Fat Grip and Gripper correlation?

[AdriaanRobert96]

So excuse me for my ignorance, I’ve been back and forth with this one but after seeing @Alawadhi’s post about Ali I can’t help but think how fat bar (to a certain circumference) seem to have some correlation between fat bar and gripper.

A lot of super strong lads that have massive fat bar strength seem to excel at grippers, not always but a lot of times..

Some people seem to lose strength from fat bars and some seem to gain gripper strength.

Any thoughts of this?

(edit: let me just say I know Ali is a freak of nature with large hands, but doing farmers carries of 200kg with fat gripz has to say something?)

Edited September 25, 2023 by AdriaanRobert96

[dubyagrip]

Someone who has only trained thick bars would have an elevated starting point when they picked up a gripper for the first time than someone who hadn't, granted they were given some basic pointers on technique.

Someone who has only trained grippers would not enjoy the same base strength when they started thick bar training, unless they have some background in powerlifting, strongman, extreme manual labor, incredibly large hands etc.,

It is also very difficult to train thick bars and grippers at the same time and make any progress.

[AdriaanRobert96]

1 hour ago, dubyagrip said:

Someone who has only trained thick bars would have an elevated starting point when they picked up a gripper for the first time than someone who hadn't, granted they were given some basic pointers on technique.

Someone who has only trained grippers would not enjoy the same base strength when they started thick bar training, unless they have some background in powerlifting, strongman, extreme manual labor, incredibly large hands etc.,

It is also very difficult to train thick bars and grippers at the same time and make any progress.

Very well said, both at the same time feels odd

 

[Fist of Fury]

It depends a lot on the size and shape of your hand. Some really strong people might have small hands, they won't have any problem getting good at grippers if they wanted to with a 20 mm block set but they might never be good at CCS grippers and thick bar and wide pinch etc.

I've said it before. How much you can grip on a regular bar has much more correlation to gripper strength than fat bar. It's because that position is much closer to the closing position of a gripper. Fat bar is much wider, you can develop extremely strong open hand strength, it doesn't necessarily mean you will be strong at crushing (closed hand strength).

There have been some examples of this was some german guy who pulled almost 500 lbs on the axle (if not over 500?) but couldn't close a #2.5.

Odd Haugen doesn't even close grippers, I'm sure he would if he was really good at it...

[AdriaanRobert96]

1 hour ago, Fist of Fury said:

It depends a lot on the size and shape of your hand. Some really strong people might have small hands, they won't have any problem getting good at grippers if they wanted to with a 20 mm block set but they might never be good at CCS grippers and thick bar and wide pinch etc.

I've said it before. How much you can grip on a regular bar has much more correlation to gripper strength than fat bar. It's because that position is much closer to the closing position of a gripper. Fat bar is much wider, you can develop extremely strong open hand strength, it doesn't necessarily mean you will be strong at crushing (closed hand strength).

There have been some examples of this was some german guy who pulled almost 500 lbs on the axle (if not over 500?) but couldn't close a #2.5.

Odd Haugen doesn't even close grippers, I'm sure he would if he was really good at it...

Might just be the hand as you say.

[slazbob]

1 hour ago, Fist of Fury said:

It depends a lot on the size and shape of your hand. Some really strong people might have small hands, they won't have any problem getting good at grippers if they wanted to with a 20 mm block set but they might never be good at CCS grippers and thick bar and wide pinch etc.

I've said it before. How much you can grip on a regular bar has much more correlation to gripper strength than fat bar. It's because that position is much closer to the closing position of a gripper. Fat bar is much wider, you can develop extremely strong open hand strength, it doesn't necessarily mean you will be strong at crushing (closed hand strength).

There have been some examples of this was some german guy who pulled almost 500 lbs on the axle (if not over 500?) but couldn't close a #2.5.

Odd Haugen doesn't even close grippers, I'm sure he would if he was really good at it...

Like Tyce Saylor closed the no.3 without training with it. He credited walking with a pair of 100lb dumbbells for long stretches to finish his training session. He was the 3rd person on the certification list.

[AdriaanRobert96]

2 minutes ago, slazbob said:

Like Tyce Saylor closed the no.3 without training with it. He credited walking with a pair of 100lb dumbbells for long stretches to finish his training session. He was the 3rd person on the certification list.

Interesting, feels like there’s correlation and at the same time not but I just think like Fury said..

There’s an emphasis on hand size and shape, so it differs from person to person

[Alawadhi]

20 hours ago, AdriaanRobert96 said:

So excuse me for my ignorance, I’ve been back and forth with this one but after seeing @Alawadhi’s post about Ali I can’t help but think how fat bar (to a certain circumference) seem to have some correlation between fat bar and gripper.

A lot of super strong lads that have massive fat bar strength seem to excel at grippers, not always but a lot of times..

Some people seem to lose strength from fat bars and some seem to gain gripper strength.

Any thoughts of this?

(edit: let me just say I know Ali is a freak of nature with large hands, but doing farmers carries of 200kg with fat gripz has to say something?)

TBH I don't want to talk much about something I haven't studied well, but Bill Piche once said strong is strong. If you are strong overall then you are strong. Yes we have seen people like Eddie Hall and Hafthor who are world strongest men have strong grip, but not very strong. I mean even I being me, hibernating, can beat them in a grip comp without preparing. But in general, strong IS strong.

Look at Larry Wheels. His first time at my place he closed a #3, lifted the Inch, Blob, 2 slick 35s and so on. I mean that is all you really need to have a very strong grip.

[slazbob]

2 hours ago, Alawadhi said:

TBH I don't want to talk much about something I haven't studied well, but Bill Piche once said strong is strong. If you are strong overall then you are strong. Yes we have seen people like Eddie Hall and Hafthor who are world strongest men have strong grip, but not very strong. I mean even I being me, hibernating, can beat them in a grip comp without preparing. But in general, strong IS strong.

Look at Larry Wheels. His first time at my place he closed a #3, lifted the Inch, Blob, 2 slick 35s and so on. I mean that is all you really need to have a very strong grip.

I think Eddie and Thor are victims of their own power and need to use straps when deadlifting with the weight they pulled. Consequently, grip didn’t get the deadlift benefits.

[Fist of Fury]

25 minutes ago, slazbob said:

I think Eddie and Thor are victims of their own power and need to use straps when deadlifting with the weight they pulled. Consequently, grip didn’t get the deadlift benefits.

They THINK they need it but 500 kg has been pulled with hook-grip. So there's no excuse to ever use lifting straps for max lifts.

Actually there's a video when they guy who did the 500 kg pull (I don't remember his name) where he trains with Hafthor and shows him how to use hook-grip. Since Hafthor is trying to do some powerlifting now, he's forced to use his hands only. Unfortunately he injured himself really badly recently.

[EmilBB]

22 minutes ago, Fist of Fury said:

They THINK they need it but 500 kg has been pulled with hook-grip. So there's no excuse to ever use lifting straps for max lifts.

Actually there's a video when they guy who did the 500 kg pull (I don't remember his name) where he trains with Hafthor and shows him how to use hook-grip. Since Hafthor is trying to do some powerlifting now, he's forced to use his hands only. Unfortunately he injured himself really badly recently.

It's Jamal Browner but I think heavier guys with thicker hands have a harder time with hook grip, so it's not as efficient for them.

[Fist of Fury]

42 minutes ago, EmilBB said:

It's Jamal Browner but I think heavier guys with thicker hands have a harder time with hook grip, so it's not as efficient for them.

Maybe but I Hafthor has to have large hands considering how tall he is.

Also, Eddie Hall has way better grip than most people think. His main problem is that he's always standing next to Brian Shaw in all videos so people think he's not good. When in fact he actually has a very strong grip. He did a training session with David Horne some years ago and did a grip comp in England. His results was very good. He also lifts the Inch very easily. It's just that, when you're standing next to Brian you will look like a fool. Pretty much everyone will.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Fist of Fury

[Alawadhi]

3 hours ago, slazbob said:

I think Eddie and Thor are victims of their own power and need to use straps when deadlifting with the weight they pulled. Consequently, grip didn’t get the deadlift benefits.

Never thought of it that way. What about farmers? But yeah I believe if they did their deadlifts without the straps, they could've gotten a very strong grip. But there are other factors like farmers which I am sure they trained. So I still don't know.

[slazbob]

1 hour ago, Alawadhi said:

Never thought of it that way. What about farmers? But yeah I believe if they did their deadlifts without the straps, they could've gotten a very strong grip. But there are other factors like farmers which I am sure they trained. So I still don't know.

Oh I’m sure they have strong hands, but they would be very strong without them straps. But when you deadlift that much you need them.  if they had to switch to hook grip like Fury mentioned, they would have to drop the weight to get their thumbs conditioned…even if they taped them up.