So I threw my new Fat Gripz in my gym bag on Tuesday. It was bi/tri day so I figured that was a perfect time to see how the blue beasts do on barbells and dumbbells.
I did my bicep work first, using the gripz on every exercise. I IMMEDIATELY felt a big difference in the movements. The diameter I was gripping had to be at least 3 inches. My forearms were under constant tension, even when the weights were at my side. I had to be squeezing all the time.
In no time my forearms were burning. I let a couple of the guys try a few reps with the gripz on and they all were impressed in the increase of difficulty by just slapping a piece of rubber on the bar.
Attaching and removing the grips from barbells and dumbbells was very easy. I even used them on a handle for a cable machine to do tricep extensions.
By the time I was done with my session my forearms were torched. I am very pleased with my Fat Gripz. They will be a regular workout partner from here on out.
I have had a couple unsuccessful challenges lately. First on Sunday I tried normal mode of this month’s Bar-barian forums challenge, clapping pushups, and posted a number about 10 reps less than I hoped for.
Then last night I went out to try a 1/2 BBR, hoping to finish doing 3 muscle ups, 23 dips, 13 pull ups, 28 push ups and 3 more muscle ups in 3 minutes or less. Well not only did I not finish in three minutes, I didn’t finish, period. I was too fatigued to complete the final three muscle ups.
I found myself feeling quite frustrated that I fatigued so quickly. I had to pause in my push up set after rep 7 which is ridiculous.
There is a funny moment after I dropped off the bar after my second failed MU attempt. It is a reflex anger move I do sometimes. I was disappointed in my set.
After I caught my breath I pulled out my new Fat Gripz and gave them a try. The concept with Fat Gripz is they allow you to transform a smaller 1″inch or so diameter bar into a thick bar instantly.
Having to move identical weight with a thicker bar translates into much effort as you utilize more muscle to grip. The reviews on Fat Gripz across the board are very high.
They appear to be very well made, constructed of very dense and hard rubber. It reminds me of a material similar to what Crossfit style bumper plates are made of.
Attaching the grips to the bar is easy, you just pull it apart at the seam and it snaps on top of the bar. I did a few sets of pull ups on the Fat Gripz and immediately felt a big difference in my forearms. The grip is too big to wrap your thumb around them. The bar felt even fatter than the fat TSP bar.
The only negative I noticed was as I got deeper into my reps the grips rotated a bit, forcing me to regrip once. I think that could be lessened if you put a layer of chalk on the bar.
I plan to take the Fat Grips to the gym today to utilize them for some dumbbell exercises. All of the reports I have seen indicate there isn’t a bar/dumbbell/barbell exercise around that won’t benefit from using Fat Gripz.
The other day I saw Metin commented on some guy’s pull up bar picture. The bar had two blue things on it, I wasn’t sure what they were. Metin said they were called Fat Gripz and they were excellent.
I did some digging around and found numerous positive reviews on the product.
When I went to TSP one of the first things I noticed was how thick the pull up bar at the park was compared to my 1.25″ diameter pull up bar at home. Grabbing the thicker bar definitely made the pull ups more challenging.
Well Fat Gripz is a product designed to replicate that scenario. Not only can you use them on a pull up bar, you can used them on barbells and dumbbells to make any exercise significantly more challenging.
Grabbing a thicker bar requires more forearm, grip and hand strength. All of the reviews I saw of the grips on Amazon where fantastic. Everyone reported very good results. Fat Gripz are not cheap but they appear to be made of a very high quality and durable hard rubber.
So I used some of my Amazon perk points to grab a set of the gripz as well as a dip belt. For some reason my gym has not seen the need to provide a dip belt as part of their exercise equipment. As a result for several years when I do weighted pull ups and dips there I have done so by awkwardly hanging a dumbbell between my knees.
Now I will just bring my belt with me on days I want to do weighted work. Today will be the first day of that.
Yesterday I tried to some dragon flags, a full 6 days after the last time I did the movement. I did about half of one rep before I stopped. Even after nearly a week I still felt soreness/pain across my core from the flags. My goal is to try to increase my per set reps by one a week. The problem is if it takes me more than a week to recover it kind of throws that schedule out of whack. It is such a strenuous movement for me.
So I threw my new Fat Gripz in my gym bag on Tuesday. It was bi/tri day so I figured that was a perfect time to see how the blue beasts do on barbells and dumbbells.
Dufisthenics 