Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - No. 1

The Captains of Crush grip strengthener did what it is supposed to do. I recently began rock climbing on a regular basis, and I found that my grip was my biggest weakness. I did some research and came across this line of grippers. I purchased the Trainer level, and only took a couple weeks to get to the point of needing a more difficult level. Level 1 only took a month or so to get to the point where I could easily and repeatedly close it with both hands. So, it did exactly what it was supposed to do. The handles themselves are fairly rough on some people's hands (helps to have some callouses), and both models I have used squeak some when used, but those quibbles have been minor for me. I liked the product enough to continue purchasing higher levels. For those who want a stronger grip, this product should help a great deal.

I cannot recommend these items enough for the development of grip strength--the most important type of strength for martial artists, and important for everyone. My only complaint is the gigantic gap in resistances between the various models.

Now this is a great product. Construction has held up well, and my hands don't feel too torn up by the texture of the handles. If you have never used one of these products before, you may want to start with the Sport(80 lbs) or Trainer(100 lbs) before upgrading to this (140lbs).

This has given me a huge increase in hand strength; however, I have one small gripe... For those of us who aren't body builder's with beastly large hands, a 120 lb intermediate gripper is an order. While I can squeeze out 3x reps of 4 with this, I would prefer a lighter one to start with. I can easily do the Trainer for 3 reps of 15-20, but this one is very hard by comparison.

Despite this little road bump, I will continue to like and use my CoC #1! I can feel a big difference when shaking hands with people. Those big meat mitts that use to extend and crush my sorry excuse for a 5 digit appendage, are now meeting heavy opposition. Not that this should be used only to have a better handshake, but it is one of the first places you'll really notice your strength vs. the masses, hah!

Bottom line, if you are new to grip training, start with something like the Sport or Trainer model (even if you are strong enough to start on the #1, you'll need some warm up ones).

Even though this is labeled the #1 gripper in the Captains of Crush product line, as others have noted, it is not the beginner gripper that one would start out with. There are three other grippers that the CoC people sell below this with varying strength requirements from 100lbs of force down to 60lbs. This gripper requires 140lbs of force to close and is challenging even for people who lift weights.

The gripper itself is built with an all metal construction that should last a lifetime. The grip itself is somewhat rough, but anyone who lifts free weights bare handed won't be bothered by it. The roughness level is about equivalent to the average metal dumbbell's grip, but since those vary in texture it's hard to compare. As it stands anyone who considers buying this sort of thing (at least at this level of force) probably doesn't mind getting some calluses.

This sort of grip training is quite specialized and isn't going to necessarily help with any particular sport or activity, but it certainly will help with crushing strength and provide something to do while at the office.

One tip for making it easier to close something like this is to tense your other hand muscles while attempting to crush the gripper. For instance, while crushing the gripper in your right hand tense your left hand into a fist as hard as you can. You'll find that when you have reached your limit this will push you just a little farther. The same is true if you tense your abdominals at the same time. There is a reciprocal effect that increases the strength you are able to bring to the primary exercise. This is a trick that most arm wrestlers know about. They will tense all the muscles in their body BEFORE they actually start the contest because it increases the total amount of force they can put through the one arm.

Finally!

Make no mistake. These are NOT the hand/wrist grips you buy out of the sporting goods store where you can do 30 to 50 repetitions in one blast.

These are REAL hand grips. Made for people who are serious about getting hand and wrist strength. I wish I had brought these years ago. For now I can only do about 11 to 13 repetitions. To get to the point where I can squeeze these grips to where the grip ends are touching or "closing"....well that's going to take a while. I can get them about 4/5ths closed. And I have been doing the $10.00 sporting goods grips for well over 6 years - consistently!

I do about two sets of 11 repetitions each hand, twice a week. And it really works your hands, too. I feel the strength increasing in my hands, and I plan on working up to the next level of grips.

Now as to which one you should be buying? Well if you have been using the sporting goods store grips for about a year or so consistently, then get number one. If you have been using the sporting goods ones off and on for about year, then get the Captain of Crush trainer. But it's always good to look at the next level when looking to buy these grips. Like one poster stated it's better to error on the side of caution and get the next level up. In my opinion, its better to get a grip that is too strong than one that is too weak.

I highly recommend these hand grips.