Plate Pinch

Muscles worked by the Plate Pinch

Primary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor Muscles

Secondary

TrapsTrapezius

Also called: wrist flexors, flexor carpi, forearm flexors, inner forearm.

Equipment

Weight Plate

Also called: weight plate, bumper plate, iron plate, 45lb plate.

How to do the Plate Pinch

1. Place two weight plates on the floor side by side with the smooth sides facing out.
2. Squat down, grip both plates together between the fingers and thumb of one hand — no handles, just pinch.
3. Stand up and hold the plates at the side for time, keeping the arm straight.
4. Set them back down under control.
5. Repeat on the other hand.

Form tips

• Start with two 5 kg / 10 lb plates and build up.
• Chalk on the hands makes a huge difference; sweaty pinches fail fast.

At a glance

Plate Pinch in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Barbell Wrist Curl
• Bilateral Dumbbell Wrist Curl
• Cable Wrist Curl
• Dumbbell Wrist Curl
• EZ-Bar Wrist Curl
• Kettlebell Wrist Curl
• Kneeling Wrist Stretch
• Wrist Roller

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "plate-pinch",
  "name_en": "Plate Pinch",
  "name_de": "Plate Pinch",
  "name_es": "Agarre de Discos",
  "description_en": "A grip-training staple: pinch two weight plates smooth-side out and hold them for time, loading the thumb and finger flexors in sustained isometric work.",
  "description_de": "Ein Griffkraft-Klassiker: Klemme zwei Gewichtsscheiben mit der glatten Seite nach außen zusammen und halte sie für eine bestimmte Zeit, um Daumen und Fingerflexoren isometrisch zu belasten.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio clásico para el agarre: pellizca dos discos con la cara lisa hacia afuera y mantenlos durante un tiempo determinado, cargando los flexores del pulgar y los dedos en trabajo isométrico sostenido.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "static",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "plates",
  "body_part": "lower_arms",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "strength",
    "endurance"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": true,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Place two weight plates on the floor side by side with the smooth sides facing out.",
    "Squat down, grip both plates together between the fingers and thumb of one hand — no handles, just pinch.",
    "Stand up and hold the plates at the side for time, keeping the arm straight.",
    "Set them back down under control.",
    "Repeat on the other hand."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Lege zwei Gewichtsscheiben nebeneinander auf den Boden, glatte Seiten nach außen.",
    "Gehe in die Hocke und greife beide Scheiben mit Fingern und Daumen einer Hand – kein Griff, nur Klemmen.",
    "Stehe auf und halte die Scheiben seitlich am Körper, Arm gestreckt.",
    "Lege sie kontrolliert wieder ab.",
    "Wiederhole mit der anderen Hand."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Coloca dos discos en el suelo uno al lado del otro con las caras lisas hacia afuera.",
    "Baja en sentadilla, agarra ambos discos juntos entre los dedos y el pulgar de una mano — sin agarraderas, solo pellizca.",
    "Levántate y sostén los discos al costado durante el tiempo deseado, manteniendo el brazo recto.",
    "Devuélvelos al suelo con control.",
    "Repite con la otra mano."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Start with two 5 kg / 10 lb plates and build up.",
    "Chalk on the hands makes a huge difference; sweaty pinches fail fast."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Beginne mit zwei 5-kg-Scheiben und steigere dich langsam.",
    "Kreide macht einen großen Unterschied – schwitzige Hände verlieren schnell den Griff."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Empieza con dos discos de 5 kg / 10 lb y ve aumentando.",
    "La magnesia en las manos marca una gran diferencia; con las manos sudadas el agarre falla rápido."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/plate-pinch-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/plate-pinch-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "plate-pinch");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.