Gripedo Trainer
Ever wonder how Popeye got those massive forearms or GI Joe got that Kung Fu Grip, you might be surprised that they both used the Gripedo Trainer. OK maybe it wasn’t around then, but the facts are if they had used it, it would have been easier than eating a can of spinach and taking Kung Fu from Bruce Lee.
GIPEDO BACKGROUND
The Gripedo was invented by a Biomedical Engineer with over 30 years of training and coaching experience who is also a former Sambo National Silver Medalist. The founder after years of training and coaching, came to understand the importance of “arm and grip strength” but also “arm and grip endurance” for sports. The Gripedo was designed to train athletes’ grip and arm muscles to improve grip and arm strength along with conditioning in order to improve athletic performance.
UNBOXIING
Ever since I started up my garage gym, I would often find myself looking at Instagram for cool fitness products. One such product caught my attention and I was really intrigued. It turned out to be the Gripedo Trainer. I reached out to GRIPEDOTrainer, who has 18k+ followers asking for a review sample. A few weeks later and it arrived.
The Gripedo arrived in your typical packaging with some padding.
It’s a one-piece medal trainer with a 4-inch ball handle, 4 fins, and a hollow tube. For those with smaller hands, Gripedo does offer a 3-inch ball handle.
The current retail price is $139.00
Gripedo Barbell Wrist Rolls Exercise
There are several ways to work out with the Gripedo and one common way is to use the sleeve of a barbell and do wrist curls with a rope, weight attachment, and weights.
After setup to perform the exercise you simply use both hands to turn the Gripedo clockwise or counterclockwise using the main shaft of the device to raise or lower the weights.
Gripedo Shoulder External Rotation Exercise
For those that are having shoulder issues or want to strengthen their shoulders, you can use the ball end of the Gripedo to turn it clockwise or counterclockwise.
Gripedo Sand Bucket Exercises
Another fun exercise is to use the Gripideo in a bucket of sand. The Gripedo is designed with 4 fins that when submerged in sand or lead shot, provide incredible resistance when turning.
I purchased a cheap bucket from the hardware store and some playground sand. Just make sure the sand you purchase doesn’t have any weird chemicals.
The exercise is performed by burying the Gripideo in the sand so that the fins are not exposed. The user then grips the round end and turns the Gripedo either clockwise or counterclockwise.
In just a few turns you can feel your forearms burning. To make it a bit easier don’t bury the fins all the way, as they are what creates the resistance in the sand.
I really wanted to try this exercise out when I went to Florida but figured the Airport security might flag my bag carrying what looks like a mortar shell.
Bottom Line
The Gripedo is a super cool weightlifting or rehab tool where you can perform many different exercises. It’s well built and will definitely beef up those forearms and give you that Kung Fu grip.
One thing I ran into was when the Gripedo was over a barbell sleeve, I found it would scratch the sleeve, so since my barbells are in excellent to new conditions, I decided not to use it that way.
In the sand, however, the Gripedo will kick your butt and you don’t have to worry about scratching up anything.
Definitely check out Gripedo’s website for other exercises you can do and get your own.
