Ironmind Captains of Crush Hand Grippers Review

Captains of Crush Grippers: designed and built for performance.

True heavy duty hand grippers are designed and built to increase crushing hand strength. These are not your $5 sporting goods specials. The COC's are considered the gold standard of grippers and are made to strict standards

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--for the quickest gains in grip strength and hand health.

Buy Ironmind COC Grippers in the HGB STORE

What's special about Captains of Crush Grippers?

Perfect fit with CoC compatible grip tools for maximum progress in minimum time
Knurled aircraft-grade aluminum handles, pioneered by CoC Grippers in 1995
Proprietary GR8 springs, only on CoC Grippers and IMTUGs
20-year history of product development and refinement
Precision manufacturing for gold standard performance, feel, and appearance
Made in the USA
No-surprise geometry: you can count on the consistency and precision of Captains of Crush Grippers
11 strengths for a perfect fit
Certification on the top-tier CoCs

Captains of Crush Grippers Workout

For best results, use your Captains of Crush Hand Grippers after you've done your other strength training that might require grip strength: you can either use your hand grippers at the end of your regular strength training workout, or on your off-days.

Do 1 or 2 warm-up sets of 5 to 10 reps, using an easier hand gripper

Next do 2 or 3 maximum effort sets of moderate-to-low reps, and do this workout 3 times per week

You want to be doing serious, high-quality sets - one high-quality set is worth far more than 2 or 3 mediocre sets. Grip training is about strength - just as in lifting weights.

What you should not do, on the other hand, is endless sets of high reps, mindlessly clicking out reps on a Captains of Crush Hand Gripper that is too easy for you to close. High reps will do nothing to increase your grip strength and will only shorten the life of your hand gripper.

Ironmind Captains of Crush Hand Grippers review by Nagant-762

I started my current grip strength quest with the CoC #1 gripper. I've been lifting weights for many years now and figured it would be a good place to start. I was right. The first time I tried I was able to close it a few times; after two weeks of work (two days per week) I was doing three sets of 10 with both hands. That's when I planned to use the #1 as my warm-up gripper and upgrade with a stronger model.

I wasn't sure if I should go with the #1.5 or 2 and after some research I decided on the #2. I'm really glad I did, I have no doubts that the #1.5 would have been too easy. After training with the #2 for about three weeks (again, no more than two days per week) closing them still eludes me! The first time I tried the #2 I was able to get it within about an inch of closing (I thought I'd be stronger - totally underestimated this one!), and I'm now able to get it within 1/4 inch with both hands, but no more yet! Frustrating, but as with all weight lifting it'll happen in time. On training days I do 3-5 sets of 4-6 reps, no more. I actually get winded when doing this - that kind of surprised me, but I guess it shows I'm putting all the effort I can into it (my grip is wrecked at the end of these sessions....). Now I just have to close this thing!!!

I have to mention that since using the #2 gripper, when doing shrugs it kind of scares me how easy it is to have a 95 pound dumbbell in each hand (NO wrist straps) for the entire range of reps and sets. My traps now give out before my grip - that impresses me! I've also noticed that the occasional stubborn pickle jar is now way too easily dominated - not even a fair fight anymore!

Both of my grippers are high quality, they're built to last. I hate to admit it, but like I said earlier this has become a quest, an obsession! I can't wait to progress up through the line. I'm hooked on these grippers; they're the best you can currently buy. Get one now or get it later, either way it WILL happen!

Pros:

Made in the USA!
Top of the line gripper
Feel well made
Lifetime Guarantee

Cons:

Rough knurling on the handles
Price

Sport (80lb): If you are ready to move your grip training up one more notch than store bought plastic grippers, the Captains of Crush Sport is perfect for you: maybe you are just edging beyond the beginner ranks, or your rehabilitation is in its second round, or you need that perfect warm-up for your sport. Perfect for weekend warriors, light warm-ups, high school athletes.

Trainer (100lb): Where serious grip training starts, this is harder to close than anything you'll find in a sporting goods store. Rated at 100 pounds, the Captains of Crush Trainer is not a wimpy gripper, and chances are that if you've been lifting weights for a while or if grip strength is a part of your daily work, the Trainer will be just the right place for you to start.

Point Five (120lb): The newest gripper in the CoC family; Transition to the powerhouse CoCs, the Point Five is perfectly positioned to give you the boost you need to conquer the No. 1. No more excuses!

No. 1 (140lb): This is where things start to get serious because most people who lift weights cannot close the No. 1 Captains of Crush Gripper (rated at 140 pounds) the first time they try, and when you can do ten honest, consecutive repetitions with this gripper, you will already have an unusually strong grip.

No. 1.5 (167.5lb): The Captains of Crush Gripper No. 1.5 is halfway between the strength of a Captains of Crush Gripper No. 1 and a Captains of Crush Gripper No. 2; some people can progress directly from the CoC No. 1 to the CoC No. 2, but other people find this intermediary step invaluable.

No. 2 (195lb): If you are strong enough to fully close the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 2 (at 195 pounds), you have exceptionally strong hands, the kind of hand strength that will be at your beck and call day in and day out, whether on the job, at play, or in a life-or-death situation.

IronMind feels that closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 2 marks the standard of strength for top athletes as well as for elite law enforcement and military personnel.

No. 2.5 (237.5lb): Once you have mastered the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 2, you will undoubtedly begin to think about closing the celebrated Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3.

When IronMind developed the CoC No. 2.5 in 2006, it was with the express goal of helping you get there, by giving you a bridge; strengthwise, the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 2.5 is midway between the CoC No. 2 and the CoC No. 3.

No. 3 (280lb): Closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3 (at 280 pounds) is the most famous feat in the world of grip strength, and it is such an accomplishment that in 1991, IronMind began certifying people who officially achieved this landmark status in the world of grip strength.

With a reputation from Anchorage to Ankara to Adelaide, closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3 is the mark of a grip master.

No. 3.5 (322.5lb): Once you have been certified on the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 3, chances are excellent that you will be looking at the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 4 with bad intentions, and to help you close the gap, IronMind developed the CoC No. 3.5, positioning it at the halfway mark between the CoC No. 3 and the CoC No. 4.

No. 4 (365lb): This is it, the final word in grip strength, because closing the Captains of Crush Gripper No. 4 is so hard at 365 pounds that when IronMind introduced it in 1994, we used to tell people to save their money and just squeeze a brick because that's about what it feels like; or we would kid them and say that we could only sell them a Captains of Crush No. 4 if they had a note from their mother. The top of the ladder. Nobody has been certified on this gripper since Magnus Samuelsson in 2004--who will be next?

WARNING: Training with hand grippers is extremely addictive! They will be hard to put down, resulting in overtraining and possibly extreme hand soreness.

Like everything else, there is a right way and a wrong way to hold, or seat the gripper in your hand. Watch this informative youtube video:

Don't neglect extensor training.

Extensors are the muscles on the back of the forearm involved in opening the hand and are extremely important to hand health and strength. Wrap a thick rubber band around the ends of your fingers and open your hand for as many reps as possible. For a real challenge, place both rubber bands on one hand - TRY TO OPEN YOUR HAND! Buy a gripper from me and I'll include two thick, heavy duty rubber bands: