Why The $1 Trial Is The Best Deal In Grip Training (Honest Price Comparison)

Walk through the grip-training aisle online and the prices are wild.

A single Captains of Crush gripper: $25-40. A full IronMind set: $250-400. “Thick handle” attachments: $40-100. Wrist rollers: $50-150. Climbing hangboards: $80-200. Silicone grippers from the checkout aisle at $10-20 — useless toys, but if you keep buying them looking for the one that finally works (none do), the receipts add up.

Then there’s the SSB membership trial plus free starter kit. Only costs $1. 50 bars, 2 pairs of hand wraps, technique guide. Entry to a 12-tier progression that reaches world-class.

Here’s why the price is what it is, and how it compares.

What $1 Actually Buys

The kit contains three components:

50 calibrated steel bending bars. A mix of 7-inch pieces of mill steel calibrated to a known yield force. The “calibrated” part is the expensive part — anyone can sell a piece of steel, but selling steel that bends at exactly 190 pounds (within tight tolerance) requires specific steel grades, controlled diameter, and per-batch testing.
2 pairs of hand wraps. Real suede leather for one, and a mil-spec nylon for the other, both sized for bending. Generic wrist wraps don’t work because they’re designed for a different problem (wrist support during pressing, not hand-pad protection during crushing).
The KINK SWEEP CRUSH technique guide. Printed booklet. Walks you through the full bending technique in detail.

À la carte value if you bought the same items separately: roughly $125. Bundle price: $1. A wild discount.

What Else $1 Buys In The Fitness World

LOL, nothing. For perspective, here’s what these certain dollar amounts get you:

One month of a typical commercial gym: $40-80.

A pair of Fat Gripz: $40. Fits in a gym bag, multiplies grip demand on existing exercises. Doesn’t directly progress grip strength.

A single Captains of Crush gripper (one tier): $25-40. One specific resistance level. You’ll need 5-10 grippers to cover the full progression curve.

A pair of standard gym wraps: $15-25. No bar, no technique guide, just wraps.

A thick-bar dumbbell handle attachment: $40-100. Useful supplement, not standalone training.

A foam roller: $30-50. Useful for recovery, not strength.

A protein powder tub: $40-60. Lasts 2-4 weeks.

A premium fitness app subscription (annual): $80-150. Recurring forever.

A commercial gym personal training session: $60-120 for one hour.

In context, the $1 trial and steel bending starter kit is a disgustingly strong deal in the fitness market.

The Per-Tier Cost As You Progress

Where SSB really separates from competitors is the per-bar cost of progressing up the ladder.

SSB additional bars (after the membership trial): – Bars in volume packs: as low as $1 per bar

Competitor calibrated bars (when you can find them): – Other vendors typically charge $4-5 per bar individually – Often only sold in limited tiers (i.e. 3-5 levels rather than 12) – Less consistent calibration tolerance

Captains of Crush full set (Trainer through No. 4): – $250-400 for 8 grippers – ~$30-50 per tier – 8 fixed tiers (vs SSB’s 12 calibrated tiers)

Over a 1-3 year progression timeline, total SSB steel cost is dramatically lower than total CoC cost while providing more challenging tiers and broader transfer.

Why It’s Priced Where It’s Priced

A few reasons SSB can hold the price low:

Direct-to-consumer. No retail markup. Matt ships from his own facility in Newark, Delaware. There are no middlemen or distributors taking a cut.

Volume on the entry tier. The 190-LBS bar is the most-sold tier by a wide margin. The volume lets the per-bar cost stay low even at quality steel grades.

No celebrity endorsements or paid advertising overhead. The growth has come from grip-community word of mouth and organic search. SSB isn’t paying $5/click to acquire customers, so they don’t need to bake that cost into the price.

No fancy packaging or branded merchandise. The kit ships in a flat shipper. No retail-store presentation costs.

Founder pricing philosophy. Matt’s stated philosophy: “Our competitor’s bars? $4-5 each. Ours? Around $1 each. That’s not an exaggeration. The pricing comes from a deliberate decision to make grip training accessible rather than premium.”

What “Best Deal” Doesn’t Mean

A few honest caveats so this isn’t pure marketing:

It’s not the cheapest possible option. A $10 silicone gripper from Amazon is cheaper. It’s also useless. “Cheapest” and “best deal” aren’t the same thing.

It’s not the most prestigious option. Captains of Crush has the certification system and the brand recognition. If you want institutional credentialing for closing the No. 3, that’s CoC’s territory. SSB is the better deal, but CoC has the louder brand.

It doesn’t include everything you might want. A complete home grip setup probably also has a pull-up bar (~$25), maybe pinch grip plates (~$20-40), maybe Fat Gripz ($40). The $1 trial kit is the entry — not the full lifetime supply.

You’ll spend more over time. The trial is $1 to start, then $400/year membership-based — but you’ll buy additional bars as you progress. Total spend on steel over 1-3 years of progression: about $300-1,000. Still cheap compared to alternatives, but not zero ongoing cost.

Who Gets The Most Value From The Deal

Best value for: – New entrants to grip training who want a low-friction starting point – Lifters who’ve been doing general gym work and never trained grip directly – BJJ practitioners and grapplers who need to fix the forearm pump – Lifters whose grip fails before their back on heavy deadlifts – Adults curious about the longevity / vital-sign aspect of grip strength – Anyone who likes measurable, visible progression

Less compelling for: – Pure bodybuilders chasing forearm aesthetics only (high-rep wrist curls might be more efficient) – People who already own a full Captains of Crush set and are happy with it (overlap is high enough that the marginal benefit is smaller) – People who have no interest in grip-specific work (this kit isn’t for general fitness)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there ever a discount on the membership trial?

How can you discount even further a $1, 14-day trial? Nuts!

Why doesn’t SSB charge more?

Pricing philosophy from the founder. Matt has said publicly that he could charge more but chooses not to because he wants more people to try grip training. The product hasn’t been priced like a premium fitness purchase intentionally.

Are the additional bars actually $1 each?

Yes. The exact price varies by how much volume you are buying.

What about international shipping?

Not available.

Is the lifetime refunds on unbent bars (a member benefit) real?

Yes. Matt actually will honor it. Nobody has used it yet.

What’s the cheapest possible way to try bending?

Bending hardware-store bolts with no kit. Cost: maybe $10. Drawbacks: no progression tracking, no proper wraps (so skin tearing), unknown steel quality, no technique guide, and you’ll waste hours figuring out what works. Our 14-day steel bending membership removes all that uncertainty.

Get On The Ladder

Try the membership for 14 days. $1 to start. $400/year after.

What you get: bars at cost (around $1 each in volume vs competitors’ $4-5), free rush shipping, unlimited coaching from Matt himself, lifetime refunds on unbent bars, the proprietary app with leaderboards and bend logging, and direct community access.

Sign up: shortsteelbending.com/sign-up

Or text Matt directly at 302-690-7039 — he answers his own phone, even at his kid’s birthday party.