PROHANDS Gripmaster Hand Exerciser, Finger Exerciser (Hand Grip Strengthener), Spring-Loaded, Finger-Piston System, Isolate & Exercise Each Finger

I bought this in order to improve my finger strengh and independance for playing guitar. I had thought of buying one years ago, but my view was - if you want to improve your finger strength and dexterity for guitar, just play guitar, right? But I changed my mind, and decided to give this little device a go, on the grounds that I can use it when I'm NOT able to play guitar (like when I'm at work) and maybe using a device with some resistance might accelerate my finger strengh gains? This is a pleasingly well made unit, and the plastic parts seem to be of high-quality. I decided to go for the red "medium" excerciser, having read some comments here about more reps and lower tension being more beneficial for musicians. When the unit arrived, I was beginning to think I should have gone for the 5lb device instead! The tension initially felt quite strong, particularly on the little finger! Well does it work? in my opinion definitely yes! Having used this device for only about 15 mins a day most days for 3 weeks, I suddenly find that the spring tension feels a lot lower. Also it has transformed my guitar playing! Playing my 12 string acoustic guitar suddenly seems easier, and on my electric, hammers and pulls seem much more accurate and clearer! my speed has improved, and I recently found myself doing vibrato with my little finger, something I don't normally do! So yes, I think it works for Guitarists (and other musicians) and it's quality means that it is good value for the money!

My standards for this product were really low for the price. But wow! when it came in the post, I was startled. These are very well built products, not flimsy at all, very useful for building that bonebreaking handshake. I also am a musician, and when i play sometimes my fingers just couldnt keep up, but now they can. Just trust me and invest a little money in this, it is really well made. Will be getting the X-Heavy soon. REMEMBER: This is a really hard one to use, get medium first as that is better for reps to keep up your hands strength, this Heavy model in my eyes is just for building strength where medium maintains aswell. Try medium first then move up, if medium is too weak you have something to do reps with :) BEST £££ I EVER SPENT - I use it as something to do when I am watching TV etc, and because of using this so much I can finally crush my friends hand, he used to be stronger than me! hehe! Also: For my Elderly Grandmothers birthday I am going to get her the XX-Light as she is on her strength is getting worse, because blood clots from shopping bags are not good! -----UPDATE----- I bought this product on the 10th April 2012, Now it is 20th June 2012 and I can gladly say that it is brilliantly made, it is still as good as when I bought it!!! I would like the get the XX-Heavy someday hopefully, my strength has gone up leaps and bounds! :)

It is good for practicing a range of finger strength exercises wherever you find yourself

This is really well built and you can feel that it is good quality. You can work each finger individually against your palm or your thumb (very difficult). I was unsure as to which level of tension would be most suitable for me and I decided to go for this one after reading the previous reviews. I feel that this is more suited to people who need really strong grip/finger strength but I am glad that I purchased this (I am a 24y.o male). I can just about press the springs down all the way with all my fingers against my palm but I find it really difficult against my thumb. There are youtube instructional videos which go over different exercises you can do with this versatile device. It is small and fits into your pocket and is actually really addictive once you start using it. I had some pain in my pinky finger before using this due to weak muscles and this has helped. Highly recommended purchase for anyone really...I would maybe consider purchasing the medium tension if you are in doubt because this really requires pressure to press down.

Good for strengthening your fingers, but need to have a good grip and patience. good quality product though

Great little hand and finger exerciser. Have been using to gain grip strength for climbing. At my level (I am a beginner) I have found the heavy one to be just the right tension for me, perfect for most exercises, although when trying exercises such as the finger tip pinch, I found this to be a bit too heavy and my little finger struggled especially. There is a full list of exercises you can do with this thing on the ProHands Gripmaster website which is really useful. I will continue to use it as I believe it is a really great tool for improving strength in the fingers, hand, wrist and forearm, as well as grip strength needed for holds like pinches and crimps in climbing. Would recommend you start with the medium tension first though as after a few reps your hand will tire quickly and then your form will suffer. Don't forget to warm up and get some movement in your hands and fingers first before pushing yourself when using this. Try it for yourself!

This range of hand and finger exercisers are great. The resistance for individual fingers means that they offer a wide range of exercises from your whole hand to individual fingers and even your thumb. The contoured shape of the palm-grip fits equally well in right and left hands as well. The range of tension available is good, I found that the Heavy tension suits me best at the moment while my wife uses the "Light" tension. Size wise, they fit in the palm of your hand - obviously. So they're very transportable. I've got quite wide hands with relatively short fingers and they fit fine. My wife's hands are quite a bit smaller and she is still able to use the light tension model without any problems. They take a bit of getting used to at first, the movement of the individual finger "pistons" is unusual to begin with and you will find that your stronger fingers compensate for the weaker ones. The supplied instruction sheet shows a number of exercises that can be performed. All things considered, these have been the best hand exercisers that I've used and I'd highly recommend them.

I bought this because of a recommendation from another climber. We both started climbing at the same time, and I noticed after half a year that his handgrip endurance was a lot better than mine. I asked if/how he trained grip, and he recommended the Gripmaster Black. If you are in your first year of climbing, or if you have injured a finger and cannot hangboard, then I would recommend Gripmaster. You can use it in various ways, but it will mainly improve 'crimp' (small edge) strength. Firstly, you will probably learn that your pinky needs a lot of work. Once you can crimp the individual fingers and hold it for 10-20 seconds or more, you can then use it to develop pinch strength. The device is a little wobbly when pinching, and you should be careful. It is not ideal for pinching, as it is small when compressed, and this is not how you will usually pinch when climbing. If you buy a colour that is too easy, you can use it for pinching. If the colour is hard then it is good for crimping. It is difficult to say which colour/resistance you should buy. I think black is a good start. It is not too hard, but not too easy either. There are Gripmaster Pro editions and these have two higher difficult. The most difficult is the brown, which I also own, and it is difficult to fully compress. I weight around 170lbs (77kg) and I can two-handed dead-hang from a small edge (crimping) for 10 seconds or more. If you can do one-handed crimp or anything of that level, then you probably do not need a Gripmaster for anything other than warm-up or helping recovery when you have injured a finger. I do think these can help recovery, and they are good for warming up the fingers before you do anything more difficult. I would consider them very safe to use, with the exception of using them for pinching -- there is unsafe wobble when pinching the device.