Coc #3 Or Inch Dumbbell

[Metacarpal]

I know it's like comparing apples and oranges, but for you personally, what feat do you think is more difficult; CCS closing a #3 or deadlifting an Inch dumbbell? It's just out of curiosity, nothing more.

[Chez]

I think its the inch dumbbell hands down. Not many guys can lift it. Especially since its hard to get your hands on one to even train it. Its easy to get a COC #3 and train it.

[jvance]

I gotta agree with Chez here, though my opinion is speculative because I never worked with an inch. The 3 took me less than one year to get mms, but I still struggle with my thick bar work and rolling thunder.

[Electron]

I think they have very different learning curves.

[yummy]

The #3

A pretty strong guy if he had big hands could probably lift the inch yet if he has not had specialized gripper training he would not be able to close the #3. You work your open hand strength a lot doing regular weight training so most people have decently developed grip if they are strong. Yet crush grip is something you need to specialize a bit. If you have smallish hands though the inch will probably seem a lot more difficult.

Edited December 20, 2012 by yummy

[Eric Roussin]

For me personally, the Inch is easier. Almost nobody can close a three having never trained with grippers, however I occasionally see people lift the Inch without ever having trained thick bar.

However, it seems as though, at least based on what I see on the Gripboard, is that more people are able to train up to closing a 3 than people who are able to train up to lifting the Inch. This probably due to the role that hand size plays in thick bar lifts.

[Mephistopholes]

Eh... Hard to say. You certainly here about more people closing the #3 than lifting the Inch, but I think this is really just because more people train grippers more often than they do thickbar... But also, the Inch specifically is hard to train. Hardly anybody has real one, but plenty of people have #3 grippers.

[John McCarter]

I will have to say this will depend upon who's attempting said feats, plus you have to factor in the difference of the two (#3= closed crushing, lifting and Inch= Open hand crush). If they have been working with grippers, a CCS with a #3 can be done; if they have been working open hand, lifting an Inch should be no problem (will all just depend on how they approach the two). The #3 CCS can be done (I've done it many times). I've tried an Inch before (I suck at open hand strength), I could not even lift it or get it to move up (stayed glued to the spot).

[bubba29]

this is an interesting one. obviously both feats take serious strength. i do think closing a 3 takes much more skill lifting the inch. with that in mind, i think there are probably more people who have big enough hands and are strong enough to lift the inch without any practice than there are people strong enough and skilled enough to close a 3. i bet if you had inch dumbbells available for many strongman, highland games, and american football players to try, we'd see it done more than we think. with the proper strength, it really is a simple lift. here is an example of my point, not a huge kid by any means:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wju_QLZKW0

Edited December 20, 2012 by bubba29

[Chez]

based off an event i was at earlier this year, i would say there is far less guys in the world who can close #3's than there is guys who can lift an inch db.

at the event we had a few grippers, an Ironmind hub, and the inch db set up for anyone to try. out of all the guys who tried, maybe 30 total tried the impliments, 3 lifted the inch for a good lift and a few others broke the ground (and this was just 1 day at 1 event), but the best anyone did on a gripper was a #2 close, and that was only 1 guy and just barely.

wow, you had 3 guys lock out the inch without ever training for it. I guess my opinion might be way off because grippers came easy to me. I can't do anything with the inch DB.

[Forever]

based off an event i was at earlier this year, i would say there is far less guys in the world who can close #3's than there is guys who can lift an inch db.

at the event we had a few grippers, an Ironmind hub, and the inch db set up for anyone to try. out of all the guys who tried, maybe 30 total tried the impliments, 3 lifted the inch for a good lift and a few others broke the ground (and this was just 1 day at 1 event), but the best anyone did on a gripper was a #2 close, and that was only 1 guy and just barely.

Very nice info here..Wow just a #2 close

[lifesnotfair]

I am a weak guy myself, but from my observations in the 6+ years reading the Gripboard, it seems quite obvious to me, that guys who out-of-nowhere lift the Inch Dumbbell come around quite frequently. Guys who close a #3 out of nowhere are very, VERY rare.

By "out of nowhere" I am talking about guys who have not done specific grip work or grip workouts as most of the users of this forum know them. Just all around strong cats who, upon seeing equipment, try them.... in this manner, almost noone closes a #3 even when shown how to use a parallel set. But the Inch sees air quite often by strong guys like that, specially if they have large hands. Again, this just based on the reports and stories everyone writes here, just like mudhutmasher did. There are a gazillion stories just about equal to it.

[Mephistopholes]

Yeah, the Inch lifts, and really all thickbar lifts, are pretty simple, really all you have to do is grab it and go, and you're either strong enough, or you're not. Grippers, however, are a bit more complex, there's more technique involved. Even if you're not setting the gripper and just closing it from open, you need to understand where the gripper should be in your hand. If not, you won't have the best leverage, and the positioning of your fingers may be off so that, when it comes down to the last few millimeters, they can't close it any farther, and instead just slip around it. Thickbar is more about brute force than anything, grippers are about skill that only comes through training and practice. You have to know "how" to close a gripper before you can close a heavy one, even if you have the strength; while the Inch, you don't need to know anything, just gotta be able to squeeze hard enough. That does not mean that one is harder or easier than the other: they both are very hard, just in different ways. The guy who can close the #3 is strong; the guy who can lift the Inch is strong; the guy who can do both is stronger.

[kasparov]

Jonathan Vogt closed the #3 the first time he tried it..

[Autolupus]

Eh... Hard to say. You certainly here about more people closing the #3 than lifting the Inch, but I think this is really just because more people train grippers more often than they do thickbar... But also, the Inch specifically is hard to train. Hardly anybody has real one, but plenty of people have #3 grippers.

Maybe closing the #3 but not CCS closing the #3, that said I think it's more down to your personal experience as to how you will answer this one.

My personal experience says the inch lift inches out the CCS #3 close but only marginally, my general knowledge says the #3 CCS close to be the more impressive.

I have just CCSed an average #3 (150lb) and although I don't have an Inch to hand, feel I could heft one now, as I had decent air under one at David Horne's at Britain's Strongest Hands 2011 and have stronger thickbar strength now.