Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - No. 1
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Our Price: $19.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Sports See more product details |
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Description of Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - No. 1
Known around the world as the gold standard for building and testing hand strength, Captains of Crush Grippers are the single most important grip strength tool you can choose--ready to produce the quickest gains in grip strength and hand health. Available in ten strengths, there is a model perfect for everyone from rehab patients to World's Strongest Man competitors. These are the grippers that changed the world--never before had anyone taken grippers so seriously and pushed their development so far. Along the way, many of the biggest names in the strength world have shaken hands with and embraced CoC Grippers. Anything else is just a gripper. If increasing your grip strength is your goal, the ideal situation is to have three different grippers: one for your warm-ups, one for your work sets, and one that is your challenge gripper. No. 1: if you've been training your grip already, start here; most strong guys cannot close the No. 1 the first time they try.Sports reviews of Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - No. 1
Customer Review: Bad A$$
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
For all those "used-to-be" gym rats (like myself) who never trained on grippers before, this is a great addition to that renewed workout schedule. Doubtless you're like many others who've used the grippers of yesteryear, with the colored plastic handles. They serve a purpose and can set the stage for these Captains of Crush Hand Grippers.
After reading the reviews and attempting to judge which set to purchase, I decided on the No. 1 grippers. For those eager to gain that powerful handshake, these grippers are an excellent choice. There are guys out there who live to crush the hands of others in a hand shake. One buddy of mine does it all the time..his hands are rough like boiled leather due to working outside all the time. His grip is amazing for a smaller guy, and he has no trouble reaching into a pot of boiling water to take something out. I'd say his grip is a match for mine or perhaps a bit better.
Aside from that, there's only been a time or two when someone's handshake felt like a true heavy-duty vise grip. It's those that I'll never forget, since they were so overwhelming. That's the grip I want.
**Note: the shipping time on these was AMAZING! Ordered Tuesday night after 8pm and was told to expect shipping time of 3 to 5 business days. To my surprise, they arrived in the mail that Friday. I was blown away, because I didn't expect them till the following Wednesday. Kudos to Amazon and IronMind!**
When the box arrived, it contained the gripper set, a short instruction manual, the order/receipt and a cool IronMind catalog [like 50pgs]. I'm sure glad I didn't order the No. 1.5 or 2.0. These grippers are NOT EASY! Since I don't have a set of warm-up grippers [as recommended in the above-mentioned literature], I was slightly concerned. They were not lying when they said most guys at the gym cannot close these. I'd bet it's quite true.
**Recommend adding the Starter or Trainer as a warm up gripper**
Not knowing what to expect, I gave it the old college try. My first set was less than stellar. I failed to fully close the grippers with either hand. The diamond grips on the handles are excellent and by the 2nd set my hands had that strength "memory" back [to some degree]. I was able to close the grips completely 3x with the right hand and 2x with the left..and did a total of 6 reps for each hand.
Due to my inexperience, I waited about 20mins between sets, not wanting to accidentally injure myself..especially so soon after trying. By the third set, I was ready again and was able to close the grips 2x with the right hand and nearly 2x for the left [about 1/4in open]. Remaining reps were judged as "less than manly", with accompanying facial contortions, spastic arm raises and guttural noises.
**Note: I am mixing the conventional and upside-down grip methods**
Since this is my first week with the grips, I'm taking IronMind's advice and only doing sets 3x per week. If all goes well, I should be ready to increase sets and reps after 2-3 weeks. At that rate, I should be very comfortable with these -- and ready to move up to No. 1.5 in two months. My first main goal is to conquer the No. 2 gripper.
In my estimation, these gripper levels are much like hurricanes or earthquakes..as you graduate to the next level, your grip strength rises geometrically. For example, a Category 2 hurricane requires 10x the strength as a Cat1..so by the time you reach Cat5 [155mph+], it requires 10,000x the power required to create a wind speed 2x faster than at Cat1[70mph+]. It may not be quite the same for the grippers, but it sounds good.
Customer Review: A Strength Essential
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
Although I have been into weight training for 20+ years, I had never specifically focused on grip strength until the last few months. One of the reasons that I never used grippers is that the only ones that I had seen were the junky kind sold in sporting goods stores. I thought (and think) that those are pretty much a joke. These Captains of Crush grippers are nothing like that.
I have been very strong for a long time. The closest that I had ever done to grip training is forearm work such as reverse curls and wrist curls. In addition to those, I have done a lot of work that hit the forearms with exercises such as deadlifts, etc.
Even though I am very strong overall, I was humbled when first working with these grippers. I bought the Sport, Trainer, and #1 initially. Even for someone with a background of a lot of weight training, the # 1 was a major challenge. The Sport was very easy and all that I ever used it for was warming up. I did a lot of work with the Trainer. My grip strength improved quickly and I did more and more with the #1. There are ten different models ranging from 60-365 lbs.
I would recommend that anyone who has not done a lot of gripper training not try to start off with too challenging of a model. The Trainer will be quite a workout even for pretty strong people. It is probably a good idea to get at least three different strength levels so that one can do warmups with one, higher repetition sets with another, and have one for doing low repetition sets that really work the muscles hard.
These grippers are all very high quality. They are made with aircraft grade aluminum handles. The springs are also top notch. They do tend to squeak at times so keep a can of WD 40 close by for the occasional spray.
If you want to improve your forearm and grip power, these are a great tool. I also recommend the Ivanko Super Gripper IVANKO Super Hand Gripper Hand Strength Forearm.
Customer Review: A well built piece of equipment. Not for the beginner.
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
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.
Customer Review: Comparison with Heavy Grips
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I have both the CoC #1 & #2 AND the Heavy Grips 150lbs.
I consider myself of average strength - maybe slightly above.
So, the Heavy Grips 150lbs I can close 40x with my right hand and about 35x with left.
First day received:
The CoC #1 10-12x right hand (first day received) and 6-8x left hand.
The CoC #2 2x right hand (first day received) and 0 left hand.
All well made - CoC better made than Heavy Grips. More fluid and linear the spring action. I workout using these in steps - start with HG 150 then CoC #1 then CoC #2 then repeat.
Both Heavy Grips and CoC are years better than regular store products - however, I definitely give the edge to CoC over Heavy Grips for quality and finish.
UPDATE #1: after roughly three months I can now close the #1 25-30x right hand and 20-25x left-hand. Either I am "stronger" or the spring is weakening. I can also close the nr.2 with 4x (so a LITTLE better) and maybe 1-2x left hand.
Also, "pieces" (deeper than just top layer of skin) of skin off "pinkie" finger come off during hard squeezing !! If you have soft hands of want to keep them that way - watch out. TIP: I use a stretchable band-aid on the top pad of the pinkie finger - it only lasts about 3 sets (using the #2) but, it's enough to get through the workout without raw spots.
UPDATE #2: after roughly six months - maybe 4/5 months good use - and a month kinda' off - I can now close #1 40x with right hand and THE SAME with the left hand (now equal !). The #2 about 5-7x each hand (first 'set'). Would have expected MORE reps with #2 by now.
Also - a bit of rust has developed on the #1 (used more) ... came off with rust cleaner but not thrilled by it.
Customer Review: No. 1 vs Trainer?
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I wanted to do a review the first day I got it so that it helps anyone deciding whether to start with the trainer or the #1, I know I debated over it for a while and ended up with the #1 as my first CoC gripper.
Note: IronMind's delivery was flawless, very fast, zero problems with them. Highly recommended.
Background: I've been going to the gym for at least 10 years. This doesn't mean I'm a body builder or anything even close to that, it just means I've hit weights for a long time. I never really trained my forearms so I would say I have an average grip, meaning, average for someone who at least goes to the gym. If you've never done weights or rock climbing etc, this is not the gripper for you, start with something easier and work your way up.
First Impression: They are solid. The metal is a little harsh to the hand, but, let's be honest, if you want more gripping power you probably want your hands to show it, you don't want soft hands, so, see no big deal with it. Your hands will get used to it and will benefit from the calluses.
First time use: Closed it five times with my dominant hand, zero times with the non-dominant. Now, I mean close as in a bona-fide close, where the handles touch, none of that "almost closed it" story.
Conclusion (for now): They are definitely a good investment, the metal feels like it'll last a lifetime. If you think the #1 is too hard for you, follow your instinct, it probably is, start with the trainer. I've never been a fan of doing a 1,000 reps so this is exactly what I wanted, few reps of raw power, so it works for me.
I will update this review one month from today with progress info.