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Heavy Grip FAQ

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WARNING-The springs on these grippers are huge and willcause serious injury if they break while using in an inappropriate manner.  Heavy Sports Inc. and any of our affiliates will not be held responsible for any injuries that may occur while using the Heavy Grips handgrippers.  By purchasing the grippers you agree that you will use them in a responsible manner and AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
The Heavy Grips hand grippers are designed to be used  as shown in the picture at right. The grippers are designed to be used with one hand on the two handles. Keep your hands away from the spring and keep the gripper away from your face and body while in use to avoid potential injuries.

Q: Which gripper should I start with?

A: The HeavyGrip(HG)100 is mostly used as a warm-up gripper or for grip beginners. We recommend this gripper for females, young athletes and people with a weak grip. It is also a very high quality gripper for stronger people who like to do a lot of repetitions. That's why it's called "The Beginner".

Most strong people can do reps with the HG 150-"Intermediate" and find that the grips become really difficult at the HG 200 level and people of average hand strength have trouble closing the HG 200 for reps or the HG250 once.  When training their hand like other bodyparts with reps under 20, most people are surprised at how fast they can master the HG 200 and HG250 and are ready to step up to the HG 300.

Q. How do you determine the strength of each level of handgripper?

A: "the strengths are approximate". Our grippers are tested in the middle of the gripper and measured as a force of  'Twist' measured in Newton.metres(N.m) and converted to pounds.  We had one customer send his grippers back because he pressed his gripper down onto a body scale and complained that it registered less than 100lbs. This could only have been done by pressing down at the end of the handle, not the middle.  The HeavyGrips ™  are meant to be closed with the entire hand, distributing the closing pressure along the length of the handle from top to bottom. That's why we measure at the middle of the grip handle. 

Although the piano wire springs are wound with a CNC machine, it is virtually impossible to make every spring exactly uniform in strength, but we do our best to ensure that the grippers are as uniform as possible.  Each gripper is tested by the manufacturer before being packaged to ensure that the springs meet minimum strength requirements.  The device the worker is using(right)  is similar to a 'Torque Wrench' measuring in Newton.metres and measures the minimum amount of 'twist' needed to close each gripper. We know only too well that in the real world  manufacturers do make mistakes and that's why we have a no hassle return policy as well as a lifetime warranty.

Don't expect a money back return without a gripper return with the packaging. No gripper and packaging- No refund. If you return a gripper(s), ensure that you use a tracking number or insurance as we are not responsible for grippers lost in the mail when being sent back to us.

Please note that due to the extreme force required to wind the springs in addition to the tests in the machine(upper right) and the mechanical blister-packaging, the springs may end up slightly scuffed up, but this will not affect the use of your gripper!

Q: How often should I train with my Heavy Grips™?

A: We only recommend training with the Heavy Grips two to three times per week. Unlike the dept. store brand of grippers you can do endless reps with, our grippers were designed to give you a solid resistance work-out by doing low repetitions.(squeezing the grippers less than 5 to 15 times for work sets). Many new consumers make the mistake of over-training and use their Heavygrips everyday which can cause injury due to overtraining. Just as you would not bench press or squat heavy weights 4 or 5 times per week, you should not train low reps with your Heavygrips that often.

Q: How come you sell your grippers by the single gripper instead of pairs?

A: When exercising with the Heavy Grips™ Hand Grippers, the training format is similar to that of training the biceps with concentration curls. Our grippers are very tough and are designed for much lower strength and power gaining reps than the average store-bought gripper. We'd be surprised (and very impressed) if you picked up a pair of the Heavy Grip 200's and rattled off a bunch of reps with both hands at the same time.

Q: One of my Heavy Grips™ is a little narrower and weaker than when I purchased it. Is this covered by warranty?

A: The Heavy Grips™ are designed for athletes to use as a tool to strengthen their grips and by nature the torsion springs will get weaker the more they are used and may become narrower over time. Our engineers have found that this happens more often when the grippers are being "seasoned" (broke in using various methods that we don't recommend) by holding the grippers closed. To minimize the narrowing of the springs, ensure that you are not forcing your gripper shut with two hands or another device. The grippers are meant to be used with one hand doing normal repetitions to achieve better hand strength for various sports.

The grippers will have slight variations in 'handle stance' from the factory in order to get the required strength for each gripper. Depending on the gripper model, the springs are typically  6.0 to 7.25cm(2.25" to 2.75 inch)  from the bottom of each handle when brand new. Even if the stance at the bottom of the handles narrows to 5.5cm or 2 inches, it will still allow an effective work-out. If the stance becomes lower than 5.5cm or 2 inches due to a manufacturer's defect, we will replace that gripper through our Lifetime Warranty.

Q: Can I exchange my gripper for a stronger or weaker grip? "The HG150 was not as tough as I had thought" or "I'll never be able to close the Heavygrip 300".

A: We have a 30 day return policy which is supposed to be for those that aren't happy with their grippers for whatever reason. They can return their gripper and we will refund the purchase (minus $6 shipping). Anyone who wants to exchange their gripper for a different gripper can do so for a $12 fee to cover restocking, fulfillment and shipping charges both ways. 

Q: I just bought a couple of your Heavy Grips™ and have blisters on my fingers from the tread on the handles. Why are they so rough?

A: Good question. The gripper handles had to be made of metal as plastic handles just could not handle the torque from the larger springs and would be too slippery. Our grippers are made of cast aluminum handles and without the knurling they would be very slippery, especially if your hand gets sweaty. We have worked with the manufacturer to ensure that the knurling isn't very sharp and the aluminum makes it slightly softer. Our newer grippers have chromed handles which softens the knurl even more.

If you are getting blisters on your fingers than you are definitely over-training with your handgrippers. Cut back on your training to a couple days a week and you will find that you will slowly develop small calluses on your fingers and won't notice the knurling after a couple of weeks.

All grippers manufactured after January 2004 have a lighter knurl similar to a dumbbell handle knurl. It still allows for a decent grip without as much damage to the skin on a  "beginner's" fingers. Many of the "grip elite" may not like the newer softer grip, but we've been praised by a multitude of beginners!!

Q: How should I train with the Heavy Grips™?

A: Our hand grippers were designed for building superior hand strength. To do this you must train your hand similar to any other body part and use low reps(and only 2 to 3 times per week) You will not develop a super strong grip by doing a lot of repetitions. Like any other bodypart, don't forget to warm-up and stretch your hand.

Keep the reps in the range of 5 to 25. If you are able to do 15 to 25 reps with a particular strength of gripper, it is a good  time to move up to the next level of gripper. Even if you aren't able to close the next level you can do partials, forced reps and assisted negatives until you are fully able to close it. The average person has trouble being able to close the HG200 on the first try and many report after a couple of months of training they are easily closing it for reps.

When you are able to close your lighter grippers for more than 25 reps, you can use them for warm-ups and for "super-sets". An example of a "super-set" would be to use the HG250 for 2 reps, then the HG200 for 8 reps, then the HG150 until failure, then the HG100 to failure.

Avoid Overtraining: Only use your Heavy Grips 2 to 3 times per week!