Fat Gripz Extreme Do Dl Comparable To Axle Or No?

[Durrs]

I can't afford an Apollo axle or similar bar right now so I ordered some Fat Gripz extreme and will use them on my reg oly powerbar.. will I get the same training effect? Anyone used both and can compare? The Fat gripz extremes are .75 inch bigger in diameter than apollos axle but the axle doesn't rotate so does that make it harder to DL on? Thanks.

[Stephen Ruby]

The non roation makes it easier

You will lif a lot less with the extreme handles. You would lift less even with the regular size handles. Both should have some carryover though an I think diesel crew does some great videos on reviews on both.

[Tom Scibelli]

I recommend buying a 2" fence post from home depot, should run you about $15.

[Geralt]

I have no reference for apollo axle but I like the Fatgripz Extreme very much! Did a one hand lift with a 62,7 kg/138 lbs dumbbell with FG Extreme last week and that's without even focusing in training on thickbar. I think it will definitely help building open handstrength. I have deadlifted with them and it demolishes your hands. Anything thinner will be feeling much more easy. Of course handsize plays a role, if you have smaller sized hands I think the regular fatgripz will be more suitable. The orange ones are THICK.

I also have a scaffold bar which I use for thickbar. I have put a regular bar through it and fixed it with bolts.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Geralt

[Durrs]

Great Idea on the fence post haha..

[Durrs]

The non roation makes it easier

You will lif a lot less with the extreme handles. You would lift less even with the regular size handles. Both should have some carryover though an I think diesel crew does some great videos on reviews on both.

Good to know the rotation on a reg bar makes it harder..

[Mike Sharkey]

I really didn't like FatGripz. For me it had a very different feel than the actual axle. Tom's right, for under 50 bucks you can make a homemade axle.

[jvance]

They are two completely different animals but they both are beneficial. I would get regular FGs if you wanna work the axle diameter. The extremes are closer to 3" which will help if you're training for the Inch dumbbell. Reg FGs come in at 2.25 diameter so a tad bigger than an axle but also have a slight squeezy feel whereas the axle I try to lock my hands into a cup position. Much different feels but I make a point to work both.

From the rack I can hold 410 on my non IM axle, but only 370 on the fats... There's roughly a 30-50lb difference in max weights.. The extremes would be probably much less, probably under 300 so not even close

[Durrs]

They are two completely different animals but they both are beneficial. I would get regular FGs if you wanna work the axle diameter. The extremes are closer to 3" which will help if you're training for the Inch dumbbell. Reg FGs come in at 2.25 diameter so a tad bigger than an axle but also have a slight squeezy feel whereas the axle I try to lock my hands into a cup position. Much different feels but I make a point to work both.

From the rack I can hold 410 on my non IM axle, but only 370 on the fats... There's roughly a 30-50lb difference in max weights.. The extremes would be probably much less, probably under 300 so not even close

Wow.. very interesting that there is that much of a difference. I'm hoping for carryover to the RT so I'm going to try one arm db deadlifts as well as rack holds also. Thx for the input.

[David Mitti]

Obviously work with what you got at the time and work it hard..

My experience was a 265# pull with the(Regular) fat grips and the first time I tried an axle managed 297#..

Like everyone says,it's a totally different beast just like most all grip feats are...

Edited May 9, 2014 by David Mitti

[Electron]

A good ballpark figure I want to throw out:

Most people can pull between 85-90% of their Axle on the standard 2.2" Fat gripz and manus grips.

I've tested this a good amount of times and see very, very few deviations.

[Josh O'Dell]

Im using a fence post axle to train with.

Works fine

[bwwm]

As folks said, fence post is good to start off with. I've heard some folks getting some warpage or slight bending with the heavier weights, if you're going to do mixed grip lifting with it too. You can also do 1.9" OD water pipe. I have made 3 or 4 dumbbells that way. I have found muffler clamps work really well for collars. I use them on my overhead pressing dumbbells, they are that secure. You can use the muffler clamps for inner collars and woodworking spring clamps for outer collars for deadlifting.

I have a 75# solid Cold Rolled Steel 2" OD bar that I bought for my axle. I love it, but alas, it can't be used for official WR attempts, etc. in the NAGS lists. It is also a bit pricey, and quite frankly a solid bar is unnecessary, but I still love it.

[FJM]

My experience tels something like this.

FG extreme: about 90kg

FG: about 120kg

Axle: Maybe 140kg? I dont know, 130kg felt easy.

I can recommend doing cleans with thick bar in addition to deadlifts.

[Geralt]

In the end it's just what you want to spend. People buy an inch dumbbell, lift it a few times and then it starts to gather dust back in the garage. In that perspective these things are a lot more versatile and they will last longer. I have homemade stuff and like I said the FG's Extr.

The ideal of the latter is that you can also take them with you when you go to a regular fitness. They are easy to put on and give the hands a serious challenge. Always working the same thickbar is nothing wrong with but when you need to lift something with a bigger diameter that would stop you in your tracks. That's why I love using different stuff in different sizes.

That said, I have a dipping/pullup station at home and it's much more comfortable for the hands and even arms to put the FG's over the handles. Same with benching sometimes.

I would say if you want to lift barbells, you could better save the money and make your own thickbar from whatever material mentioned above. FG's make handpositioning a bit harder when put on a barbell. However if you would like to change up training now and than and do also one handed dumbbell lifts etc, the FG's will work very good.

[Anthony C.]

One thing i have to say...be careful with the fg's...they make my tendonitis flare like a mother. I try to only use them on deadlifts or pull ups

[Durrs]

In the end it's just what you want to spend. People buy an inch dumbbell, lift it a few times and then it starts to gather dust back in the garage. In that perspective these things are a lot more versatile and they will last longer. I have homemade stuff and like I said the FG's Extr.

The ideal of the latter is that you can also take them with you when you go to a regular fitness. They are easy to put on and give the hands a serious challenge. Always working the same thickbar is nothing wrong with but when you need to lift something with a bigger diameter that would stop you in your tracks. That's why I love using different stuff in different sizes.

That said, I have a dipping/pullup station at home and it's much more comfortable for the hands and even arms to put the FG's over the handles. Same with benching sometimes.

I would say if you want to lift barbells, you could better save the money and make your own thickbar from whatever material mentioned above. FG's make handpositioning a bit harder when put on a barbell. However if you would like to change up training now and than and do also one handed dumbbell lifts etc, the FG's will work very good.

I'm gonna max out with them on sunday and see where I stand (they get delivered tomorrow) do you think that 138# one arm DB DL you did w/fat gripz extreme is equal to or easier/harder than an inch db?

One thing i have to say...be careful with the fg's...they make my tendonitis flare like a mother. I try to only use them on deadlifts or pull ups

Thx for the heads up bud. I have a tennis elbow thing that pops up every 6 months so i'll def be careful.

[Geralt]

In the end it's just what you want to spend. People buy an inch dumbbell, lift it a few times and then it starts to gather dust back in the garage. In that perspective these things are a lot more versatile and they will last longer. I have homemade stuff and like I said the FG's Extr.

The ideal of the latter is that you can also take them with you when you go to a regular fitness. They are easy to put on and give the hands a serious challenge. Always working the same thickbar is nothing wrong with but when you need to lift something with a bigger diameter that would stop you in your tracks. That's why I love using different stuff in different sizes.

That said, I have a dipping/pullup station at home and it's much more comfortable for the hands and even arms to put the FG's over the handles. Same with benching sometimes.

I would say if you want to lift barbells, you could better save the money and make your own thickbar from whatever material mentioned above. FG's make handpositioning a bit harder when put on a barbell. However if you would like to change up training now and than and do also one handed dumbbell lifts etc, the FG's will work very good.

I'm gonna max out with them on sunday and see where I stand (they get delivered tomorrow) do you think that 138# one arm DB DL you did w/fat gripz extreme is equal to or easier/harder than an inch db?

One thing i have to say...be careful with the fg's...they make my tendonitis flare like a mother. I try to only use them on deadlifts or pull ups

Thx for the heads up bud. I have a tennis elbow thing that pops up every 6 months so i'll def be careful.

I can't tell since I've never seen or touched one in real-life...which is a shame really haha However, I think that I definitely at least can get air under it. I have also never focused on thickbar so with a good training I think I could lift more weight. TIme will tell. I started griptraining in the wrong order with grippers first. Thickbar works the hands very good, specially when used in different diameters. Enjoy your Fatgripz!