Expectations When You First Tried A Heavy-duty Gripper...

[Goetz von Beurlichingen]

A friend of mine (a FSM challenger) had small hands and a crappy grip. In 2001 he bought all COC numbers from IME, wishing that they could help. On his first visit to me after he had received them, he brought the trainer and the number 1 to have me try them.

I closed the trainer 20 times the first time I tried it, and did 9-10 reps with the 1, the last ones being very hard if I remember correctly.

Which means that I COULDN'T have closed the #2 if my pal would have brought it to me on this very first time.

I was soon offered a #1.

I followed the indications by Randall Strossen, and waited until I could do 25 reps with a COC#1 (3 months after) before I bought myself a second hand #2 - unfortunately a "hard one" according to David Hurzeler and Eric B. Could never close it more than 12 times. In singles (out-set-close, out-set-close), my best perf (counted by Franky) was only 8 singles in 75'' with a "hard" #2.

[Vinnie]

On 3/5/2007 at 6:34 PM, climber511 said:

I bought my COC #1,2,3 before I heard of the Gripboard. I closed the 1 and 2 right out of the bag and missed the 3 - didn't really have any idea if that was good or bad when I did it. I just wanted to rock climb better then.

You and @Alawadhi have been on this board a loooooooong time!

I bought 1, 1.5, 2, in 2016 and closed the 1 and 1.5 right away.  The 2 took me about a week (this was without realizing I was allowed to "set," so if someone had said you can push the handle a bit with the other hand, I might have gotten the 2 right away also; I thought that was cheating at the time).

I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I had bought the 1-1.5-2 marketed as the "strong man" set, and I hoped I'd be strong enough to get the 1, and certainly did NOT expect to have slammed all three of them within a week.  That is what made me interested in learning more about grippers and grip generally, and led me to look for and find the Grip Board.

I then bought the 2.5 and 3, and that humbled me and kept me busy for well over another year.  The 2.5 seemed like a maximum destination and the 3 seemed like a brick that I would never close.  But by 2018 I closed an easier 3, and finally mine (which was rated 153) in 2019.  

By 2021, I had MMS closed my first 3.5, a light one of course (165).  And certed the 3.  These achievements I did not expect, certainly not when I first tried my 2.5 and 3.  But I did spend five years gradually working up to it.

Now in 2023, I feel like I may be at my limit, but I thought that before when I wasn't, so I may or may not have somewhere still to go.  But I am not one of those people that thinks anyone can do anything.  I do think there are hard limits somewhere.  But I am beginning to think that they are usually a little beyond where we think they are, and that there is usually some ground that can be gained.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Vinnie

[Alawadhi]

58 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

You and @Alawadhi have been on this board a loooooooong time!

I bought 1, 1.5, 2, in 2016 and closed the 1 and 1.5 right away.  The 2 took me about a week (this was without realizing I was allowed to "set," so if someone had said you can push the handle a bit with the other hand, I might have gotten the 2 right away also; I thought that was cheating at the time).

I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I had bought the 1-1.5-2 marketed as the "strong man" set, and I hoped I'd be strong enough to get the 1, and certainly did NOT expect to have slammed all three of them within a week.  That is what made me interested in learning more about grippers and grip generally, and led me to look for and find the Grip Board.

I then bought the 2.5 and 3, and that humbled me and kept me busy for well over another year.  The 2.5 seemed like a maximum destination and the 3 seemed like a brick that I would never close.  But by 2018 I closed an easier 3, and finally mine (which was rated 153) in 2019.  

By 2021, I had MMS closed my first 3.5, a light one of course (165).  And certed the 3.  These achievements I did not expect, certainly not when I first tried my 2.5 and 3.  But I did spend five years gradually working up to it.

Now in 2023, I feel like I may be at my limit, but I thought that before when I wasn't, so I may or may not have somewhere still to go.  But I am not one of those people that thinks anyone can do anything.  I do think there are hard limits somewhere.  But I am beginning to think that they are usually a little beyond where we think they are, and that there is usually some ground that can be gained.

Yes sir Grip is my hobby

[Hubgeezer]

On 3/7/2007 at 6:25 PM, climber511 said:

Hey youngun - you still have plenty of time to get the #3 - "that just seems like you are selling yourself short" LOL. You're still getting stronger, stay with it - it will happen for you! Chris

I just came across this post, written 16 years ago. I had been doing grippers for over 8 years when he wrote this. About two months later, I closed a Number 3 for the first time.

So, 16 years later, thank you for the kind words and encouragement.

[Old Dax]

My first real gripper (one I couldn't do dozens of reps on) was a CoC#1, I expected to be able to close it.... but couldn't, although I got there within a week or so. I think the main learning point was that closing a challenging gripper is not comfortable (especially for newbies!).