Category: Fitness

You may thinking to yourself “what?” or perhaps, “is this a real goal?” well, I am referring to crushing a raw potato with a bare hand, unaided. I don’t know if you have ever tried this feat, but it is not a simple task.

Try it.

Go grab (or buy, or order online – thanks COVID) a potato and try to squish it into nonexistence. If you can, well, you probably lift a lot of weight and are a powerlifter competing at the international level. For most people, this is an impossible task.

I have always had decent grip-strength and I have worked on it in the past, but recently I have really been infected with urge, the desire to really improve my grip – I want, must, be able to crush a raw potato.

I bought an IronMind IMTUG 3 (IronMind Two-Finger Utility Gripper; so numbered as there are 7 levels of increasing difficulty). You might look at this and think it is just a cute little toy, but let me inform you, this is not an easy task to close (bring the handles together). The IMTUG series is smaller than normal grippers, but it is designed to be used with one or two fingers at a time, which can really help develop the whole hand and lead to greater overall grip strength.

In the past I have used a Captains of Crush gripper (I have closed a #1, #1.5, and a #2, but only with my dominant hand) and I would like to eventually get up to working on a CoC #3, and, of course, crushing a potato.

I have now been using the IMTUG for about a week and I can definitely note that my hands are sore. Well, soreness doesn’t always mean progress, but I believe in this case it does. I almost never get soreness in two parts of my body: hands and calves. If I feel soreness in either of those two spots, I know I had a bitchin’ workout. The other thing that I have noticed with the IMTUG (and like the CoC) is that it is essential impossible to put it down and forget about it. I brought this to work, and I found myself gripping it any time I had a spare moment to myself. Working on grip throughout the day can really make you feel productive, even if you normally don’t feel that way. Likewise, the IMTUG fits easily in a pocket and could be used on anywhere and anytime you have a moment or two to practice.

I know grip strength and grip training is not for everyone, but if it is something you are interested in, I cannot recommend the IMTUG (and the CoC and IronMind in general) enough – great quality products and an immaculate international reputation.

Stay tuned for future grip-related posts that I hope will eventually feature a hand-mashed raw potato.