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What did Devil'sAdvocate Buy Today?

Devil's_Advocate

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So instead of making many threads I think I will keep a running thread of the various implements / items that I buy online and drop my opinions about them in this thread.

I am not an 'influencer' and make zero money from this. In fact I just buy various gadgets just to 'see' what they are like. I buy quite a few items on Amazon, Ali and more recently a ton on Temu.

I have recently bought various wooden slant boards and ankle mobility trainers, grippers, and all sorts of other gizmos.

I think my recent favorites have been:


I got this for 5$ total. It's excellent and rated to 500#. It is a simple design but I think it can work very well well for folks with ankle mobility issues.


I was pleasantly surprised with this one. At first I thought it was laughably light with maybe toughest range being comparable to a COC#1. After some fumbling around I was able to tighten it to a point to at least between #3.5 and #4. I struggled to close it with both hands. So I believe it's right up there with its claimed 360lb rating. It's not particularly intuitive to adjust but it can be done and you can adjust not only the amount of force needed to close it but also the width of the handles. I got mine for around 5$. I have another adjustable gripper similar to this but unlike this one that one is much easier at the upper strength curve.



I have received my 175# and 300# gold grippers and I must say they look very nice. I don't know how durable the coating is but they are comparable to my COC and other similar grippers. 175# is perhaps around COC#1 and 300# is around COC#2.5. I was able to close the 300# with my dominant hand and just failed 1/3" on my 'easy' COC#3. I got these for 4-5$. Wait for Temu to offer you various discounts. I think for the 4-6$ that I keep seeing them I think this is a good deal. I also see the regular silver versions as cheap as 3$ which I think is a phenomenal deal. These are essentially unbranded COCs which I used to buy for 20-25$. If you want to train your pinch grip I highly recommend buying the 50 or 100 lb ones. They are good for training pinch grip as well as individual fingers (or two at a time).


I got this yesterday as well and while very simple in design I think it can be useful for ankle rehab, mobility/balance training and general strengthening of your ankles. I paid 6-7$ for it. I like that it has velcro for the main part and the three small pieces so that you can adjust how it rolls.

I hope people find this useful.
 
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How often do you train grip specifically? I find between gripping for chins or olympic lifts direct grip training detracts from the rest of training. Seems like once or twice a week is plenty.

And yes can vouch for the balance board I used one to rehab a sprained ankle during high school basketball.
 
How often do you train grip specifically? I find between gripping for chins or olympic lifts direct grip training detracts from the rest of training. Seems like once or twice a week is plenty.

And yes can vouch for the balance board I used one to rehab a sprained ankle during high school basketball.

At my best I trained (mostly crush but also pinch) grip once or twice a week but it's tough and it burns you out very fast. Now I try to do a little bit here and there.

Most people don't particularly need to train all faucets of grip strength to perform in their sports. For chin ups or Olympic lifts you're only really using support grip so training crush or pinch grip would probably not add any additional strength in your goal sports or assist you in lifting more weight. There's of course some carryover but it's probably best to just train the specific grip necessary to do what you want done.

The nice thing about grippers is that you can effectively use them to train support, crush and pinch grip. They are quite small so with a couple of them you can just about train everything. You'd obviously need something else to train wrist strength like a levering implement and or do wrist curls.

I also really like those plastic rings that offer one or more resistance levels.



I've probably bought 10-20 of these types of grip rings. They are quite useful and also work as a fidget tool. I got them for probably 2-3$ each. Sometimes you'll find five of them for like 10$.
 
At my best I trained (mostly crush but also pinch) grip once or twice a week but it's tough and it burns you out very fast. Now I try to do a little bit here and there.

Most people don't particularly need to train all faucets of grip strength to perform in their sports. For chin ups or Olympic lifts you're only really using support grip so training crush or pinch grip would probably not add any additional strength in your goal sports or assist you in lifting more weight. There's of course some carryover but it's probably best to just train the specific grip necessary to do what you want done.

The nice thing about grippers is that you can effectively use them to train support, crush and pinch grip. They are quite small so with a couple of them you can just about train everything. You'd obviously need something else to train wrist strength like a levering implement and or do wrist curls.

I also really like those plastic rings that offer one or more resistance levels.



I've probably bought 10-20 of these types of grip rings. They are quite useful and also work as a fidget tool. I got them for probably 2-3$ each. Sometimes you'll find five of them for like 10$.
I used to have the entire COC set then sold it ive still got a gripper though just never use it.
 
You should try Ivanko super gripper or
one of those copycats. I bought it back in 2006 and it's probably one of my best purchases to this day. You have multiple springs to customize tension.
 
You should try Ivanko super gripper or
one of those copycats. I bought it back in 2006 and it's probably one of my best purchases to this day. You have multiple springs to customize tension.

I have this type of gripper that I also bought in the early 2000s. I have the original one. The newer ones have rounded handles attached to simulate a more conventional gripper. While they have some advantages I wasn't a fan of this type of gripper.
 
I have this type of gripper that I also bought in the early 2000s. I have the original one. The newer ones have rounded handles attached to simulate a more conventional gripper. While they have some advantages I wasn't a fan of this type of gripper.

Is the original ones the green colored pair? That's the pair I got.
 
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