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: very good quality for the price
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I've known about and these grippers since 1998. I've owned them for about eight years; although I have not used them consistently. I own the Guide, Sport, Training, and 1. I've used, limited though, "sporting goods store" grippers in the past, and didn't not find them difficult to use.
These grippers are an excellent hand strength builder, especially for doing things like pinching, grabbing, and overall strength. When I use to work out 4 days a week, I could only close the Trainer. I used a straps to hold heavier wieghts to do shrugs and olympic lifting training. When I trained with them, I found I could hold more wieght without the straps.
I wasn't really able to appreciate how difficult these grippers were, till I brought them to work, a pizzeria, so I could do a few sets here and there. Out of the four or five people who tried the trainer, only one person was able to close it completely. Most were in the half to three quarters. I've only been able to recently close the #1, with several sets a day of training using the Trainer and Sport; On the verge of over training.
As to the rough grip comment, it true they "can" be rough. It's just like the non slip grip portion of barbells and deadlift and bench bars, some bars for cable machines, and so forth. If you find those to hurt when you use them, these will irratate the hands as well. Unfortunately, it does take some time to get use to them. As to soft hands going away, two suggestions, 1) use a brimmice stone on the calluses, 2) use plenty of moisturizer thoughout the day; I prefer intensive healing. Of course, these should be used anyway because some lifts are know to rip off calluses.
Customer Review: Get a Grip!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
The No. 1 is 140 lbs. of resistance. This is plenty challenging, I suspect, for most folks who have some degree of hand and forearm strength, but haven't really gotten serious with this usually-neglected (I'm guilty!) aspect of focused strength training. I am able to close it fully only three times at this point, and I have been lifting for 10 years. I intend to buy the "Trainer" (which is 100 lbs of resistance) to use as a warm-up (as recommended by IronMind) for workouts with the 1.0. The gripper comes with a little "user's manual" from IronMind on how to get the most out of your workouts with the gripper, suggested routines, warm up and working sets, and "care and feeding". All good stuff.
Frankly, this is a fabulous product from a great company. The "Gold Standard" is no exaggeration. It's extremely well made, and I anticipate that I will be using it for a good while, at least until I "graduate" to the next level (1.5 - approximately 165.5 lbs resistance).
Addendum: Two weeks after I wrote this review, I purchased the Trainer. I have no trouble squeezing off 20 reps with the Trainer with either hand, so it may be a little bit too easy for some. Now, after about a month and a half from time of purchase (and some new callouses on the insides of my fingers), I'm able to do two sets of 10 with the No. 1 after a 20-rep warm up with the Trainer without much difficulty. It doesn't take long to see a marked increase in your grip and forearm strength and your hands get used to the roughness of the grips fairly quickly.
Customer Review: These grippers are fantastic
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I just got my grippers in the mail a couple days ago, and I'm loving them. They're ridiculously addictive. This isn't the cheap plastic garbage I remember from when I began lifting weights, these things are quality. As long as you use them properly and don't do huge numbers of reps at a time with one that's far too easy, I don't see these ever breaking. Now that I've restarted my grip training, I'm looking forward to getting certified on the CoC #3 gripper.
Some words of wisdom: first, try to realistically assess your starting grip strength before you buy these. Don't start with a #2 if you've never lifted weights or worked heavily with your hands. Similarly, don't get a sport version if you have giant rock crushing bear paws. I fall into the latter category, and I found the #1 a comfortable starting level. I can close it fairly easily but it does start to become more difficult after a few reps. If you have an average or slightly above average grip, you should probably start with the trainer.
Second, be sure to use good technique when training with these. They have a diamond knurl grip that will tear your skin up if you allow it to slide around in your fingers. I currently have a decent size chunk of epidermis missing from both of my pinky fingers from this. I recommend buying some grip chalk, as well as doing a bit of research on how to properly set the grips in your hands. This will save you quite a bit of pain in the long run.
Customer Review: The real deal!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
As the other reviewers have stated, these are far beyond the cheap grippers found at sporting goods stores. The Captains of Crush grippers will definitely allow you to train for a that monstrous grip strength you've always wanted but was never sure how to get. Whether your a martial artist, weightlifter, or just an average joe who wants to crush some hands, these are what you need!
I've been using these for about two months, and my friends and family have commented on my increasingly powerful grip. And I've just barely started on the No 1. Imagine when I get to the No 2...
Now for the downsides: The grips themselves are pretty rough on your hands initially. But after awhile you'll develop some manly calluses, so no big deal.
The other downside is that after the Trainer (100 lb grip), the grip increments start getting steep. While progressing from the Guide or Sport to the Trainer is pretty straightforward, it's tough to jump from the 100lb Trainer to the the 140lb No 1, and so on.
Luckily you can purchase some nice "inserts" which will add an extra 20lbs of force to any gripper, allowing you to increase increments for gradually. These aren't sold on Amazon though, you'll need to go to the IronMind website.
Overall, these grippers are worth the money.
Customer Review: Wow, now that's a challenge!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
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).