Has Grip Strength In The Population At Large Ever Been Quantified In T

[gripn00b]

For example, (X)% of the population could be expected to close a COC#1

(Y)% could be expected to close a COC#2

(Z)% could be expected to close a COC#3?

The reason I ask is that we had cops in work today due to a domestic disturbance next door.

They were hanging out and one of them saw my #1. He was a pretty big guy that could probably whip me in a fight 100% of the time, but he (or the other two who were there) couldn't completely close it. The big guy got close, but he was shaking and grunting and it didn't go all the way with it.

Is it just that people completely neglect this area of strength training?

Has Ironmind (or anyone else) ever done grip strength studies using ordinary segments of the population as a control group?

Seeing this, I'd have to imagine that guys who are closing #2's and above are in seriously high percentiles of human grip strength.

Edited November 22, 2007 by GRIPn00b

[lloyd80s]

I'm not sure if anyone has done what you've mentioned in terms of the whole population but I think we could have a go at working this out ourselves.

If we all hand a #1 gripper to 20 people.....just random guys, big, small, guys that work out and guys who don't. See how many of them close the #1 and then turn it into a percentage. If all of the guys on this site do the test and report the percentage of people who close a #1 I think we'd have a fairly good idea of the kind of overall figure you could expect.

Guys on this site are from all over the world so we could get a broad range of different countrys taking part in the test. I'd say that less than 5% of people could do a #1 the first time they try it.

I've given my #1 to many people since I've used grippers and not one single person has closed it first time. I'd say over 40 people have tried my #1, a few have got very close but still no close. I did close my #1 the first time I tried but I'd say I had a decent grip already from working out.

Really good topic you've brought up here, I hope everyone gives this a go. I'd just say to keep the test fair only hand a gripper to somebody that's not used on before!

[mobsterone]

Ignore the idea of grippers. Think dynometer and yes averages are known.

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefo...G=Google+Search

Put up several links with age related results including:

55.5 years in men and 53.9 years in women. Average grip strength was 46.4 kg in men and 29.2 kg for women

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6020/gripaveragesra8.jpg

Edited November 22, 2007 by mobsterone

[Teemu I]

It's been said before, but the reason for many people failing even with easiest grippers at first is that grippers require a specific strength and skill and the last little bit is what needs to be practiced most. Gripper close is a specific skill and you can't expect to close big grippers without a ton of practice. Also that last little bit is the least functional part of the gripper close.

Grippers really aren't suitable for measuring grip strength in the larger population in a scientific context, because performance on the grippers largely depends on the amount of time spent on the practice of a very specific skill. There are better ways to measure grip strength itself, not fool-proof because you can't completely separate the skill component, but better.

So, the results you would get out of this kind of "study" would be pretty twisted, if you would define grip strength as the ability to fully close grippers. But if you just want to study the ability to fully close grippers, then go ahead.

[lloyd80s]

It's been said before, but the reason for many people failing even with easiest grippers at first is that grippers require a specific strength and skill and the last little bit is what needs to be practiced most. Gripper close is a specific skill and you can't expect to close big grippers without a ton of practice. Also that last little bit is the least functional part of the gripper close.

Grippers really aren't suitable for measuring grip strength in the larger population in a scientific context, because performance on the grippers largely depends on the amount of time spent on the practice of a very specific skill. There are better ways to measure grip strength itself, not fool-proof because you can't completely separate the skill component, but better.

So, the results you would get out of this kind of "study" would be pretty twisted, if you would define grip strength as the ability to fully close grippers. But if you just want to study the ability to fully close grippers, then go ahead.

Yes I think the first post was refering to grippers rather than overall grip strength. It is stated in the original post by GRIPn00b that he handed a #1 to a guy and he was intersted to know how the population would do on this gripper and other grippers. Overall hand strength would be much harder to measure as of course there are many different types of hand strength....pinch, crush, hold...etc.

[Teemu I]

It's been said before, but the reason for many people failing even with easiest grippers at first is that grippers require a specific strength and skill and the last little bit is what needs to be practiced most. Gripper close is a specific skill and you can't expect to close big grippers without a ton of practice. Also that last little bit is the least functional part of the gripper close.

Grippers really aren't suitable for measuring grip strength in the larger population in a scientific context, because performance on the grippers largely depends on the amount of time spent on the practice of a very specific skill. There are better ways to measure grip strength itself, not fool-proof because you can't completely separate the skill component, but better.

So, the results you would get out of this kind of "study" would be pretty twisted, if you would define grip strength as the ability to fully close grippers. But if you just want to study the ability to fully close grippers, then go ahead.

Yes I think the first post was refering to grippers rather than overall grip strength. It is stated in the original post by GRIPn00b that he handed a #1 to a guy and he was intersted to know how the population would do on this gripper and other grippers. Overall hand strength would be much harder to measure as of course there are many different types of hand strength....pinch, crush, hold...etc.

I read and understood the first post. It is a false assumption that performance on the grippers reflects grip strength well enough so that grippers could be used as a common measure. That's why I wrote my post you quote. Grippers are not a valid meter (can't be used for grip strength measuring "in the population at large"). The original question needs to be re-phrased if you want to talk about grippers. Mobsterone put it well. Forget about grippers in this context.

Edited November 22, 2007 by Teemu I

[lloyd80s]

It's been said before, but the reason for many people failing even with easiest grippers at first is that grippers require a specific strength and skill and the last little bit is what needs to be practiced most. Gripper close is a specific skill and you can't expect to close big grippers without a ton of practice. Also that last little bit is the least functional part of the gripper close.

Grippers really aren't suitable for measuring grip strength in the larger population in a scientific context, because performance on the grippers largely depends on the amount of time spent on the practice of a very specific skill. There are better ways to measure grip strength itself, not fool-proof because you can't completely separate the skill component, but better.

So, the results you would get out of this kind of "study" would be pretty twisted, if you would define grip strength as the ability to fully close grippers. But if you just want to study the ability to fully close grippers, then go ahead.

Yes I think the first post was refering to grippers rather than overall grip strength. It is stated in the original post by GRIPn00b that he handed a #1 to a guy and he was intersted to know how the population would do on this gripper and other grippers. Overall hand strength would be much harder to measure as of course there are many different types of hand strength....pinch, crush, hold...etc.

I read and understood the first post. It is a false assumption that performance on the grippers reflects grip strength well enough so that grippers could be used as a common measure. That's why I wrote my post you quote. Grippers are not a valid meter (can't be used for grip strength measuring "in the population at large"). The original question needs to be re-phrased if you want to talk about grippers. Mobsterone put it well. Forget about grippers in this context.

The original question was-

For example, (X)% of the population could be expected to close a COC#1

(Y)% could be expected to close a COC#2

(Z)% could be expected to close a COC#3?

Is it just that people completely neglect this area of strength training? (grippers)

Has Ironmind (or anyone else) ever done grip strength studies using ordinary segments of the population as a control group?

He is talking specificaly of grippers, the original question uses the terms, coc#1, coc#2and coc#3. Grippers.

Mobster and teemu-

He wants to know how many people can close a #1, #2 and #3. If you don't know the answer or want to work it out then I cant see the point in adding a reply???

Oh and if I am wrong and he's just worded the thread wrong can somebody give him a virtual slap

[Teemu I]

Yes he is talking about grippers but he is relating the performance on grippers directly to grip strength, as can be seen on his original question. That's the false assumption that I was referring to.

"guys who are closing #2's and above are in seriously high percentiles of human grip strength". Again, not a valid statement. You don't get reliable and meaningful measurements of people's grip strength using grippers as a measure.

I mean no offence, I'm just trying to set this straight.

Edited November 22, 2007 by Teemu I

[lloyd80s]

Yes he is talking about grippers but he is relating the performance on grippers directly to grip strength, as can be seen on his original question. That's the false assumption that I was referring to.

"guys who are closing #2's and above are in seriously high percentiles of human grip strength". Again, not a valid statement. You don't get reliable and meaningful measurements of people's grip strength using grippers as a measure.

I mean no offence, I'm just trying to set this straight.

Hee Hee,

Why don't we just say how many people can close a #1? and work on that??

[pdfk20]

I think i've seen this kind of topic quite a few times before, generally most guys that can lift weights should stand a fair chance of shutting the no.1, no.2 and up no. of people closing them becomes very rare very quick, partially due to the fact that the muscles tendons need to be very strong and require a specific form of training to close,.

However back to the question, im gonna take a guess based on my rough estimate, which is probably very wrong, but say there are 6 billion people on the planet , im gonna say that probably 3 billion of them wouldn't even be able to shut the trainer but anyway;

X ~ = 2% = approx 120 million

Y ~ = 0.5% = approx 30 million

Z ~ = 0.001% = approx 60,000 edit: this figure may be too high, .... 0.00005% = approx = 5000, would be more accurate

Again this is just me guessing for the hell of it, i reckon those above figures are sound enough if given that you could show the person attempting 1 or 2 things about how to hold it.

Edited November 22, 2007 by Pete1006

[mobsterone]

lloyd80s:

I am quite capable of reading what he put down. I made a suggestion, then cited some statistics to back it up. The thread title, while cut off, asks: Has Grip Strength In The Population At Large Ever Been Quantified? The answer to that is yes as per my earlier reply. In grippers it's a no. I then provided a meaningful research paper link and even a jpeg screen shot of the results. Other replies indicated why that would be a mugs game (some skill is required and unlike most dynos hand size is an issue).

Having been measured at an advanced reading age from about 11 onwards and not seeing anything that prevents me from replying to any thread I choose to do so off and in anyway I feel like doing yet making it clear as above I'll ask that you give yourself a virtual slap for your presumptions.

That's without drawing your attention to the obvious - IM made a claim in regards of the percentile closing a 1, 2 and 3 many years ago and they were referring to trained individuals never mind the population at large. It DOES have some meaning as the company itself has stated what percentage of grippers they sell. One can easily assume (key word) that if gripper a out sells gripper b by a 2-1 ratio then the harder gripper, which sells less of than the easier gripper, must be shut by fewer people. To put it simply - they will sell more of the easier grippers than the harder ones on the basis more can close an easier gripper (removing grip nuts and collectors from the equation).

Edited November 22, 2007 by mobsterone

[Lukeallard]

I read somewhere on-line that it is estimated that one man in every 10 thousand could probably close a coc #2.

Don't know where this figure came from - more than likely a stab in the dark.

What I do know is that I've given my filed coc #1 to about 50 people. Only 3 of those people have been able to fully close it with tuition. Only 1 out of those 50 have been able to close my coc #1.5 and no one (I've personally met) has been able to close my #2 (apart from me)

The coc # 3, in my opinion could only be closed by specific training so it would be incredibly unlikely for anyone to fully close it without this training (although there are rumors of people doing this without specific training).

[lloyd80s]

lloyd80s:

I am quite capable of reading what he put down. I made a suggestion, then cited some statistics to back it up. The thread title, while cut off, asks: Has Grip Strength In The Population At Large Ever Been Quantified? The answer to that is yes as per my earlier reply. In grippers it's a no. I then provided a meaningful research paper link and even a jpeg screen shot of the results. Other replies indicated why that would be a mugs game (some skill is required and unlike most dynos hand size is an issue).

Having been measured at an advanced reading age from about 11 onwards and not seeing anything that prevents me from replying to any thread I choose to do so off and in anyway I feel like doing yet making it clear as above I'll ask that you give yourself a virtual slap for your presumptions.

That's without drawing your attention to the obvious - IM made a claim in regards of the percentile closing a 1, 2 and 3 many years ago and they were referring to trained individuals never mind the population at large. It DOES have some meaning as the company itself has stated what percentage of grippers they sell. One can easily assume (key word) that if gripper a out sells gripper b by a 2-1 ratio then the harder gripper, which sells less of than the easier gripper, must be shut by fewer people. To put it simply - they will sell more of the easier grippers than the harder ones on the basis more can close an easier gripper (removing grip nuts and collectors from the equation).

Well done...finaly you've touched on grippers. So how many people do YOU think could close a #1 percentage wise?

[Rick Walker]

Most people who train heavy and hard with weights will be able to close a #1 and maybe a #2. I closed the #1 for reps and the #2 for singles as soon as I got them with no direct grip training other then heavy deadlifts. My wife was able to rep the trainer immediately and closed the #1 after about a week with the trainer. She has also handled 315+ in the deadlift with ease.

[mobsterone]

lloyd80s:

I am quite capable of reading what he put down. I made a suggestion, then cited some statistics to back it up. The thread title, while cut off, asks: Has Grip Strength In The Population At Large Ever Been Quantified? The answer to that is yes as per my earlier reply. In grippers it's a no. I then provided a meaningful research paper link and even a jpeg screen shot of the results. Other replies indicated why that would be a mugs game (some skill is required and unlike most dynos hand size is an issue).

Having been measured at an advanced reading age from about 11 onwards and not seeing anything that prevents me from replying to any thread I choose to do so off and in anyway I feel like doing yet making it clear as above I'll ask that you give yourself a virtual slap for your presumptions.

That's without drawing your attention to the obvious - IM made a claim in regards of the percentile closing a 1, 2 and 3 many years ago and they were referring to trained individuals never mind the population at large. It DOES have some meaning as the company itself has stated what percentage of grippers they sell. One can easily assume (key word) that if gripper a out sells gripper b by a 2-1 ratio then the harder gripper, which sells less of than the easier gripper, must be shut by fewer people. To put it simply - they will sell more of the easier grippers than the harder ones on the basis more can close an easier gripper (removing grip nuts and collectors from the equation).

Well done...finaly you've touched on grippers. So how many people do YOU think could close a #1 percentage wise?

Have you given yourself that virtual slap yet?

[gripn00b]

Yes he is talking about grippers but he is relating the performance on grippers directly to grip strength, as can be seen on his original question. That's the false assumption that I was referring to.

"guys who are closing #2's and above are in seriously high percentiles of human grip strength". Again, not a valid statement. You don't get reliable and meaningful measurements of people's grip strength using grippers as a measure.

I mean no offence, I'm just trying to set this straight.

No offense taken.

I certainlly understand what you were saying- I wasn't trying to imply that grippers were the end-all measure of grip strength... I could have been more clear with my question. Lloyd got the basic gist of what I was asking.

In terms of human grip strength, assuming one were given basic instruction on how to close a gripper (thus minimizing the "skill" factor)- or, assuming that the skill required to close grippers were present by default and existing hand strength was the only determining factor- what percentage of the population would be able to close a 1, 2, 3, etc?

Edited November 22, 2007 by GRIPn00b

[lloyd80s]

lloyd80s:

I am quite capable of reading what he put down. I made a suggestion, then cited some statistics to back it up. The thread title, while cut off, asks: Has Grip Strength In The Population At Large Ever Been Quantified? The answer to that is yes as per my earlier reply. In grippers it's a no. I then provided a meaningful research paper link and even a jpeg screen shot of the results. Other replies indicated why that would be a mugs game (some skill is required and unlike most dynos hand size is an issue).

Having been measured at an advanced reading age from about 11 onwards and not seeing anything that prevents me from replying to any thread I choose to do so off and in anyway I feel like doing yet making it clear as above I'll ask that you give yourself a virtual slap for your presumptions.

That's without drawing your attention to the obvious - IM made a claim in regards of the percentile closing a 1, 2 and 3 many years ago and they were referring to trained individuals never mind the population at large. It DOES have some meaning as the company itself has stated what percentage of grippers they sell. One can easily assume (key word) that if gripper a out sells gripper b by a 2-1 ratio then the harder gripper, which sells less of than the easier gripper, must be shut by fewer people. To put it simply - they will sell more of the easier grippers than the harder ones on the basis more can close an easier gripper (removing grip nuts and collectors from the equation).

Well done...finaly you've touched on grippers. So how many people do YOU think could close a #1 percentage wise?

Have you given yourself that virtual slap yet?

HA HA

[Paul Savage]

even dynos can have fault, the dyno i used for fitness testing while at college was too small for my hand, the adjustment wasn't enough

theres not really any point to this, you're not gonna get a proper average for grip strength in general, an grippers is somewhat pointless, but what ironmind says is probably true, only my brother, an someone i used to work with (grip is vital for the job) have ever closed my #2, an #1 only got closed by 1 other guy i think, an this is out of maybe 100, with near all of them training weights - the best anyone ive handed them to has done was get my easiest #3 to about 1/4in tns 1st time, actually no he did #1 for a couple before that, i had him put it in the right position so it was a proper test. This guy is a complete monster so you wont get much stronger than that without specific training, his forearms are huge an his gym numbers are very impressive, i think his squat record (proper depth) was 6 25kg plates on each side (over 700lbs) for 8 reps, deadlift was like 220kg for sets of 8-10, bench press the same as that, strict curling 90kg +some other weights tied to it for rep sets again..all with not even a belt, so yeh i would except pretty much nobody to get a #3 shut without specific training

[mobsterone]

Exactly as IM state. Even the with faults dyno can at least offer a standard that a gripper cannot.

[gothrik]

At my high school (I go to boarding school) only one kid out of all the guys (besides me) has been able to close the #1...and he is a logger...He has been logging trees since he was about 6, and is huge. Hes 17 and allready has his logging liscence. Now the reason I am bringing this us is that part of my boarding school's program is that you work 4 hours a day on a job. The school is a farm, so most of the work is manual labor. Therefore all the guys have abnormally strong hands, from doing things like moving 40ft irrigation pipes by hand (They are like 4 inches in diamiter and nearly all the guys can pick them up and carry them easily.) The guy who could close the IM 1 could hardly budge my 1.5. THey all are high schoolers, but most of them will get weaker when they leave (no manual labor.)

[lloyd80s]

I took my #1 to work again today. We've had quite a lot of new people start over the last few months, many of them are big Polish guys. I set the gripper in my hand and closed it in front of the guys to give them an idea of how to handle the gripper, I then passed it around to guys I've not tested before. Results......not one closed it. I've now given this gripper to about 60 guys and still not a single one has closed it.

Strange thing is, many of the guys I've given grippers to have been far stronger than me in other areas. We've got a boxer at work that is 250lb and can push serious lbs in the gym...far more than I. Yet this same guy still had about 4mm to go on the #1. He just couldn't understand how I'd closed it first time I tried and he couldn't. I then did a few singles on the #2.5 and the guys were in shock, they didn't belive that it would ever be possible for any man to close, they think I'm superman

I told them all about the gripboard and about you guys here that can close #3.5's and #4's, they thought I was lying so I showed them some youtube. These guys now want part of gripping and a few are asking me to order them grippers, i feel please to have spread the word!!

Anyways, I'm boring you lot with my babble, I just post to say that I reckon only 3% of people could close a #1 on the first try.

[JustinH]

I've let a lot of guys at the gym and other places try my grippers. It's true that many can't even close the #1, even guys that are fairly strong in the other lifts.

I have been somewhat surprised a couple times when 2 different guys at different times closed my #2. One guy is a highland games competitor and overall very strong guy. The other guy was a guy with very big hands, big arms too. A friend of mine also got a jiu jitsu/mma competitor to try his #2 and the guy closed it first try(also a pretty big guy).

Hand size, tendon strength and other related factors obviously play a big part.

[MRabich]

Very rarely somebody closes number one on the first try, and they usually have football or extensive weightlifting background, but you keep giving a friend that you perceive as strong once a week a chance to close it, after a month more likely than not he'll get it done.

[Sybersnott]

I've taken my #2 all around with me wherever I go and I've found no one that can close it.

I firmly believe that the average person's grip strength SUCKS. 95% of the population (it could be higher than that) has no decent grip strength and it probably gets worse year after year.

I think grip training should be mandatory: males should be able to close a #1 by 25 years of age, females should be able to close the Trainer by 25 as well. Americans as a whole have piss poor grip strength - this was well known ala the Emerson Challenge, even though that was an impromtu "test", it showed a lot IMO.

[MRabich]

I've taken my #2 all around with me wherever I go and I've found no one that can close it.

I firmly believe that the average person's grip strength SUCKS. 95% of the population (it could be higher than that) has no decent grip strength and it probably gets worse year after year.

I think grip training should be mandatory: males should be able to close a #1 by 25 years of age, females should be able to close the Trainer by 25 as well. Americans as a whole have piss poor grip strength - this was well known ala the Emerson Challenge, even though that was an impromtu "test", it showed a lot IMO.

Not just the grip, people are weak in all physical aspects of life, how many of your co workers could bench press 225 pounds, which is a modest feet of strength? Even 185?