A question of grip.

fatmammycat

I have moved up a weight at Deadlifting, from 72k to 75k (and hopefully I can DL at 80k by the end of the month or first week in February). My question is about my grip. I was using a double over today and I felt it was slightly weak- like there might be a bit of 'give' in it, but lifting with a hook grip felt much more comfortable and secure. Is there anything I can do to strengthen my grip? A particular exercise perhaps?
Thanks in advance.

rubadub

Reverse bicep curls, knuckles away. Pullups, chinups. Grippers. Using fat bars, I wrap a small towel on my dumbbell. Towel pullups.

http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/ironmind/GripTips/GripTip1.html


http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/shenandoah/Grunt/Grip_1.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/shenandoah/Grunt/Grip_2.html

Or you can resort to straps.

I used to just alternate the hook grip too.

fatmammycat

Cheers Rubadub, I'll take a gander. I would like to avoid straps if possible.

DM-BM

rubadub wrote: »

I used to just alternate the hook grip too.

The hook grip is where you wrap your index and "up yours" fingers over your thumb,what do you mean by alternate it?

Like do it on one hand and not the other?

hardtrainer

Use opposing grip if you feel the bar is slipping.

With one overhand and one underhand grip (which you can alternate between sets if you wish) will prevent the bar from rolling out of your hands and allow you to keep deadlifting heavier and heavier.

I don't do any dedicated grip strength exercises to improve it, it should come naturally as you increase weights in pulling exercises.

rubadub

DM-BM wrote: »

The hook grip is where you wrap your index and "up yours" fingers over your thumb,what do you mean by alternate it?

Sorry, I got mixed up. I was thinking of this


As described above.

g'em

fatmammycat wrote: »

I have moved up a weight at Deadlifting, from 72k to 75k (and hopefully I can DL at 80k by the end of the month or first week in February).

w00t

fatmammycat wrote:

My question is about my grip. I was using a double over today and I felt it was slightly weak- like there might be a bit of 'give' in it, but lifting with a hook grip felt much more comfortable and secure. Is there anything I can do to strengthen my grip? A particular exercise perhaps?
Thanks in advance.

As has been said, a mixed grip with one hand over and one under is a good, solid grip. I can't use a hook grip with a standard olympic/ powerlifting bar as my hands are too small so a mixed grip gets over that. If your hands get sweaty you can use chalk too (but gyms vary as to whether they allow that or not). I used straps for a while - there's nothing inherently wrong with them, but they can become a crutch and you convince yourself you can't lift big without them.

Give the mixed grip a try and see how you get on.

fatmammycat

I really appreciate the replies folks. I'll let you know how I get on when I go for the 80k.

brianthebard

g'em wrote: »

w00t


As has been said, a mixed grip with one hand over and one under is a good, solid grip. I can't use a hook grip with a standard olympic/ powerlifting bar as my hands are too small so a mixed grip gets over that. If your hands get sweaty you can use chalk too (but gyms vary as to whether they allow that or not). I used straps for a while - there's nothing inherently wrong with them, but they can become a crutch and you convince yourself you can't lift big without them.

Give the mixed grip a try and see how you get on.

How are you holding the bar for cleans and snatches then out of interest? i thought the whole thumb hook grip was fairly key to OLs.

g'em

brianthebard wrote: »

How are you holding the bar for cleans and snatches then out of interest? i thought the whole thumb hook grip was fairly key to OLs.

I use the hook grip, but a women's oly bar is lighter (15kg) and slimmer (25mm vs 28mm) so it's much easier to hold.

brianthebard

Ahh...I was starting to wonder if all the oly lifters on tv had freakishly long thumbs or something in order to get that far.