Wraps and Straps and Gloves, Oh My!
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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 09/30/22)
You’re a lifter, so of course, you’ve got to accessorize. But with all the options for lifting gear and accessories out there, what’s useful and what’s garbage? This article is the first in a short series covering exactly that, and today’s topic is gear associated with your grip.
Lifting Straps
Also known simply as “straps” or sometimes “wrist straps” (which is inaccurate), straps are useful for pulling movements, such as deadlifts, rows, and even snatches. Do NOT use them for cleans, and it’s worth pointing out they are actually worn on the hand and not the wrist itself.
They save some wear and tear on the hands, and if you’ve got multiple sets on the deadlift, then a reasonable approach is to use your usual grip for the first set (hook grip or alternate grip) and then use straps for the remaining sets.
You can buy straps or make them (quite cheaply!), and we’ve got a few videos covering how to make them as well as use them.
Wrist Wraps
These are useful for pressing movements such as the press, bench press, close grip bench press, etc. Wrist wraps provide stability for the wrist by acting as a sort of belt or cast for the wrist. When the weights get challenging, a good approach is to warm up (mostly) without wrist wraps and then put your wraps on (tightly!) for your last warm up as well as your work sets.
Not surprisingly, we have a few videos covering this topic as well.
Gloves
Nope. Don’t use ‘em. They add something squishy and deformable between your hand and the bar, which is never good for force transfer. Also, because they add a layer between your hand and the bar, they effectively make the bar diameter larger, which makes it harder to keep your grip when pulling the bar off the floor with deadlifts, rows, etc.
Lifting gloves are stupid. I know this firsthand because I have worn them in a previous life. Don’t use them.
Ahem, we do not have a video on this topic.
Chalk
We’ll save this discussion for another day, but suffice to say chalk is very important for your grip. Use chalk.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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