Walking Isn’t Exercise.

Unless, of course, this is what you mean by “walking”:

Image credit: USAWA.com

It’s one of the most underrated exercises for pure gripping strength, but the Farmer’s Walk is a classic oldie-but-goodie.  Performed at the end of a workout, it improves conditioning and grip strength (and gives you one heckuva mental challenge, to boot).

Its instruction is simple: Grab a couple of heavy things (equally heavy and easily grippable things, ideally) and start walking.  You can either walk for time or for distance.  If your chief aim is to facilitate progression – i.e., standardize things to make adding weight easier – then walk for a fixed time (although in that case you might be better off doing heavy barbell holds in the cage).  If your chief aim is to challenge yourself mentally (and you have an environment that forgives dropping a heavy object), walk for a fixed distance.