A mass market, plastic-handled gripperA gripper being closed
Grippers, sometimes called hand grippers, are primarily used for testing and increasing the strength of the hands; this specific form of grip strength has been called crushing grip,[1] which has been defined as meaning the prime movers are the four fingers, rather than the thumb.[2]
There are differences from brand to brand, but the common features of standard grippers are that they use a torsion spring fitted with two handles. The exact dimensions of these elements vary, as well as the materials used to make them; the springs are made from various types of steel, and the handles are generally made from wood, plastic, steel or aluminum.
History
Grippers from the early part of the 20th century to the middle of the 20th century typically had wooden handles, were quite easy for a strong person to close, and were a regularly advertised product in bodybuilding-weightlifting magazines.[3] Such mass market grippers were largely replaced with inexpensive plastic-handled grippers that are commonly found in sporting goods and exercise equipment stores today.
Top early 20th century professional strongman Thomas Inch had two challenge nutcracker grippers in the 1930s that defied nearly all who tried to close them,[4] and besides their status as a specific challenge, the design and application of this gripper was praised as a sound way to assess grip strength.[5]
In 1964, Iron Man magazine introduced the “Iron Man Super Heavy Grip Developer,”[6] and unlike mass market grippers, these grippers had steel handles, thick springs and were very difficult to close. The popularity of these grippers was limited, and they were discontinued in 1977.[7]
In 1990, IronMind reintroduced the original Iron Man grippers,[8] and then later that year, the company began modifying the design with the stated goal of improving the accuracy, durability and appearance of the gripper, not just making grippers that could tax the strongest men in the world.[9] IronMind also introduced aluminum handles with permanent markings.[10] These two features were later adopted by other manufacturers, including those in low-cost manufacturing centers such as China and India, and have become common on the more difficult grippers, regardless of brand. At the same time, interest in grippers that challenged even the strongest people in the world broadened beyond audiences directly involved with training or physical performance,[11] and have been reported on in such publications as The Sacramento Bee,[12] and BusinessWeek.[13]
In 1991, IronMind began certifying people who could close its toughest grippers under official conditions, and it maintains lists of the people certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3,[15] Captains of Crush No. 3.5[16] and Captains of Crush No. 4,[17] Closing grippers of this strength level has been compared to crushing a raw potato in one's bare hand.[18] In 2011, IronMind began certifying women who officially closed the Captains of Crush No. 2 Gripper.[19]
Use
The user holds the gripper in one hand and squeezes the two handles together until they touch. Once touched, the handles are released and the movement is repeated. Variations of this basic movement include negatives [see below], and a variety of partial movements. For example, if the strength of the gripper is beyond that of the user, the user might apply maximum force, moving the handles as far as possible, even if the handles cannot be made to touch. Another partial movement involves using two hands to squeeze the handles within approximately 19mm (3/4inch) of each other, releasing one hand, and then using the other hand to make the handles of the gripper touch each other. Negatives involve starting the gripper handles touching and then resisting as the gripper opens up, in an eccentric contraction.
Training
Historically, users trained with grippers by doing high repetitions, but it has been argued that while this was necessary in the days before more challenging grippers were available, this is an inefficient way to increase strength, and that lower repetitions are preferred, consistent with other strength-training protocols[20][21] Joe Kinney, the first man certified for closing the Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper,[17][22] is credited with introducing the idea of negatives to gripper training.[23] The idea of starting a gripper from the "deep set" position (approximately 19mm space in between the handles) originated from an ebook that was inspired by Kinney's success, but then focused on training principles and techniques developed by the author, not Kinney.[24][25]Randall Strossen has argued that the generally accepted principles of effective strength training apply to grippers, just as they do to any other movement.[10] Performing strongman John Brookfield developed strap holds, the idea of hanging a small weight from a strap or belt which is kept in place by squeezing the handles of a gripper hard enough to keep the weight from falling[26] one of many training innovations he pioneered.[27] Arm wrestlers were among the first to establish specific training protocols using grippers, as part of a larger strength training program for their sport.[28]
Ratings and accuracy
To explain the amount of variability to expect, grippers have been likened to uncalibrated barbell plates,[10][29] which at its most basic level means that they will have greater variations than calibrated barbell plates (i.e., barbell plates that must conform to narrowly defined, pre-established standards),[30] but there is evidence that substantial levels of accuracy are achievable for grippers.[10]
Grippers are commonly rated in such units as pounds per square inch to inch-pounds to inches, but arguments have been presented that in many cases these numbers have little real meaning and in all cases they are not as transparent as the label (in pounds or kilos) on a barbell plate, so they should be viewed with caution.[10] Similarly, “calibration” is sometimes misused, as when a gripper is rated, whether subjectively[31] or objectively,[32] Instead of made to conform to an external standard.
Misconceptions
Along with misstatements about calibration, two other misconceptions about grippers were introduced in 2003.[33] One of the notions was that the characteristics of the springs in grippers would change over the course of a certain number of repetitions before they stabilized, in a process that was labeled “seasoning.”[33]
An alternative view is that a spring will bend when the force required to close the gripper exceeds the spring's mechanical limits, but that such bending does not occur in grippers that are properly designed and built.[10] Such bending would make the gripper easier to close on successive attempts, while the grippers with springs that did not bend would remain constant.[10]
The arm of a torsion spring with the sharper bend was termed the “dogleg”,[33] and while noting that it would make no difference in the force required to close the gripper, it was stated that it took “less effort”[33] to initially deflect the gripper if one pushed on the dogleg. Others have argued that grippers are symmetric with regard to forces applied to the handles and that the dogleg is another myth, and this has been demonstrated with an analysis of the underlying physics,[34] but the concepts remain in use.[35] Subjective reports and objective facts about grippers don't always match.[36]
Non-traditional grippers
Traditional grippers are used by the whole hand at once, although the thumb is stationary and the other four fingers apply the force required to close the gripper, but specialty grippers exist that allow the fingers to be trained one or two at a time.[37][38] Traditional grippers have handles of fixed lengths, but at different times, grippers have been introduced that have variable-length handles, allowing the user to change the amount of leverage and the range of motion involved when closing the gripper.[39]
Collectors
Grippers have a longstanding tradition in physical culture and different models are sought out by specialist collectors, with England’s David Horne possibly having the world’s foremost collection.[40][41]
Another premiere collector and with the World's Largest Known Private Collection of Hand Grippers belongs to Joe Musselwhite from Texas with 338 hand grippers (and growing) from 17 different countries and over 40 different brand names. This record was established on September 1, 2014.
↑ IronMind catalog. “Tools of the trade for serious strength athletes . . . most of them unique, all of them top quality”. Volume 1 - Number 1, 1990, p. 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strossen, Randall J.; Kinney, J.B.; Holle, Nathan (2009). Captains of Crush Grippers: What they are and how to close them (Seconded.). Ironmind. ISBN978-0-926888-84-5.
↑ Strossen, Randall J. “Kinney Do It? Yes! Joe’s the First 4-Evermore,” MILO: A Journal For Serious Strength Athletes, Volume 5 - Number 4 (March 1998), pp. 8 - 11. IronMind
↑ Strossen, Randall J. J. B. Kinney Grabs a Challenge and Wins. MILO: A Journal For Serious Strength Athletes, Volume 5 - Number 2 (September 1997), pp. 29 - 32). IronMind.
↑ Piche, Bill. The KTA Program [previously called, Kinney Training Adapted]. Ebook retrieved September 2, 2003
↑ Brookfield, John. Handgrippers: Closing The Gap. MILO: A Journal For Serious Strength Athletes, Volume 4 - Number 2 (July 1996), pp. 22- 23. IronMind.
↑ Brookfield, John. The Mastery of Hand Strength. Second Edition. IronMind.
↑ Doherty, Mark J. Arm-Wrestling For Everyone. Quinlan Press: Boston, 1986.
IronMind Enterprises, Inc. is an American niche market business based in Nevada City, California, that specializes in "tools of the trade for serious strength athletes." Though many of its products include strength-training equipment and accessories, IronMind also publishes books, DVDs and the quarterly magazine MILO: A Journal For Serious Strength Athletes.
Grip strength is the force applied by the hand to pull on or suspend from objects and is a specific part of hand strength. Optimum-sized objects permit the hand to wrap around a cylindrical shape with a diameter from one to three inches. Stair rails are an example of where shape and diameter are critical for proper grip in case of a fall. Other grip strengths that have been studied are the hammer and other hand tools. In applications of grip strength, the wrist must be in a neutral position to avoid developing cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs).
Dr. Randall J. Strossen is an American strength and physical culture advocate, kinesiologist, equipment manufacturer, historian, journalist, author, teacher and an expert in grip strength training.
Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian powerlifter and professional strongman. Due to his 84 international wins in major international strongman competitions including four World's Strongest Man championships, eight Arnold Strongman Classic championships, two IFSA Strongman World Championships, and over 70 world records, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time.
Apollon the Mighty, born Louis Uni, was a French strongman, especially famous for his grip strength.
The GNC Grip Gauntlet is a strength athletics contest that tests the grip strength of competing individuals over three disciplines, each designed to test one of the three recognised facets of hand strength: crushing; pinching; and supporting. It was developed by Wade and Brad Gillingham and became an internationally recognised contest featured at some of the world's most prominent strength athletics events and expos, including the Arnold Strongman Classic and the various WSM Super Series Grand Prixs. The last time the GNC Grip Gauntlet was run in a competitive format was the 2010 Arnold Classic. Since that time the challenge has changed to an informal challenge with no official results maintained. Prizes are still awarded for successful completion of the challenge.
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Manfred Hoeberl is an Austrian former strongman and powerlifter who was known as having the largest arms in the world during the early-mid 1990s. Hoeberl was born in the same town as bodybuilding legend and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Captains of Crush Grippers is a brand of torsion-spring grippers designed, manufactured and sold by IronMind Enterprises, Inc., based in Nevada City, California. They are the official grippers of the Arnold Sports Festival, the GNC Grip Gauntlet, United States Arm Wrestling and the World's Strongest Man contest.
The Fortissimus is a defunct event in strength athletics. The name means "the mightiest" and was a multi-event challenge at the end of which the winner is crowned as the "Strongest Man on Earth". It was set up to bring together the strongest competitors on the planet independent of the organisations to which they were signed, and also as a tribute to the nineteenth-century Canadian strongman Louis Cyr, which gave it many similarities to Le Defi Mark Ten International which last took place in Canada in the early 1990s. After its first airing in 2008, the strength athletics magazine Milo described it as the ultimate strongman competition ever held. Despite a successful edition in 2009, a reported lack of a major sponsor for 2010 resulted in the competition being suspended, no future contests have been announced.
Stefán Sölvi Pétursson is an Icelandic strongman and a finalist of the World's Strongest Man competition, winning 4th place in the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition held in Sun City and 9th place in the 2011 World's Strongest Man competition held in Wingate, North Carolina. He has also won Icelandic Strongman competitions multiple times including Iceland’s Strongest Man in 2009 and 2010.
Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man competitions, and in 2011, became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
The All-American Strongman Challenge is a leading competition in strength athletics that takes place within the annual Californian FitExpo. Although North America has a number of prestigious strongman events determining the "Strongest Man in America", the "Strongest Man in Canada" and the "Strongest Man in North America", the All-American Strongman Challenge has added kudos because it is open to entrants from overseas with the potential to bring in leading international competitors as well. It is notable for the calibre of entrants it has attracted, with many World's Strongest Man finalists being represented.
Strength athletics in the United States refers to the various strongman events throughout United States and North America in the sport of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man ("WSM") contest. America has both an amateur and a professional sanctioning body.
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Laine Snook is a former strongman and professional Highland Games competitor. As an athlete he competed internationally but his career was cut short by injury. He went on to specialise in strength based sport and represented both England and Great Britain in various Highland Games and strength athletic events. He also became the world benchpress champion. He has gained international renown in strength sport for being one of the world's foremost exponents of grip strength.
Mike Burke is an American professional strongman competitor from Aurora, Colorado. Mike won the 2012 All-American Strongman Challenge in January 2012. This victory qualified him for the 2012 Arnold Strongman Classic and he finished in 5th place.
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Bar bending or Iron bending is a display of physical strength derived from early circus strongman performers, which was used in a sporting context in strength competitions such as the World's Strongest Man. It requires the strongmen to grip long iron rods from their edges, use their arm and grip strength, and bend until the two ends come closer to each other.
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