IronMind is particularly happy to announce that John McCarter has just certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper—the particularly part is because John had tried earlier this year, missed, and came roaring back today, much stronger this time, and he succeeded.


John Ezra McCarter IV left no doubt that he’s mastered the Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper and his certification today gives him major bragging rights as it proves he’s got world class grip strength.  McCarter is 26 years old, stands 5’ 9” tall and weighs 208 lb.  IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Justin “J.T.” Straussner.


John McCarter said that he first learned about Captains of Crush (CoC) grippers from the functionalhandstrength.com website (which is run by CoC3 ’00 John Wood) and how’s this for a strong start: “I was able to close with no training, a #2 CoC gripper the first time I ever touched one,” McCarter told IronMind.

"I started training my grip after I ripped a phonebook in half.  I did research and came across IronMind and bought a #3 (without knowing why or how, but I knew one day I would cert on the #3, and that was before I ever touched a hand gripper).  I couldn't do nothing with it when I got it, so then I got the #2.5 and #2.  The #2  I closed with no training my first time; the 2.5 took some time to close.
 
"I work grip 2 or 3 times a week.  I mostly do negative training on grip machines, which has helped speed up my training.
 
"My current goals are to hit 70 lb. on the IronMind Hub, get my two-hand pinching up, and hopefully close a #4 by the end of the year.
 
“I would like to think Justin for being my ref and helping me cert on the #3," McCarter said, explaining how that happened:

“When I went for the #3 in January, the main problem was thinking I was ready when in fact I was nowhere ready for a certification attempt at that time.  Since that time, I’ve started to really look at the process of how I trained, changing it slightly for what I needed.  Justin made one of the best remarks that day (‘you should start placing the gripper in a wider position in your hand . . .’).”

Well, it worked, so many thanks to J.T. for doing double duty as a referee and as a coach, and to John McCarter, a hearty congratulations: your name has been added to the official certification list for the CoC No. 3 gripper.

By the way, guess who turned 26 today?  Happy birthday, John—nice way to celebrate, CoC!

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