GripMaster

The Gripmaster is a small device to train the muscles in your hand and forearm increasing your strength and dexterity.

The device has individual springs for each of the four fingers in your hand excluding your thumb, since each finger is related to its own set of muscles and tendons the Grimaster ensures that all, or most of your muscles are trained.

The strength of each finger or the whole device can't be adjusted so the Gripmaster is sold in three versions offering different tensions, blue is the lightest, red medium and black the strongest.

After using the gripmaster for a while you will quickly notice a burn in your hand and forearm that means that your muscles are working, the less used to work the muscle is the sooner it will burn so with time you will be able to train for longer periods and evenatually increase your hand strength, this can be useful in several activities from sports such as golf or rock climbing to tennis and martial arts.

We found the device good to relax and discharge stress and it definitively works with your hand and arm muscles, the thumb not being used is a question mark about how the real improvementin your grip and a second criticism is that it is certainly boring to use it.

You can read more at the Official site and order for $14 from Brigade Quatermasters.

Powerball Signature Edition

The "signature" is a special edition of the Neon Pro Powerball.

If you are new to powerballs or you haven't read the Neon Pro mini review then we will tell you that powerballs are gyroscopes that can be used to excercise your upper body, specially your arms and they are a great fun to use too.

You spin the ball using very short circular wrist movements and as you spin the rotor will start spinning inside creating an opposing force, this resistance will make your muscles work harder and harder as you spin the ball faster and faster. The end result is a constant search for new speed records and a lot of fun while at the same time excercising your forearms, biceps and triceps.

This special edition comes in a translucent gray case with a gray rubber band around and shines white LEDs when activated.

As well as the Neon Pro the signature edition comes with the counter at the top that can keep track of your rpm records and endurance results. The performance is similar to the Neon Pro with just a different look and feel, the special edition comes with a wrist lanyard, a DVD with movies and training videos and a couple of extra starter strings.

You can read more at the official website and order one for $50 from Powerballs.com e-store.

Neon Pro Powerball

Powerballs, powerballs what are powerballs? Basically they are powerfull gyroscopes that you can control to have fun and excercise your muscles at the same time.

You start the powerball either using the provided string or with a quick flick of your thumb, you can roll it over a carpet too if you want, once started you can accelerate the rotor moving your wrist in circles, the faster the rotor goes the less your wrist will move and your muscles and tendons will be doing the real work.

To keep it accelerating find the moment you have to flick your wrist to go against the rotor resistance, if you fail to do it the rotor will slow down and stop and you will have to start again.

Depending on the direction of your movements and the position of your arm you can train different muscles, deltoids, bicepts, triceps, etc.

Some of the models have a counter at the top that can perform several functions, like keeping track of your RPM record, or counting revolutions in the endurance mode where the total number of revolutions in 30, 60 or 90 seconds is what counts. The record mode keeps track of the fastest you were able to spin the powerball, if you are very good with it you can try for the world record and enter the leaderboard at the official site.

The Neon Pro version in the picture has leds that turn on as you spin the powerball, blue, green and orange versions are available. The counter is powered by a coin cell, the leds are powered by the rotor motion, no need for batteries.

The powerball is really strong, you can really feel a burning sensation in your muscles after using it and if you keep a regular training program you will gain muscles (in a geeky way). The powerballs also help you reduce stress, and are great for starting conversations.

The only problem with powerballs is that they are addictive as hell, if you have read this up to this point there is probably no way back, I'm sorry (insert evil laugh here).

The neon pro model costs $48 and you can order and read a lot more about powerballs from the official website. You will find records, videos, user forums and many other nice features in the Powerballs website.