Hidden Strength

[Deano]

Hi everyone.

I've been lurking around the gripboard for a while now and have been absorbing all of the priceless tips and suggestions from various people, for this I have to say thank you all very much. My training is improving no end - and the biggest difference? Backing off, training less often but with better technique has enabled me to go from 3/4" away from closing my hg200, to smashing it shut with no set, inside 4 weeks. WOW!!! I'm now 1/8" away from my hg250. But about 3 feet away from coc number 3!!! It's impossible. I've squeezed as hard as I can and that big ol' spring just creaks a little, which leads me to the story that made my jaw just hit the floor.

My father is an old time engineer. He is a thinking man, takes his time, gets it right. He also posseses remarkable strength in his forearms and his grip. At Christmas he would break open walnuts in the palms of his hands and play a game with the children of the family whereby we would all grab a finger and he would gently close his hand. We then all had to pull and try and open it again, needless to say we never did manage it.

About 6 months ago I began grip and arm training to overcome an injury I picked up. It worked very well, and the difference in my working day (I am also an engineer) was so marked that I kept going. I thought I was getting somewhere until one day.............

My father was over just for a chat. As he was leaving he noticed my grippers and other bits and pieces lying around. "What's all this then?" he said with a bemused look on his face. Slightly embarrased I replied "oh, just my training stuff, you know, grippers and things". With this he picked up an hg100 and closed it with ridiculous ease. "You train with this? Bit easy isn't it?" More embarrased I replied, "well that one is more for warm ups, here, try this". I handed him an hg250 and again he closed it, swapped hands and closed it with his left hand. Then he started doing reps on it. Getting desperate, I handed him the coc number 3. He picked it up with his right hand and squeezed. It didn't move. Relieved, I started to say something, but stopped at what he did next. He altered the position in his hand, and squeezed it, hard. I know it was hard because he pulled a face (something he never does) and closed it so the handles made an audible click as they touched. "Ah, a mans toy" he said, "that one's a bit tougher, anyway, tell your wife I said hi", with that he smiled, pulled his car keys out of his pocket, and left me standing there with my jaw on the floor.

He has never done any form of physical excercise whatsoever, let alone specific grip based training. However, a lifetime of lifting, turning, twisting, levering, hammering and pulling for his career has given him the kind of power in his arms and hands that leaves me stunned. He is 56 years old and far too laid back and easygoing to be interested in getting certified, or posting a video of him closing one of my 'toys'. What must he have been like as the aggressive young man I know he once was???

I am so humbled by this experience, has any one else had a similar thing happen to them?

Deano

[Timmy]

Hi everyone.

I've been lurking around the gripboard for a while now and have been absorbing all of the priceless tips and suggestions from various people, for this I have to say thank you all very much. My training is improving no end - and the biggest difference? Backing off, training less often but with better technique has enabled me to go from 3/4" away from closing my hg200, to smashing it shut with no set, inside 4 weeks. WOW!!! I'm now 1/8" away from my hg250. But about 3 feet away from coc number 3!!! It's impossible. I've squeezed as hard as I can and that big ol' spring just creaks a little, which leads me to the story that made my jaw just hit the floor.

My father is an old time engineer. He is a thinking man, takes his time, gets it right. He also posseses remarkable strength in his forearms and his grip. At Christmas he would break open walnuts in the palms of his hands and play a game with the children of the family whereby we would all grab a finger and he would gently close his hand. We then all had to pull and try and open it again, needless to say we never did manage it.

About 6 months ago I began grip and arm training to overcome an injury I picked up. It worked very well, and the difference in my working day (I am also an engineer) was so marked that I kept going. I thought I was getting somewhere until one day.............

My father was over just for a chat. As he was leaving he noticed my grippers and other bits and pieces lying around. "What's all this then?" he said with a bemused look on his face. Slightly embarrased I replied "oh, just my training stuff, you know, grippers and things". With this he picked up an hg100 and closed it with ridiculous ease. "You train with this? Bit easy isn't it?" More embarrased I replied, "well that one is more for warm ups, here, try this". I handed him an hg250 and again he closed it, swapped hands and closed it with his left hand. Then he started doing reps on it. Getting desperate, I handed him the coc number 3. He picked it up with his right hand and squeezed. It didn't move. Relieved, I started to say something, but stopped at what he did next. He altered the position in his hand, and squeezed it, hard. I know it was hard because he pulled a face (something he never does) and closed it so the handles made an audible click as they touched. "Ah, a mans toy" he said, "that one's a bit tougher, anyway, tell your wife I said hi", with that he smiled, pulled his car keys out of his pocket, and left me standing there with my jaw on the floor.

He has never done any form of physical excercise whatsoever, let alone specific grip based training. However, a lifetime of lifting, turning, twisting, levering, hammering and pulling for his career has given him the kind of power in his arms and hands that leaves me stunned. He is 56 years old and far too laid back and easygoing to be interested in getting certified, or posting a video of him closing one of my 'toys'. What must he have been like as the aggressive young man I know he once was???

I am so humbled by this experience, has any one else had a similar thing happen to them?

Deano

I got a brand new #3 down to 1/2" first try.

So, I suppose it's good.

[David Horne]

Deano,

Nice story, be proud of your dad.

My father was an aircraft fitter, and the years of hard manual work with his hands everyday enabled him to compete in a few of the early grip contests getting 3rd in 1996.

Maybe he'll join you in this fun,

David

[handgripperman]

WOW. that is insane. Didn't think it would be possible to close it no set without training.

[Florian Kellersmann]

Great story, thanks for sharing!

[heatwave13]

Wow!!

I am not worthy.

[JAMY]

There you go, you know what to get him for christmas now! oh and a 4 too :p

[kerbjr]

COOL.......Brett

[bunchofbananas]

Take this as a compliment:

I don't believe you

[lifesnotfair]

Wow, awesome story!!

But I assume he used some kind of a set when he closed it with the audible click!!!

Man, stories like that make me wanna quit! It took me like 1-2 months to close the #1 with a parallel set when I first got it! :-(

[tukkergrip]

great story!!!

i also think he used some kind of set.

This concludes that hard manual labour for a long period of time will build some DAMN strong hands!!! Along with weekly/daily doing a few feats of (hand) strength?!!

If what u said is treu i really think that there some freakish guy out there who can close the #4 first try without (specific!) grip training!!

2 questions.

How big are his hands? (length)

What is his bodyweight?

[PowerHouse]

Awesome story, thats pretty crazy closing a #3 first try..

[bunchofbananas]

This concludes that hard manual labour for a long period of time will build some DAMN strong hands!!! Along with weekly/daily doing a few feats of (hand) strength?!!

Undoubtedly! High frequency, huge variation of motor patterns.. obviously pays off!

I'm not too sure about someone closing the number 4 first try, number three i might be able to accept but that's because it seems to come to those who train for it. If the number four doesn't come to even those whotrain fanatically then i think we can say it is out of range of manual labour strength... i could be wrong.. all the better

[GetAGrip87]

That's nuts.

[Alawadhi]

Like David Horne said, be proud of your dad. He is really strong. I want to know what could he do when he was at his peak? a #4?

[Tfriend]

yea my dad did electrical work for 20 years repetitve cutting and squeezing and his grip is incredible. Bent a 60D in 20 secs to under 1 inch having no idea how to do it.

PS: Im still waiting for someone to attempt my challenge. One hand 8" linemans pliers cut a "cut nail" in half

[Revtor]

Deano, great story. Strength like that coupled with a modest sounding man are truly inspiring, and make me want to train like crazy. Keep your training up, youve obviously got the genetics for it! What did he do as an engineer?

Tfried, I just read your challenge again so I went to the basement to try it. I have a small cut nail and a pair of 8"dykes. So a smaller nail and better cutting pliers. For me - No way! I did dent the nail, and with two hands I could maybe get through it, but I didnt want to F up my brand new pair of dykes.

yeah, some of the monsters here could do it.. watch out for flying nail pieces! Im sure a couple pairs of china pliers will go down in the name of this challenge : )

~Steve

[Deano]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. He is quite embarrased to have caused a bit of a stir, but really remains oblivious to the feat he accomplished. He has also agreed to post a video when I can close it, i.e. of us closing one each together, so I've kinda got my work cut out 'cos at the moment I can't even move it.

To answer an earlier question, his hands are 8.5 inches or so from wrist to fingertips. On his right hand (which he used to close the gripper) he has lost the tops of the middle and ring finger, so his longest finger is his index finger. His left hand measures 9 inches. I wouldn't like to guess his weight, he is quite heavy. I on the other hand (no pun intended) have tiny hands measuring just 6.5 inches wrist to fingertips. One of the difficulties I'm finding is getting grippers with the handles close enough together so that I can use them. The Coc #3 is especially bad and I'm not strong enough (yet!) to set it.

David Horne mentioned earlier that his father was an aircraft fitter, which is where my father more or less started, working for Rolls Royce on aero engines. He then went into heavier engineering, hydraulics and the like. He also worked a lot on steam system installations and as I'm sure a lot of you know, there's nothing about this area of engineering that could be called light weight.

Also mentioned earlier is the question 'did he use a set'. Honestly I think he must of done, he did shuffle it around in his hand to get it comfy and this probably did involve a bit of a set.

I can still hear the click.

Deano

[superfeemiman]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. He is quite embarrased to have caused a bit of a stir, but really remains oblivious to the feat he accomplished. He has also agreed to post a video when I can close it, i.e. of us closing one each together, so I've kinda got my work cut out 'cos at the moment I can't even move it.

To answer an earlier question, his hands are 8.5 inches or so from wrist to fingertips. On his right hand (which he used to close the gripper) he has lost the tops of the middle and ring finger, so his longest finger is his index finger. His left hand measures 9 inches. I wouldn't like to guess his weight, he is quite heavy. I on the other hand (no pun intended) have tiny hands measuring just 6.5 inches wrist to fingertips. One of the difficulties I'm finding is getting grippers with the handles close enough together so that I can use them. The Coc #3 is especially bad and I'm not strong enough (yet!) to set it.

David Horne mentioned earlier that his father was an aircraft fitter, which is where my father more or less started, working for Rolls Royce on aero engines. He then went into heavier engineering, hydraulics and the like. He also worked a lot on steam system installations and as I'm sure a lot of you know, there's nothing about this area of engineering that could be called light weight.

Also mentioned earlier is the question 'did he use a set'. Honestly I think he must of done, he did shuffle it around in his hand to get it comfy and this probably did involve a bit of a set.

I can still hear the click.

Deano

Sounds awesome. In my opinion though although it's very badass that manual labor can get you such strong hands I think that no one should be depressed about the fact that they have to do grip training to get stronger in grip because you are probably doing it much faster then manual labor could do, and also it means you don't have to do all that manual labor to get it. Not knocking any hard-workers but I'm just saying there's no reason it should make you feel bad. Just like no reason you should feel bad about your writing when a journalist is better than you.

That's still an awesome thing your dad did. Thinking about closing the 2 my first time I tried grippers would be awesome much less a 3. I could only almost close a 1 (with a really good set I could have probably closed it).

[Dumleman]

Isn't it kinda odd that someone who have never touched grippers before figure out to use a set and manage to set the coc#3 on the first attempt? Maybe he got a hidden drawer full of grippers somewhere .

[superfeemiman]

Isn't it kinda odd that someone who have never touched grippers before figure out to use a set and manage to set the coc#3 on the first attempt? Maybe he got a hidden drawer full of grippers somewhere .

Yeah but he said that guy had big hands. As a beginner it probably was a little easier for him to set than guys below the 8'' range.

[Fissure]

Your dad has an 8 1/2" hand (while missing the top of his longest finger), and you have 6 1/2" hands? Talk about the acorn falling far from the tree!

Being able to hold the gripper with the second (for most people) joint of his finger, but still at the same length as a big handed man would seem to me to give him alot of leverage - similar to a very deep set.

[superfeemiman]

Your dad has an 8 1/2" hand (while missing the top of his longest finger), and you have 6 1/2" hands? Talk about the acorn falling far from the tree!

Being able to hold the gripper with the second (for most people) joint of his finger, but still at the same length as a big handed man would seem to me to give him alot of leverage - similar to a very deep set.

Yeah that would be weird to grip with a hand where your index finger is the largest.

[tukkergrip]

Thats some Big dad u have, while u are pretty small

I want to know what could he do when he was at his peak? a #4?

I dont think so. I am pretty sure someone who does though ass manual labour has stronger hands in his 40-50's than when he was in his 30's. His hands might be at their peak now?

Edited December 1, 2006 by tukkergrip

[bliss]

Your dad has an 8 1/2" hand (while missing the top of his longest finger), and you have 6 1/2" hands? Talk about the acorn falling far from the tree!

Being able to hold the gripper with the second (for most people) joint of his finger, but still at the same length as a big handed man would seem to me to give him alot of leverage - similar to a very deep set.

thats weird but happens, for example, my fathers hand top at tiny bit over 9" (estimate) and mine are barely 7" .... so, fine example of what decades of manual labor do...