Product Review : Captains of Crush Grippers

I can’t remember when I first bought myself a pair of grippers, probably 4 years ago I bought a cheap ‘fitness’ pair off trademe (NZ’s version of ebay). These were cheap, weak and totally useless for my training. I remember doing 2-3 sets of 50 each hand while I watch TV. I eventually gave one away, and threw the other in a corner not bothering with them again.

About a year later I came across the CoC (Captains of Crush) grippers from Ironmind and decided to buy some gear off their website. Among other things I bought myself the trainer (100 lb close) and the number 1 (140 lb close). These grippers are not made for ‘toning’ they are for strength training, and should be treated like weight training for the hands. The grippers are very simple but well made, they feel quite comfortable to use and I can’t fault the design or workmanship.

Closing the number 2

Using some very basic programming they suggested I was quickly able to close the number 1 for sets of 5. I would start with 1-2 sets of five with my old cheap gripper as a warm up, then 2-3 sets of 5 with the trainer, followed by sets with the number one, finishing either with sets of five on the trainer or some lockouts closing the number one (5 -15 seconds). The sets with the number one started with 2-3 reps and sets, eventually building up to 5x5.

Following this I bought the number two gripper (195 lb close). Went I first got this gripper I could only close it slightly past half way. To build up to closing it I would warm up with sets of 5 for the trainer then 1-2 sets of five with the number 1 followed by 3-5 singles attempting to close the number two. I would then finish with sets of 5 with the number 1. Currently I can do 2-3 singles with each hand closing the number 2, but only on a good day, if I’m tired, beat down or worn out I can’t quite make the close.

Almost got the close on the number 2

Ideally I would program these grippers twice a week, but my main (grip) focus right now is on the one arm towel hang, climbing my campus board and one arm finger tip push ups. So currently I throw in the grippers whenever I have time and am feeling good.

To sum up these are excellent pieces of training equipment which you should treat as weight training for your hands. They are very well made and a great addition to your training. However they should not make up the entirety of your grip training. They do not directly transfer to isometric grip strength (unless you’re performing lockouts), so throw in some hangs and fat bar lifting for a more rounded grip strength. And don’t forget to train the extensors.

Basic hangboard and campus board training

THIS IS NOT WRITTEN FOR CLIMBERS. I AM NOT TRAINING FOR CLIMBING. Sorry for the caps but I needed to get that out of the way early. I’m not a climber and know very little about both climbing and training for climbing. That said, I believe what I present here is a reasonable progression of training which will carry over positively to climbing.

I first got into training grip strength after doing a bit of indoor climbing with friends. After an hour or so of climbing I found my limiter was grip endurance. I’m not saying that I would be a better climber with stronger grip, just that I could climb for longer. I’m also aware that climbing is very technical, and that you should be using mainly your legs. That said I don’t climb frequently so when I’m there, I just want to have some fun.

So I started my grip training with many of the things seen in my articles on basic grip training and training the extensors. I also build my climbing wall/ massive hang board. As part of that project I added a mini campus board to one side (Note: real campus boards are set at an angle with set spacing much larger than mine). I had grand plans for my campus board (the side with nothing on it currently) but when I first tried it I could only just do a 5 second hang, so the grand plans were put on hold while I build up my finger strength. Before you start hangboard or campus board training I suggest you should have at least a 1 minute bar hang, preferably several sets.

So I started my training with sets of 5 second hangs. I would rest as needed, sometimes hanging between sets of other exercises, or between housework. I used two hands and all four fingers and did not lock my fingers in with my thumb. When locked in with the thumb (thumb over the index finger) the grip is called a crimp, a half crimp (which I use) does not use the thumb. This grip is harder than the full crimp, and the half crimp will be used later for campusing (moving up and down on the board) I built up to 5x5 second holds, then moved to 10 second holds building up to 5 sets. I then built up to 15 and 20 second hangs, from here I believe that longer and longer hangs are un-necessary to train. One important tip: Buy some chalk; it makes it feel like your finger prints are glued to the wood.

Chalked fingers, warm up hang, half crimp hang

My next step was to start climbing the board. At first I could only move my hand up one rung then match it with my other hand. I would build up to climbing one rung 3-5 times, resting as required.

Climbing the board, hands matching

From there I would warm up with one rung climbs, then do 1-3 two rung climbs, I would climb one, then climb to the next. Once I could make 3 two rung climbs I move on to climbing the whole board in this fashion (3 rungs). This is where I am up to currently with my training and I have started some 3 finger hangs (two hands), I’m planning to train to hang from only two fingers per hand, and hang from only one hand, maybe one hand two fingers eventually.

My next aim for campus boarding is to climb the rungs without matching hands, i.e. left hand up, and then right hand goes to the next rung up, not meeting at the same rung. I would also like to train climbing down the board after climbing up.

Climbing without matching hands

Other options for advance campus boarding are to move both hands at the same time, either both from the same rung, to the next rung up, or to offset the hands and jump both up to the next rungs. This is a long way off for me and I really don’t suggest it to anyone whose fingers aren’t incredibly strong. 

I believe these are called bumps

Jumping rungs

Hands offset, jumping rungs

So that’s how I’ve built up to climbing my campus board, and how I plan to continue from here. If any climbers are reading this please comment and let me know what you think. Anything I’ve been doing well, or poorly?

Basic finger extensor training

This is a follow on to my post on basic grip strength training

Training the extensors is a vital component of strong, injury proof hands. By training the extensors you balance out your grip strength, which helps to keep the hand and wrist stable, helping to prevent injury. Training the extensors can also help to maximise your grip strength training, by increasing the size and strength on surrounding and related muscles in the forearm. This is a basic guide to at home minimalist extensor training to accompany basic grip training.

Finger tip press ups

This is the staple of most extensor training. Holding the hand in an isometric position uses both sides of the hand, allowing us to get in some extensor training. Finger tip push ups also allow us to put pressure though our fingers in a progressive manner to slowly build the bone and connective tissue of the fingers. I have currently built up to 3 sets of 3 one arm fingertip push ups, but this was by no means easy. At one stage I was doing sets of 10 regular fingertip push ups, but after breaking my wrist (parkour injury) and not training fingertips for a long time I was very weak in the fingers. I had to start my training from very simple kneeling press ups. This took several months until the movement just clicked (figuratively, not literally) and I started to make progress. Aim for 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps before moving on

From there I extended my kneeling press up by locking my body straight from thigh to back (squeeze the butt). This made the movement more difficult, with more weight going through the fingers. Again aim for 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps before moving on.

Keep your butt squeezed

Regular fingertip push ups were my next step. Since this is quite a big jump, I suggest doing isometric holds at the top and bottom of the push up, and then building up to actually doing press ups on the finger tips.

Keep your back flat

 Once I could do 5-10 finger tip press ups per set I used press up progressions (un-even and archer) from the convict conditioning book to work towards the one arm fingertip press up. Again the jump to full one arm finger tip push ups is big so I used isometric holds (5 seconds) at the top and bottom, then negatives before I build up to the full press up. Also when training these for the first time, keep your other arm close by to spot yourself in case your fingers fail, safety first. I now train these once per week, often at night while I’m cooking dinner. I suggest either training them before grip training, or on a separate day, not after grip training as you may risk fault in your fingers.

Other finger tip options

All sorts of body weight movements can be trained on the finger tips such as frog stands, elbow levers, handstand push ups, L-sits etc. Personally I don’t currently train any of these but they are worth doing.

Rubber band extensions

This is the second basic stable of extensor training. I use the bands from iron mind which I bought along with some grippers and other items. I like these bands since there are several different strengths to use and work up to. If you can’t or don’t want to buy any, just look for thick rubber bands, then start to double them up. I use my bands 1-2 times per week, working the weakest bands first building up to the strongest, doing sets of 10-12 of each.

Rice buckets

Rice buckets can be used for all kinds of grip, hand and wrist training. I don’t personally use one but they do look like they would be helpful. Check them out here on rosstraining.com.

Isometric hold and lift

This is another option I don’t personally use but I’ll mention it here. Take a large jar or similar container, half fill with rocks/sand, put your hand in the neck of the jar, open your hand to a finger tip push up position, this should lock your hand inside the jar. Then do several lifts with your hand locked in this position.

That should be more than enough for you to start training your extensors and injury proofing your hands.

Basic Grip Strength Training

I was going to write a post on training with my hangboard/ mini campus board. However as I thought about it I realised I would probably be doing people a disservice by not first discussing some basic grip strength before taking on something much harder (campus boarding). So this article is my take on some very simple at home grip training. There are many facets of grip training which you can read about on ironmind.com (great explanation of the elements of grip here), however what I suggest here is very simple, and requires very little equipment to take you a long way into grip training. I used the convict conditioning 2 book to train up to the one arm towel hang, and much of what I present here is in the book (as well as elsewhere on the internet for free). I have tried not to give away much of the CC2 book as the author has put a great deal of work into the book and it would be unethical for me to present it here for free. I will however lay out some basic training ideas to help you build an excellent base of grip strength. If you are struggling to reach much higher levels (one arm towel hang) I suggest investing in the CC2 book.

Why train the grip?

So many authors have written on this topic so it’s not necessary for me to repeat it all here. The short version is that a strong grip will make both training and lifting easier. If grip is lacking it can limit your upper body pressing and pulling, if your grip is strong you can squeeze harder and radiate more power though the body (Pavel Tsatsouline) etc. That, and grip training is just fun.

Basic hangs

I believe a one minute bar hang is a good indicator of a reasonable level of grip strength and from here you can try some hang boarding, rope or towel hangs etc. If you are unable to do a vertical bar hang from a pull up bar (or other high bar) then horizontal hangs is a good place to start. Using either rings or a low bar, hang under the bar with your body held rigid (tight abs, back and butt). Keep the shoulders held back and tight (left hand photos), not soft and high (right hand photos). You could do some ‘shrugs’ between the two positions, but I suggest focusing on keeping the shoulders back. Aim for 2-3 sets of 30 seconds to 1 minute holds before moving on to vertical hangs.

Eyes closed because its raining.

All the same rules (suggestions) apply for the vertical hang, shoulders tight, aim for 2-3 sets of 1 minute hangs. From there you could add time, aiming for a 2 or even 3 minute hang, or move onto more difficult hangs.

Squeeze the butt, point the toes, build good movement habits

Some options for incorporating this kind of hang training is to add these hangs to the end of a pulling training session, or on their own as a mini workout during the week. Personally I find that the morning is not a good time for training the grip, not sure why but I always feel much weaker in the morning. Although that may not be the case for you.  Another good option is to do your max pull ups (or rows) then continue to hang for as long as possible.

While you’re hanging

One good piece of added training while you are hanging is to do scap pulls (see Ido Portal). I haven’t been trained by Ido Portal but I believe these are done by pulling the scapular back and down, causing the chest to rise. I suspect these would carry over well to training the front lever.

Higher levels of grip training

Once you have a solid vertical hang you could move onto more difficult versions of hangs. One arm hangs and eventually one arm towel hangs are an excellent step in training both the grip and solid shoulder positions (keep the shoulder packed tight). A good exercise to do is to hang from both hands, release one and swing out, then retake your grip and let go with the other hand to swing out to the other side. Thing could be combined with shrugging the shoulders or pull ups.

Keep that shoulder tight

Other options are to use two towels for hangs, pull ups and hanging core work. I used to use these like a drop set after a harder version of hangs. I would take two towels and knock out some hanging leg lifts (credit to www.rosstraining.com for the idea).

The same can be done on a short length of rope. The rope I use here cost about $5NZ per metre, I bought 3 metres and gave a metre to each of my friends who train at home.

Fat bars

Fat bars (2-3 inches) are another excellent option for grip training. I have a fat barbell and dumbbells which currently live at a friend’s house, but you can turn your pull up bar into a fat bar by wrapping it in a towel.

Two small towels wrapped around the bar

Personally I don’t often use these grip training approaches for pull ups since I am putting most of my energy into training for the one arm chin up. However if max pulling strength is not your primary goal adding these into for regular pull up workouts could work very well.

Other grip training options

There are countless other options for training the grip such as crush grippers, pinch training, block weights, ripping cards/phone books, sandbags etc. I have tried to outline the simplest options using minimal equipment to build your base before trying out different versions of grip training.

Training the extensors

Training the finger extensors (opening your hand) is important for building max wrist strength, stability and for injury prevention. I’ll cover these more thoroughly in my next post, but just quickly here, finger tip push ups, rubber band extensions, reverse curls, and rice buckets are all good options. Full article here.