Captains of Crush hand grippers and training tools for building hand strength

What’s so special about Captains of Crush Grippers?

Captains of Crush (CoC) Grippers are the gold standard for building and testing grip strength, and because they are beautifully made and as tough as nails, they tend to hook people at first sight. It’s hard to believe how much heritage and worldwide recognition this product has, but once you put one in your hand, it will be hard to let go.

Which CoC Gripper should I start with?

If you are rehabilitating an injury, the Guide might be perfect for you. If you are active, but have not been training your grip and your job does not involve hand strength, then the Sport is the most likely place to start. If you are doing some serious overall strength training or use the strength of your hands in your job, but have not specifically trained your grip, start with the Trainer. If you feel you are even stronger than this or if you have been training on sporting-goods-store-type hand grippers, start with the No. 1.

Just to keep this in perspective, most people who lift weights cannot close a No. 1 Captains of Crush Gripper the first time they try and only rarely do we ever see someone close a No. 2 Captains of Crush Gripper on their first attempt.

How many reps and sets should I do and how often should I train?

Captains of Crush Grippers come with training directions, but our basic philosophy is that the best way to build strength is with moderate to low reps, so you might do something like one or two warm-up sets, followed by two or three maximum-effort sets of moderate-to-low reps, and do this workout three times per week. What you should not do, on the other hand, is endless sets of high repetitions—mindlessly clicking out reps on a CoC Gripper that is easy for you to close.

When should I move up from one level to the next on the Captains of Crush Grippers?

We generally recommend that you wait until you can do 10 to 12 full, consecutive reps before you move up to the next level, but there is some flexibility on this. For example, Joe Kinney, the first person certified on the No. 4 Captains of Crush Gripper, advises doing negatives with a hand gripper that is too hard for you to close, although this is not recommended for beginners. In 2006, we introduced three new CoC Grippers—the No. 1.5, No. 2.5 and No. 3.5—to help you make progress through the highest levels.

What should I do when I get stuck at one level?

The key principle is to add a new twist, so try varying your sets, reps, and number of training days, or attack your grip with another training tool. For example, you can do something as simple as training with your CoC Gripper held upside down (i.e., with the spring facing down rather than up), or including some negatives or strap holds along with your normal training.

Additional training tools are IMTUG™: the Two-Finger Gripper, which allows you to specialize on one or two fingers, and the IronMind EGG, which gives you a different way to attack everything from active rest to maximum efforts. Seek out good training information, and while IronMind offers many options along these lines, you will certainly want to read two books: Mastery of Hand Strength and Captains of Crush Grippers: What They Are and How To Close Them. Also check John Brookfield’s guide, “Training with IronMind’s Crushed to Dust!™ Grip Tools,” which you can print a copy of right here, as well as our monthly Grip Tip by John Brookfield. For a complete listing of the grip-related information we offer, please look at our All-About-It Resource Pages on Grip Training, Hand Grippers, and Hand Strength.

Finally, some people just plain overtrain on hand grippers, so sometimes a short break can work wonders for your progress.

Meet our Captains of Crush Grippers and our CoC ² Grip Tools

I’m always picking up my No. 2 CoC Gripper and trying to close it, but haven’t succeeded yet. Can you give me some hints?

Please see the training hints above and always remember that Captains of Crush Grippers warrant the same respect you’d have for a heavy barbell, so treat them the same way. Always warm up, don’t overtrain, focus on quality not quantity, and vary your training to help keep your mind and body fresh. Don’t approach them any more casually or frequently than you would a barbell loaded to your PR deadlift.

Do your grippers ever break?

Absolutely, and it is something you should always be prepared for, even though over the years we have had remarkable success boosting the life of our grippers, to the point that breakage is rare these days. If you use them as directed, you probably will never break a Captains of Crush Gripper, but because it is a possibility, you should always hold your gripper as if the spring were going to snap on the next rep.

Incidentally, contrary to what some people think, our strongest customers never break our grippers: it’s usually someone who just banged out rep after rep after rep with a gripper that was far too easy, a recipe for premature gripper failure and little in the way of strength gains.

Your hand grippers have poundage ratings, but how do I interpret them?

With a grain of salt, and this is partly because most hand gripper ratings are more fiction than fact. Captains of Crush Gripper ratings will help you understand the relative strength of our grippers (and we would peg an average sporting-goods-store hand gripper at about 50 pounds), but be forewarned that our numbers might not apply to anyone else’s. This is why you should not be surprised, for example, if a 195-pound CoC Gripper might be tougher to close than someone else's "300-pound" hand gripper, and why Captains of Crush Grippers, rather than poundage numbers, are the universal standard for rating grip strength. If you want to read more on this subject, you would enjoy the book Captains of Crush Grippers: What They Are and How To Close Them.

When should I train with my Captains of Crush Grippers?

For best results, use your grippers after you’ve done your other training that might require grip strength, so you can either use them at the end of your workout, or on your off-days. Even though you don’t have to change your clothes or go to the gym to train with your hand gripper, we recommend that you take your training as seriously as if you were working on a big power clean, for example, so this is not something to do while you’re driving, sitting at your desk, or watching TV.

How do I integrate hand gripper training with my other grip work?

John Brookfield has written a handy guide, “Training with IronMind’s Crushed to Dust!™ Grip Tools,” including training guidelines and routines for specific user groups—in it you’ll find just the answers to your questions. You can print a copy of the guide right here, and we invite you to keep it handy for easy reference—and then, have at it!

My goal is to get certified for closing the No. 3, No. 3.5, or No. 4 Captains of Crush Gripper—how do I do that?

Please review our Captains of Crush Grippers: Rules for Closing and Certification. Best of luck!

Any final suggestions for making the official CoC Certification list?

Stay positive, be creative, patient and persistent, and always squeeze really, really hard.

For our world-renowned Captains of Crush Grippers and other
CoC ² Grip Tools, please visit our on-line store.

For more information about how to build your grip, wrist and forearm strength, please visit our All-About-It Resource Pages on Grip Training, Hand Grippers, and Hand Strength.

Want even more information on the world-renowned Captains of Crush Grippers? Visit the Captains of Crush Grippers website for facts, fiction, myths and more about CoC gripper selection, training, certification, FAQs, and highlights—an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

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