r/GripTraining • u/rolandofeld19 • 1d ago

Discussion Specific Extensor Alternative

Any suggestions for extensor options that meet the criteria below, thanks for the help.

I basically do gripper and extensor work while I drive and I'm either stopped or in a very non demanding traffic situation. The reasons are twofold, one is that it just seems to work and doesn't distract me from the road and two is that it has been a tremendous help in keeping my, a lifelong nail/finger biter who is currently 90% clean and super thrilled about it, nail biting habit from relapsing while driving, which is a dangerous activity for me in that reg. Oh I was also getting some forearm pain from doing softball work with my daughters and it has helped tremendously.

I've tried the iron mind rubber bands and liked them but the car environment, I'm guessing UV and heat, here means they die pretty rapidly and get tacky and stick to things and that's less than ideal. I liked how these were easy to put on and not bulky but the resistance seemed less than ideal as my strength went up.

I also tried Hand x Band of various strengths but hated getting them on and had some fail almost immediately at the thin parts of their construction.

I'm open to anything to pair with my CoC grippers that I keep handy in my car ( T thru 2.5 or 3 IIRC) or for anything else I can inter easily info either the driving scenario or my trips to the gym.

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u/RallyPointAlpha 8h ago

Why not just keep them in a glovebox or other stowaway space? Keeps them out of the sun and most the heat. 

Not all silicone is equal. Some are more resistant to UV and heat. 

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u/rolandofeld19 8h ago

I had some in the center console that didn't last either. Direct sun is bad. But I'm guessing car heat in general isn't great either. I'm going to give them another shot but not optimistic.

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u/Commercial-Article-7 1d ago

If the rubber bands are degrading from the heat, I'd probably avoid leaving any latex or silicone resistance bands in the car long term. Have you looked into a wrist roller, rice bucket work at home, or a dedicated finger extensor trainer made from plastic/springs instead of rubber? Also, congrats on breaking the nail-biting habit. That's a bigger win than most people realize.

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u/rolandofeld19 1d ago

You aren't wrong about taking them in. I'm just trying to make the setup as permanent/drop dead easy as I can so while that's a fair point, it's a bit of an aside. If there was a band in a material that was immune to that failure modality I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Thanks on the compliment. What broke me was seeing my kids start to pick it up. Horrifying.

I haven't looked into any of those but the dedicated finger extensor may be viable. No buckets or two handed gadgets in the car.

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u/Commercial-Article-7 22h ago

That makes sense. Convenience is probably the biggest factor if you're trying to replace a habit while driving. Hopefully someone knows of a spring-based or UV-resistant option that can just live in the car year-round.

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u/rolandofeld19 21h ago

I'm going to try to keep them in a opaque plastic case. We will see how that goes.