Grip test

"Well, its confirmed! I have a weaker grip than a girl...and I mean a girly girl."

We suspected as much...
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"I can't even come close to clicking the COC #1 with either hand, actually I can hardly move them more than 1 inch. I wasted my money for sure!"

Press it closed against your thigh and do negatives. Try to keep it closed with one hand for 5 -- 7 seconds. You didn't wasted your money. It'll just take a bit of time to get your grip strength up.

"According to the directions, it wouldn't be smart for grip strength or hand health to use a gripper than is this difficult for me."

That's because they want to sell you another one...

Try this site . They have some good suggestions for using grippers to develop hand strength.
 
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(Lol @ Sep. 09 2007,12:47)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">That's great TunnelRat. Sounds like the Bone Crushers are very similar in load to the CoC grippers. Keep us posted with your progress.</div>
I have volunteered to participate in an exercise experiment at our local university. Part of the test will have me doing a series of grip exercises.

During the preparatory steps a researcher used a rather sophisticated instrument to measure my grip strength. It turns out that the grip strength in my dominant hand amounts to 50 KG at best (the average of three tries was 48 KG). My non-dominant hand averaged 43 KG.

My cheap, imported chinese grippers claim to be of 100, 150, and 200 lb. strengths. Based on the university's measurements I should not be able to close the 100 lb. gripper with my non-dominant hand even once, and I should not be able to close the 150 lb. gripper with my dominant hand even once. However, I can close the &quot;100 lb.&quot; gripper ten times with either hand easily, and, having worked with it for the past coupla weeks, I can close the &quot;150 lb.&quot; gripper ten times with either hand (albeit with some effort).

I have much more trust in the university's instruments than in the fanciful labeling on my cheap grippers. Thus I have to conclude that the &quot;100&quot;, &quot;150&quot;, and probably the &quot;200&quot; pound markings are wishful thinking at best.

Of course, I will continue to use my grippers to develop my hand strength in my regular thrice weekly workouts. Exercise against the spring resistance will still help, even though the actual poundage marked has nearly no meaning at all...
 
Interesting, TunnelRat. Can you close the 200lb gripper seeing that you can close the 150lb gripper 10 times?

Also, how well is the Uni testing instrument calibrated? It'd be good to know.

You could check your grippers by putting one handle in a vice so that the free handle is immediately above the one in the vice. Hang weight on the top handle until you find out what's required to close it (obviously, hang the weight as close to the end of the handle as possible). When the gripper is closed the moving handle should be in a horizontal position so that the weight on it is acting in the vertical plane.

Of course, you also have to know that the weights you are using to make the measurement are accurate. Most aren't.
 
Can you close the 200lb gripper seeing that you can close the 150lb gripper 10 times?

I can 'click' the 200 lb jobby with my dominant hand, but only once, and that with much effort. With my non-dominant hand I can only get it within about a 1/4 of an inch.

Also, how well is the Uni testing instrument calibrated? It'd be good to know.

I have no clue. However, these are PhD labcoat types. So I suspect they are fairly careful with their measurements and their fancy equipment.
 
Just discovered this thead!  

Initial test results:
11 sec left hand, 17 sec right hand, 65 sec both hands

Weight: 175

This was very humbling.  I'm jumping on the band wagon and buying a set of gripper thingys.  It's sad how weak a grip I have.

*Edit to add weight.
 
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(Lol @ Sep. 25 2007,20:40)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Also, how well is the Uni testing instrument calibrated? It'd be good to know.</div>
Okay, so I checked with the labcoats today. They tell me their grip-o-meter is calibrated for them when it comes from the lab. They don't  do any more calibration. So it is possible to be off a kilogram or two.

My researcher also pointed out that their grip-o-meter is an isometric measure, whereas my &quot;Bone Crusher&quot; grippers provide a dynamic exercise. Perhaps therein lies the difference.
 
Just wanted to say that my fingers are sore as hell from my grip workout yesterday, especially my pinky.  Are there any muscles in the fingers?
 
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(soflsun @ Sep. 28 2007,15:19)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Just wanted to say that my fingers are sore as hell from my grip workout yesterday, especially my pinky. Are there any muscles in the fingers?</div>
Until you've had DOMS in your hands, you haven't lived...
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TunnelRat: What do you actually have to do to get the grip-o-meter to give a reading? Yeah, I know, you grip it!
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 What I mean is: do you just hold a single handle and squeeze? I guess that would qualify as an isometric contraction.

If that's the case then I wouldn't think that your grip strength would measure much differently when using a gripper so long as the two handles of the closed gripper are similarly sized to the grip-o-meter handle. A gripper only reaches maximum resistance when fully closed and it's only a short movement so it's pretty quick to do. It's not like fatigue sets in and stops you closing it. You can either close it right away (or in a few seconds) or you can't. If you can do it (and assuming the gripper is calibrated) you know you have a grip strength that is at least as much as the resistance value of the gripper.

soflsun: There are muscles in the hand. This is a good pic:
Gray423.png
 
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(Lol @ Sep. 28 2007,19:59)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">TunnelRat: What do you actually have to do to get the grip-o-meter to give a reading? Yeah, I know, you grip it!
tounge.gif
What I mean is: do you just hold a single handle and squeeze? I guess that would qualify as an isometric contraction.</div>
The difference, as the labcoat explained to me, is that our grippers move -- we close them (or try to...) as the point of the exercise. Their grip measurement device did not move. Rather it only responded to the pressure I applied. Apparently there is some difference in the kind -- and even the direction -- of the action.
 
I am starting my third week of testing for the grip research project. They aren't really interested in grip strength so much as they are in measuring the flow of blood through the vessels of the arm during and after contractions.

The exercise amounts to the ultimate high rep/low weight program. Using a weight of only 3.5 kg, I do one grip contraction every 2 seconds for 30 minutes. Graciously, they allow me to do my 30 minutes in two 15 minute sessions.

I suppose that amounts to two sets of 450:
3.5kg X 450 X 2...
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Way back in Feb '07 I wrote this:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Right-hand 36 seconds, left-hand 26 seconds.

That was my third attempt this evening. I seem to get better after a few warm-up attempts. I think it's partly getting used to the discomfort but it's also a gret deal to do with getting a good starting grip.</div>
Yesterday evening I made another attempt at this as I have lost 30lb of fat (and muscle) over the last 6 months.

I only tried this once with each arm.

Right-hand 65 seconds, left-hand 65 seconds.

Hand pain was pretty unpleasant but what was more unpleasant was feeling like the ligaments in my left shoulder were about to pop! I allowed my shoulder to relax which was not a good idea. Tight shoulder and arm muscles helps stabilise the joints, just like they do during deadlifting. It's easy to relax the shoulder muscles but it starts to feel more and more unpleasant if you do.

Anyway, that's a dramatic improvement for me but still a long way off two minutes.

I now need to try adding 30lb to my belt to compensate for lost body mass and see if I can still hang on for more than 30 seconds.
 
Better to scratch all the bodyweight stuff and hold onto a loaded barbell.  When I cut, my ability to hold onto weight diminishes slightly but not as much as my strength in lifts.
 
I've never had grip strength issues until now and its REALLY pissing me off

My dead lifts are really suffering, as the weight feels like a feather on my back and legs but like a goddamned anvil on my hands and fingers.

I'm going to get some straps to see if it helps.

I CAN&quot;T do hook grip apparently...my fingers are so short I can hardly reach my thumb! lol
 
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(beingisbeing @ Nov. 25 2008,10:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">My dead lifts are really suffering, as the weight feels like a feather on my back and legs but like a goddamned anvil on my hands and fingers.

I'm going to get some straps to see if it helps.

I CAN&quot;T do hook grip apparently...my fingers are so short I can hardly reach my thumb! lol</div>
Yeah, don't let your deadlift progress suffer because of your grip. It's interesting what you say about hand size precluding you from using a hook grip. I hadn't thought of that; some straps or hooks should really help.

Do keep working on your grip though. It didn't take long for my grip to improve beyond the call of my heaviest deads (using a reverse grip). Reverse grip should be fine if you can't use a hook grip but try to alternate hands each set to keep things in balance.

With a reverse grip, I don't think you (or I) need to worry about tearing a bicep on the supinated-hand side. It's a rare occurrence and the loads we are using aren't likely to be high enough to cause a problem. 3 x bodyweight and above might be more dodgy but I've done a 600lb rack pull with a reverse grip and didn't feel as if anything was about to go pop. But maybe there isn't much warning?
 
Yeah who knows if there is a warning...its a scary thought that there may not be!

I'll try the straps this week and see what happens. I'm so pleased with the strength increases here and the grip limitations really but a damper on my high. I refuse to be derailed by my useless little hands lol
 
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