Homemade pinch block and calf block

[Wildcat33]

I needed a pinch block for grip work, and also wanted a calf block but didn't want to pay $40ish for one. So I made them ... they work great!

It's evident from the picture how the calf block is made. The pinch block is made of a 6" length of 3/4" water pipe, a 3/4" pipe wall plate, a 3/4" cap with hole drilled in it, eyelet/washer/nut through the hole in the cap, 1' length of chain, 2 carabiners, 4x4 block, and a 2nd eyelet screwed into the bottom of the block. You remove the carabiner from the eyelet on top of the pipe to load Olympic plates.

I'm looking into building a wrist roller right now, anyone done that? Thinking of using a 30" length of 1" water pipe or pvc pipe through the power rack uprights, and then putting parachute cord on it with another of my homemade plate holders at the bottom. Would love to hear any other ideas for the wrist roller design.

[Wildcat33]

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[Scorpio]

Hey you're just like me.....I made my own calf block too. I used 2x4's......I stacked two 2x4's on top of eachother about 15in long, then attached two side pieces. It works great. I also found a short bar with rubber grip ends.....it was like a short pull down bar or something....it had a hole right in the middle, so I ran a cord through it....tied a weight to the end and I had a wrist roller.

Your blocks look professional!LOL!

[Wildcat33]

Thanks, I still haven't decided how I want to make my roller but that's a good idea. Been reading that 2" thick grip rollers are better than 1" so I'm toying with the idea of making one of those.

[MiloMan]

This one looks easily reproduceable:

http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/im-5490.html

[Lotsosquats]

OK, for the ignorant like me....how does the pinch block work? I need to work on my grip also. The stuff you made looks good! Thanx.

[Wildcat33]

Unclip the carabiner from the plate holder, load some plates, and clip the chain back on. Then with plate holder and plates resting on the floor stand pinching the top of the wood block with one hand, thumb on one side and 4 fingers on the other. Have a mechanical clock or timer ready, pinch real hard, and lift the plates off the ground by raising the block. It's harder than it looks! The heavier the weight on the plate holder, the harder you have to pinch (and the stronger a pinch grip you must have) to lift it off the ground. Just this week I've graduated up to training with 37 1/2 lbs., working now on holding for 30, 20, and then 15 seconds for each hand. Once I can do 30/20/15 seconds with each hand I up the weight. Grip strength has improved markedly in the month or so I've been actively training it, but my left hand is slightly weaker than the right.

Another good grip exercise is pinching 2 Olympic plates together (smooth side out) and holding them off the ground. Good but I like the pinch block better because weight can be loaded incrementally instead of the big jump in weight between different plate sizes. I'm going to get some Captains of Crush grippers soon from ironmind.com. Ironmind has some great grip tools. Some people use or make handshake type metal apparatus to train grip. There are guys out there who really get into this stuff, but I just want to develop a bonecrushing handshake and excellent grip strength for deadlift/shrugs/chin bar work. Good luck making your block, feel free to PM or post if you need any ideas for it. I'm very happy with how mine turned out.