Gettin' the ol' gang back t'gether...

After close to a year and a half out of the game, I'm now officially and seriously back into "grip training" mode. My brain has reactivated the algorithm that I ran non-stop a couple years ago, namely, looking at everything as a possible grip training device or opportunity. I look at the ground nervously, wondering if I can fit in some handstands without upsetting people around me. Clothes pins with rubber bands wrapped around them become finger-pinch trainers. Toothpicks and matchsticks become finger levers (i.e. brace a matchstick on two fingernails or knuckles and try snapping it in half with the finger in between). Beans, rice and sand in a bucket are training tools. All steel pipe is a rolling thunder waiting to be made. And so on.

In the last few weeks, I've not only taken up formal grip training again, but have also either assembled or laid the ground for assembling a DIY titan's telegraph key, something-like-Joe-Kinney's-secret-weapon, thick-handle dumbbells, and some pool-noodle Fat-Gripz. And today I splurged on some plumbing supplies to make one of my favorite old tools, which I left behind in Taiwan a couple years ago.

The Space Mace. 

Hold the long end somewhere and make the spinny end go round for a while without smashing your teeth. The higher you lift it, the more it activates your deltoids, and the more you involve the elbow, the more your biceps get worked. If you spin it horizontally, it activates your pectorals quite a bit. The whole time, of course, your forearm is getting fried. You can also spin it upside down for a whole different kinda burn, but be warned that I've had the spinner fall off as the friction gradually loosened the cap. The Space Mace (I coined that name, if not the device) feels a bit like a gyro ball, but the leverage produced by the heavy bar (2' x 3/4") achieves a different whole-torso effect, and the number of possible grip positions, distances from the torso, and angles makes it a unique challenge. If nothing else, trying to keep the rotation in rhythm is mentally soothing. How I've missed it!

I would have liked to get a thicker handle, but I wanted to get in and out of The Home Depot today, so I just took whatever was cheapest and available. I'll probably end up wrapping the handle with tape etc. to thicken it, but for now, as a warmup, endurance, and rehab device, it's fine. Granted, because so many pieces are involved,* it was a little costly ($34), but it can double as a variably weighted wrist lever,** so I effectively paid for two devices in one.

As you can see, I've also taken to wearing wrist bands most of the time, in order to keep my wrists warm and more prone to recovery. I'm also taking a daily glucosamine pill, so, yes, friends, you might say, it's on, like Tron.



--------------------

* 2' x 3/4" pipe, 3/4" coupling, 4" x 3/4" nipple, 3/4" cap, 1" T-coupling, 1" x 5" nipple, and 1" cap ... though I splurged on that last bit, since it's not essential: it just adds an aesthetic finish and more weight.

** Just unscrew the cap and remove the spinning T-coupling, then add and secure a weight plate of your choice to the upper segment of 3/4" pipe.