Guest hands4god Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 a few weeks ago i took my CoC's to a max muscle store. i walked in to ask if they carried grip tools. after showing me a grip tool that i thought was used to strengthen a newborn baby's grip, i showed him my CoC's! this man was built,..ripped, and tanned. he had the look of a bodybuilder. he wore the muscle max shirt, he did the tanning booth every day, he lifted and ate the protien! not that theese things are bad, but, when given the trainer, his muscle man (look) came up short in the man hand department! when given the #1 he couldn't get it beyond 1/2 way! what sticks in my mind the most, is when he said, " man i thought i was strong"! thats the very thing that motivates me! i not only want to look strong,.but when given the oppertunity to proove it, want to succeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RobbyTooSlobby Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Thats funny. Very interesting too. I saw a guy when i was with my friends that was HUGE and he had really big forearms too. He had the physique of a body builder. With forearms like this guys i would expect him to at least be able to close the 2. How big were this guys forearms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hands4god Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 im not sure how big they were! i due know that tey were good size. LOL they were shaved,..and they looked so ripped! my piont was though the way they looked you would have thought his grip would be there! well it's true, big forearms dont mean stong grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Say Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 I think that's typical. Nobody would expect a little guy to have really strong hands either. Hand strength is probably the most deceptive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest StrongerthanArne Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 To bodubuilders defence, I must admit that some of them have a strong grip even if they don't train it like we do. A large bb with no previous grip training had a first go at a gripper at my local gym. It was a 399 ip PDA (a bit weaker than my #3 but much much tougher than the hardest #2 I have tried). He put it in his hand and closed it SLOWLY until the handles were only around 3-4 mm from touching. Another very good (and drug free!) bb got Arne's #3 down to about 10 mm on his first go. He does a lot of wrist curls though. On the other hand, I have seen big bb not being able to get the handles of a #2 past parallel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimwylie1 Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 A few months ago a large gym chain called Fitness First had set up a stall at work. They were testing body fat, giving advice etc but ultimately trying to sign up new members to their direct debit scheme. I happened to have a #2 gripper with me so I decided to have a bit of fun with one of the trainers. He sounds exactly like the guy from the max muscle store. I asked him if they did any grip training at his gym and if had heard of the CoC grippers. He claimed he knew all about them so I thought it was an ideal opportunity to lay down the challenge as there was quite a crowd gathering around. I asked him to try the #2. After about 10 tries he gave up and handed it back claiming that 'that's a tough one!' He then asked me why I was using the grippers and asked me if I had a ‘particularly weak grip’. I said 'actually is relatively powerful!' and proceeded to close the gripper in front of him before walking off to get my lunch, much to the amusement of my fellow workmates. All a little childish…funny though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Youngguy Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Well guys here is my opinion and facts mix together. It never maters how big you are or how much muscle your warring. The only thing that should matter is well you can use that muscle, and how developed your tendons are. Density also plays a roll in bigness compared to non-bigness. If you study how a body builder's workout routine is compared to a strong man's routine, you would see a huge difference. I believe when you do more heaver weights for lower reps it builds stress on your tendons, and causes them to scar along with muscle scaring. Meaning the tendon will repair over thicker, but just enough to bare out that stress you once had befor any scaring. In this form of workout generally you have to rest longer, but then there are body builders who work it out every day. Isn't this obvious? Well this is how I think it might work so I don't know for sure if I am right or wrong, but to me it sounds pretty accurate. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 One of my good friends just won a big natural bodybuilding show in Pittsburgh Saturday. He is in super shape and is ripped to the bone-weighing in at about 190. I have handed him the #1 on many occasions just to watch him struggle with it . Then I close it wih 2 fingers! I dont think the COCs are somehting you can just grab and destroy-no matter how large you are-unless you train on them. With some training, I am sure he could get the #2 in a few months. Rick Walker :hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 Recently, I had an e-mail conversation with probably the BIGGEST, BADDEST and STRONGEST bodybuilders on the face of the Earth! I'm talking about Greg Kovacs. I asked him about grip strength, and if he was into it. He told me that he once tried to close the #2 someone gave him at a seminar he was at, and that he couldn't close it! Gee whiz.... I can slam shut my #2 and HOLD it closed 'till the cows came home!! :p What I'm saying is that these guys ARE strong! But.... they are NOT grip strong. Why? Because they don't train their grip, that's why. Having muscle is great; whether that muscle is strong or not remains to been seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 The kind of action used to close a gripper is not found much in life or any kind of exercise. Maybe heavy shearing or scissor work might duplicate the movement. Grippers are fun, but the strength built by them is not that useful. All around grip wrist hand and forearm work is more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 I agree with having an all-around powerful grip. The grippers are fun, but the movement is specialized. My grip routine has a lot of variety and I often get discouraged because I can't do all that I want because of time or overworking the area. I compete in powerlifting and there are some monsters of strength in the three lifts at my gym, but since they don't practice the grippers (most of them don't) they won't have a good crushing grip. Even though I do static holds in the deadlift, this doesn't seem to help my crushing grip strength at all. I have to use the grippers for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 I respectfully disagree with the comment that the COC grippers, or any grippers for that matter, don't really build functional strength. I work in a jail as a Deputy Sheriff. I am on a cell extraction team (a team of guys who gear up in riot suits, and "extract" usually combative people from their cells). I have grabbed a few people in the course of my duties, and they have ALWAYS remembered that experience. I attribute it to the steady training on the grippers. (I can close the #2 easily both hands) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 As I said in my previous post, I work in a jail. In the course of two years, I've brought my Trainer, #1, and #2 to work almost every day. I've encouraged everyone (inmates included) who is interested to try their hand. I've even kept an unofficial tally over the years. The Trainer is closed by about 90% of the guys who tried it. The #1 is closed by about 25% of the guys who tried it. The #2 has been closed a total of 4 times, out of approximately 300-400 people attempting it. Of those 4, only once was the #2 closed on the first attempt. That was done by a man (fellow officer) who didn't even work grip, unless you count 300+ power cleans as grip work. Of course he also weighed 270. But still, very impressive. One of the successful closings of the #2 was done by a 160 pound man (construction worker). The average amount of attempts before successful closings was about 20-30. Average weight of the men who closed the #2, about 235 pounds. All very fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Say Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 I'm finding it easier to hold onto the bar deadlifting & i think it was the gripper training. To get good on the grippers, they have to be set right, but I find that the strength built from gripper use carries over to other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 That's interesting Nathan. Even when my other grip lifts increase, things like pinch lift, TTK, plate curls, etc., this has no effect on my crushing grip. Only when I work the #### out of my crush does it increase. It's probably individual genetics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 Oldguy.... shame, shame, shame on you!! I built my functional grip strength on the grippers! To close a real tough gripper (like the #3), you do need help - and I got that help through the use of a plate-loaded grip machine. Grippers CAN build functional strength. That's what they are designed for. At least, that's what I use mine for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Old Guy Posted April 10, 2002 Share Posted April 10, 2002 I love these stories! I teach 5th grade and occasionally bring the trainer and #1 to school with me. Each time at the start of the year when I have a "tough guy" -- kind of a funny term when they are ten and weigh 80 pounds -- I give him a gripper and challenge him to close it. When they try and it does not move at all, I tell them that it is okay to start! Then I razz them about being a tough guy. The funny thing is -- the tough guys stop trying to show that they are so tough (i.e., bully other kids) and they suddenly listen to me. Grippers work for all kinds of things. This year, I have a kid who tried to close the trainer with his right hand. He closed it about halfway -- at ten years of age. I told him that he was pretty strong and he said "Let me try it with my strong hand!" He then closed the trainer about 3/4 of the way with his left, and dominant, hand. This kid is a bull ( 5'3" and 200 pounds) with wrists as thick as my ankles and he also is as kind and gentle as we would hope all strong men and strong men-to-be are. That's it for me. The strength is coming back really nicely, especially the grip. I came within a scrunch of closing the #2 two days ago without any warmup and not too much training. That is close to what I could do before my long layoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TDOGRPAGE Posted April 10, 2002 Share Posted April 10, 2002 5'3" 200 pounds in 5th grade?! The kid is probably a cool guy and nothing against him at all. But it sounds like he probably needs to seriously work on losing weight for his health. Especiall at that age. I lost almost 80 pounds and trust me, it was worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcat 74 Posted April 10, 2002 Share Posted April 10, 2002 I had a 5'5' 175lber in the 4th grade. He had some baby fat, but he was just freakin' BIG....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted April 10, 2002 Share Posted April 10, 2002 Tell that kid to get in the gym and start training!! :p :p Seriously, some kids are just.... FRIGGIN' BIG! If he's serious about getting strong, tell him about lifting weights, and before he does that, he might have to go to a local doctor for a physical exam (to make sure everything's o.k.). My niece is big for her age. She's the biggest kid in her class (she's in third grade now). I keep asking her about entering the NFL. Not only is she big for her age, she's strong, too. Surprisingly, my other niece is the one that is really strong. She's real interested in grip training, since she gave my Trainer a ride a while back. No, she didn't close it - but it was fun watching her struggle to try to close it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted April 11, 2002 Share Posted April 11, 2002 The function of strength built by training with grippers is to be able to close grippers. What else is it good for? Does gripper training help your deadlifting? does it increase your ability on thick handled bars or pinch gripping ? Grippers do not work the thumb much. In other grip related work you need a strong thumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nards Posted April 11, 2002 Share Posted April 11, 2002 ??? I may be one of your "Big but weak-handed" guys. My forearms are rather large,maybe 11' around the belly,and the extensors are quite defined,but I can only close the #1 about 5 times at best. I've had it for 3 months too! I have a #2 but haven't even bothered to take it out of the package yet. I also must say it's not exactly fair though to present someone who is untrained with a #2 an expect them to close it,and think it's cool that you can close it easily...I mean how long have you been training with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul valpreda Posted April 11, 2002 Share Posted April 11, 2002 OldGuy, I agree with you. Grippers only improve your crushing grip without the use of your thumb. It's a very specialized movement! No matter what else I do in my grip training, nothing improves my gripper strength but using the grippers. I have found no carryover whatsoever. Maybe it's different for some of the others, but I'd be willing to say that I bet for most people, to get stronger at the grippers you have to use the grippers. Even if you want to burst an unopened can of beer, you need the strength of your thumbs as well as your fingers. Grippers mostly work the fingers by themselves and rarely does one need just the strength of their fingers alone. Most situations require using the thumb and fingers together at the same time. Just my #### opinion! paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crushjunior Posted April 11, 2002 Share Posted April 11, 2002 I've found that there is good transfer value between the grippers and holding on to heavy objects of narrow diameter. Ever since I started training the grippers I've had no problems with grip doing deadlifts. I also had transfer value from holding onto deadlifts to the grippers as I was able to close the #2 to within a few mm on my first attempt having only done high rep deadlift workouts before. I did notice that that gripper strength didn't have any transfer value to pinching or plate curling strength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted April 11, 2002 Share Posted April 11, 2002 To work the thumb, you'll need to be pinching or something similiar to that. The grippers are the cheapest, easiest, most convenient way to build grip strength. Yes, they are limited. Nothing is 100%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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