Just How Many?

[lloyd80s]

Just a thought....

Just how strong are we as members on the gripboard? Let me explain-

I've handed my grippers to lots of people over this last year, after handing my #1 to about 100 people, NONE of them closed it. Big guys=no close. Weight lifters=no close. Guys from their teens to 50s=no close Tall/Short=no close. The list goes on and I feel pretty safe saying that if they couldn't close the #1 then they couldn't close a #2, #3 etc.

Now, if you think about it, if you took a #2 into a 50,000 seat football stadium and got everyone there to try and close the gripper, how many do you think would close it? Not many, if any is my guess.

What about the #3?? Just how many people would you need to pass it to before a random person closed it? How far would you need to travel before you'd see the handles touch? Chances are, if you did find someone that could close it then you'd know them anyway from the gripboard!

So anyway, we've all heard that some guys have closed a #2 with no gripper training but this is very rare so I'd like to know what you guys think on these questions.

1) How many #3 closers are there? The ironmind list will give official names of COC certs but we know that a BB or RB closer of a equal strength gripper could also close a #3.

2) How many people on earth could take a #3 and close it first time? Of course you can't give a true figure, just guess but it's interesting to think about how many streets you'd have to walk before you'd find someone that'd close it.

We all know the worlds best golfers, football stars, boxers. So who would you say is the best gripper you've ever seen? I'd say Heslep, opinions vary but discuss and just remember that of the top names on this board that we all know, chances are that one of them has the best grip in the world. THE BEST GRIP ON PLANET EARTH. It's amazing to be part of this site and to know that we're all developing superhuman hand strength, tearing cards, bending steel and closing grippers with springs that'd hold your bodyweight is superhuman. Normal humans just can't do it.

Keep gripping guys

[Alawadhi]

I know many people that can close a #1. And a very few that closed a #2 on their first try.

[Darco]

All your friends are weak, seems to me maybe 5% of the people I have handed the #1 to no set it from a unorthodox angle. Probably 1 in 10 close it with a set.

[pdfk20]

Out of the 20 or so people that i have give the no.1 to try, thinking that they might stand a chance in closing it, only one has succeeded on their first try, that same person also succeeded on closing the no.2 on their first try, the no.3 he missed by about 1/2", i told him he should train and he would have incredible hand strength but he didn't want to get into it.

[superfeemiman]

I don't know the what the answer to 1 would exactly be, but I think around 100+ for a no-set would be a good guess, using a parallel set about 500+. These numbers may be too much but this is counting anyone I could think of touching a gripper the strength of the #3. I'm guessing a lot of people will disagree and I'm sure they would be right, because they know more.

For 2, as a random guess I'd say 1 in 1,000,000 with a parallel set and maybe 1 in 20,000,000 with a no-set.

Edited July 24, 2007 by superfeemiman

[ox3782]

I Have subjected so many people to my gripper challenges I cant give an accurate count but.In my home town of Dighton Mass and Rehoboth Mass.There are a lot of workers there that work with there hands.I would say one out of five people could close the #1 with breif set instructions and some who just squeezed it no set.And the #2 is usually the show stoper but I would say 1 out of 50 people closed it first try.And the #3 I have only had one person out of this is just a geuss 1000

people.This was my freind Dan he has amazing hand strength after he closed the #3 on first attempt we bought him a set of Coc's for christmas and he did train a lot with them was getting the #4 to about 3/16 of an inch.Then he moved and got married and he has just started training again after a three year layoff I really hope he sticks with it and gets the #4 shut.

He also on first time meeting a Rolling thunder pulled 215lbs and asked what he was supposed to do with it while it was hanging in his hand,I said thats it you can put it down.I did not have anymore plates at the time.Oh yes My geussis 1 in 100,000 people could close a #3 on first try.Thats just my geuss.You could I geuss do a rough estimate by the number of people in the world divided by the amount of people certified on #3.+- a ton but it would be something.

Brendan

[PowerHouse]

Two of my uncles were able to close my #1 the first time with a no set. And a few of my friends were very close to closing my #2. A little less than half the people who have tried closing the #1 have done so, but none of them were able to close the #2.

[hab34buy]

I can't speak for #3 closes, but at least for #1 and #2 closes this answer is closely linked with another number. That is the number of farmers/ranchers etc. there are in the world. Within this (and other hard-handed labor) you're likely to see a disproportionate percentage of people who can close these grippers in comparison to everyone else (not to point fingers, as there are strong counter examples here on the gripboard, but office workers are not often known for strength). So if you live in farming country for example, the number of closers are gonna be a LOT higher . So I'd say this all depends on the general group of people, so a straight cut answers going to be hard to estimate, but fun to think about. I would generalize that there aren't a whole lot of people who can close these grippers. Particularly when you consider the fact that the average joe/jane would probably attempt the close as a no set without any technique (I'll speak for myself here in saying that until a few months ago when I joined the board I had never heard about setting a gripper though I owned grippers for years prior to joining, and still typically don't set my grippers when closing, mostly because I haven't yet learned or mastered setting ). So just as Superfeemiman indicated, I think the numbers will be lower for this close.

[Yersinia]

best i've seen is a skinny dude repping the #2 5 times easily . and my uncle closed it with both hands . and they have not tried heavy grippers before.

the guy that repped the #2 could have done lots more im sure of that.

[antarath]

I read somewhere (I think John Wood's blog) that a friend of him brought the #1 and #2 to Arnold Classics, and only one guy could close it

Mats

[mobsterone]

Just how strong are we as members on the gripboard?

Not that strong. Firstly you'd need to be specific and say 'in terms of hand strength'. In which case I'd say better than average but only cos we train the movement.

If I take the question from another point - not that strong even amongst our peers because of the variety of ways (MMS and similar) in which grippers are shut. If we allowed the whole stadium to have a go only we'd set the gripper.

Finally, because we train the gripper and many set it it doesn't necessarily offer us the idea that our overall strength is in proportion. So a '3' doesn't mean 400lbs squat or a 300lbs bench.

[mobsterone]

I read somewhere (I think John Wood's blog) that a friend of him brought the #1 and #2 to Arnold Classics, and only one guy could close it

Mats

Perhaps under his conditions - table no set. The '3' and HG400 and 500 have both been on stands at the Arnold the last 3, 4 or even 5 years and the 3 and HG400 have been shut at that event a number of times. For example the Gillinghams had it as part of their challenge on the GNC stand they worked on.

[popeye76]

i have given my #1 to probably 25-30 people at work and family and friends, and therewere only 2 people close the #1 but not the #2 . the ones that closed the #1 does alot manual labor. they came about an 1/8 of an inch of the #2. so manual labor accounts for alot of hand strength.

[lifesnotfair]

Something I've noticed, is that guys that do not train grippers, lack strength in the "close"... meaning, there was this guy who missed the #1 by a bit, and also missed the #2 by just a bit more. My #1 and #2 are VERY different grippers... he used no set on both attempts. When I could close the #1, I still couldn't get the #2 as far as him, even using a set!

[John Beatty]

I've had a lot of guys come to my house to train Strongman, most were pretty strong guys, some not. I've probably had 50% of the guys close the #1 first or second try, only 1 #2 close first time. When I bartended, I had one guy close a #2, never had a #1 when I bartended, but we had plenty of guys that were electricians, pipefitters & such that could have done a #1 I'd wager. Never had anyone take the #3 past parallel, but that happened a number of times at the bar & in the shop. Which is pretty good in itself.

[Scott Styles]

Gripper strength is very specific to practice on the grippers. The ability to close a #2 with a mash monster set means someone is either strong overall or has practiced with the grippers a good bit.

I wouldn't equate a #2 close with a mash monster set to a deadlift of more than 315, maybe even less.

[wscorpion]

When I started training grip I first bought my grippers.

I've closed the #3 to approx. 3/8" the first time I had it in my hands. A few weeks later my brother bought the #2 which I've closed the first time.

I didn't know anything about setting back then, so it was something like a no set.

Unfortunately I haven't progressed anything since then, I hate training grippers

My colleague, a fitness guy, closed the #3 to approx. 1/2" the first try and doesn't train grip at all.

My brother also closed the #3 to approx. 1/2" and the #2 to approx 1/8" the first time.

My brother never did any grip specific exercises, but he also does strength training, so apparently it does help

Edited July 25, 2007 by White Scorpion

[mobsterone]

Gripper strength is very specific to practice on the grippers. The ability to close a #2 with a mash monster set means someone is either strong overall or has practiced with the grippers a good bit.

I wouldn't equate a #2 close with a mash monster set to a deadlift of more than 315, maybe even less.

A MMS of a 2 does not indicate strength in anyway means or form. Using the analogy you have - the bench press - it'd be like pushing 200 2-4 inches in a rack. Where as a CCS of a 3 would be full range.

[JS27]

I guy I know has been in the lumber business for about 20 years or so. I let him try my SM and he got it to about 1/4" without a set.

[superfeemiman]

Gripper strength is very specific to practice on the grippers. The ability to close a #2 with a mash monster set means someone is either strong overall or has practiced with the grippers a good bit.

I wouldn't equate a #2 close with a mash monster set to a deadlift of more than 315, maybe even less.

A MMS of a 2 does not indicate strength in anyway means or form. Using the analogy you have - the bench press - it'd be like pushing 200 2-4 inches in a rack. Where as a CCS of a 3 would be full range.

Strength is relative anyway. Would it not be safe to say that group of people who could MMS a 2 their first time are overall stronger on average than a group of people who couldn't MMS a 1? I think this is what Scott was getting at.