Just got my No.2 grip trainer in the mail..yayyy!!!!

[Patrick G.]

Just graduated to the No. 2 gripper...man, it's a b&@tch to close! Give me about 3 weeks, i'll be closing it like a trainer..haha...

for those of you who are not familar w/ IronMind products, they make excellent specialty training products, and are known worldwide for their "Captains Of Crush" grippers...these aren't ur ordinary Sports store grippers, as even the "trainer" gripper requires roughly twice the power to close as an ordinary "Academy" gripper...think about this...the No.3 gripper has officially been closed by only 4 people in the world...the No.4, only 2!!

here's a link to their site: www.ironmind.com

BTW, the No.2 requires 195 lbs. to close! (the average "Academy gripper requires about 50 lbs.)

[HtTKar]

Good luck on the number 2. If you have problems you can buy those sleeves for your number 1. It will put make it right between the two sizes.

[Patrick G.]

Good luck on the number 2. If you have problems you can buy those sleeves for your number 1. It will put make it right between the two sizes.

well, closing the No.1 got pretty easy for me...i can easily knock out 20 reps w/ both hands with that one...now, with the No.2, i'm able to close it almost completely once or twice with both hands before getting tired...

[koto_ryu]

The #3's the killer for me, I'm still working on getting steel to steel.

[Thai Bri]

Careful with them there grippers. They are a great trainng aid, though I don't see how the type of grip they train is all that functional for fighting. Does help you open those stubborn jars though....

Anyway, I over trained and something in my elbow went "twang!" I had a long long lay off and, guess what? I'm more or less back to where I started.

Train smart instead of too hard.

[bodhisattva]

Train smart instead of too hard.

As with most good advice, I had to **** up first before I could fully recognize the worth of it.

I once overtrained myself straight into the ground. Shoulder injury took care of that, eventually. That was back when I was doing giant sets and super sets on EACH muscle group...Twitchy-Twitchy - Ah my shoulder!

How do the grippers work? Are they better for grip than, say, long sets of pullups/chins from various grip widths?

I only recently thought about getting a grip trainer, as the pullups and chins always seem to do the job of making my forearms cranky and sore the next day..also thinking about getting a thicker pull-up bar..

[koto_ryu]

Careful with them there grippers. They are a great trainng aid, though I don't see how the type of grip they train is all that functional for fighting. Does help you open those stubborn jars though....

It builds up your crushing and twisting strength, so it's definitely very useful for all kinds of grapplers and the like.

Anyway, I over trained and something in my elbow went "twang!" I had a long long lay off and, guess what? I'm more or less back to where I started.

Train smart instead of too hard.

Were you using them every day? Since I supplement with wrist rollers, thick bars, and other things the most I ever did was three sets of five, a 5-second hold for each rep and I did both hands each set. I just do it on my weightlifting days.

[HtTKar]

I think they are pretty relavent. When you grab somebody you want to make sure you can hold onto their skin through their clothes, not just their clothing.

I once thought about "what if there was a MA that focused soley on grip strength, and squeezing your fingers right into peoples muscles. ripping muscle right off the person" but I have an overactive imagination. Point is, that still would hurt a lot. If you could squeeze a #3 or #4, I'm sure you'd be able to do that.

The best thing about those little IronMind grippers is that you can actually measure how much power you have in your grip. The Trainer is ~100lbs, #1 is about 150lbs, and #2 is about 200lbs, etc. Similar to wanting to know exactly how much you can bench press, instead of just pressing odd objects.

Mostly though, they give me something to do while I'm at work, or just sitting around. I also have one of those Dyna-flex hand grippers for wrist and forarm strength. Those will work your whole arm and back. Kind of addicting too.

I get your point though, play safe.

[JaredExtreme]

Who needs a grip stengthener when you've got the nipple piercing thread?

[Thai Bri]

Haw haw haw, nice one.

Back to topic. Think of the position your hands are in during a fight. When are they ever in the position that the mirrors that of the grippers? When grabbing clothes the hands are much closer together and, when grabbing limbs, they are further apart (with more use of the index finger). And they don't help face ripping (nice.....) hardly at all.

As for ripping muscles off a person? Yes, you do have an over active imagination......

Here are some better ways -

For clothes, wrap a towel over a bar, and do pull ups with it.

For limb grabbing, get a wide barbell and lift weights with it.

For face ripping/shredding, roll up a towel and kep grabbing into it until the fingers are tired.

For general wrist strength? Get a weighted disc, hold it in your hand, and do wrist curls with it.

Grippers are great, but they are not that functional for fighting.

[Patrick G.]

they are VRY functional for holding weapons, such as knives and/or firearms...especially in the heat of battle...

[koto_ryu]

II once thought about "what if there was a MA that focused soley on grip strength, and squeezing your fingers right into peoples muscles. ripping muscle right off the person" but I have an overactive imagination. Point is, that still would hurt a lot. If you could squeeze a #3 or #4, I'm sure you'd be able to do that.

Chin na does an awful lot of grip training. As for muscle tearing, not right off, but there are techniques in at least Japanese arts that I know of that involve muscle tearing. For example, you could slap the inner thigh hard and grab it with a claw hand, and if you yank hard enough you're going to **** up something inside.

[koto_ryu]

Here are some better ways -

For clothes, wrap a towel over a bar, and do pull ups with it.

For limb grabbing, get a wide barbell and lift weights with it.

For face ripping/shredding, roll up a towel and kep grabbing into it until the fingers are tired.

For general wrist strength? Get a weighted disc, hold it in your hand, and do wrist curls with it.

Grippers are great, but they are not that functional for fighting.

Those aren't too bad, but the wrist curls are pretty lame compared to most of what else you could be doing with your time. Grippers do help with crushing strength overall, which is good for a lot of aspects of fighting, but you're right in that it does not cover every single aspect.

[Broadsword2004]

For grip strength, I'd think that you should just use the crushers, do hanging leg raises with thick bars, pullups with thick bars (wrap foam around the bar or something), do barbell curls with thick bars, do specific foearm training (like forearm curls, etc...) etc.....and also just doing the actual grappling with grabbing the person will build up strength too.

As long as you build up good forearm and grip strength with the variety of exercises but also do the actual martial art a good amount, I think you should develop very strong forearms.

I am wondering though, Thai, you said you injured a muscle in your forearm. I was reading that the forearm and the calf muscles are very dense, meaning you (supposedly) have to train them everyday to make them grow. Calves however, you flex every time you walk, so I can see working them everyday as you have to really pump them to make them grow, but the forearms, I am unsure about. It was an older source that said that about the forearms, so I mean, should one work the forearms everyday or every other day???

[Patrick G.]

I also have one of those Dyna-flex hand grippers for wrist and forarm strength. Those will work your whole arm and back. Kind of addicting too.

have a link to this product?

I'm a big "forearm" fanatic...i want my forearms to look like Popeye! haha...

already use wrist-rollers..also have one of those gripping machines you can add weight plates to, similar to what Bruce Lee used...built it myself...wrist curls help too, and so do hammer curls...i train forearms about every other day, but as for the grippers, I keep it with me at work and use it every moment I get a chance to...