Lasereth

I've been sitting at work for the past year using a handgrip (or gripper) I bought on Amazon for $1.50. A handgrip is this for those who don't know. You squeeze it and theoretically it becomes easier to close while your hand grip becomes stronger.

A few months ago I purchased an Ironmind Captains of Crush® gripper. Ironmind is an internationally known brand with grip athletes. Their grippers are the real deal and they offer various grippers depending on how strong you are.

I ordered the Guide model which is 60 pounds of resistance based on a coworker's recommendation. I found it very (too) easy so after a month or two of using it I ordered a No 1. model which is 140 pounds of resistance. Ok now this is hard.

It says on the Ironmind website that most people who lift weights on a weekly or daily basis can't close this gripper even once with their left or right hand and it is absolutely true.

I've asked approximately 20 people at work if they could close it and so far 4 people have been able to, with only 2 people being able to close it with each hand. It is really entertaining and a good conversation piece at work! Many people say closing the No. 1 is like trying to close a brick. Ha ha ha

I can close the No. 1 ten or eleven times in my right hand without repositioning it and three times with my left hand without repositioning.

The reason I claim this is because up until a year ago I had never worked out at the gym or taken strength training seriously and now I'm making some progress!! Huge guys at work with rippling forearms and awesome handshakes can't close this gripper and I can. Multiple times. Easily!!!!!

My brother has also got into it and can close the No. 1 more times than myself. I hope to move onto the No. 2 soon. It's great because the grippers are only $19.99 so if you "outgrow" a gripper quickly then it's not expensive to replace.

Only a few hundred of people in the world can close a No. 3 gripper and less than 10 can close a No. 4. Even closing the No. 2 is serious business (Few, if any people at any given gym would be able to close it). I'll post my progress in this thread!!

Anyone else have experience with Captains of Crush grippers?




http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/ope...nsofcrush.html

snowy

I don't have any experience with one, but I've thought about getting a gripper. My hands like to stay busy; I usually use Silly Putty, wax, or a stress ball to keep them entertained. I'd also like to have a stronger grip; right now it's pretty wimpy.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Willravel

I've got a pair of decent hand grips. I find they help, so long as I temper the training with decent piano practice so that I keep them limber and dexterous. Do it until you can pop a tennis ball with your bare hand.

lotsofmagnets

why do you need such a strong grip? masturbation lost the feeling? :s

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mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

Lasereth

1. A firm handshake makes an impression, and 2. better to have a strong hand grip than not, and 3. I sit at a computer desk all day long. Might as well, right!!

Glory's Sun

hell I can barely close a door..

Martian

Guitarists also use such tools to improve hand strength. I have a Gripmaster one kicking around here somewhere, but it's not enough resistance for me and was the biggest one I was able to find, so I just don't bother anymore.

The Gripmasters are kind of cool though, because they work on individual fingers instead of the hand as a whole, so the pinky can't slack off.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

snowy

In my case, it's part of my ninja training.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jinn

I guess I don't understand the desire to have a strong grip. I hate vice-grip handshakes, anyway.

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"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel

Lasereth

Uh oh do we have a limp fish in the house!?!?!?

Martian

Speed and precision in the hands is highly important to most musicians. Strength is a key part of that.

All manner of athletes also benefit.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Lasereth

Ok I just closed it 7 times in a row with my left hand. Shattered my old record of thrice. Sometimes progress with these things is amazing!

grumpyolddude

From 3 to 7 in less than 2 hours! Amazing!

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Giant Hamburger

uncle phil

i've got to see a picture of this...

__________________
"We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done."
- Robert S. McNamara
-----------------------------------------
"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
-----------------------------------------
never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

Redjake

I started with a cheapo hand grip from Wal-Mart - I used it for a solid year, every single day, my junior year of college. I quit after that for whatever reason, but recently I found the grip again and started using it at work. I got back up to my old strength pretty easily - I can close the cheapo one now for 3 or 4 minutes straight.

So Lasereth got me into the Ironmind Captains of Crush hype and I ordered the No. 1 hand grip. I couldn't close it even one time with my left hand, and I could close it 3 times in a row with my right hand.

6 weeks later, after spraining my hand (literally) and ending up with callouses all over my palm, I can close the No. 1 nearly 20 times in a row with my right hand and 3 times in a row with my left hand - no repositioning. Those pussies on youtube that close it, open it, reposition it and flex their hand, close it, open it, etc. are just cheating!!!!!!

Either way, veins are starting to bulge in my hands and they feel like cinderblocks now - my hands used to feel soft like a girl's hands (not just the smooth skin, but the muscles too) - now my hand feels like a wooden plank. It's pretty awesome. Also, the other day at Food Lion, I picked up a 12-pack of Diet Mountain Dew by gripping it around the side instead of using the punch-carrier slot and I remember it used to hurt a bit - now I could hold it all day. PROGRESS

__________________
Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

Redjake

Closed the No. 1 today 22 times with my right hand. I went ahead and ordered the No. 2. Things are getting serious!!!!!

__________________
Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

Baraka_Guru

Would these things remedy my toothpick forearms?

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—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Shauk

I don't get it.

Firm handshakes are supposed to be all "Alpha Male" attitudes, i get that, people are supposed to think you're dominant, someone strong to look up to in the business world when you have a monstrosity handshake.

You can have a business degree and know how to make the company bust in to the big league overnight but if you have a wimpy handshake, you'll never amount to anything.....



sounds like people have been reading too much Maxim

Jinn

Alright, fuck.. I just bought the "Sport" on Amazon. I'm at a computer 50 hours a day, why not.. I kinda wonder how I'm going to practice my right hand.. since it's the mouse hand..

__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel

JumpinJesus

imagine the throng of crushed ding-a-ling threads about to appear in sexuality.

__________________
"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

blahblah454

Just because you can crush someones hand into pulp doesnt mean you have too. Having a strong anything is always better than having a weak version of the same thing.

Just because my forearms are so large I can snap tree trunks in half just by showing them off doesn't mean I go and do it....

uncle phil

/me still wants to see a picture of willravel crushing a freaking tennis ball...

__________________
"We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done."
- Robert S. McNamara
-----------------------------------------
"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
-----------------------------------------
never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

JumpinJesus

You never will. Every time he picks up his poor digital camera to capture the event on film, his grip reduces his camera to dust. He's sobbed his way through 5 cameras so far.

__________________
"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

blahblah454

So if I wanted to see how strong my grip was before I go and blow 20 bucks on one where would I go about doing this? I don't want to order a 60 lb one and have it be freakishly easy. Or maybe even go out and get the 80lb one and not even be able to do it.

I have no idea what I would be able to do.

Tully Mars

Ever meet some guy that just has to crush your freaking hand when he shakes it? I always assumed this was making up for "short" comings elsewhere. I've found by placing the tip of my index finger in the middle of other persons wrist it makes it nearly impossible for the other guy to cause you any pain. It keeps your knuckles out of line and thus can't be pressured.

On the topic at "hand" I found my right hand much stronger then my left so I started buying thicker magazines.

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canuckguy

Good for you Lasereth for working out while you work!


Not sure where he mentioned anywhere that he would be purposely or indirectly crushing hands...



I work out while at my desk with free weights and we do push ups at certain intervals. My manager calls it "peacock alley" as we pump up. One dude even did pull ups off a rafter in our exposed ceiling lol. And yes it is a professional office (whatever that means), we just like to have fun!

/end thread jack

Tully Mars

My comment about hand crushing wasn't directed at the OP, sorry if I wasn't completely clear about that.

__________________
I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

Redjake

If you haven't ever trained or used any sort of hand grip before, I would start with 80 lbs of resistance. If you've used a hand grip, ever, for an extended period of time, I'd jump right into the Trainer or the No. 1. See below - Ironmind offers the following:

Guide @ 60 lb.
Sport @ 80 lb.
Trainer @ 100 lb.
No. 1 @ 140 lb.
No. 2 @ 195 lb.
No. 3 @ 280 lb.
No. 4 @ 365 lb.

I use the No. 1. Not one person at my job can close it, tested around 10-15 people. I can close it 22 times with my right hand, but have been training for 6 weeks, and used a 60ish lb. one for about a year in college. My No. 2 is on the way!

__________________
Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

blahblah454

Just went to order one... 11 dollars shipping. I don't think I want to spend 31 bucks on this. Or is it actually worth it?

RetroGunslinger

Hooray for EBAY!!

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Redjake

Make sure you get an authentic one! There are numerous knock-offs that are easier to close than the real thing.

__________________
Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

Lasereth

Do you use a handgripper on a daily basis or have you in the past? Even a wal-mart gripper or one from the dollar store?

If you have I would start off with the Sport or Trainer. If not, you may want to start with the Guide even though I find it way too easy. If you go to the gym a lot and think you have pretty decent grip stength you could start off with the No. 1 but expect some trouble. I closed the No. 1 with each hand the first day I tried it but I had been using a Guide for over a year.

Hell yeah we do that at work also. Once a day (sometimes twice a day) a coworker and myself do 20 pushups, freeweights, benchpress, and other miscellaneous resistance training in the gym at work. Just enough to make a difference but not enough to sweat. If the people at work can do their 15 minute smoke break every 2 hours then I will work out for 15 minutes!!

BTW these Captains of Crush grippers really get some conversations going at work. So far 6 out of 25 people have been able to close my No 1. Only three people have been able to do it with the left hand (myself included).

Redlemon

What is a grip athlete? What sort of categories of competition do they have?

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I can't read your signature. Sorry.

Lasereth

When I say grip athlete, I really meant athletes who want to improve their grip. Many athletes and trainers believe that we are capable of lifting more weight than usual, it's just grip strength that is holding us back. If your grip can't keep up with the rest of your muscles then you will be bottlenecked by your grip strength.

I do know that there are competitions where you do bar-bending, hold weights as long as you can, etc. I don't know a lot about them but they do exist.

ratbastid

Climbers often work to strengthen their grip.

Redlemon

Thanks Lasereth, that makes more sense.

__________________
I can't read your signature. Sorry.

canuckguy

sorry did not mean you directly just at the thread in general

uncle phil

__________________
"We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done."
- Robert S. McNamara
-----------------------------------------
"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
-----------------------------------------
never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

Lasereth

Redjake's No. 2 gripper should come in today. I think there is approximately a 25% chance he can close it but he believes it is much higher. Place your bets!

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert