you're comparing apples to oranges, lifting weights is lifting weights, closing a gripper is closing a gripper, you have to practice it to become good at it, call Ironmind and talk to the owner Randy Strossen and he'll tell you all about the grippers, how to train them, all the 750-800 pound deadlifters who had trouble closing the #2 and skinny 170 pound dudes like Joe Kinney from Tennessee who can close a #4 like it's paper, Dr. Strossen has a lot of knowledge and is always willing to talk to people over the phone if he has time.