Pinching And Thickbar

[Rob928]

Hey all. I read clay's post on the "What can you do with grippers that you can't do with thickbar and pinching?" I was wanting to get your thoughts on certain feats of strength that you might not even need grippers for. I don't know for sure if there are any people out there that can lift the blob and MDB and not close the number 3. Or are there? And are there people that can close the 3 (say a hard one) consistently for reps, and not come near the blob or the MDB? Could one train only pinch and thickbar and burst a beer can? Or can one only close a 3 or 4 with no pinch or thickbar burst one? I'm not looking for any really set facts, because I think questions like these are a bit hard to gauge to any true specific answer. Just some examples and opinions. I'm no gripmaster, but I love gripping and pinching and everything grip. So after a workout (grippers or pinching) I sometimes wonder which is better for overall handstrength. Total and undeniable handstrength. Is it the pure crush of the grippers that gives my hand the strength I feel when I shake a hand? Or is it the blocks and the thickbar that do it? They seem to make my thumbpad bigger and sturdier for the grippers, anyway, but I was wondering. Through all the pros and cons and benefits of each...pinching (and thickbar) vs. grippers...which is better for your overall hand strength?

Rob

[rying]

If I could just do one hand exercise, it wouldn't be grippers (probably pinch or thickbar). Still, I think they should be a foundation of a good grip program. The other static lifts won't transfer well to the full-range, dynamic finger strength that grippers provide. This will provide a good base for whatever other feats you want to attempt, as long as the thumb isn't neglected.

Clay didn't think the grippers transferred well to the functional arena, yet he is a gripper destroyer! Most of the other all-around grip monsters spent alot of time specializing on grippers first, and I think this allowed them to progress through the other feats much faster.

I would love to hear of counterexamples--people who excel at a wide variety of grip feats who've done little or no crushing work. I think someone who doesn't do crush work would need alot more exercises and time spent to achieve the same end result.

[nickr104]

I have found lots of carry over from a al around grip workout not using grippers much at all. I could lift the blob way before I could come close to shutting a 3. If you really want to progress faster on grippers tho you really need to train them specifically with a all around grip work out. I didn't really care much about them is why I never trained them. I tried to close a sm one day and did so I added grippers once a week into my workout and now i am closing 3s If you give yourself a good strong base first I think you can get alot further with less injury.

[Mikael Siversson]

I doubt pinch is any better than grippers for "real world" hand strength.

From what I have heard, Dave Morton has a handshake from hell and he is far better with grippers than he is in pinching (and perhaps also thickbars).

[TelegraphKey]

Obviously I'm a noob, and only recently got into hand strengthening. I think I am relatively better at pinch grip than the other kinds. I have a love/hate thing for grippers, but I'm convinced, simply by looking at my arm when I close a gripper, that grippers probably work the "core" or more muscles in the forearms than anything else.

[austinslater]

I thin there is more of a carryover from pinch as the thumb is usually the weak link on most peoples grip. Since working on my thumb alot of tasks have become easier. I do like grippers though and have noticed a a carryover to alot of things from armwrestling, grappling etc.

I had a buddy increase his sweep strength a ton from thick bar work so if a guy just did pinch and thick bar I think he would see a substantial increase in his gripper strength once he got used to the movement. Thick bar would probably be my first choice if I could only use 1 grip implement. Just my 2 cents.

p.s. Ask Doc how his gripper strength was after focusing on all types of other grip work . . .

[Mikael Siversson]

I know of a guy that pinches about 240lbs but is still struggling with a #2 gripper.

In the RT he pulls about 260lbs.

I agree though that pinch and thick bar adds to gripper strength.

[supermagnamon]

I know of a guy that pinches about 240lbs but is still struggling with a #2 gripper.

In the RT he pulls about 260lbs.

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that's crazy. an RT of 260lbs and not crush a #2, man that's weird.

[Sean Dockery]

Hey all. I read clay's post on the "What can you do with grippers that you can't do with thickbar and pinching?" I was wanting to get your thoughts on certain feats of strength that you might not even need grippers for. I don't know for sure if there are any people out there that can lift the blob and MDB and not close the number 3. Or are there?

Yes. Nick and myself are two people who could lift the Blob for quite a while and could not close a #3.

And are there people that can close the 3 (say a hard one) consistently for reps, and not come near the blob or the MDB?

Yes. I believe Ben Edwards can close gripper quite a bit harder than the mythical "average" #3 and he can't lift the Blob yet.

Could one train only pinch and thickbar and burst a beer can? Or can one only close a 3 or 4 with no pinch or thickbar burst one?

The only person I've ever seen (in person or on video) who burst a beer can with only handstrength was Joe Kinney. Every one else I've seen has used chest crush or thigh crush to burst the can. From all the stories Joe had phenomenal grip strength in every aspect.

I'm not looking for any really set facts, because I think questions like these are a bit hard to gauge to any true specific answer. Just some examples and opinions. I'm no gripmaster, but I love gripping and pinching and everything grip. So after a workout (grippers or pinching) I sometimes wonder which is better for overall handstrength. Total and undeniable handstrength. Is it the pure crush of the grippers that gives my hand the strength I feel when I shake a hand? Or is it the blocks and the thickbar that do it? They seem to make my thumbpad bigger and sturdier for the grippers, anyway, but I was wondering. Through all the pros and cons and benefits of each...pinching (and thickbar) vs. grippers...which is better for your overall hand strength?

Rob

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This is a great thing to be asking yourself. Keep thinking and experimenting like this and you're sure to reach your goals. I've done some experimentation on myself and found that working hard at pinch, thickbar, and wrist strength helped my gripper strength quite a bit. I've never found my gripper work to really carry over the other direction much (as you've said this isn't an absolute science that's just what I found).

An often overlooked facet of this question is, what do I enjoy doing? For me, the answer is pinch, thickbar and wrist work. I enjoy my workouts much more when I am working these aspects hard and don't train grippers.

On the question of overall handstrength, I believe that Pinch and Thickbar are the answer. Reason.....they work your entire hand everytime you do the lift.

There's my 1/50 of a dollar....