How Long?

[lukaz_]

I'm 17...started around october 2005 and couldn't do the trainer...closed it around a week later, and the #1 at around february consitently.I can now close the #2 on a good day...but I stopped doing grippers and gonna focus on pinch (which I never did) for the next 4 weeks. I'm very light, like 160 at 6feet...and have like 11inch forearms. I will get the 2.5 and IMTUG on new years eve, when I will start working on grippers again.I have 2 questions:

1-Do you think it is possible for me to close the #3 until august 2007 provided I get some mass and train smart starting now?

2-How should my extensor strength be?I have the bands as well, and I can do around 50reps on the red, is that ok for me to progress now or should I work on it?

[Kurt Lane]

I closed the #1 soon as I got it. The #2 took me 3 months to close and the #3 another 2 months... Weird eh? The 2-3 was alot easier then the 1-2 for me.

Edited December 9, 2006 by Kurt Lane

[Mlstrass]

I'm more "normal" in that it took 2+ months to close the #1 and a solid 4+ months after that to close the #2. That last 1/8" was a killer for me. I still can't get it every time, especially if not warmed up, or the day after lifting.

Got my #2.5 down to 1/8" last week, but I'm sure that will take 2-3 months to close. Then on to the BBSM.

I've made good progress training grippers once per week, but for the #2.5 I'm going to cut my workout pretty much in 1/2 and will do it 2 times per week and see what happens. More frequency/less volume.

One other thing that helped with the #2 was doing 3-5 attempts per workout as I got used to it and overcame what I felt was a mental barrier. Good luck...

[royceman]

with negs,forced closes, overcrushes, and singles you can close it within a month or two....initial progress is quite fast...the problem is sustaining it after a while....that's why it will become much harder afterwards to progress from a 2 to a 3

Can we get an AMEN, I though the road from the 2 to the three would be like the road from the 1 to the 2.

Yeah right!!!! That thing is a damn brick!

However I will feel that much better when I finally get it!

[John Beatty]

I started with a #2, when I first got it I took it down to just past parallel & it took me about 3 months to close it. I worked it until I had blisters on every joint of my last 2 fingers on both hands the 1st day, then healed for a week, then kept the thing in my car & played with it every day.

[viper]

id already done some grip work before this, but i got my ironminds, an within 24 hours i had the #2 shut no set, an then a week later i no set it for 9 reps - all this with my right hand only though, even before the finger injury i got, my left hand was way behind, i didnt get #1 shut for a while with left, an #2 took a good while longer..it would always go to the side at the last second an not touch

[Smirlis5891]

I got the hg's before I got the ironminds... I started off with the hg250 when I first got it, a few weeks later I got the hg300.... than I found out about ironmind and I noticed a lot more people on gripboards used coc's so I ordered the #2 first... and I closed it... I thought ironminds were easier because the gnarling was much much better... hg's barely had any, and I think they were sending me re-used grippers.. the hg400 I got had a rusty spring already... so I closed the coc#2 out of the package in both hands and inverted (I was actually kind of stronger inverted when I first started) and without a set... a few weeks later I ordered the #1 and trainer and I closed those obviously if I closed the #2 first.. than I got to the point to where I could close the #2 for about 10 reps and the #1 I could rep out more than 20 reps... and I could nearly close the #3... very close...but I started to get pains in my wrists a few months later, and stopped using them, and they stayed in my bottom droor for more than a year, I took them out once in a while to play with but no serious training... than a few weeks ago I got the ironmind catalog and saw the 1.5 2.5 and 3.5 and I had to order them to see if I could close the 2.5 and I got them about 2 weeks ago and closed the 2.5 out of package for a few singles in my right hand and couldn't close it in my left... now I'm phsyched with all these new coc grippers to use and bridge me to my goal of the #3... I just ordered the new 2006 #1 #2 and #3's today cause the grips on the 2006 models were much better.... plus I gotta have every gripper made by ironmind lol

[superfeemiman]

I will mention my story:

The first grippers I bought were the #3, and #4 - they were the first two, because I wanted to kid myself, but that wasn't to be......

As I was sitting in the car, I immediately ripped out the #3, and got it down to 1/2"!

It took me 2 weeks later to finally close it.

What was your previous lifting/manual labor status? The first time I tried grippers I couldn't close the 1 (I probably could have with a good set).

Timmy if you could please answer this. Getting the 3 to 1/2'' the first time you've touched a gripper is unbelievable!

Edited December 16, 2006 by superfeemiman