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The beginner routines are actually more about building ligament strength. The connective tissues in the hands start out very delicate, but respond well to certain types of training. The muscle building is just a beneficial side effect that will also make you a better climber (but probably not visually bigger unless you were very sedentary and had some atrophy going). Once you have some stronger ligaments (3-4mo of consistent training 3 times per week), you can safely work in any rep ranges you like.

Did you check out SleepEatLift's "Cheap and Free" routine on the sidebar? It's pretty great, and the bar hangs can be done anywhere you can do pull-ups.

You can also add grippers to that if you like them, but they don't have 100% carryover to climbing, and they're $20-$30 every time you get stronger. Most people your age that come here asking about grip can't afford that yet. But if you have that in the budget, we can certainly help! CPW's Women's Starter Set, for example, is really well put together, and comes at a discount. There's also the Baraban Adjustable, which is more expensive, but has adjustable resistance. It's like $300 worth of grippers in one.

And like J3rennan said, /r/climbharder if you can climb consistently.

Thanks for the reply.

> If you're only good at hangs, that means you have a strong support grip with narrow handles, but weak thumbs and poor ROM on your fingers.

That sounds about right.

> The claw movement will help that, as it's a crush movement, not a support grip thing.

Presumably the crossover here is quite large with a claw grip? I could hold 3 x 30 seconds having never done the grip before which I account to a solid support grip.

> The thick bar work will do well for increased ROM with stating strength.

I don't do any barbell work but I am going to get some pipe insulation for my pull up bar and do some thick grip hangs. My open hand strength/endurance is appallingly bad based on my climbing performance when I need it.

> Towel hangs are great for the thumbs (increase difficulty over time by using thicker and thicker towels, or by gathering more of a thick towel in your hand at once).

I have just finished my first week using a 3" wooden pinch block. I am using Steve Maisch's approach which basically involves working out the max weight I can hold (without my eyes popping out) for 13 seconds (which was 8kg) and then doing three workouts with that weight starting with four sets, then doing five and finally six sets. After that waiting a couple of days and retesting.

> Sledgehammers are cheap, and SUPER versatile as a wrist strengthening tool. By grabbing it at different points along the handle, leverage changes the resistance by many tens of pounds.

I will get one of these from the hardware store. I was there yesterday to buy extension leads and had a go with one: it was pretty difficult to hold it out straight even from halfway along the handle. That one was 3kg. The 5kg one has a longer handle so I can picture years of training between them.

After quite some thought I have decided to get this contraption as my first hand gripper. I think that the ability to increment the load better makes it a good starting place for my gripper training. Once I have got a couple of solid months under my belt I will look at some CoC grippers.

Grip training is tricky because compared to most other forms of strength training, there is much more emphasis on tendon strength. And the thing about tendons is that they don't give you the same kind of feedback that muscles do when they get tired. All this means I've found it's easier to overtrain and injure your tendons, and so it's important to throw in extra rest days here and there, especially as a beginner or when upping the resistance.

Take some time off, stretch your hands, and you'll probably be alright.

Also, don't neglect the forearm muscles used to open your fingers. A lot of grip trainers focus solely on squeeze strength to their detriment, the equivalent of exclusively working out your biceps but never your triceps. For the most effective strength t's important to work complimentary muscle groups. I've been using these after a tennis player friend recommended them to me a few years ago and they're excellent.

I have a Mirafit loading pin and it's under £20 (worth noting (1) it's not as tall as a few other pins but you can easily fit the plates you want for almost everything (2) due to the weld at the top for the carabiner it can't be used like some pins/attachments you can buy from David Horne). Mirafit have a rotating handle, wrist roller and rotating pull up handles but nothing for pinch grip. Search for "Rip your grip" on Amazon and Ebay for a range of items but most you could make yourself.

I recently make a couple of pinch grip blocks using the link Devinhoo posted from Barrel Strength and they're great.

This is an adjustable gripper from Amazon that is cheap considering the range of resistance, saves on buying multiple grippers.

Here's a quick start guide if you want. Buy some Champions of Crush (CoC). If you can, buy some in person so you know which you can handle. Buy at least one to work with at the moment and one to progress towards. If you can't buy them in person most guys can handle either the 100lbs or 150lbs version, if you've been lifting for a while you could probably start on the 200lbs version. Then just do sets of squeezing on them like you would with any other weight.

Once you are comfortable with that start including some of the other exercises like pinchs, barbell rolls and wrist curls.

Basically your wrists are just a muscle, get some equipment and treat them like any other.

Steeper bends are generally more flexible because you can always go to a shallower angle by moving your hand towards the tip of the bump whereas you can't make a shallow one deeper with hand placement. Another neat thing with the EZ bar is you can change the difficulty dynamically by how deep in the divot you hold because it changes the lever length, and a steeper one will give you a longer lever and overall it just feels smoother.

The one I have is the the troy rackable ez bar. It's slightly shallower than I like but it's so damn convenient to be able to rack it like a barbell that I'd definitely choose it again. In addition to curls it's also great for close grip bench press, going heavy with lying triceps pullovers (using a rack), zercher squats, etc because of the rackability.

I would say some Fat Gripz, they are $40 on Amazon and if you have Prime you get free shipping. They are a good start for most people, pretty much you put them on dumbbells and the added thickness to hand handles make them much harder to hold when your working out, they are also small and light and easy to take with you if you go to a gym.

If you are a beginner this 30$ one on Amazon is pretty good. Once you max out at 200 you can buy a more expensive Baseline brand one but they cost a whole lot more but they go up to 300 which I think is good for almost anyone. I think strong gripsters get around 250-280.

Most people just get grippers like Captains of Crush and work their way up the difficulty levels. You'll find "closing a 3" will be a more general way to compare strength with others in the community than "213lbs dynamometer close".

When using hand grippers, specifically Heavy Grips 150, what's the optimal time to rest before doing exercises again? I only got these a couple weeks ago but could manage to do around 10 reps on my non-dominant hand. This morning, after not using them for several days, I was able to bang out 20 reps easy. Is it like any other body part, ~48 hours?

If you don't like your friend, get him a hard gripper.

Cheap, easy, and safe things might include expansion bands or a wrist roller.

The most practical solution for someone genuinely wanting stronger hands (and not a fidget toy for when they're bored) would be something like an adjustable Ivanko Super Gripper, though they are not cheap.

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Amazon Smile Link: troy rackable ez bar


|Country|Link|Charity Links|
|:-----------|:------------|:------------|
|USA|smile.amazon.com|EFF|
|UK|www.amazon.co.uk|Macmillan|




To help donate money to charity, please have a look at this thread.

This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting). The thread for feature requests can be found here.

Dude, thanks so much again for the informative response! Going to shoot for higher reps with the Trainer before moving back to the #1.

While I got you here, quick question (since you seem to know what you're talking about); do you have any thoughts on these expander band things?:

http://www.amazon.com/Expand-Your-Hand-Bands-10-Pack-Goodbye/dp/B00083B79M?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_1&smid=A2T23XKLYNBN84

I'm thinking they might be good to do on days I'm not doing grip training to avoid injury and increase flexibility. I'd imagine one could just use strong rubber bands or whatever but they're cheap enough that I'm thinking about ordering them. I noticed some soreness after using my #1 before I got the Trainer and it seemed expanding my fingers (even without the tension of bands) was helpful in relieving it.

Yes, it will help with the extensors on the top of your forearm.

I bought this pack: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00083B79M/ which I like because it gives you a number of progressively wider bands so you can do progressive overload like in any other strength training.

Which weight is best for starting grip strength? Should I pick up 2 different weights?

Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00079YNQQ/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_pfCGwb60EX920

I'd suggest looking into a Vatiz gripper. It's solid, really well built and it's adjustable in small increments, from 60lbs (CoC Guide) up to 390lbs (higher than CoC #4) , in increments of around 10-12 lbs. They also use a machine to calibrate the weight so you can trust what it says it is. And a personal preference is that the handles close flush the whole way vs a gap at the top.

It's really handy needing only one gripper for warming up, sets, and max rather than having to mess with a bunch of different grippers.

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https://www.amazon.com/Vatiz-Adjustable-Gripper-Double-Spring-Version/dp/B00OE12CZ2/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR2fUGn5pmk

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Edit: I actually checked their official scale. The increments start at 6lbs and slowly increase with the resistance. The last increment is 20 lbs (going from 370lbs to 390lbs).

I'm a relatively new rock climber at 10 months, but I can climb at about V7/8 and I want to step up my grip to get into harder routes such as V10s and up.
Which ones should I get? I ordered these (http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Gripper-grips-Forearm-Strength/dp/B0017OSE1A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396749687&sr=8-2&keywords=hand+grippers) before I saw this link to Cannon works and now I'm waiting for them so I don't know what grip I will be at. Do any of you know if the quality control on these is good? I would like to switch to those IM CoC grippers I think after I get my use out of the ones I purchased already.

Get some 320 grit sandpaper and sand those babies down. Be conservative at first since you can't put skin back on after you take it off. Keep your hands moisturized with a hand care product like Working Hands.

Lbs. It's a super cheap hand dynamometer.

https://www.amazon.com/CAMRY-Dynamometer-Strength-Measurement-Capturing/dp/B00A8K4L84

I bought the Vatiz adjustable gripper a couple months ago and have been enjoying it. Making some solid progress but still a long way from being able to close it with one spring at the top setting, let alone both springs. I bought it for $80 but it looks like the price has gone up on Amazon recently: https://www.amazon.com/Vatiz-Adjustable-Gripper-Double-Spring-Version/dp/B00OE12CZ2

You could always go for adjustable like https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knurled-adjustable-Gripper-Forearm-Strength/dp/6042453793 or https://cannonpowerworks.com/products/baraban-adjustable-handgripper

Dont transfer 100% to CoC (grippers like COC get much harder as it gets closer to the close) but still you would end up with really strong hands

Check out One Move Too Many. It is aimed at climbers but there is a lot of really useful information for treating issues with the muscles responsible for grip.

Well I decided to buy 2 grippers for now:


Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - Guide

Captains of Crush Hand Gripper - Sport

Ok so I was in a bad accident a few years ago, my left-hand grip strength is seriously lacking. A 1 plate DL is impossible for me right now because of it; I could probably get a rep or two but that would be all. Will these CoC grippers work better or should I get something like these adjustable grippers to start with?

Did something change from the last time you asked this?

Do you hope to see different answers?

https://www.reddit.com/r/GripTraining/comments/8h1x9u/i_have_the_chance_to_buy_a_grip_equipment_please/

I'd still recommend this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knurled-adjustable-Gripper-Forearm-Strength/dp/6042453793?ref_=mw_olp_product_details

I ended up going for another similar one that had better and more reviews. I'll report back if it's any good.

I searched Amazon and it says they're eligible for shipping to Australia. But they are $159 delivered. No idea if that's an ok price.

The Vatiz Adjustable Hand Gripper, Double-Spring Version https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OE12CZ2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ZhLOBbP36P5QS

https://www.amazon.com/grip-Adjustable-strengthener-exerciser-strength/dp/B009B59OPW

Good build quality. Can be a little slippery because it's plastic. But otherwise a solid product imo.

The Heavy Grips here on Amazon comes in sets of three at 100, 150, and 200 lbs, or alternatively a different set that comes in 150, 200, 250 lbs. How should I know which one's I should start with? 100 lbs seems pretty high but I don't have anything to compare that to, is it a normal starting weight?

You could start out with a set of Heavy Grips. Not as high quality, but they get the job done. I'm using them as my cheap working grippers until I get better.Based on the CPW rgc averages, the CoC Trainer is going to be right in between thee HG 100 and 150, so the HG set of150, 200, and 250 wouldn't be a bad way to go, and it's only $30. The CoC #1 is going to be between the HG 150 and HG 200.

USA4ME

I see one on amazon which seems way too expensive: https://www.amazon.com/IronMind-Hub-Pinch-Grip-Training/dp/B07D94VBNK

Pedi egg

https://www.amazon.com/Grip-Master-Finger-Exerciser-Tension/dp/B000UMHURY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1535906558&sr=8-3&keywords=gripmaster

static holds (or anything else) with fat gripz.

http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Gripz-The-Ultimate-Builder/dp/B005FIS14Y

This seems to be along the lines of what you describe:
https://www.amazon.com/SideWinder-Pro-Forearm-Grip-Strengthener/dp/B0046EUU56?ie=UTF8&qid=1294445052&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

This is another, less similar option:
https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Arms-Strong-Powerful-Forearms/dp/B002XG5CD4?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top

What do people do for extensor work? Would some work with those mini bands (like these) be enough? How much/often do you do it?

I'm just looking to balance out work from the standard beginner routine in the FAQ. Or, I guess, wondering if I even need to.

edit: I'm specifically for the fingers.

Ouch :(

This:

https://www.amazon.com/Sidewinder-Pro-Plus-Strengthener-Adjustable/dp/B0046EUU56/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1535841383&sr=8-16&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=forearm+roller&dpPl=1&dpID=31twkILPo7L&ref=plSrch

Anyone know if the GD Grip Pro 55-154lb adjustable gripper actually does what it says?

I have a 22-90lb one, and bought a 44-132lb, but it's lighter...

I am really liking my Baraban Adjustable. I got mine on eBay. Here is a link to one on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Baraban-Adjustable-Gripper-Resistance/dp/B008FR2W7Y I would not recommend using it every day if you are using higher levels, but on lower levels for reps, I use it just about every day. Just pay attention for the warning signs of over training!