The JWC Monster Wrist Roller
by Thom Van Vleck
LaVerne Myers, of the Dino Gym, training on the JWC Monster Wrist Roller in preparation for next month's USAWA Grip Championships.
Recently, I made a monster wrist roller out of spacers from an old disc (farm implement that would bust up clods after plowing or aerate the ground). These spacers look like giant spindles and are about 2″ in diameter in the grip. I put three on a 1 1/4″ bar. The two outside ones were for grip and the inside one was to roll up the rope which was attached to a vertical bar loaded with weight. I was so pleased with it, I made one for Al Myers who then took it and improved up on the design. I have to admit, Al’s is now better than mine, although I made some changes to mine based on Al’s ideas.
At any rate, I have been using it lately for my grip. I use it just like a regular wrist roller but I set in in my squat racks so that it take the pressure off my delts and puts all the emphasis on my forearms. I try and get really aggressive rolling the weight up and use enough weight to really challenge me. I pretend I’m trying to squeeze water out of a rock!!!!!
Wrist rollers are a great training tool, even if you don’t have a “Monster” one like me and Al. If you come to either the Dino Gym or the JWC Training Hall, you will have to give them a try! Grip has always been stubborn for me to make progress so any new toy adds new excitement to my training and for now, the Monster Wrist Roller is what’s new in my grip training!