If you experience tingling, numbness, or lingering soreness in your wrists or forearms, take a break from using Fat Gripz. Pair thick bar training with grip mobility work, stretching, and recovery protocols like massage or myofascial release.

Benefits of Fat Gripz

Fat Gripz are more than just a trendy gym accessory—they’re a science-backed, performance-enhancing tool trusted by athletes, bodybuilders, and functional fitness enthusiasts around the world.

By increasing bar thickness, Fat Gripz targets underused muscles, amplify the neuromuscular engagement and promote long-term joint health.

In my opinion, here are the top 5 Fat Gripz benefits:

Increased Arm Muscle Activation & Better Arm Workouts

Fat Gripz increase the thickness of your barbell or dumbbell handles, which amplifies muscle activation in your hands, forearms, and upper arms.

This added thickness boosts mechanical load—the resistance your muscles must overcome—leading to greater strength and hypertrophy, especially in grip-dominant movements.

Research supports this: one study found that using thick grips resulted in a 30% increase in forearm activation and 20% more upper arm muscle engagement, as measured by electromyographic (EMG) activity (Krings et al., 2021).

Even if you train your arms from every angle, standard bars often undertrain the forearms and stabilizers.

Fat Gripz eliminates that gap, forcing the entire arm to work harder through every rep.

They’re especially effective for addressing grip strength imbalances that can limit forearm development or overall upper body gains.

Over time, this translates to not only bigger arms, but also more functional strength for sports performance and real-life tasks.

From my years of experience training as a professional athlete, Fat Gripz have consistently delivered noticeable improvements in grip endurance, pulling strength, and joint stability.

In my experience, Fat Gripz are one of the simplest and most effective tools for building stronger, more muscular arms—without changing your workout program.

Reduce Joint Stress and Long-Term Joint Health Support

One of the most underrated benefits of Fat Gripz is their ability to reduce joint stress and alleviate discomfort during training.

By increasing handle thickness, Fat Gripz shift more of the workload to stabilizing muscles in the hands, forearms, and upper arms—creating better muscular balance and minimizing wear and tear on vulnerable joints.

When pressing with a thicker grip, stabilizers around the shoulder joint are more actively engaged.

This improved neuromuscular recruitment can help reduce the strain placed on the rotator cuff and deltoid tendons, which is especially valuable for anyone managing shoulder pain, impingement, or previous injuries.

Fat Gripz also benefits the elbows during pulling exercises like chin-ups or rows by distributing tension across more muscles, reducing localized stress on tendons and ligaments.

For lifters who suffer from golfer’s elbow or tennis elbow, this can make pulling movements more tolerable and safer over time.

As someone who’s dealt with shoulder and elbow stress throughout a professional basketball career, I’ve found Fat Gripz to be a practical solution for managing pain while continuing to train hard.

They don’t just help build muscle—they help you train longer and more safely.

Improved Body Composition

Fat Gripz do more than build muscle—they can also improve overall body composition by helping you gain lean muscle mass and reduce body fat.

Since they increase muscle activation during every lift, they stimulate greater hypertrophy and metabolic output compared to standard grip training.

Muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning the more muscle you build, the more calories your body burns—even at rest.

This creates a natural fat-burning effect that supports a leaner, more defined physique over time.

Training with Fat Gripz may also increase the release of anabolic hormones like testosterone and growth hormone, which are essential for muscle growth, recovery, and fat metabolism.

Whether you’re a bodybuilder aiming for more definition or a beginner looking to build strength while burning fat, Fat Gripz are a practical, affordable tool that accelerates your progress in both areas.

Improved Grip Strength

One of the most valuable benefits of Fat Gripz is their ability to dramatically improve grip strength, which is a foundational component of both athletic performance and daily functional fitness.

While traditional strength training often neglects direct grip development, thick bar training directly targets the muscles of the hands, wrists, and forearms with every rep.

Fat Gripz mimic the demands of lifting awkward, heavy, real-life objects—whether it’s moving furniture, carrying groceries, or performing manual labor.

They build the kind of usable, everyday strength that standard bar training simply doesn’t address.

For combat athletes, military personnel, and law enforcement officers, grip strength isn’t just a performance enhancer—it can be a life-saving asset.

Whether grappling in close combat or handling gear in high-stress situations, Fat Gripz helps develop the forearm and hand strength needed under pressure.

More importantly, grip strength has been scientifically linked to long-term health outcomes.

A study published in the BMJ found that lower grip strength is correlated with higher all-cause mortality risk (Galet et al., 2007). That means stronger hands may contribute to a longer, healthier life.

Fat Gripz are one of the simplest, most cost-effective tools you can use to build functional, real-world strength—while supporting your long-term health and performance goals.

Inexpensive Yet Long-Lasting Investment

Fat Gripz are one of the rare fitness tools that deliver elite-level results without a premium price tag.

At around $30, they offer tremendous value—especially when compared to expensive specialty bars, grip machines, or forearm trainers that can cost hundreds.

What sets Fat Gripz apart from knockoff alternatives is the military-grade, high-density rubber they’re built from.

This material resists compression, cracking, and slippage—even after years of heavy use in intense training environments.

I’ve used the same pair for several years as a professional athlete, and they still perform like new.

Unlike many gimmicky fitness products that overpromise and underdeliver, Fat Gripz are a proven, low-cost tool that enhances strength, hypertrophy, joint health, and grip endurance—all in one compact and portable device.

If you’re looking for a durable and effective upgrade to your training without spending a fortune, Fat Gripz are one of the smartest investments you can make in your fitness journey.

Do Fat Gripz Work?

Yes, Fat Gripz absolutely work. 

They effectively increase muscle activation in the hands, forearms, and upper arms by mimicking thick bar training, which forces more engagement from the stabilizer and grip muscles during lifts.

This leads to faster strength gains, improved grip endurance, and better hypertrophy results—especially in compound and pulling exercises like rows, curls, deadlifts, and presses.

Multiple studies have shown that thick grips enhance electromyographic (EMG) activity in target muscle groups, leading to measurable performance improvements (Krings et al., 2021).

In my own training as a professional basketball player, I’ve used Fat Gripz to boost deadlift strength, reduce elbow and shoulder strain, and build more functional upper body muscle.

Fat Gripz work whether you’re a beginner, bodybuilder, or athlete—and they continue working as your strength levels increase.

Pros & Cons of Fat Gripz

Fat Gripz are one of the most affordable and effective tools for improving grip strength, arm size, and joint health.

But like any piece of training equipment, they aren’t perfect for every person or every situation.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the key pros and cons to help you decide if they are right for your training goals:

Pros

• Increased Muscle Activation: Fat Gripz increase forearm, bicep, and upper arm engagement by increasing bar thickness—helping you build more muscle with the same exercises.
• Stronger Grip Strength: They challenge your grip in every set, leading to faster improvements in grip endurance and hand strength for both gym and real-world use.
• Joint-Friendly Training: Thick bar training distributes load more evenly across the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints, reducing stress and lowering injury risk—especially helpful for those with past joint issues.
• Portable & Versatile: Compact and easy to carry, Fat Gripz can be used on barbells, dumbbells, pull-up bars, and cable attachments in almost any gym setting.
• Durable & Cost-Effective: Made from military-grade rubber, they’re built to last for years—and at around $30, they’re one of the best-value strength tools on the market.

Cons

• Not Ideal for Olympic Lifts or Dynamic Movements: Exercises like cleans, snatches, and overhead throws should not be done with Fat Gripz, as they compromise bar control and increase injury risk.
• Can Cause Grip Fatigue Quickly: Beginners may experience rapid grip fatigue, especially when using them too frequently or with heavy weights. This can interfere with performance if not managed properly.
• Takes Time to Adapt: You’ll likely need to reduce the weight you normally lift when first using Fat Gripz, which may feel like a step backward before long-term progress sets in.
• Not a Complete Replacement for Direct Forearm Training: While excellent for grip activation, they should complement—not replace—targeted wrist and forearm work for maximum results.

Best Exercises for Fat Gripz

There are a variety of different exercises you can do with Fat Gripz. A few of my favorite exercises to use Fat Gripz for:

• Bicep Curls
• Bent Over Rows
• Single Arm Rows
• Lat Pull-downs
• Bench Press
• Overhead Press
• Face Pulls
• Deadlifts (All Types)

You can do other exercises with these grips, but these are a few of my favorites.

Here is some more information on some of the best exercises for Fat Gripz:

Dumbbell & Barbell Curls

Dumbbell and barbell curls are classic exercises for building biceps and forearms, and adding Fat Gripz to these exercises will increase the demand for the grip and forearm, promoting overall arm muscle growth.

To use Fat Gripz with curls, simply slide them onto the handle of the dumbbell or barbell before starting the exercise.

Pull-ups/Chinups/Inverted Rows

Bodyweight rowing exercises like pull-ups, chinups, and inverted rows are excellent for building upper back and arm strength.

Adding Fat Gripz to the bar increases the difficulty of the exercise and engages the grip and forearms to a greater degree.

To use them with pull-ups, slide them onto the pull-up bar before starting the exercise.

Deadlifts

I believe that Fat Gripz are one of the simplest and most effective tools to help increase your maximum deadlift.

One limited research study conducted at the University of Drexel proved that Fat Grips can be combined with a strength training deadlift protocol to increase 5RM deadlift strength performance.

Deadlifting more weight was my initial reason for buying a pair, and the results came quickly!

For many people, the main limiting factor in deadlift strength is the ability to hold the bar while it is on the way up. If you improve your grip strength, you will quickly improve your deadlift strength.

Don’t believe me?

Give it a try yourself!

You will be humbled by only being able to deadlift 135-185 pounds when you first do deadlifts with them, but you will quickly see how this makes it easier to deadlift heavier weights once you take the grips off!

I prefer to do my warm-up sets of deadlifts with the grips on and then take them off as I move up in weight.

I think the most I ever deadlifted with Fat Gripz on the bar was five reps of 225 pounds!

However, I could deadlift nearly 500 lbs at that time!

Barbell Bench Press

The barbell bench press is a popular exercise for building chest and triceps strength.

Adding Fat Gripz to the bar can reduce the stress on the shoulder joint, making the exercise more comfortable and effective.

Farmers Walks

Farmer’s walks involve walking with heavy weights in each hand, challenging the grip and forearms.

Adding Fat Gripz to the weights will increase the difficulty of the exercise.

Where to Buy Fat Gripz?

If you are looking for where to buy Fat Gripz, you will be happy to know there are many places you can purchase Fat Gripz from.

However, the quickest and most efficient place to buy Fat Gripz, in my opinion, is through Amazon.

Last update on 2025-04-28 / This article includes affiliate links/Images via Amazon Product Advertising API. I may earn commissions on purchases made through these links.

Best Fat Gripz Alternatives

Although you can find many different Fat Gripz alternatives and knock off Fat Gripz on Amazon or through other shopping outlets, the original product has better material, and they are more reliable.

The problem with Fat Grips alternatives is that since they have only “stolen” the idea, they are not manufactured with the same type of material, and they will not last as long.

Also, the original product is affordable enough that you don’t need to try to save money on one of the knock-off alternatives!

In my opinion, you should not look for alternatives to Fat Gripz, and you should purchase the original!

However, if you want a DIY thick bar training alternative, you can wrap a small hand towel over the bar and grab onto it.

The results won’t be the same, but they are sufficient until you finally purchase a pair.

If you truly want a cheaper alternative to Fat Gripz, I suggest the Yes4All Thick Bar Grips.

Although they aren’t as good as the original, Yes4All is a quality brand that I have purchased several products from in the past, and they make an adequate Fat Grips alternative.

Last update on 2025-04-28 / This article includes affiliate links/Images via Amazon Product Advertising API. I may earn commissions on purchases made through these links.

Final Thoughts: Are Fat Gripz Worth It?

Fat Gripz are absolutely worth it for anyone looking to build bigger arms, improve grip strength, and enhance upper body performance.

For around $30, they provide measurable benefits in muscle activation, forearm development, and joint health,all without requiring new equipment or major changes to your training program.

Unlike many fitness gadgets, Fat Gripz are backed by science and used by elite athletes, military personnel, and strength coaches worldwide.

They’re durable, portable, and versatile enough to improve nearly any pulling or pressing movement.

If your goals include stronger hands, thicker arms, or better real-world strength, Fat Gripz are one of the most cost-effective and impactful tools you can add to your workouts.

Last update on 2025-04-28 / This article includes affiliate links/Images via Amazon Product Advertising API. I may earn commissions on purchases made through these links.

Frequently Asked Questions