Calculated Gripper Progress Rate

[Jared P]

I'm curious to know, if any of you have kept track of such numbers, what everyone's progress rate has been on grippers, and if therefore a consensus could be found on what is slow, average, or fast progress.

I've calculated mine (using this day calculator) by roughly finding the RGC rise per day over any given period of time, using first ever unassisted close dates. For instance:

52 CoC Trainer - closed first on 8/4/2021
100 CoC 2 - closed first on 5/25/22
= 48 rgc improvement in 295 days
48/295 = 0.163 rgc per day

91 Grip Genie 3 - closed first on 4/23/2022
122 CoC 2.5 - closed first on 4/22/2023
= 31 rgc improvement in 365 days
31/365 = .085 rgc per day

66 CoC 0.5 - closed first on 12/15/2021
122 CoC 2.5 - closed first on 4/22/2023
= 56 rgc improvement in 494 days
56/494 = 0.113 rgc per day

Estimate for entire gripper journey so far, without precise dates, but best guess:
46 rgc on 7/6/2021
140 rgc on 10/25/2023
= 94 rgc improvement in 842 days
94/842 = 0.112 rgc per day

I've ran these calculations in basically every combination of all of my first-close dates, and the average number seems to range from 0.08-0.12 rgc per day, with the average being somewhere around 0.100 rgc per day.

One would assume, given the exponential nature of gripper strength progress and difficulty, that the rate would slow down with time and rise in RGC, but still seems to sit around the average even at higher RGCs. My progress from 122 to 140 rgc (roughly) is 0.096 rgc per day, which is still right at the average, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Part of the reason I'm calculating these, is to see if my new training methods show any improvement in the amount of rgc per day over time. Faster or the same progress would suggest the new training styles are more efficient, while the same to slower progress would suggest that a new training style either makes no difference or is even less efficient.

If 0.100 rgc per day could be considered average gripper progress, at least for me, that would be about 36.5 rgc per year. Even a much slower rate at 0.07 is still 25.6 rgc per year, which is pretty substantial. And even if that number were to drop off a cliff for whatever extremely unlikely reason, to 0.04 rgc per day, that is still 14.6 rgc per year.

This would suggest that making less than 15 rgc gains on your maximum close per year shows a lack of proper training, and new methods should be pursued. Even more so if you have been stuck at the same rgc for several years.

Just some numbers and a topic that I found interesting to think about.

[C8Myotome]

I would not include grip genie in this as those are much easier and will throw off your numbers. Pretty much anyone can close way "heavier" on a grip genie without much more effort 

If you're considering rgc per day to mean something, it shouldn't be used to compare people. An elite person with an extremely efficient protocol will likely progress at a slower rate just because of how well beyond average they already are and how much harder it is to continue to make progress at a higher level.

It is a LOT easier for someone at a beginner or moderate level to add 7 RGC than it is for me right now, just because it is easier for someone to go from average to a bit above average than it is to go from very above average to beyond that

I don't think putting an expected rate on progress is a good idea because you will be bound to be disappointed at some point when it stops delivering and you hit a plateau and need to find a different approach to get around it 

I don't think there's one best training style either, you can take different approaches at different levels 

I would be happy to make less than 15 rgc gains in a year..diminishing returns doesn't mean your protocol is not good enough, it just gets really hard at those upper limits

If you just focus on if you're narrowing the gap on bigger grippers and eventually closing them that should tell you if you're headed in the right direction, and should guide you on if and when it's time to change something

People often ask with grippers how long will it take to do so and so. I've always just trained...if something is going to happen it will happen 

[Fist of Fury]

I would say your overall progress is normal. 2-3 years to close the #3 seems to be normal for people who train seriously and starts at the trainer-#1 level.

I think your tempo to the #2 was slow tho, especially since you were a beginner at that point. 

I actually started doing a graph that illustrate my progress with grippers a few years ago but I haven't finished it. I started doing it because by that time I was done with strength training. I should finish it when I'm done for real I think.

But just from my memory. I started at around #1 level and it took me two months to get to the #2. Then two years to get to 146 RGC (GHP7). 2 years and 8 months to get to 150 RGC (GHP7). 3 years and 4 months to 152 RGC #3.

But I could have done this faster if I didn't train thick bar, that slowed me down significantly.

There's a huge difference in training grippers as the only grip exercise and training multiple grip stuff. Progress, especially with grippers will be way slower.

I progressed from around 165 RGC to around 175 RGC in just 1.5 months also. Just beacuase I didn't touch anything other than grippers for that period of time. Didn't lift a single weight. That shouild be harder to do theoretically than going from 146 to 152 etc. That's my point, if you train a certain way you can make way faster gains. But for me this was only peaking strength and nothing I could sustain.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Fist of Fury

[Jared P]

On 10/28/2023 at 2:54 PM, Fist of Fury said:

I would say your overall progress is normal. 2-3 years to close the #3 seems to be normal for people who train seriously and starts at the trainer-#1 level.

I think your tempo to the #2 was slow tho, especially since you were a beginner at that point.

My starting point was lower than the trainer-#1 level. It took me a solid month of training just to get the 52 rgc Trainer closed. My starting point was likely 40-45 rgc. And it took me over 6 months just to get to the #1. Then the 100 rgc #2 was closed only 4 months later. My tempo from CoC Sport to CoC 2 took about 10 months total, and was actually normal or even quite fast.

I haven't heard of many people going from the CoC Sport to CoC 3 ever, so I don't have anyone to compare it to (the biggest reason being that the vast majority of people's starting point is much higher than the Sport), and I don't know of anyone personally that has certified on the 3 that started below the Trainer. That'll be another year+ from now for me, at a minimum. This is not symptomatic of being special, but of weirdly having started so abnormally and absurdly low. My initial strength was almost the same as my mother's, as a comparison. We could both close the Sport, but not the Trainer, when they first arrived.