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Tom Black


Guest simon lodge

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Guest simon lodge

Hi Tom

Iv been reading about you routine on the grippers on the grippage, do you find that it makes that much of a difference in filing the ends of of each handle. as iv filed it of the inner and its made it a lot harder to close, iv taken about 3/8 of the inside of each handle, iv also just started to train with the BBM and mine feels like it is closer to my # 3 iv got it down to about 1/4 of an inch away.

simon

(Edited by simon lodge at 8:55 pm on Sep. 19, 2001)

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I was going to ask Tom a few questions about modifying the grippers but this post seems to be appropriate. I too am modifying my #2. The handles are now 3 1/2 inch. My #2 no longer exists. I now have a very tough gripper (something like a 2.7). However, I can close it easyly and hold it closed for over 10 seconds. I want to make this gripper tougher, so it will be as close as possible to the #3, but I wonder where I have to stop.

In your toughts Tom, what is the maximum you can file on a gripper handle without risking to break it ?

I'd like to shorten the handles to 3 inches. Do you think it is safe ?

Thanks for your answers and for showing us a great way to improve our crushing strength.

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Simon,

    The way you are modifying your grippers is not the same modification that I am doing.  Filing the inside edge of the handle increases the range of motion of the handles and those who have done it report that it does make the gripper harder, but that the spring fatigues quicker with this modification.  After a month or two of training on the gripper it may feel no different in strength than it was originally.  Torsion springs are not designed to be compressed even to the normal closing distance of a gripper, that is why they season the way they do.  With your modification the spring just can’t handle the extra movement.

  Tou,

      The standard handle length is 3.75", thus you have taken off ¼”.  This is basically how much farther the Master spring is set into the handle compared to the IM grippers.  If the Master wasn’t set to a larger angle than the IM then your modified #2 would be the same as a Master, thus you may have to take a little bit more off for it to be the same strength as a Master.  Of course not all #2’s and Master’s start out equally so think of this as the “average” #2 or Master.

    I found my modified #2 to be a little stronger than my Master at –5/16”, however, this #2 gripper was fairly hard to close compared to two other #2’s that I had so I think that most new #2’s with –5/16” cut off would equal the Master.  Now an interesting thing about this modification kicks in at around –5/16”.  As you cut more off the range of motion also increases, but at a much more subtle rate than the modification that Simon mentions.  Thus, my –3/8” #2 that I made seemed to jump up more in strength than I expected.  Still, the extra range of motion is fairly small, around 1/16” more movement with 3/8” cut off.  To check this for yourself, take a trainer, close it, and examine the distance between the handles at 3/8” up and this is the amount that would be traversed if you cut off the handle to that point.  I don’t think –1/2” would be dangerous, but I think taking off –3/4” might be too much.  

   As far as getting as close as possible to the #3, I’ve wanted to do this as well, but I’m still not sure if it is necessary.  3Crusher mentioned to me that he did 4 reps on his Master the week before he first closed the #3.  Thus, if you have a gripper stronger than the Master then it stands to reason that you could focus on getting 2-3 good reps on this and then you would be ready to bridge the gap between this gripper and the #3.  Also, once you can close the #3 it will be handy to have a “2.7” gripper as a warm-up.  

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Thanks for your reply Tom. I'm going to file my modified #2 to 3 1/4  inches handles. Then I'll shoot for 2-3 reps with it.

Keep giving us such bright ideas.

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  Tou, I highly recommend that you err on the side of caution and don't take the full amount off all at once.  Take a 1/16" off and attempt the close.  Keep going until you can barely touch the handles.  This may take a few months, weeks, days or minutes, depending on how easy the gripper with -1/4" is to close.  My newest modified #2 has –3/8” cut off, but of course I used the other modified #2 to progress to that point.  If I had simply cut off 3/8” from this gripper 6 months ago I would not have been able to close it and I don’t think it would have been as effective to train with it.  

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Guest simon lodge

Hi Tom

Thank's for your reply, i found it very interesting it seems your way would of been better than the way iv done mine. wile speaking to Joe kinney he said that it would add a few pounds to the strenght but doing it the other way will make you have to over crush it which would help me more to get to IM 3, HELP i think i will just stay with my BBM and keep quite.

simon

(Edited by simon lodge at 7:07 am on Sep. 20, 2001)

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Tom

I cut my handles to 3 1/8. I was shooting for 3 1/4 but my hack saw is not very precise. I filed the bottom of the handles to make them cleaner. Then I chalked my hands and grabbed the gripper. I closed it with my right but came 1/8 short with the left. I still feel that my #3 is a lot harder, even tough I came very close to close it recently.

I consider to get a BBM and file the handles 1/16 at a time, progressively. Is it a good money investment ?

Again, thanks for your reply !

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