UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => diet, training and injuries => Topic started by: Tim Broughtonshaw on May 10, 2010, 11:45:44 am
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Yo,
does anyone recommend Captains Of Crush (or other cheaper alternatives) for increasing pinch strength? Got a cheap hand crusher which has a twisty dial which it says goes from 10KG to 40Kg (in what ever arbitrary measure that is). Its defaintely hard to close (for me!).
Also i was thinking making it more specific to climbing pinching. would you think it would be better to use the devices between the thumb and the fingers rather than the palm and the fingers? Would have to reduce the weight used but it is more akin to the actual pinch useage most commonly found?
Cheers
Tim
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your probably better off pinching a brick or some weights, bit more specific i think. Not sure how much use the captains of crush type things are i have never used them.
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I've got a couple of small spring collars which I think are meant to be used for holding weights in place on bars, but I find quite handy as small "CoC"s and can be used for pinching either fingers to thumb or fingers to palm.
They are cheap as buttons, so worth a try in case they are what you are after.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0015ULV16/ref=oss_product (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0015ULV16/ref=oss_product)
They don't last forever though, I have broken two through overuse.
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carry breeze blocks everywhere or just MTFU
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I've been using captain of crushers in the usual manner, and have been using gripmasters to improve my crimp/pinch grip strength, if you really want to up your pinch grip, you want some of this cool shizzle:
http://www.pullum-sports.co.uk/strength-training-equipment/pinch-grip/pullum-telegraph-key/prod_431.html (http://www.pullum-sports.co.uk/strength-training-equipment/pinch-grip/pullum-telegraph-key/prod_431.html)
Had a go on one a few years back, and I would buy my own if the missus would let me spend the money ;)
Very awesome.
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For £120 I'm sure you could buy a few bits of banister and find a way of hanging them off a chin up bar...
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True.... it is expensive, but it does actually work your pinch grip through the whole range of motion, and you can plate load it with as much or as little weight as you want, a lot more than can be said for a couple of pieces of banister and a pull-up bar ;)
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Powerball & skipping.
General labouring etc.. +1 on the breezeblock tip.
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scratch the breeze block suggestion. Hows about climbing a lot...on pinches.
Some of these questions are startingto get well bleeding CT
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scratch the breeze block suggestion. Hows about climbing a lot...on pinches.
where? I can never find any outside (or not many anyway). Could try Pinches Wall I guess ;D
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superb pinching tips off clm who couldn't pinch his nose :spank:
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Read something about a guy training to do a pull up the rafters of his basement, i.e pull up on vertical pinches basically. The basic jist of it was he practised by getting two weight plates and squeexing them together and doing bicep curls with them. hope this helps.
Edit: found the article http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/137/ (http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/137/)
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Aslong as your exercising all the differnt types of grip strength and your working to lower your overall body weight (without loosing muscle) then your gona get far fast.
Stronger grip lighter bodyweight = climbing like a machine. :thumbsup:
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and spelling like a deranged american one
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thanks for the comments.
i went ahead and purchased a CoC No1 which i cannot close. So now i have a measureable goal to achieve its time to train.
Incidentally the package said i was supposed to get a small training booklet with it. :rtfm: Which was obviously missing :wall: , anyone got an online copy of booklet or similar?
Cheers
tim
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With no idea what it looks like a quick :google: (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=captains+of+crush+training+booklet) (<-- clicky for more possible hits ;)) led to this potentially useful reference (http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/pdfs/book.pdf).
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I would have maybe got 1-2 easier ones so you can warm up before playing with the harder COC?
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With no idea what it looks like a quick :google: (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=captains+of+crush+training+booklet) (<-- clicky for more possible hits ;)) led to this potentially useful reference (http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/pdfs/book.pdf).
Cheers Mate. i did look through their website a few times but only appeared to find more options to leech money. Including paying a monthly rate in order to access training resources. Not sure if that booklet is the same one or not but appears to feature training using one of 23 different items which are purchaseable.....nice.
Tim
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I would have maybe got 1-2 easier ones so you can warm up before playing with the harder COC?
aye well ive got a none CoC one which is supposed to go from 10-40KG which (if on the same scale as the coc) would be 88lbs and the coc no1 is rated 140lbs. so yes probably a bit of a gap between the 2...
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A cheaper alternative? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Heavy-Grip-Grippers-all-numbers-NEW-SET-2-/230432028600?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Strength_Training&hash=item35a6d1b7b8 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Heavy-Grip-Grippers-all-numbers-NEW-SET-2-/230432028600?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Strength_Training&hash=item35a6d1b7b8)
I don't know if this is the best price, I just did a quick search.
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That's all well and good, but then it would be impossible to make COC jokes all the time ;D
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Be very careful, I developed a trigger finger in my Left middle finger, last year, trying to close my No. 2 :'(
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i have 2 COC - 1.5 and 2.5 - the 1.5 i can pump and the 2.5 i can close 1-2 times i day.
still not very strong when it comes to grip for climbing though, so in answer to.........
"does anyone recommend Captains Of Crush (or other cheaper alternatives) for increasing pinch strength? "
i would say no.
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thanks for the comments.
i went ahead and purchased a CoC No1 which i cannot close. So now i have a measureable goal to achieve its time to train.
Incidentally the package said i was supposed to get a small training booklet with it. :rtfm: Which was obviously missing :wall: , anyone got an online copy of booklet or similar?
Cheers
tim
Their training advice seems to suggest that you should be able to do 10 reps on the COC you're currently working on to have a realistic chance of closing the next one up.
I've got the Trainer, #1, #1.5 and #2 and had a similar experience to tobym in that I started to get trigger finger in my middle finger. I got far more climbing related grip improvements from dead hanging off my back 2/3 than time with the Captains.
I still aim to close the #2 though so I can win the respect of my peers and be knee deep in adoring top end scrunt.
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another be careful here too - bought the COC's 1 & 1.5 about 2 yrs back. Started off with loads of enthusiasm then got weird pain in my tendons (poss trigger finger but dunno!)
havent used em since & keep meaning to sell em....
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bouncymat i'm betting that ure not a small guy? it is easier for a big guy to close a coc than a smaller guy, generally speaking of course. i think they do have their uses, if ure climbing a lot they're not needed but if not then they're a good tool. hastons got a few, thats good enough for me
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The problem w/ offering this kind of advice is that people are lazy and unprepared to go the distance w/ training. See, if clm had spent 4 or 5 months a year labouring w/ a brickie hammer on old Welsh cottages too fragile to use a kanga drill lest they fall down, or be able to skip rapidly for 20 minutes non-stop 7 times a week - he'd know a thing or two about pinch strength. Alas ...
edit spelling
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dense - your not wrong, it is possible that the pies are affecting my climbing.
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bouncymat i'm betting that ure not a small guy? it is easier for a big guy to close a coc than a smaller guy, generally speaking of course. i think they do have their uses, if ure climbing a lot they're not needed but if not then they're a good tool. hastons got a few, thats good enough for me
aye i consider myself quite weak on pinches comparatively speaking and for me i believe this is at least partially related to relatively small hands,(probably also accounts for my sloper strength being poor also (surface area and that))
this was reemphasized yesterday when a friend of mine came a lot closer to closing my CoC no1 than i can without a warmup. and he considers himself similar to me tends to crimp everything and weaker grips being pinches and slopers.
i reckon working this grip should help me a lot although im willing to admit i dont expect performance gains on the CoC to be 100% transferable but I expect it to make some translation to pinches, after all there are lots of differing pinch grips and many centre around the finger tips and the thumb being in contact with the rock, whereas the CoC is mostly trained using the strongest method which is the handles against the middles of the fingers and the palm of the hand.
Cheers
Tim
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aye i consider myself quite weak on pinches comparatively speaking and for me i believe this is at least partially related to relatively small hands,(probably also accounts for my sloper strength being poor also (surface area and that))
this was reemphasized yesterday when a friend of mine came a lot closer to closing my CoC no1 than i can without a warmup. and he considers himself similar to me tends to crimp everything and weaker grips being pinches and slopers.
i reckon working this grip should help me a lot although im willing to admit i dont expect performance gains on the CoC to be 100% transferable but I expect it to make some translation to pinches, after all there are lots of differing pinch grips and many centre around the finger tips and the thumb being in contact with the rock, whereas the CoC is mostly trained using the strongest method which is the handles against the middles of the fingers and the palm of the hand.
Cheers
Tim
What weight are you? Up here in the burgh, we found most peeps could close the coc that was closest to their weight. eg I had no issues with the No1, but couldn't close the 1.5, but a couple of bigger guys who climb at a similar level easily closed the 1.5, but were shut down on the No2
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What weight are you? Up here in the burgh, we found most peeps could close the coc that was closest to their weight. eg I had no issues with the No1, but couldn't close the 1.5, but a couple of bigger guys who climb at a similar level easily closed the 1.5, but were shut down on the No2
Hi Mate,
i'm around 67KG and 5'9
67KG translates to 147lbs, so that puts me as i figured in the weak pinch grip for weight category.
guide = 60
Sport = 80
Trainer = 100lb
CoC1 = 140
CoC1.5 = 167.5
CoC2 = 195
CoC2.5 = 237.5
Tim
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Closing grips in the usual manner will get your hands strong but not be very specific to pinch strength. I have COC no2 and can close them but what I use for pinch strength are plastic handle ones that go at about 32 lbs, I turn these upside down and close them between thumb and fingertips, feels more specific to pinching. I've also put some blocks of wood above the beastmaker and do pinch deadhangs.
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blah blah blah - he'd know a thing or two about pinch strength. Alas ...
Does this actually have any crossover into climbing, i.e. did this skipping and labouring actually get you up some hard pinch problems? Or did skipping and labouring just get easier?