Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 So gripsters, in your experiences, what have you found to be the average grip strength of the typical gym rats around your way! Have you ever challenged any to the most basic of grip feats? Maybe have shown them a captains of crush or two? What were your findings? I can tell you I brought a COC number one to a party and had 20 full grown men ranging from construction workers, plumbers to office workers..... not one of them could make those handles click! Let’s get this thread started! I’m very curious what you’ve seen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fist of Fury Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I've seen everything from COC#1 to COC#2 but never above that. Around 50 kg on the Rolling Thunder seems to be normal of what I've seen. One guy I tested could lift 65 kg. These were not strong gym folks, just average. All of them could close my #1 gripper, some not on the first attempt but after a few set of squats or deadlifts. I had a 75 year old try the Trainer once and he couldn't close it, he has never trained in his entire life and he also have problems with his heart. After I explained how he should set the gripper he was able to close it. I was more impressed with that than anything else actually considering his age and health condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dax Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 We had a WSM competitor at a gym I used to go to, he thought the CoC#2 was hard. Another guy (farmer type with only a few weeks! basic training under his belt) did a 'penny lift' of about 5kg which beat me hands down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 45 minutes ago, Old Dax said: We had a WSM competitor at a gym I used to go to, he thought the CoC#2 was hard. Another guy (farmer type with only a few weeks! basic training under his belt) did a 'penny lift' of about 5kg which beat me hands down! You cant beat farmers when it comes to lower arm strength! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStepien Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Well at my job, sometimes, I bring my COC 2 in. One of my managers is a gym rat, he is the closest to making the handles touch... Pretty much, all the guys try to close the 2... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 10 minutes ago, JStepien said: Well at my job, sometimes, I bring my COC 2 in. One of my managers is a gym rat, he is the closest to making the handles touch... Pretty much, all the guys try to close the 2... Have you had anyone succeed on the first try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvance Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Quote I'm an instructor so I get a lot of big groups of people. The best I've seen from a gym rat was a parallel #2 close after showing how to set. The vast majority cannot fully shut a LT#1, sadly. We use it as an incentive to cut their reps at PT. Rarely happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) 2 minutes ago, jvance said: I'm an instructor so I get a lot of big groups of people. The best I've seen from a gym rat was a parallel #2 close after showing how to set. The vast majority cannot fully shut a LT#1, sadly. We use it as an incentive to cut their reps at PT. Rarely happens... I was very surprised to how many people cannot close the number one man! And these guys I tested it on were blue-collar guys that work with their hands twisting wrenches or swinging hammers! Just goes to show you how specific every aspect of grip is! Just because you may be strong in one area of grip such as support grip, crush grip, does not mean you’re going to be good at everything such as pinch. It really is separated. I do fine though however, that strong pinch grip seems to have a lot of overflow into other areas. That thumb strength is the key..... of course not for crush.... but for other things Edited February 16, 2018 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Pizzo Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I've brought my grippers in to every place I've worked since 2004 and have had quite a few people close my #1...maybe 12 or 15...I've had 5 people close my #2 at work and one close my 2.5...no joke. The guy I lift with currently after work was stronger than me at several grip feats the first time he tried them including rolling handle deadlift, and wide pinch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 21 minutes ago, Frank Pizzo said: I've brought my grippers in to every place I've worked since 2004 and have had quite a few people close my #1...maybe 12 or 15...I've had 5 people close my #2 at work and one close my 2.5...no joke. The guy I lift with currently after work was stronger than me at several grip feats the first time he tried them including rolling handle deadlift, and wide pinch. Very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boulderbrew Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I have brought my grippers to the climbing gym, most were not able to close my GHP 6 that RGC 109....my brother was able to close my CoC 2.5 first try haha. I was shocked because he doesn’t lift weights, climb or anything. Crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I just started lifting with a guy at my gym who can bench press 420 lbs at 190 lb body weight (hes on the shorter side). I bring my grippers to the gym so he wanted to try. He missed my #2 the first time he tried but closed it right away when I taught him to set. He just closed my 119 GHP 5 after only his 3rd time touching them. I have a 10 lb jump after that in my collection though and he couldn't close the next one up. I tried showing him the other events for Nates comp (LBH, Blockcuster and hub) but he was interested in them. He particularly hated thick bar because he has small hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVE101 Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Most average sized gym rats seem to float around the CoC #1 level with a TNS, which is much better than I’ve found in the climbing gym. The V2 climbing gym bros smoke the v7 climbing light-weights at on-the-ground grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) I have taken my grippers on climbing trips and seldom have any climbers closed over a #1. It's pretty normal for my "working friends " to close my COC 1.5 and not at all unusual for them to close my #2 after being shown a little technique. I bought my first grippers maybe in 1999 or 2000 and closed the #1 and #2 first try having no idea what a set was. I am quite sure I could have close a 2.5 if they had existed then. By then I had been lifting for over 40 years, doing tree trimming and construction about that long, had been climbing for 16 years, and had been doing heavy wrist and finger curls for about that long as well. I swung a lot of big hammers tearing up concrete etc along the way too. Get your wrist curls up over 200# - your finger curls close to double bodyweight and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about a lot of grip feats. I'm a big believer in those two movements. Edited February 16, 2018 by climber511 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Climber028 Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 I have similar experiences with climbers and it's actually why I didn't start grip long ago. Around 2009 I bought some Heavy Grips grippers and was excited to get stronger, I brought them to the gym and our strongest climber couldn't even close the HG200. I figured that meant they were worthless and they sat in a shoe box for years. More recently, I had a guy at work close a GHP5 easily for several reps with no set, he was a metal fabricator most of his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gaisser Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 One of my brothers friends who was just a big guy naturally, really big bone structure about 6'4" 285 and less than 10% bodyfat, he barley shut my #2. No other person has ever closed my #1 and most all of them were really strong in the gym or did construction work. I closed my #2 first try with no weight training or knowledge on grippers almost 20 years ago. I was a very active kid outdoors climbing stuff all the time and started sheet metal work when I was 13 through adulthood cutting lots of 24ga and heavier metal with snips all day long as well as commercial roofing and believe that probably had my grip already built up very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Jack Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Brought mine to work once. All desk jobs. My carpool buddy barely closed the #1. Guy who works at desk next to him about 5'11 180# "cold" took my 2.5 down to about 10 mm. No set, no nothing. It was really impressive. Went to grip contest in Missouri in 2013 I think it was. Several of the local gym guys were checking out the grippers laying on the table and other equipment. One of the more frequent lifters who was a pretty big guy, probably 6'3 250-275 or so, picked up a #3 and basically no-set it with moderate effort. I am pretty sure Ben Edwards, or may have been another competitor, was standing there next to me and we both said the guy should cert the gripper first chance he gets but he was not interested. RGC on the gripper was mid 140's per my recollection. From what I've seen, I think most guys I've tested can close the .5 first time they tried but usually barely get the #1 or just miss it to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 In my experience the average athletic male can close the #1. We've had a number of CPW booths now at powerlifting meets and they can always do it. However it's much more common to have some powerlifting guy walk up and hub a 45 or pinch 2x35s on his first try than close the #2. Also in my experience of bringing grippers to work multiple times over the years, the average desk-jockey cube-dweller cannot close the #1. Trainer, almost always yes. I've seen three "average people" close the #2 on the first try with no training. My brother, a guy at work, and my Realtor. I've never personally witnessed anyone closing a #2.5 or higher without training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Kind of a side conversation, but are you ever out in public and you see some contractor in Home Depot or something with massive hands and you think "MAN I would love to see what he could do with grippers!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Juncker Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 My dad has worked construction his whole life, in addition to farming. He TNS closed a 2.5 and and got very close on an hg300. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Gaisser Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Cannon said: Kind of a side conversation, but are you ever out in public and you see some contractor in Home Depot or something with massive hands and you think "MAN I would love to see what he could do with grippers!" Went to church with an older guy who was 7'4" and I'm pretty sure around 500lb. His hands were so big you couldn't really call it shaking his hand he shook your hand. I remember the first time I shook his hand I wasn't even thinking about his hand size but I felt something odd and looked to notice that my fingers were straight and were not extending past his palm so I wasn't able to grasp anything. Felt really weird and humbling to say the least. No way possible the man could have gotten more than 3 fingers on a gripper but betting he wouldn't need the 4th anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Cannon said: Kind of a side conversation, but are you ever out in public and you see some contractor in Home Depot or something with massive hands and you think "MAN I would love to see what he could do with grippers!" Dude every time I see a working feller I wonder! Guys you see with brick fingers. I read somewhere of a guy who was a lumberjack… Who is extremely strong. He was shown some iron mind grippers and can close just about every iron mind gripper to the same width just not to the the end range… A lot of these guys have strength to a certain range, whatever there work stimulus provides them. The guy couldn’t even totally close a number one.... but was also able to close the other level grippers to the same measurement which was a hair from shut. I can’t remember who told me that or where I read it.... but that goes to show you how important full range movements are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Martin Gaisser said: Went to church with an older guy who was 7'4" and I'm pretty sure around 500lb. His hands were so big you couldn't really call it shaking his hand he shook your hand. I remember the first time I shook his hand I wasn't even thinking about his hand size but I felt something odd and looked to notice that my fingers were straight and were not extending past his palm so I wasn't able to grasp anything. Felt really weird and humbling to say the least. No way possible the man could have gotten more than 3 fingers on a gripper but betting he wouldn't need the 4th anyways. 7’4 and 500 pounds? Sounds like you’ve been going to church with kayfabe Andre the giant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Climber028 Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Martin Gaisser said: Went to church with an older guy who was 7'4" and I'm pretty sure around 500lb. I've seen him in church, he was in a painting with a short guy named David 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 3 minutes ago, Climber028 said: I've seen him in church, he was in a painting with a short guy named David Haha the nephilim giant GOLIATH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.