How to Use Lifting Straps

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 09/23/22)

In a past article and a couple of videos, we’ve covered how to quickly and cheaply make yourself a pair of durable lifting straps. Today, let’s cover how to use them.

As is often the case, this process is best understood when you can see it, so I’d recommend watching one of the included videos.

Step 1
Place the straps over both hands. The threads face up, and the smooth side of the straps (the side without the threads) should face forward.

This step assumes you’re using the type of DIY straps we make in this video (or a similar commercial design). If you’re using the “loop-and-cinch” style of strap such as this pair, you can move on to step 2, but make sure that your straps are oriented in the correct direction (click here to see a demonstration).

Step 2
Place your left hand on the barbell - your hand goes over the bar, and the strap goes behind the bar.

Step 3
Use your right hand to help wrap the strap around the bar once, pinning it into place with your left thumb.

Step 4
Repeat steps 2 and 3 to get your right hand and its strap securely attached to the barbell, but note that the right hand will have to do this on its own as it doesn’t get any help from your left hand, which is already attached to the bar.

Step 5
When you tighten up the right strap (i.e., when you make it so that it’s wrapped snugly around the bar), you may find that you have to allow the left strap to loosen just a bit so that both straps have the same amount of “snugness” against the bar. Once that’s done, you can rotate both hands to tighten up both straps.

Step 6
Even though you’re using straps, be sure to still use chalk and grab the bar tightly. No hook grip is needed (don’t attempt a mixed grip either).

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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Shorter Workouts! | More Gains in Less Time

You want to get strong, but you don't have all day to spend in the gym. What do you do? Starting Strength Phil Meggers explains.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

Should I Train When I'm Sick?

We get the following question every now and then at the gym or online: “Should I train when I’m sick?” Let’s break it down and keep it as simple as possible.

If you’ve got a cold, you train. If you’ve got the flu, you don’t.

For a short video covering this topic - including a short personal anecdote - check out the included video.

Yes, there may be more subtleties to your situation, but this is a good starting point. If you’re congested, you’ve got a runny nose, you’ve got a cough, go train. In fact, if you played sports in grade school, high school, or college, you already know this. You know that - in this type of situation - you’ll feel better when training than you do the rest of the day.

That hour to hour-and-a-half of training might be the only time that day that you actually feel pretty normal. Your nose stops running or doesn’t run as much, your cough improves, you can breathe better, etc. In this type of situation, you won’t feel worse during the training session, and you might actually feel better afterward as well.

“I’m coming down with a head cold” is not a valid reason not to train - it’s just a lousy excuse to avoid doing something challenging.

However, if you’re running a fever, you’ve got chills and body aches, and your insides want to be on your outsides - whether out your mouth or the other end of the plumbing - then don’t train. Things will not go well - it won’t be a productive training session, and you’re going to make things worse for the subsequent days.

It’s worth noting that the barbell never lies - it will tell you if you’re making the right decision. If you start warming up, and whatever initial discomfort you have either remains the same or improves as the weight on the bar goes up, then train on. However, if you start to feel worse as the load increases, call it a day.

This is a simple approach and a very useful one, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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"What I find horrifying, even more than death..."

Don't want to be weak, frail, and dependent on others for basic needs when you get older? Sally nails it in this video, and Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains further.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

What is the BEST Time of Day to Train? (it's not what you think)

A question we get on occasion is “What time of day is the best for training?” This is worth discussing, and we’re going to keep it simple and to the point.

Training in the afternoon or the evening is a wonderful thing. You’re more awake, your work is probably done for the day, and you might even perform slightly better (emphasis on slightly). If you can train in the PM hours, go for it.

With that said, the bottom line is that the best time of day to train is the time of day that you can train most consistently, and for a lot of people, that means training needs to take place in the morning.

After all, consistency is the most important factor in your training - you can have the greatest technique and programming in the world, but if you’re missing workouts, your technique and programming don’t do you any good. If you need to train in the morning to make it happen, then the AM hours are officially your best time to train.

Some people object with, “I don’t want to train in the morning - I’m not a morning person.” Knock that off. Nobody who trains in the morning is a morning person. Nobody walks in our doors at 5:15 a.m. bounding with joy, sunshine, and bubbles.

Lifters who train early in the morning aren’t morning people any more than you are; instead, they are simply people who know they might not be able to train later in the day, and they are committed to not missing their training sessions.

Not surprisingly, waking up early to train can be rough at first - any new routine often is - but after you’re done it for a few weeks, you’ll have established the habit, and it’ll be far easier. On top of that, you’ll appreciate having consistently hit your training sessions, which means you’re keeping one of the most important kinds of promises - the kind you make to yourself.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Would You Rather . . . ?

(This article was originally published on the Starting Strength website on 03/12/20.)

This article is not for you, my friend. Oh, you should read it. You should absolutely read it. But it’s not for you. No, this article is for your mom. This is for your grandpa. It’s for your husband or your wife. It’s for your cousin or your close friend. You, my friend – you train. If you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article in the first place. This article is for anybody in your life that needs to train but does not.

You know the person I’m talking about. She’s your favorite aunt who “would love to get stronger,” but she hurts too much to train since she has arthritis. He’s your 83-year-old grandpa who has trouble with his balance due to the neuropathy in his feet. He’s your old college buddy who just can’t do as much as he used to because of his bad shoulder.

You need to ask this person a very simple question: Would you rather?

Arthritis is a bad deal, but it’s not going anywhere, so you have to ask your aunt, “Would you rather have arthritis and be weaker, or would you rather have arthritis and be stronger?”

Plantar neuropathy in the feet will wreak havoc on a person’s ability to get around safely, but balance issues improve – often dramatically – when people strength train. So you have to have a conversation with your grandpa, and in the end, you have to ask him, “Would you rather have neuropathy and be weaker, or would you rather have neuropathy and be stronger? You’re going to like being stronger, Grandpa.”

Your college buddy with the bad shoulder? Well, at the very least, he still has three other perfectly good – and trainable – limbs, so you have to ask him, “Would you rather have a bum shoulder and be weaker, or would you rather have a bum shoulder and be stronger?” With the guidance of a Starting Strength Coach, I bet you he’ll be able to train that shoulder as well, but he won’t believe you on that just yet, and that’s OK. Give him time, and get him thinking.

“Would you rather?” It’s a simple question, but it’s a powerful question. It’s powerful because these people have never asked themselves, “Would I rather be weaker or stronger?” And because they’ve never asked themselves that question, they don’t know that those are the only options. Weaker or stronger? But you know. You train. You chose stronger, and you’ve become stronger. You know that a life lived stronger is a life lived better.

You don’t need to convince these people. You just need to ask them. “Would you rather have X and be weaker, or would you rather have X and be stronger?” Put the ball in their court, and you might find this question to be pretty compelling.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?