Hand Grippers & Hand Dynamometers

[Carlos F. Rivera Pagan]

Hello gripsters:

I have been always curious about the comparison of hand grippers & hand dynamometers, of how much you test on a hand dynamometer if you close any particular gripper. Some time ago I made a topic about how is going to be that when you calibrate a gripper e.g. #3 and goes like...152# and then you test your hand strenght in a dynamometer and you put around 185' something, I was like... I don't understand. But of course since we are dealing with a lever arm, where you put the strap of the calibrating machine on the gripper handle you will get a differnt poundage...more closer to the spring become more poundage to close it. But as I said, I have always been curios about where you are suppose to be on a dynamometer if you can close a particular gripper. I began to test people hand strenght and then give them differents grippers to close and began to recopilate some information. I choose people from my job and from my baseball team. I tested 35 people of ages from 19 to 43 years old, since I only have grippers from #1.5 to #4 I only give them to test their strenght from #1.5, but came up with interesting things.

People who close the #1.5 but not the #2 tested around 140-145 on the dynamometer.

Seven persons (all ballplayers) who close #2 but not the #2.5 came up with 155-160 in the dynamometer

Only two persons came really damn near to close the #2.5 (one of them a really good power hitter) I would say 3-5mm from closing it came up with 170...I would say that if they put something around 175 consitently they can close the #2.5

No one close the #3, only me and from this point I can only speak of myself and only use my experience numbers and suggested numbers for the #3.5 and #4.

For the number #3 when I was hitting consistently 185-190 on the dynamometer I was closing it from CCS the #3. As I said, this is only my number so it could be a little bit more o less for other people, since everybody has different types of hands sizes and differents types of setting the grippers on their hand. But that was my number.

On the #3.5 since I have only close it like 3 or 4 times I can only make here a suggestion, and I think that a person hitting consistenly on the dynamomter 215-220# can convincingly close the #3.5

In the #4 case, well...that's a little hard fellow, but in here the only thing that I can do is take the RGC calibrations average number of 214# and IM number from the middle of the handle 365# and make like a in between number to try to guess that a person hitting around 245-250# on a dynamometer can close the #4.

Don't take this as a rule of thumb and anything like it, this is just information that I recopilate from what I think of this particular theme. I open to hear differents perspectives, but this is just some information that people that don't have a dynamometer could use for there knowledge.

Hope you all enjoy.

[Geralt]

Interesting. Here's a link for youtube, Gabriel Sum, a German guy hits a RB dynamometer. He's not that far from closing the #4

and has very impressive gripstrength. Check his vids.

watch

[Carlos F. Rivera Pagan]

Interesting. Here's a link for youtube, Gabriel Sum, a German guy hits a RB dynamometer. He's not that far from closing the #4

and has very impressive gripstrength. Check his vids.

watch

Thanks for that vid Geralt!!...he has a really impressive hand strenght, and if I take that test of him as an example you will see that if he constantly hit the 111-114kg mark on that Dyno he probably can close the #4. Then the number that I suggest of 245-250 on a Dyno is not so far from reality.

[Jörmungandr]

Thanks for the info Carlos.

Quite fun actually, I wonder where I can get to try one of those dynamometers...

[Hubgeezer]

I think medical doctors use something called a Jamar.

The most popular one with grip people seems to be a hydraulic version of Baseline brand.

RB has one also.

I think all of the brands vary some.

Oldtimer on the Board, Dale Harder, probably has the most interesting collection of dyno readings of anyone there is. I will PM him and see if he is interested in sharing. His is a Baseline. I think he sells them, but I was able to shop around on the Internet to get one cheaper. You could probably find someone on the Gripboard willing to sell theirs if you ran something in the "wanted to buy" section.

The thing about Dyno readings is that there is not the "learning curve" that there is with grippers.

For whatever reason, on the Dyno, we tend to use "Kilograms" instead of "pounds", even Americans. My favorite Dyno story I ever heard was a discus thrower who had never done grip work was tested by Dale when he was throwing in my town in 2006. Jarred Rome, a big guy, squeezed something like 105 kg with one hand and 106 with the other. Never did any grip work.

My best on Dale's was 85 kg a few years back. I was about a 2.9 closer at the time, using a 1.75 inch set. Anyone who hits 100kg has my Mucho Respecto. To me, it is more than a 3.5 close.

I think I agree with just about everything Carlos said, except the last part about the Number 4 and the big numbers. There are so few people in that league that it almost becomes speculation...

[oldtimer]

Carlos, a very interesting thread. Unfortunately, the German guy's close on the dyno is not done properly--he has two hands on the dyno which adds considerable momentum. If you stop the tape and look you can see he even keeps his second hand on the dyno with the dial moving up. No doubt he has a strong grip but this is not the way you should do it. There's lots of literature on the correct way of testing by the makers of Baseline and Jamar which produce virtually identical results. Other dynos don't have quite the testing background. I have probably tested 300 or 400 athletes and generally speaking highland games athletes have the best grips as a group over others that I've tested. BTW I recommend Richard Barraban's Grip Master--it's a nice piece of equipment but it seems to me it was selling for about $400. Incidentally I do sell Baseline's and give 10% off to subscribers of my NL. Please note that there are huge differences in prices for the dynos you might see on EBAY. My favorite is the model 300 that goes to 127.5 kg (about 270 lb). You can buy a cheaper model that only goes to 100 kg but a real stud like David Brown could break it. Also if they're used you should have them recalibrated every 3 or 4 years unless they're treated very roughly. Incidentally the Baseline and Jamar are both hydraulic and RB's is a spring dyno so they will produce different kinds of readings. Also no bracing is allowed. Hope that helps. BTW David Brown did a true 122 kg on the Baseline --I saw him do it. He also easily did a #3 with either hand with a no-set squeeze of the gripper (BTW that #3 couldn't be closed by some other guys who won't be named here that had certified on a #3.) On that day I had David try a #4 but he couldn't close it--again it was a virgin #4 that belonged to a friend of mine. There is a strong correlation between the dyno and hand grippers but there are lots of variations in how you hold a gripper so that could cause some variation. Best wishes with your research.

[Gary Berenbroick]

Thanks for the info Carlos.

Quite fun actually, I wonder where I can get to try one of those dynamometers...

They are a few hundred dollars new. We were able to get one second hand for about a hundred by searching through medical supply companies. If you search ebay you will find some used ones and a whole bunch of cheap plastic ones for under ten dollars. They are not the same but better than nothing.

[Geralt]

Although not really practical, it would be a lot of fun to see some 'big' guys over here take their turn on the same dynamometer.

Would be very curious to see those results.

[BillEinstein]

At our Karate school, one of the instructors is very big on grip and other specific strengths. He regularily tests students using several types of dynamometers and also many different types of exercise grippers are used.

It's been noted that if you can pull 150 on a digital baseline, you can close an HG250. If you can pull 180 on the dyno then you can close a coc #3, rated 280 by the manufacturor. It goes on like all the way across, there's about a 100 pound spread between what's pulled with the dyno and what the gripper maker rates their grippers at.

On bigger grippers, when testing with the RGC method, there's a ratio of about 3 lbs. per millimeter added weight to close as you go from the very end of the handle closer towards the spring. Master Hays, the instructor previously mentioned, figured that out long ago and all the grippers at the school had their RGC measurements taken 1/2" from the end of the gripper's handle end, not the end. Doing it that way, the RGC closing weight of the gripper and the amount one is able to pull on a dynamometer are very very close.

[acorn]

The highest i've squeezed on my baseline is 116kg that was more than a year back when i was between the #3.5 and approaching easy #4 range. I rarely test on it as i find it has no functional training value.

Aaron

[Carlos F. Rivera Pagan]

I own a Baseline Dynamometer and other dynamometer just like this: Other Dynamometer

Usually the hidraulic Baseline reads 5-10 more pounds than the spring type one, by the way when I made the test I used both of them in the same person and the test came up with that difference. What I did was take an average of both test and came up with a pretty close number then. As Oldtimer says there's some variations base on how and where you put the gripper on your hand, by the way I can overcrush a filed #3 pretty good but if I TNS a not filed #3 I can barely close that #3, so where you put the gripper affects really much the performance, but the numbers that I took I told everybody to put the device and grippers in their particular "sweet spot" on the hand so the readings where pretty close at the real thing. Hope everybody is enjoyin this thread. That's the real purpose.

[Carlos F. Rivera Pagan]

The highest i've squeezed on my baseline is 116kg that was more than a year back when i was between the #3.5 and approaching easy #4 range. I rarely test on it as i find it has no functional training value.

Aaron

Hey Aaron that's a pretty scary reading!!!damn...that's the way you squeezed a Dynamometer. Why you never try to cert on the #3.5 CoC?

[acorn]

The highest i've squeezed on my baseline is 116kg that was more than a year back when i was between the #3.5 and approaching easy #4 range. I rarely test on it as i find it has no functional training value.

Aaron

Hey Aaron that's a pretty scary reading!!!damn...that's the way you squeezed a Dynamometer. Why you never try to cert on the #3.5 CoC?

Handsize issues with the CCS set make it retarded exercise for me. So I don't waste my time trying to hurt myself with it.

- Aaron

[Hubgeezer]

The highest i've squeezed on my baseline is 116kg ...

Aaron

Mucho Respecto

[steeve tremblay]

On 26/08/2010 at 10:45, Carlos F. Rivera Pagan said:

Bonjour les gripers:

J'ai toujours été curieux de comparer les préhenseurs à main et les dynamomètres à main, à savoir combien vous testez sur un dynamomètre à main si vous fermez un préhenseur en particulier. Il y a quelque temps, j'ai évoqué le sujet suivant: comment calibrer une pince, par exemple n ° 3, comme si ... 152 #, puis tester votre force de la main sur un dynamomètre et mettre environ 185 'quelque chose, j'étais comme ... je ne comprends pas. Mais bien sûr, étant donné qu’il s’agit d’un bras de levier, où vous placez la sangle de la machine à calibrer sur le manche de la pince, vous obtiendrez un autre kilo de plus ... plus près du printemps, plus il y a de kilos pour le fermer. Mais comme je l'ai dit, j'ai toujours été curieux de savoir où vous êtes supposé être sur un dynamomètre si vous pouvez fermer une pince particulière. J'ai commencé à tester la force des mains des personnes, puis à leur donner différentes pinces à fermer et j'ai commencé à recoiffer certaines informations. Je choisis des personnes de mon travail et de mon équipe de baseball. J'ai testé 35 personnes âgées de 19 à 43 ans, car je n'ai que des préhenseurs de n ° 1.5 à n ° 4, je ne leur donne que de tester leur force à partir de n ° 1.5, mais j'ai proposé des choses intéressantes.

Les personnes qui ferment le n ° 1.5 mais pas le n ° 2 ont testé environ 140-145 sur le dynamomètre.

Sept personnes (tous des joueurs de base-ball) qui ont fermé le n ° 2 mais pas le n ° 2.5 ont obtenu 155-160 au dynamomètre

Seules deux personnes sont vraiment près de fermer le n ° 2.5 (l'un d'entre eux est un très bon frappeur) Je dirais que 3 à 5 mm de la fermeture, il est arrivé à 170 ... Je dirais que s'ils placent quelque chose autour de 175 consenti, ils peut fermer le # 2.5

Personne ne ferme le n ° 3, seul moi et à partir de ce point, je ne peux que parler de moi-même et n'utiliser que mes numéros d'expérience et les chiffres suggérés pour les modèles 3.5 et 4.

En ce qui concerne le numéro 3, alors que je frappais systématiquement 185-190 sur le dynamomètre, je le fermais de CCS au numéro 3. Comme je l'ai dit, il ne s'agit que de mon numéro, ce qui pourrait être un peu plus pour d'autres personnes, car chaque personne a différents types de tailles de mains et différents types de réglages des pinces. Mais c'était mon numéro.

Sur le # 3.5, puisque je n’ai qu’à le fermer 3 ou 4 fois, je ne peux faire ici qu’une suggestion, et je pense qu’une personne qui frappe de façon consistante sur le dynamomètre 215-220 # peut fermer de manière convaincante le # 3.5.

Dans le cas n ° 4, eh bien ... c'est un peu dur, mais ici, la seule chose que je peux faire est de prendre le nombre moyen d'étalonnage RGC de 214 # et le numéro de messagerie instantanée du milieu de la poignée 365 # et de faire comme un nombre intermédiaire pour essayer de deviner qu'une personne frappant environ 245-250 # sur un dynamomètre peut fermer le # 4.

Ne prenez pas cela comme une règle de base et rien de ce genre, ce ne sont que des informations que je recopie à partir de ce que je pense de ce thème particulier. J'ouvre pour entendre différentes perspectives, mais ce ne sont là que quelques informations que les personnes qui n'ont pas de dynamomètre pourraient utiliser pour leurs connaissances.

J'espère que vous apprécierez tous.

 

[steeve tremblay]

 

I AM NOT ENTIRELY IN AGREEMENT WITH THESE FIGURES, I BELIEVE THAT IT DEPENDS ON THE DYNAMOMETER  BUT   THE NUMBER  SHOULD BE BELOW .. ITS MY OPINION

[Fist of Fury]

I always get a reading somewhere between manufacturer's rating and RGC rating on all dynamometers I've tried. So if my crush is 150 lbs RGC which is about 68 kg I usually get a dynamometer reading somewhere between 100-105 kg. Ironmind rates the #3 at 125 kg I think, so it's almost right in between those two numbers. This has been the case on all dynamometers I've tried.

Some exceptions can occur if you're technically good at closing grippers, then the numbers on the dynamo will be different, they might be much lower, since you're actually using a lot of technique on the gripper close but there's basically no technique involved in squeezing a dynamometer.

This is for parallel set. For TNS and CCS it might be totally different, I haven't tried to make a comparison like that.