Grip Pro Trainer

There are a million ways to strengthen your grip, from a focus on fingers and hands to one on the forearm, using home-made devices (half-inflated balls, for example) to various shapes of rubber to spring-loaded devices of different configurations to sticks with joints that allow you to hold and twist them.

We’ve tried many of them over the years. Then we came across the Grip Pro which offered an updated version of a design that has been around for many years — a donut shape of rubber that comes in three different densities for varied resistance choices.

Several team members who tried it had different responses. Seems that a preference in training grip and forearm strength varies a lot, as do what areas of your arm and hand different shapes actually seem to target (no, we didn’t do muscle testing).

The Grip Pro seems to hit the forearm more than the fingers. Small rubber balls and egg-shapes seem to get fingers more. One tester with a smaller hand noted she doesn’t like spring-loaded hand trainers but liked the Grip Pro’s feeling in her hand, while another with larger hands said he prefers the hand-grips that are spring-loaded. Another tester didn’t like the fact that the Grip Pro allowed someone to favor fingers that were weaker and didn’t in general seem to target fingers as much unless you held it just with your fingertips.

Long story short, what you like will depend on your hand size and what you are really training for – Sport? A specific sport like climbing or motor sports? Household and garden or yard chores?

Like many trainers, the Grip Pro is easily transportable and can stay in your car for training during stoplight time. Being a higher-density rubber, it is a bit heavier than some gel balls but that still represents a minimal difference.

Bottom line, if you are focusing on forearm you might want to take a look at this trainer for a possible addition to your battle chest. The 30-pound, lightest-weight one will do for most people; the rest may want a 40-pound, mid-weight model. The 50-pound, heaviest resistance model should only be chosen by the hardiest souls.

SNEWS® Rating: 4.0 hands clapping (1 to 5 hands clapping possible, with 5 clapping hands representing functional and design perfection)

Suggested Retail: $7 (three-pack, $20)

For more information:www.gripprotrainer.com