Versa Gripps Pro Review: Why I Upsized from S to L

Gear · Published 11/29/2023 ·

It’s been two weeks since I started weight training. And no, I haven’t lost any weight… and no muscle to show for it either ^^.

My body fat dropped 2%, but honestly that feels like it’s within the margin of error…

The hardest part for beginners like me is that your forearms are just way too weak. That’s where grips come in — they let you focus the effort on the muscle you’re actually trying to work and rely on your forearms as little as possible.

Earlier this summer, on the recommendation of someone I work out with, I bought a pair of Versa Gripps Pro in size S and used them a handful of times. But recently I signed up for PT, and as my trainer walked me through things,

he concluded they were way too short for the thickness of my wrists — thank you, teacher ^^.

This little episode taught me, for the first time, that my wrists aren’t actually on the thin side. I’d assumed weak meant thin wrists, but nope — mine are actually thicker than average.

Here’s my old pair, bought around July 2023. I ordered them in July and… they’re still basically brand new. I really need to reflect on that.

The problem is the wrist strap is too short. You’re supposed to wrap it in the gap between your wrist and the back of your hand, but I just couldn’t get it to sit right. So I used them a few times without fully fastening them.

Since I’m a beginner I stick to light weights… but apparently once you move up to heavy loads, that little bit of velcro just won’t hold. So I went and bought the next size up, L.

Luckily I managed to sell the old straps on Karrot.

Here are the newly arrived Versa Gripps Pro. Almost nothing has changed, but they’re labeled as the 2023 model, and the velcro area on the grip has been expanded significantly.

I’m guessing it’s an improvement.

You can see at a glance how much wider the velcro section is.

The strap is longer too, so people with thick wrists like me can use the grips much more comfortably now.

The base material and that sort of thing are unchanged.

It just feels like the velcro area got 30% or so bigger.

Brand new… the very definition of it.

No fuzz or pilling yet either. Hehe.

Even after wrapping it snugly around my wrist there’s a bit left over. Easy to put on, and since the part that sticks is wider than the part that grips, it covers the whole area whether I wrap it generously

or come up a little short.

Tomorrow’s an upper-body day, so I’d better pull hard.

If you’re buying Versa Gripps in 2023, I hope you get the new version.

This is a review of something I bought with my own money.

Thanks for reading.

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