Hello, this is Sho. Today, I’m writing about my least favorite exercise: deadlifts!
Deadlifts are a crucial exercise for CrossFit, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and general fitness enthusiasts. This exercise targets multiple muscle groups, including the hamstrings, glutes, back, and core, making it highly effective for building strength and engaging the entire body. However, as the weight increases, grip strength often becomes the limiting factor. That’s where lifting straps come in handy. In this article, I will thoroughly explain the benefits and drawbacks of using straps, how to choose the right ones, how to use them properly, and their impact on muscles.
1. What Are Lifting Straps?
Lifting straps are tools that wrap around the wrist and help secure your grip on a barbell or dumbbell. Primarily used in powerlifting and weightlifting, straps assist grip strength, preventing it from giving out before the larger muscle groups do. This allows you to lift heavier weights, targeting your muscles more effectively. Straps come in various materials and designs, allowing you to choose one that best suits your training goals and personal preferences.
2. Benefits of Using Straps in Deadlifts
There are numerous advantages to using straps in deadlifts. Here are the key benefits:
・Supports Grip Strength, Enabling Heavier Lifts
Deadlifts are an extremely effective full-body exercise, but grip fatigue can limit the training quality for other muscle groups. This issue is particularly noticeable when lifting heavy weights. By using straps, you can support your grip, allowing you to apply more load to other muscle groups. You can target the back and leg muscles without grip fatigue getting in the way, enabling more efficient training to improve your one-rep max (1RM).
・ Injury Prevention
When lifting heavy barbells, declining grip strength increases the risk of the bar slipping from your hands. Straps help prevent slippage and reduce the risk of hand and finger injuries. Also, by securing the barbell firmly with straps, your movements become more stable, reducing form breakdown. Maintaining proper form minimizes the strain on the lower back and reduces the risk of injury.
・Expanding Training Variety and Volume
Using straps can expand your training variety. For example, exercises like snatch-grip deadlifts or high-rep deadlifts aimed at time under tension can be more accessible without grip fatigue.
- Exercise Diversity: Straps allow you to tackle exercises where grip might otherwise be a limiting factor, promoting muscle growth.
- Extended Training Sessions: Straps help maintain grip strength during extended training sessions, allowing you to perform more sets and reps, thereby increasing overall training volume.
・Strengthening Core and Lower Body Muscles
Using straps allows for heavier lifts in deadlifts, further strengthening the core and lower body muscles (especially the glutes, hamstrings, and back). Lifting heavy in deadlifts(1-3RM range) effectively trains the strength and explosiveness needed for sports and powerlifting.
3. Drawbacks of Using Straps in Deadlifts
While there are many benefits to using straps, there are some drawbacks. Understanding these can help you decide when to use them appropriately.
・Reduced Grip Strength Development
The biggest drawback of using straps is that they may hinder the development of grip strength. Deadlifts are actually an excellent exercise for strengthening grip. Over-reliance on straps can lead to insufficient grip training, making it harder to load sufficiently on other exercises (like pull-ups and barbell rows) due to grip limitations.
- Inhibited Grip Development: Frequent use of straps can hinder natural grip strength development. Grip strength is crucial for many lifts and sports, so neglecting it can negatively impact overall performance.
- Reduced Competitive Ability: In some competitions, the use of straps is not allowed when grip strength is needed. If your grip remains weak, you may struggle to display your true strength in such scenarios.
・Dependency on Form
Overuse of straps can dull the sense of maintaining proper form. If you rely too much on straps, your ability to use muscles consciously might diminish, reducing the effectiveness of strength training.
- Form Breakdown: Over-dependence on straps may decrease form awareness, especially when fatigued, increasing the risk of injury. Maintaining proper form is crucial in all strength training.
- Reduced Mind-Muscle Connection: When the sensation of using muscles consciously decreases, the mind-muscle connection may weaken. Lifting without straps requires more conscious muscle engagement, leading to more effective training.
・Strain on Wrists
Using straps can place excessive stress on the wrists due to the weight pulling on them. This can increase the risk of wrist injuries.
4. How to Use Straps Effectively
To maximize the benefits of straps while minimizing drawbacks, using them correctly is essential. Here are some tips for effective strap use:
・How to Wrap and Use Straps
Improper strap wrapping can not only prevent you from fully leveraging their advantages but also put unnecessary strain on your wrists and arms. Here are the basic steps for using straps:
- Wrap Around the Wrist: Wrap the strap around your wrist and secure it snugly—not too tight or too loose.
- Wrap Around the Barbell: After securing it to your wrist, wrap the other end around the barbell. Make sure to wrap it tightly clockwise or counterclockwise around the bar.
- Tension Before Gripping: Before gripping the barbell, pull the strap slightly to create tension. This improves stability during the lift and helps you lift securely without relying solely on grip strength.
- Grip the Bar Firmly: Finally, firmly grip both the strap and the bar, preparing for the lift. Focus on gripping the bar strongly to stabilize your wrist during the lift.
・When to Use Straps
Straps should not be used for every set in your training. It is important to use them wisely, depending on the specific situation or goal.
- Heavy Sets: Straps are generally used for heavy sets targeting 1RM. This prevents grip from being the limiting factor and allows you to focus on other muscle groups.
- When Grip Is Fatigued: Use straps when grip starts to fatigue in the later stages of training to maintain overall training quality.
・Include Strap-Free Sets
To develop grip strength, it is crucial to include strap-free sets. For instance, during warm-up or lighter sets, perform lifts without straps to strengthen your grip.
- Grip-Strengthening Exercises: Incorporate exercises like dead hangs and farmer’s carries to build sufficient grip strength without relying on straps.
5. How to Choose Straps
There are various types of straps, and choosing the right one based on your training style and goals is important.
・ Material and Design
Straps come in materials like nylon, cotton, and leather, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, affecting your choice based on purpose.
- Nylon Straps: Highly durable and resistant to wear, making them ideal for heavy lifting. However, they may feel stiff on the wrist.
- Cotton Straps: Fit comfortably in the hand and are easy for beginners to use, but they are less durable than nylon. Their softer material makes them gentler on the wrist, ideal for beginners.
- Leather Straps: Offer strong support and high durability but can be costly and take time to break in and mold to your hand.
・Shape and Length
The shape and length of straps are also important factors. Options like loop-type, hook-type, and wrap-around type can be chosen based on usage and personal preference.
- Loop Type: The most common, suitable for both beginners and advanced lifters. Offers sufficient support but may require some practice to wrap around the bar.
- Hook Type: Greatly assists grip and is suitable for beginners, though it may promote a form dependent on the grip. Quick to put on, ideal for frequently changing exercises.
- Wrap-Around Type: Provides strong support when lifting heavy weights. Ideal for heavy lifting and easy to put on, also suitable for beginners.
6. Storage and Maintenance of Straps
Proper storage and maintenance of straps can help you use them effectively over a long period.
- Regular Cleaning: Especially for cotton straps, which can easily collect sweat and dirt, regular cleaning is essential. Use a laundry net to prevent damage when machine washing. For leather, incorrect cleaning can cause rapid deterioration, so always check with the manufacturer for care instructions.
- Storage Location: Keep straps in a dry place away from direct sunlight to prevent deterioration.
7. Example Training Plan Using Straps in Deadlifts
Here’s an example of a training plan for using straps in deadlifts:
- Warm-Up Sets (No Straps): 3 sets at 50-60% 1RM, 3-5 reps each. Perform without straps to strengthen your grip. Gradually increase the weight while reducing reps as needed.
- Main Sets (With Straps): 4-5 sets at 80% 1RM, 5 reps each. Use straps to reduce grip fatigue and focus on intensively training the back and legs.
Also, the way to program deadlifts, please check my previous article. here
8. Conclusion
Using lifting straps for deadlifts offers numerous advantages. They help lift heavier weights by supporting your grip, reducing injury risk, and increasing training variety. However, over-reliance on straps can hinder grip strength development and lead to form breakdown. Understanding how to use straps wisely allows you to maximize your deadlift performance and full-body strength development.
By learning how to choose and use straps effectively, you can align their use with your training goals and achieve optimal results. I hope this helps improve your pulling strength!
Thank you for reading!
Sho