Grip Strength and Training

[jkatz44]

Lift weights, mostly free-weights, for 20 years!

I dead-lift 315lbs pretty regularly, without wraps...

Lat pulldowns, curls, high rows, shrugs... Not only build your grip, but the rest of your back musculature too!

No grip pressure issue here...

JeffWard

No grip pressure issue here...

Cause you are shooting a wimpy 9mm.... lol

Jeff, Just Kidding.

Jason

Edited November 27, 2010 by jkatz44

[spanky]

Ok, I just received my CoC

Trainer and #1.

Stupid question probably but do you squeeze them with the spiral up or down??

[Jake Di Vita]

Lift weights, mostly free-weights, for 20 years!

I dead-lift 315lbs pretty regularly, without wraps...

Lat pulldowns, curls, high rows, shrugs... Not only build your grip, but the rest of your back musculature too!

No grip pressure issue here...

JeffWard

That's funny because I double overhand deadlift 405 for reps and do 40 pullups (22 deadhangs) and I'm not as strong as I'd like to be for USPSA...and I shoot Open.

Stupid question probably but do you squeeze them with the spiral up or down??

The coil is at the top.

[spanky]

Thanks, Jake.

[Bob Vogel]

Thought I would weigh in here since I've been using Coc grippers since Manny Bragg turned me on to them at the last World Shoot. For me controling the gun is paramount. The way I see it "all else equal" the less the gun moves in recoil the more accurate your going to be, that is at least how it is for me.(especially shooting Limited Major with a 30oz Glock) I grip the gun hard but I can't overdue it or obviously I will lose agility. I will guess and say I use approx 75% of maximum force in my support hand and maybe 60% in my gun hand. As someone else mentioned its very simple-the stronger your maximum is the stronger those pecentages are.

My thoughts on getting a stronger grip: First, you have endurance and then you have maximum strength. To get better endurance you need to train high reps with low weights. To get more maximum strength you need low reps with near max weights. This is common sense of course. I AM NOT concerned with endurance, I will almost never be gripping and shooting my gun for more than 25 sec at a time, AND I get enough endurance with just my regular dry/live fire practice. If you want to bench 300lb you'll never get there doing 100 lbs all day long. Its the same with gripping. All that counts for me is my maximum strength, therefore I use only the heavier grippers. When I first started I could do a #1, but not by much. Within a couple months I could do a #2. I think I've topped out doing a #2.5 but can do a #3 with a "deep set". I would never have got to that point if I hadn't severely pushed myself with heavier grippers. Now, to maintian it I rarely use them more than once a week. The catch to all this is avoiding injury. Some people are more susceptible to this than others so you have to know your own body....but it is amazing what the body will get used to. I know this is long but its whats worked for me and hopefully it can help someone.

[Jake Di Vita]

I completely agree with everything Bob said.

[wurm]

I ordered the Trainer and #1 COC a few months back and am glad I did. I've got a buddy I shoot with and I've always thought it looked like there was barely any recoil when he shot. I mentioned this to him and that I had been working on my grip. He asked to shake my hand and when he did it felt like a vice clamped on to my hand. He's a neuromuscular massage therapist (or something like that) so he's got this awesome grip. That plus this thread have really made me realize how much further I can go and what improvements it can make in my shooting.

Another thing hand and wrist related I'm noticing about myself is that I need to work on wrist mobility. I'm trying to shoot with a bit more elbow bend and a slightly higher and cammed support hand and it is causing me a bit of discomfort in my wrist so I try and make sure to do some stretching throughout the day.

[R.Elliott]

My dad had his hand crushed in a mining accident when he was young. Because he was wearing a leather glove when the ore carrier ran over it, the hand remained attached to the wrist and they managed to save it. The rehabilitation exercise they gave him was simple; hold a sheet of newspaper at arms length by the corner and using only your fingers, gather it up into a ball and squeeze it down as small as you can. It worked for him. He's in his 70's now and he still has an impossibly powerful, bone-crushing grip. Shaking hands with him is like sticking your hand in a machine.

I've done this exercise a few times myself and it sure does seem to work. Burns like hell too!

[ak47traxx]

Just bought a set of grippers from GNC that look just like the CoC. Set comes with 3 grippers, 50, 100, and 150lb. Regular price was $50 on sale for $20.

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4152810

[Corey]

after a couple weeks on the C0C Trainer, while still tough, i can see an improvement. I can close it a lot more now and when doing the hold, can hold it for much longer. Im going to keep working on this one for a little while, then move myself up to the #1 when i can close the trainer more. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out

[twikster]

In karate training for the "chop" (shuto, or "knife hand) strike, they work on side to side strength of the fingers. My instructor had a hunk of what looked like truck mud flap matherial. It had 4 holes poked into it. He'd squeeze it together like it was sponge rubber. I don't know what all else he did for his grip, but he could grab you by the gut or the buttocks, and you could NOT jerk your way free of his grip. He could also thrust his spearhand (fingertip strike0 halfway up to his elbow into a box full of gravel. I've worked with a sandbox a bit, thrusting into it, gripping, and spreading the fingers against sand-resistance, and in a few months, you can see the increased size of your tendons. An orthopedic surgeon said that you have no muscles in your fingers, only tendons. The muscles are in the other part of your hand. Dunno, myself.

[Tzygä]

I just got CoC grippers Guide to #3.

[Forged1]

As a sports medical physician I want to weigh in and point out some things.

For those that shoot limited and or use the classic, thumbs forward technique in open, there is no doubt that strength training of the hand (and fore arm) muscles help with shooting performance. And I think all of the devices and methods mentioned in this thread work to a helpful degree.

HOWEVER, the use of the methods described, strengthen “grip” or opposable muscles of the hand. In the classic method of shooting, this natural opposable grip is NOT used and the thumb is not used. So yes, they do strengthen the hand but NOT in the manner most folks grip the gun. There is some spill over to other forearm muscles that are used in classic method which, is what helps manage recoil and are trained when using opposable grip trainers.

In Brian’s language of awareness of the “set” of feelings with grip, the “set” is considerably different with the trainers than with actual “set” management of recoil. So there is some muscle memory retraining , or different memories from grip training to shooting.

For those that shoot Open, the “set” of feeling with grip trainers is almost identical to those used in the *thumb rest [generic]* ® method. So grip trainers have more muscle memory specificity as applied to the *thumb rest [generic]* ® method.

But here is the real advantage of the *thumb rest [generic]* ® method. NO increase of normal everyday strength is required to get superior recoil management using the *thumb rest [generic]* ® method. Mechanical advantage is so much higher than even small folks with weak hands can effectively manage recoil and flip.

Hello, I am not familiar with the *thumb rest [generic]* method . Could you elaborate? Thanks for all the great info here in this thread, M

[pjb45]

I looked around locally for the CofC but to no avail.

I am embarassed to say how easy it was to call Manny and order them from him. The transaction was literally completed in less than two minutes!

I wished I had just gone to him in the first place instead of dicking around for a week.

Buy from Manny!

[Leozinho]

Just bought a set of grippers from GNC that look just like the CoC. Set comes with 3 grippers, 50, 100, and 150lb. Regular price was $50 on sale for $20.

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4152810

Thanks for this. I had not seen them. A little digging turns up that there are two different sets - beginner and advanced. According to some reviews, the beginner set is roughly equivalent to CoC's Guide, Trainer, and #1 and the advance set is like the CoC #1.5, #2 and #3 (so yes, that's advanced). When in doubt, buy the beginner set.

[Tzygä]

Here you will find CoC grippers http://ironmind-store.com/Crushed-to-Dust153-Grip-Tools/departments/7/

[Turtle]

I've been using the CoC grippers for about 7 years now. I was turned onto them by a co-worker: one of the first 50 or so guys to make the Captains of Crush wall of fame. Awesome guy who was really into strong man stuff...

Some of the best advice he gave me was to not over do it. You've got to be in it for the long haul and you can really hurt yourself if you're not careful. Part of that is simply listening to your body, knowing your limitations and how far to push past them.

Part of it is also balance and symmetry. The latter meaning what you do with the right, do with the left; the former meaning if you're working on a "pulling" exercise, then counter that with a "pushing" exercise. Someone touched on it earlier with the bucket of rice method. That works on the extensors, a much weaker part of the hand movement. Obviously your extensor strength will never equal your grip strength, but for balance you should also work this part of the hand/body. Another method is using rubber bands...

I try to diversify my workout as much as possible; I use the Powerball, CoC grippers, putty, free weights, and calisthenics to name a few. Whatever you're workout consists of, be careful not to over do it. It's very easy to get an "over use" injury, in this case probably "lateral epicondylitis". Easy to get, difficult to get rid of and very painful...

PS, very much in agreement with Bob Vogel, very well put. Lot of good info from different members in this thread as well...

[cas]

Can anyone who knows the CoC's well enough suggest which one I should start with?

I have an Gripmaster Extra Heavy in my car that I play with now and then while I'm driving, but as far as resistance goes it isn't offering me much at all. The only way for me to feel like it's doing anything is high reps back and forth. I'd like to try a CoC but I don't want to start too light or too heavy.

[kevinj308]

I started with the sport and trainer, and quickly bought the #1. I'm not a weightlifter or anything like that but I am a mechanic and work with my hands. I'd say if you're already training for grip strength then start with the #1. It really can't be too much, you're gonna wanna push hard and check yourself on a higher weight frequently. I can't close the #1 with my weak hand, but its close. It really wasn't that hard to close with my strong hand. I can do 3 sets of 10 reps and its just the last few reps on my strong side that I can't close. If it's too light you can use it to warm up. Just my .02, really no way to know whats right for somebody else but I don't think you'd regret having a #1 around. It'll fit in to your schedule somewhere.

Good luck

Kevin

[Zebp45]

I agree with Kevin the #1 is great one to start with. I started with the Sport not knowing what to expect and quickly bought a #1 and then a #1.5.

[Tzygä]

You can always sell what you don't need anymore so I did. I just bought Coc grippers guide to #3 and now I have sold guide, trainer, #1, #1.5. I have kept sport and #2 for warm up grippers and #2.5 and #3 for harder grippers. It is nice to have several grippers so you can do different kind of workouts.

[driver8M3]

Some of the best advice he gave me was to not over do it.

definitely good advice. when i first got my CoC grippers i worked them really hard...and overdid it. it took close to a year to recover.

the last catalog i got from iron mind had a picture and small blurb about bob vogel in the CoC section..

[beltjones]

I've been working with the CoC grippers for a little while and have noticed a massive increase in grip strength. However, I want to suggest a couple of cross training ideas that I think are very complementary to shooting, and one of the complements is the fact that they really improve your grip strength.

The first is BJJ or Judo. In both of those sports you're constantly battling for grips on your opponents gi, and those gis are so thick that it takes a superman-like grip to hold on to them at times. The guys who have been training BJJ and/or Judo for a long time all have massive wrists and forearms, and grips like you wouldn't believe, both in terms of strength and endurance.

The second is rock climbing. There are climbing gyms all over the country where for a few bucks you can rent a harness and shoes and spend an hour or two climbing with a buddy. Not only is it fun and challenging, but it's great for weight loss, and it will help you develop hand strength like no other exercise.

[Andreas]

This is the most helpful thread that I've ever read about any topic on any forum. I started with a fair grip strength from deadlifting in the low 400 lb. range for reps but never made a point of gripping my pistol that hard. I've made gripping the pistol hard a priority during my last few dry-fire sessions and got out for some live fire today. Amazing! For the first time, I was able to see the front sight through the entire recoil cycle, which did wonders for my split times. The unexpected benefit was greatly improved hits on far targets, as bearing down hard on the grips seems to alleviate pre-ignition flinch.

I've acquired a CoC #1, which I'm able to close several times with each hand. I figure that a CoC #1.5 will be in the cards next month.

[MikeRush]

Using the COC has made a huge difference in my recoil management. I don't grip the gun as hard as I can, but my sustainable, just below trembling grip is much stronger now.

I am dealing with tendonitis and ulnar nerve impingement in my strong arm, and the physical therapist measured my grip strength. Didn't get the numbers but she said my weak hand was stronger than most peoples strong hands, and my strong hand was also weaker than my own weak hand. So once my strong hand decides it is done failing to live up to its name, I should have even better recoil control.