There are lots of different types of hand grippers that are available in India and finding the correct one for you according to your strength level can be very difficult, so today are going to help you do just that. I'm going to be comparing all different types of hand grippers that are available in India and recommend them that will be good for your strength level, so without further a let's get into the list!
ADJUSTABLE HAND GRIPPERS
You would've seen these adjustable hand grippers sell like Vada Pav on amazon and for good reason that is their price. Mostly hand grippers are very cheap but these adjustable ones in particular cost anywhere from 150 - 250 rupees which most people can afford and the reason why people are attracted towards them is the adjustability feature which is anywhere from 10-40kgs or 5-60kgs.
WHAT'S THEIR MAX RESISTANCE?
These hand grippers are better used closer to their max resistance in this case is 60kgs as if you adjust the spring by turning the knob towards 5kgs the hand gripper becomes progressively unusable. The lower resistance on these hand gripper is so low that a 5-year-old kid will be able to close them so these are better used at the max resistance so 40kg and 60kgs.
Alternatively, their resistance is nowhere close to what these grippers claim. Most of these grippers claim 40 - 60kgs of resistance whereas from my testing I have found them to be anywhere from 20 - 25kgs or 30kgs max. These grippers are very misleading and do not provide the amount of resistance that they are claiming.
You can do it yourself too, press the hand gripper against a weighing machine and it will show the maximum resistance of the hand gripper when fully closed. It is not 100% accurate and can be off by 5kgs however if a 60kg hand gripper comes 25kgs in the weighing machine, it can be 30kgs of resistance at most but it is nowhere near a true 60kg resistance.
DURABILITY
These hand grippers are not durable, while I have not broken one personally I've got many complaints from my subscribers over at Youtube that they have broken their adjustable grippers, so I wouldn't say that they are very durable. This is more evident when you are talking about the build quality being primarily made from plastic. Plastic cannot withstand high forces over time and will break, so these can last you a couple of months but I'm pretty sure you will outgrow them in that time.
WHO SHOULD GET THEM?
These are great hand grippers for beginners and for people who even go to the gym. If you've never used a hand gripper before I think you should go with the boldfit adjustable hand gripper as the resistance on it is higher as compared to other brands at 30kgs. When you can do around 20 easy reps with this hand gripper then you can move onto something that is stronger, so if you deadlift less than 140kgs bare hands then I think you should start with the boldfit adjustable hand gripper, get it below
METAL HAND GRIPPERS
This is the real deal when we're talking about hand grippers, metal hand grippers are better than adjustable hand grippers in every single way except for the adjustability which is not very useful, to begin with anyway. If you are serious about grip training or want to grow big forearms then metal hand grippers will be your best friend.
Unfortunately in India, there are not many metal hand grippers available. You can only get 150LBS, 200LBS, and 300LBS metal hand grippers in India which is a problem as jumping from a 200lbs to a 300lbs hand gripper is very difficult and often takes months to progress to even be able to do 1 rep.
WHAT'S THEIR MAX RESISTANCE?
These metal hand grippers on amazon claim a 150LBS resistance which is around 68 - 70kgs but upon measuring I have found them to be around 40kgs of true resistance. They are definitely difficult to close and unless you deadlift very heavy you wouldn't be able to close them on your first try, however, they are not true 70kgs of resistance.
I have used the weighing machine measuring method on these as well and it cannot be inaccurate by almost 30kgs. I would say these are true 100 lbs of resistance and not 150 lbs. I don't understand why companies feel the need to mislead the audience with fake marketing when they could simply say 100 lbs on the bottom and no one would care.
I recently got the USI 300lbs hand gripper and I couldn't measure its resistance as I was unable to close it on top of the weighing machine. I closed it around halfway and it came to be 50kgs, so maybe upon closing it completely it would give a resistance of 100- 110 kgs which means it's closer to 250LBS and not a true 300LBS hand gripper.
This makes sense as well as there are only a few people in the world who can close a 300LBS hand gripper made by the captain of crushers who are known to make the most accurate hand grippers. However, this is a speculation and I'm not sure about the actual resistance as I couldn't close it completely.
Only USI sells 200 lbs and 300 lbs hand grippers, the rest are 150lb hand grippers.
DURABILITY
Metal hand grippers are very durable, none of my subscribers ever complained of breaking one and from my personal experience as well the metal around the handle is very solid and withstands the high forces that you put on it, and the also the spring pushes inside the handle. Metal is the ideal build material for a hand gripper and plastic is really not.
Alternatively, you have knurling on these metal grippers which feel like an actual barbell to hold. The grip and the knurling on the Usi hand grippers are absolutely great, they do not slip at all and give you an amazing grip. The grip on the 150 Lbs hand grippers is just okay as the knurling is decent however it slips a lot. It is maybe because of the poor quality coating used on the handle but overall it's good enough I would say.
WHO SHOULD GET THEM?
I think metal hand grippers are for people moving on from adjustable hand grippers. The resistance on the 150 LBS metal hand grippers is great as well and I wasn't able to close it on my first try, back then I used to deadlift 140kgs. Right now I'm deadlifting around 160kgs and I can close one for a few reps so I would say you need to deadlift 150kgs bare hands till you be able to close a 150LBS metal hand gripper. If you deadlift more than that then you can directly start with a metal one instead of getting an adjustable one first.
Metal hand grippers should be avoided by beginners who don't lift weights or don't have much experience with hand gripper training. If you don't deadlift heavy enough then you will not be able to close a metal gripper and it might take you several months before you can do that. You should start with an adjustable hand gripper instead. Get the 150LBS metal hand gripper below
OTHER HAND GRIPPERS
I'll be very honest with you I don't think the other hand grippers except for adjustable and metal hand grippers are worth purchasing. No matter how weak you are or whatever your needs are these hand grippers are not going to fulfill those. If you are an absolute beginner, start with an adjustable hand gripper and move on to a metal one, as the resistance on these other hand gripper are too low for most, but anyway let's check out what they are.
HAND GRIPPER FAQ's
Is 40Kg hand gripper good?
It's good for beginners, don't expect a 40kg hand gripper to last a very long time however if you've never trained with hand grippers before and you don't lift weights in general then it can be a good starting point for you.
Is 60Kg hand gripper good?
The boldfit 60kg hand gripper is actually pretty good, the resistance is around 30kgs and I have found it to be more difficult to close as compared to my other adjustable hand grippers, you can definitely get it.
Which Brand of Hand Grip is the best?
All hand grippers are usually the same, companies pick them up from a manufacturer and then stick their logo onto them. So the hand grippers sold by different companies will be exactly the same or even if there's some difference, it's not worth considering.