Niall's Weblog

In the past, I have written here about typing, sore hands and window managers. I’ve had some experience with RSI or carpal tunnel-like symptoms. Basically, sore hands, seemingly brought on by a combination of martial arts training (particularly heavy bag punching) and non-ergonomic daily computer work.

I’ve tried a whole load of different things to try to address this – lots of rest, changes to how I use the computer, exercise, ibuprofen – some of which work to greater and lesser degrees. Overall, my hands have been pretty good for most of this year. However, one recent discovery has made a huge difference. Much greater than any of the other things. As part of the CrossFit training which I’ve really gotten into lately, I’ve started doing some Power lifting and Olympic weightlifting. I’ve also been doing handstand push-ups. In particular, these exercises really need strong hands and wrists and fairly randomly I went into a sports store about a month ago and bought an Everlast “extra-strength” hand gripper. While fairly puny relatively speaking, this thing has made a big difference to my hand and wrist strength. Its paid of in the gym, when lifting plates with fingers or anything, and doing hand-stand push-ups, and holding the barbells – my hands no longer feel like a limiting factor. Furthermore, I don’t get hand and wrist pain from typing any more.

I started reading about the hand-strength scene and in particular Iron Mind’s Captains of Crush hand grippers. They were only $20 on Amazon, and I had a voucher, so I went ahead and bought the no. 1. I really like this thing! Its way harder to close than the wimpy Everlast “extra-strength” ones. It feels very well made and I love that it has a rough finish, like a barbell, for conditioning the skin on your hands.

Anyway, these Captains of Crush things have quite a following – supposedly only 5 people in the world are able to close the no. 4 gripper. I have a new-found appreciation for hand strength – it really seems like something which is greatly neglected.

If you have issues with pain in your hands and/or wrists, I strongly recommend getting a hand gripper and trying to strengthen them. Captains of Crush brand grippers have impressed me a lot so far.