I recently received a few pieces from the Manus Grip equipment line and I put up a review on my YouTube. Did you see it? If not, it is below.
To check out the line of products from this company, click here: ManusGrip.com
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I think you are going to be seeing a LOT more out of this company, especially judging by how they are doing things right out of the gate.
Also, just to make it perfectly clear, I received nothing from the company for this review, just the sets of grips, grippers, and bars.
You’ve heard the expression, “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.”
York Dumbbells, with their pull-shaped heads, resemble that remark very well, but many do not realize that it also describes some of their styles of lifting plates as well.
Multiple times over the last few weeks I have been contacted regarding the thickness of York Barbell plates. York plates are a popular style of plate, especially the older vintage designs.
Some of those who have contacted me live overseas and have not had the opportunity to purchase or train with York plates, so they wanted to know the thickness of pairs of the plates in order to be able to craft pinching blocks of the proper thickness in order to train for lifting them.
So, I went down to the gym this weekend and captured on film the size of a pair of 25′s and a pair of 45′s for those interested in this kind of information.
In this video you will see the measurements of the York Barbell 25- and 45-lb plates I have in my gym.
While I am at it, I thought I’d make mention of a couple of other traits about York barbell plates, especially how they relate to Grip Training.
York 25 Pound Plates
I have 4 York 25-lb plates. Of them, 3 have very heavy machining marks on the flat sides, while 1 is almost devoid of machining. Of all of the 25-lb plates that I own, the Yorks are by far the thinnest. I did not get the thickness of some of the other styles of 25′s I have, but there is a substantial difference. This difference in size and the texture of the machining on the plates combine to make a tremendous difference in difficulty between them when trying to pinch lift them.
For instance, a common for of Grip Training is Plate Pinching. This involves positioning 2 or more plates together so that their smooth sides point out. You then place your thumb on one side and the fingers on the other in a pinching grip and try to deadlift them.
You can perform Plate Pinching with pretty much any combination of plates. From pairs of plates like 2-10′s, 2-25′s, 2-35′s, and up to 2-45′s. If you can pinch two 45′s, be proud. Be damn proud.
Of course, you can also try other plate combinations, such as 3-25′s. This is a pretty elite Pinch Feat. However, with York 25′s, at least with the 25′s that I have, the texture on the plates is so prominent, I would estimate it reduces the impressiveness of the feat by at least 15% to 20%. The machining, plus the rust from use over time just gives you a better grip on the plates, not to mention how narrow they are. If you are close to pinching 3-25′s on wider and slicker plates, I bet you could probably pinch grip a set of 3-25′s from York, especially if they look like mine.
York 45 Pound Plates
As I said above, you should be proud of your pinching power if you can pinch two 45-lb plates with one hand. This is a hell of a feat of Pinching Strength. There are two main reasons why pinching 2-45′s from York Barbell is so awesome.
First off, York 45′s are much wider than two 45-pound plates from other companies’. I have combinations of 45′s where 3 of them are roughly the same size as two of the York 45-pounders. Width in pinching can make a pretty substantial difference because it requires the thumb to do a lot more work. Often, Gripsters have a sort of “sweet spot” that they they like for pinching. Narrower than that sweet spot is usually ok, because they can deal with it and their numbers don’t suffer too much, but get out wider and the numbers can really plummet, especially in one-hand lifts.
The other factor that makes two York 45′s so hard to pinch is the rounded edges of the rims of the plates. Because these points are not squared off, when you try to pinch them together, they automatically want to slide if the plates are tilted even just a few degrees. Once they start sliding, it is over and by tilting plates slightly you can engage more wrist and fingers in the lift and take some pressure off the thumbs. This is not an option when using two York 45′s.
So, as you can see, York barbell plates are a different style of plate altogether, presenting additional challenges in some ways while being easier in other ways, but regardless of the advantages/disadvantages they are still a prized possession for many people, myself included.
Got more questions? I’ll shoot a video or answer it in my newsletter. Make sure to sign up for updates today.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
The Card Tearing eBook
Build the Hand Strength to Shred Entire Decks of Cards – Click Above
Regardless of the actual set depth that you use when training on grippers, the set-up is the same. I show this in the video below. The way you position the gripper in your hand and how you have your thumb in relationship to the rest of your hand makes a HUGE difference in your performance. This video has been called the best setting demonstration on-line.
Every so often I like to really challenge myself to do something which has most likely never been done. Such was the case with this video. Instead of goblet squats with a puny 24-kg kettlebell or a normal dimensioned dumbbell, I used the monstrous, globe-headed Inch Dumbbell which weighs in at 172-bs, and I got it for a set of 10. Looking back, I do wish I would have gone a touch deeper on many of the reps, but my stupid wind pants were hindering me.
Incidentally, I do train with Kettlebells and have a few Kettlebell videos as well.
This one made a climb to the top of this year’s videos very quickly, as I just posted it in December. It has also gotten a lot of good feedback because this exercise is completely BAD ASS. You gotta try this piece.
People are loving the simple grip training exercises. This one gives you all the benefits of standard Block Weight training without having to cut up dumbbells or go on a hunt for a wild goose / unicorn implement. Work this type of lift regular for awesome hand strength.
The Sledge Deadlift involves picking up a Sledge Hammer by the end of the handle while balancing a coin on the head, trying to keep the entire implement level. It will hit your Grip, Wrists, and Forearms. It is very beneficial so try this one out too, even if you have to choke way up on the handle – it will still build strength for you.
Each and every day I get new visitors to my site. If you are new, I want to welcome you.
Please take the time to put your email into one of the boxes to the right. You can get some of my free reports, sign up for the RSS feed, and get email updates every time there is a new post.
I want to share with you some of the most popular videos I put up last year.
I looked at all of my videos on YouTube that I uploaded last year and grabbed the top 10 most popular ones and pasted them below.
As you will see, I have three main focuses in my training.
First and foremost is Grip Strength. I work to develop as strong of a Grip as possible for the Grip Contests I compete in and because I have seen the benefits of a strong grip in my other training. Also because I love Grip Training and Grip Sport so much, I love talking about it here on the site, sharing my experiences and helping others succeed.
Next, I love Strongman Training, both Strongman like the competitions involving Atlas Stones, Log Lifting, and Odd Objects, and Strongman style training involving Feats of Strength such as Bending Nails and Tearing Cards.
Finally, I do a great deal of training with the objective of building muscle and strength. While I am not the biggest, most muscular, or strongest, I am very well rounded and understand the proper technique of lifts and want to make sure readers do lifts correctly and safely so that they can enjoy their training and see benefit.
It’s really all about helping others succeed in their goals. Much of what I post is based on questions I get from readers who are shooting for goals and want to know how to get there. Helping you attain your goals is awesome for me, so keep me posted on your journey.
So, again, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, so that you are always up to date on what is going on here at DieselCrew.com.
Grippers are easily the most popular form of Grip Training and one of the biggest events at Grip Competitions. Unfortunately, there is not nearly as much good information about Gripper Training as there are people trying to sell them, so I put out this and many other Gripper Training videos last year.
Of all of the Grip Strength Challenges I ran last year, this one was perhaps the most special, because it was devoted to Slim “the Hammer Man” Farman, who was recognized by being inducted into the York Barbell Hall of Fame Last Year. The Slim Lever is a very intense sledge hammer lift, and if you can do it by the rules described in the video below with a 16-lb hammer or heavier, then you are the freakin’ man!
For this one, I wanted to figure out a way to replicate some of the effects of the Glute Ham Raise, if you don’t have one. This variation is something that someone can do to blast the posterior chain until you save up your loose change to get the real thing.
This video was a submission for one of David Horne’s many lists of Grip Performances. Because one edge of a Blob is straighter than the other, it can make the lift much more difficult to perform when you put your thumb on the rounder edge, as in this video.
I hate when I see exercises being done incorrectly on the web. It’s one thing to do them incorrectly if you have been training for many, many years. However, when new trainees see long-time veterans doing movements on-line incorrectly and they try to replicate that form, the new trainees can get hurt pretty badly. Since Rows are such a beneficial movement, I wanted to put this one out there and people seemed to get a lot of value out of it.
I am often asked if I have ever tried out certain equipment. One type of equipment that I am asked about quite a bit are the instant fat bar handles that are on the market. I know of three types of instant thick bar handles that go right onto dumbbells, barbells, and other items. They are Tyler Grips, Fat Gripz, and Grip4orce Handles.
If improving Grip Strength is one of your goals this year, then these pieces of equipment can help you, but what I want to do with this post and video is to help guide you toward the right piece of equipment.
After all, stuff you buy is not going to do you any good if all you are going to do is get tired of it after a few uses and then just cast it to the side.
To that end, the first thing I did was I uploaded a video to YouTube covering all three styles of instant thick bar handles, but there are a few more things I’d like to add so I figured I would post the video I did here and I would add the other things below.
In addition to the video above, I want to go into some additional detail for you, so I have put together a quick summary of each piece as well as a detailed rundown of my experience with each tool.
Quick Summary of the Instant Fat Handles
Tyler Grips
Pros
Go on/off quickly
No print on body to aid in grip
Fit most dumbbells and barbells
Cons
Tapered design feels strange in hand
Tapered design does not match design of actual feat handles
Rubber somewhat less dense and gives a bit
Will not go fully onto a kettlebell handle
Fat Gripz
Pros
Go on/off quickly
Fit most dumbbells and barbells
Dense rubber doesn’t give much – very solid
Cons
Print on body of handle aids in grip
Will not go fully onto a kettlebell handle
Grip4orce
Pros
Go on/off quickly
Increased thumb activity over other similar devices
Solid build and structure – does not give or buckle during movements
Fits most dumbbells and barbells
Best option if wanting to use with kettlebells
Comes in two strength levels (Regular & Stiff) for progression and different levels of grip development
Cons
May feel strange to new users and put them off
Grip not quite as wide/thick as Fat Gripz
Heavily textured – may aid in lifting during pulling movements
Detailed Assessment of Each Tool
Tyler Grips
The very first type of instant thick bar handle that I learned about was Tyler Grips. If I remember correctly, Tyler was the name of the son in the father and son combo that owned the company and marketed these grips. I think I first got a set of them back in 2006 or 2007,maybe 2008. I remember being really excited to try them out because at the time, and still to this day, Fat Bar was one of my weak points in contests, so I was eager to put them into action.
When I got them here though, I was puzzled. Tyler Grips are cone-shaped, meaning they taper from wide to narrow. Conversely, all of the thick bar dumbbells and barbells used in Grip and Strongman competition are a consistent width from end to end, with the exception of anvil horns which are rarely used in competition.
I was looking forward to using the Tyler Grips handles for things such as Dumbbell and Barbell Curls, Rows, Cleans, etc. in order to force my hands to train in a more open position and thus increase the challenge level of the handles. Unfortunately, because of the tapered, cone-shaped design of the Tyler Grips, it became very hard to do this. The only way I could grip a dumbbell and perform Side Rows with the Tyler Grips handle on there was to have my index finger wrapped around the narrow side and my pinky wrapped around the wider side, which made about as much sense as using a lifting strap on my row…
Frustration with the design set in and I eventually tossed the Tyler Grips to the side and they collected dust for years, except to show others when they visited.
Fat Gripz
Fat Gripz came a long a year or two after the Tyler Grips and I did not buy them at first, simply because I already had so many thick bar implements to use at that time. Once I finally got my hands on them, I came to realize why they are such a great product.
What I failed to realize at first is that most people do not want to have to buy a bunch of equipment in order to be able to train for open handed strength. They don’t want to have to buy a bunch of different thick bar dumbbells or barbells that are thicker in diameter.
Fat Gripz are great for this very reason. You can instantly make a normal training lift into a thick bar lift, instantly increasing the challenge level of the lift. Fat Gripz will go onto just about any device you have, be it a dumbbell, barbell or handle you attach to a cable machine, provided the gripping surface of the handle is long enough to take the Fat Gripz Handle.
I have put Fat Gripz on many different dumbbells, both ones that are plate loadable and ones that are a set weight. I have not seen a dumbbell with a handle that would not accept a Fat Gripz device. Of course, dumbbells do vary so it is possible to run across one that won’t take one. I suppose it is also possible to find a handle attachment that won’t take a Fat Gripz handle either, if it is too short.
Fat Gripz also go on and come off in no time. So if you are in a situation where you have two or people using the same equipment, such as in a boot camp class or group training situation, or if you hand tires and you want to finish out the set with a few more reps, you can pop the Fat Gripz off in no time.
As far as fit, the Fat Gripz seem to be designed to fit tightly around the handle you put them on. This means that the dumbbell will not slip around in the handle while performing rows or turn on you when performing neutral grip rows. The handles actually seem to give ever so slightly so that they dig into the knurling of the handle and stay put fairly well.
Unfortunately, the downside to Fat Gripz is that the handle you are adding the FG to must be in the 1 to 1.25-inch size or else it will not fit around it very well. For instance, once I posted the video above, I received an email from someone asking if the Fat Gripz handle will fit onto a Kettlebell handle in order to make the grip more challenging. You can make it go onto a kettlebell handle, but it does not full encapsulate it, so there will be an open area if you try it.
Grip 4orce Handles
The Grip4orce Handles are my favorite of the various types instant thick bar handles. I use them on a nearly weekly basis. I even recently submitted an article to Powerlifting USA about this. I started working with the G4 handles religiously on Dumbbell Curls this past summer because I found that they worked the thumbs very well. Thumb strength is very important in Grip Sport, as well as many other sports, and when doing curls, especially dumbbel curls, I feel the thumbs get worked much harder than by using Fat Gripz.
The reason that the thumbs are worked harder with the Grip4orce Handles that the Fat Gripz is because the G4′s are designed to try to open up on you as you use them. You have to constantly be crushing with the fingers and by pinching actively with the thumbs throughout the range of motion of the movement, or else the dumbbell will slide around on you.
The thing that sets the G4 handles apart form the TG or FG handles could potentially be their downfall, however. Many people will not be strong enough or have the hand endurance to maintain their grip on the Grip4orce handles when doing an arcing movement such as Dumbbell Curls. This could potentially cause frustration with the device and cause them to give up on them.
I do want to point out, though, that G4 Handles come in two different resistance levels, the Regular version and the Stiff version. So if the people using the handles are younger, inexperienced, or if they are ladies or have a smaller hand, the Regular tension might be better for them.
My suggestion, without a doubt, when using these handles is to use them after your primary movements. Because clenching down for an extended time on the G4 Handles requires such a degree of focus, it will reduce the number of repetitions you will get. For lifts such as Deadlifts and Rows, I would stick with a bar or Fat Gripz. Throw the G4 handles into action for your supplemental work and get a couple more reps in each set by taking the Grip4orce off just before it feels like you are about to fail. This way you will continue to get the reps you usually do and work the musculature effectively instead of losing reps by having to bail out due to your thumb giving out.
Why Instant Fat Bar Handles Make Sense
One of the easiest methods for training for increased grip strength is to use an implement that forces you into a more open handed position. This makes your hands work harder, and this is the concept behind all three of these devices. I think Grip4orce goes beyond what Fat Gripz presents, because you have to work the thumb harder in order to keep the grip in place while training with it.
With the goal of a fatter handle in mind, getting the instant fat bar handles are a cheaper alternative to buying loads of thick bar dumbbells and axles, but more expensive that using home made alternatives such as PVC handles or towels that are slipped over the bar.
The Bottom Line
Which Instant Thick Grip Handle is best for you? Which one do I recommend? That is something that is very hard to say because I do not know you. I do not know your hand size, I do not know your current grip strength or experience. I do not know what you are training for, what your goals are etc., so it is very hard to say which is the best.
The most universal of the three is most likely the Fat Gripz handles. As I have indicated, they instantly slide on the dumbbell/barbell and create a thicker implement for you to train on.
For someone who just wants to passively incorporate hand strengthening movements into their program, then Fat Gripz is probably the way to go. However, I see a dramatic difference as far as how the Grip 4orce works the thumbs, as I pointed out in this post: Inch Dumbbell Training Progress.
I also have used both of these pieces (FG, G4) thoroughly and have put them through the ringer. They hold up well. However, the only ones I am using lately routinely are the G4 handles and that is strictly on dumbbell curls. The arcing path of the Dumbbell Curl combined with having to actively compress the G4 handle, equals a very worn out thumb after training, and I have seen the positive results from it.
I was using the Fat Gripz quite frequently for Pull-ups and for Dumbbell Side Rows, but lately, I have been using Rolling Thunder Handles for my thick bar pull-ups and for Rows I have been using the Inch Dumbbell and Slater’s Hardware Shot Loadable Dumbbell for my thick bar rows.
Affiliate Disclosure
I do want to make it perfectly clear that I am an affiliate for Fat Gripz and for Grip4orce. I feel that both of their products are of high quality and beneficial, so I have no problem recommending them as an affiliate or not.
