You can use different four, three, and even two finger grips and, because the handhold is asymmetric, holding the mug in your left hand opens up even more options. Well with a Pinch Hold Mug, even when your relaxing with a cuppa, you'll be getting a little bit stronger. However, it could also be used creatively to warm up before practising on a fingerboard of something. It’s actually quite easy to hold, at least when using a standard five finger grip, and I haven’t had any problems with the mug slipping.

Pinch Hold Mug – Restful exercise for climbers. Pinch Hold Mug – Restful exercise for climbers.

The varied shape of the hold also facilitates a variety of different grips—some being harder than others. Maybe you don’t climb, but it would obviously make a great gift for climbers you know, not to mention a perfect fathers day gift. But I have been using it to drink hot coffee and tea and, while the handhold heats up a little bit, you can still drink from it as long as you’re careful.Some other climbing-themed mugs I’ve seen have an indoor-climbing-wall hold glued onto a ceramic base instead. At the very least it will get you used to the different ways in which you can approach and grip a hold and will probably result in some increased grip strength over time as well.

Pinch Hold Mug - Etsy Pinch Hold Mug - Etsy

In some cases, these can become loose if the adhesive is exposed to too much heat (for example, from a hot drink). If I’ve missed anything, feel free to reach out in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. As you can see from the video, the mug is really good quality; it’s fully ceramic with the handhold moulded directly into the design of the mug. I’ve been using the Pinch Hold as my main drinking mug over the last week or so and wanted to make a quick video (above) to share my thoughts.However, I definitely feel that my fingers have to work to hold it, especially when using a harder grip.

Pinch Hold Mug - Etsy UK Pinch Hold Mug - Etsy UK

Maybe you've got climbing holds above every doorway to keep up your strength in readiness for those multi day climbs. The good thing about the Pinch Hold is that there’s no adhesive and the handhold is part of the mug itself.Instead of having a handle like a traditional mug, it’s sculpted to look like a rockface and requires the drinker to pinch the hold, in a similar way to holding a rock handhold on a crag or indoor climbing wall. Set up partly as an outlet for their quirky creativity and partly to help fund the other side of ma3t: TEAM.