There are hundreds of new fitness gadgets and equipment showing up every day and to be completely honest 99% of them are not worth the money. Most target something typical to the fitness industry like getting six pack abs, toning your thighs or dropping belly fat so when you see a new piece of equipment that targets something as specific and unusual as grip and forearm strength you have to stop and take a second look.
Recently I have had the chance to use something called the NSD Spinner. There are many different varieties, but the specific one I had a chance to test was the NSD Power Winners Roll and Spin Spinner Gyroscopic Wrist and Forearm Exerciser with Digital LCD Counter and Auto-Start Feature, Black which is a very long name for such a small device.
What is it?
The NDS Spinner is a gyroscope inside a hard plastic shell that has a mechanism that allows you to rotate your hand to increase the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the gyroscope itself. Now if you have ever ridden a bike before then you have had first hand experience with gyroscopic force. Though you may not have known it at the time when you spin the wheels of a bike they act as a gyroscope and that action is what keeps you upright. The faster you spin the wheels the easier it is to stay up because the wheels actually start to fight to stay in their original upright position. This same principal is used in this small device to create force against your hand as you move it. At 10,000 RPM you can generate up to 24.9 lbs of force - with my particular model - and others can generate even more force at the same speed.
What is it for?
The company that makes the NSD Spinner suggests using their product for rehabilitating the hand, wrist, and forearm, as well as improving strength, endurance, and coordination for those in sports such as tennis, baseball, golf, racquetball, etc. They also suggest that musicians use it as well. Basically if you need to have more control over your hands then this would be for you.
Does it work?
After using it quite a bit over the last month or so I would have to say that, yes, it does work, and quite well. I would never have believed that such a small (and light) object could create so much "weight" just by rotating your hand. Now this device does take some skill to get it to work properly and even when you do get the motion down (which doesn't take too long, it is a similar motion to trying to mix something with a spoon) you still have to increase your coordination, strength and endurance to get even close to 10,000 RPM. After all of the time I have spent with it I can still only barely get over 8,000 RPM.
Speaking of RPM…How do you know how fast you are going? The one that I have happens to have the digital counter attached which can tell you in real time how fast you are going as well as your all time best. It has a multitude of other helpful functions which I won't go into here but I will say it was definitely nice to have.
My final verdict is that though they are fun and effective they are also expensive so unless you have a lot of free money I would suggest saving and using it for something more total body effective like dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, etc. However if you need to focus on your hand, wrist, and forearm strength, then definitely give this a shot as it is a unique and effective piece of equipment for what it does.