Captains of Crush gripper challenge - Page 10

Blarg · #91 03-03-2006, 05:05 AM

Kind of and kind of not. Some toughening of the skin and of the tissues underneath is going to happen naturally, and you'll want that, because when you move on to harder grippers the pressures get pretty intense. But if you get big callouses and they are untrimmed, they will tear.

So most of the real dedicated people get corn-huskers lotion or some other moisturizer and file away/snip away callouses when they get too big.

They definitely are a b*tch on the hands. They make them with those deep cut-outs so they won't slip, but that makes them harder to practice with. Unfortunately all the best quality grippers do that. The knurling itself isn't too bad, but it's the cut-out parts that really tear into you.

You can use the trainer for a while, to build up general toughness in the skin and to prepare your tendons and ligaments for harder things. You can exercise your hands to an incredible extent, and they heal extraordinarily quickly. You can also help that healing along very dramatically with contrast baths. So you can practically work your hands as hard as you like, within reason. But it's best to start out with laying a foundation of tendon and ligament strength and tissue toughness, so you'll get plenty of use out of your trainer for a while. If you ever feel you've overdone it, contrast baths will set you straight again.

Remember you don't have to just do closes. You can also do negatives and holds. That can put less wear on your hands sometimes too. Close with two hands, then hold with one, or slowly let it open with one.

astroglide · #92 03-03-2006, 05:11 AM

i'm 98% certain that i would quit before i started filing gigantic calluses off my hands. that just sounds ridiculous.

i'll check to see if they came with some kind of usage guide, but i don't remember seeing one. i think it just came with a catalog for their other products.

Stuey · #93 03-03-2006, 06:06 AM

I'm still at this but I have not improved much. I can close the #1 with either hand now. But I don't think I will ever put the effort in that is required to get the #2 closed. Astro do you have a #1? If you do go find your toughest friend and let him try it. Good chance he won't be able to do it. But if you stick with it for 2 or 3 months you will be able to do it easy. You don't have to go nuts just regular sessions. Not much blood will be lost and then you will be able to do something they can't and believe me it drives them nuts. But they won't buy a set and train to get as strong as you just like they won't buy the books here and read them. Once you have the edge you keep it on them forever. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Do it.

Martin · #94 03-03-2006, 06:44 AM

You can try rubbing alchohol to toughen up the hands. Vinnegar also works. Don't sand the knurling off the gripper whatever you do [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Like Blarg said go for negatives and timed holds, 10 seconds is good. If you get really into gripping get an Ivanko Super Gripper to go with your normal grippers. This allows micro progression.

Good luck with it gripping is a great hobby.

Blarg · #95 03-03-2006, 08:28 AM

Check out grippermania.com. They will tell you about niceties like setting the "dog leg" into the thumb side of your palm, and there's all kinds of grip info there. I also did some posts on contrast baths and other things that were very detailed on www.dragondoor.com, which you can find if you do a search on them for contrast baths or grippers.

And re callouses, they don't have to get gargantuan if you file away at them regularly. But if you want perfectly smooth hands, that's going to be a tough order of course.

Rduke55 · #96 03-03-2006, 10:49 AM

I'm down.

astroglide · #97 04-07-2006, 03:56 PM

ok i can repeatedly click the trainer with both hands. a friend wanted to pick up a trainer, so i went ahead and threw a #1 on the order too. it's probably sitting at my office now.

i do have calluses on the middle third of my fingers now, but they're not huge and i must admit they have become a small source of pride.

Blarg · #98 04-07-2006, 03:59 PM

Cool, Astro, and grats. Yeah those callouses stay there for a long time. I take a little macho pride in mine too -- why not?

It's good to eventually have a warm-up gripper, one that you're working on as a next step, and one that is the next step up, so you can do heavy negatives on it. Heavy negatives are incredibly good for ramping up your strength quickly.

astroglide · #99 04-07-2006, 04:04 PM

i had to look up what a negative is, i hadn't done that before. for the others it's basically closing a gripper you can't handle with both hands to 'set' it, then trying to hold it closed until it pries your fingers off of it. is that right blarg?

the other thing i should have mentioned is that my forearms definitely look better. i have never worked out and i was honestly surprised at the results there.

Gunny Highway · #**100** 04-07-2006, 04:14 PM

Nice bump astro!

This thread inspired me to do a little grip work too. I have small hands and have never had an extremely strong grip. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I have a gripper that's somewhat tougher than most other cheap ones I've found at sporting goods stores. I've been using it in the car on my hour commute. I've been using a thick rubber band to work my extensors. But I think I'll be getting one of the COG ones sometime soon.

Great thread, Blarg. Thanks.