Rogue anvil grip vs Rogue neutral grip

This is a comparison between the Rogue anvil grip and the Rogue neutral grip including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which grip strength tool to get from Rogue. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Rogue neutral grip

This is an overview of the Rogue neutral grip including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which grip strength tool to get from Rogue. Follow the links for more details.

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Overview of the Rogue Neutral grip

Price: $65

The rogue neutral grip is an addition to Rogue racks that come standard with the fat skinny bar. With this attachment, you can do neutral grip pull-ups for a small price of $65. Compared to other options it is probably one of the cheaper ones. The full specifications of the Rogue neutral grip are:

Handle Length: 7"
Handle Diameter: 1.25"
Overall Height: 11"
Not compatible with Rogue monster

This is a good quick fix if you do not mind some scratches on your equipment.

Pros of the Rogue neutral grip

Pros of the rogue neutral grip are:

Fast
Cheap
Small

This is an easy setup to quickly do neutral pull-ups on Rogue setup that otherwise would not allow for pull-ups or would need a wrench to swap cross members/attachments. Just throw them on and get going. With a little bit of tale attached to them, you can also avoid the scratching through the metal to metal contact.

Cons of the Rogue neutral grip

Cons of the rogue neutral grip are:

Unstable
Metal to metal contact
Not versatile

These grips will go into your monster lite or infinity rack but will not be as clean and secure as a proper pull-up bar. It can shift a little and therefore also scratch your rack. In addition, it will be cumbersome to attach these hooks to any other weight to lift it which makes them pretty much single-use.

Alternatives to the rogue neutral grip

Alternatives to the rogue neutral grip:

The Rogue XM43 neutral grip rotating pull up attachment is a full specialized pull-up attachment for the monster lite and monster series. Compared to the neutral grips it can be wrenched onto a cross-member, has rotating handles, and several positions to work from. This is the professional tool from Rogue for a neutral grip from a rack rather than the makeshift pins for $60. with $445 it also costs more than seven times more than the simple grips.

The crown pull up bar is an attachment for the rogue monster lite and monster series that provides a neutral grip pull up setup amongst others. You will also get several other pull up setups and two different sized spheres. If straight pull-ups are your jam, this is a very good attachment to invest in. The crown would be an investment of $225.

A multi-grip cross-member is an option that can be attached at the top of your rack. With this, you have several grip width options for a neutral grip in a stable setup. As long as your ceiling is high enough and you want to neutral grip pull-ups this comes in at $182.50 and is, therefore, great value for money option as an alternative to the neutral grips. In this setup, you will also not scratch the existing rack.

Conclusion for the rogue neutral grip

The Rogue neutral grip is a good quick fix when you have quite a few of the parallel fat/skinny bars which Rogue used to deliver with their racks in the past. With the monster lite and monster racks series this item becomes shipped far less and therefore did not age well. The fact, that the neutral grips scratch the existing material does not make it a preferred option if you can invest a little more money. I would always prefer to attach a crown pull-up bar or XM 43M multi-grip cross member to achieve the same result.

Overview and review of the Rogue anvil grip

This is an overview of the Rogue anvil grip including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which grip strength tool to get from Rogue. Follow the links for more details.

Overview of the Anvil grip

The rogue anvil grip simulates a time old feat of strength. Many attempted to lift an anvil by the horn. The cone shape of the anvil grip simulates this. To increase the weight you can attach it to a loading which Rogue sells separately. The specifications of the anvil grip are:

Made in the USA
Machined from a Solid Piece of Steel
Weight (Unloaded): 12.33 LBS
Length: 11” (Anvil itself), 13.5” (Anvil + Eye Bolt)
Tapered Cone-Shape design: 3” dia. at the base, 0.75” dia. at top
Eye Bolt at the base for attaching weight via loading pin (pin sold separately)
Engraved Rogue branding
Finish Options: Bare Steel or Black Oxide

This is a solid piece of steel to varying your deadlift and grip strength.

Pros of the anvil grip

The pros of the anvil grip are:

Good quality

Simple design

Challenge for the grip

This is a great tool for working on your grip strength. The cone shape gives you a different challenge than the usual bar grippers most people use. A great addition for someone who almost has everything but wants to challenge his or her grip even further.

Cons of the anvil grip

The cons of the anvil grip are:

Needs plates and pin to function
Very specialized equipment
High likelihood to gather dust

While these are a good addition to an existing for someone who is serious about grip strength, for some others this might just be a fun little purchase that is ultimately money down a hole. Be sure you have the plates and you are also investing in a loading pin. Once you are of this mindset you will probably also get the dinnie rings and other grip attachments from Rogue. For someone who is very busy or not dedicated to grip strength this can be a purchase that will lie around in your gym more than you use it.

Alternatives of the anvil grip

Alternatives to the anvil grip are:

For the average Joe, a set of pinch grip and cannonball grip handles are probably the better choices. They are easier to handle with kettlebells or to hang from your rack. Therefore they do not necessarily need a loading pin to function. This gives you more versatility for a little more spend then for the anvil grip.

The dinnie rings are the ultimate hardcore grip strength test from Rogue. If you want to train in the highest levels you will probably get the anvil grip and the dinnie rings. If I had to choose between the two, which I wouldn’t as I am a sucker for complete training sets, I would go for the dinnie rings instead of the anvil grip as it is the cooler record to chase.

Conclusion for the anvil grip

The anvil grip is a must-have for any serious strongman or strength athlete who is serious about their grip. It is cheaper to co nine the anvil grip with a loading pin than to get anvils of different weights. If you want to save money and start out with grip strength training I would recommend going with a combination of pinch blocks and cannonballs first and then graduate to dinnie rings and the anvil at a later point when those get to easy / you have reached your goals on those.