When to start using lifting straps
Complete Guide to LIFTING STRAPS - How, Why, When to Use!
today we're gonna solve the Enigma that
is wrist straps all right so these are
wrist straps which are different than
wrist straps Restrepo actually help us
with grip on usually on a deadlift or
some sort of heavy pull and so they
often look like this there's just a long
piece of material with a loop on the end
so you can see a little loop there it is
they are identical different than wrist
wraps but we put them together in an
opposite direction to create a right
hand and a left handed version so what
I'm gonna do is I'm gonna hold these up
and I'm gonna take the bottom and feed
it through the loop from the inside out
just like so and then I'm gonna do the
same thing with this side the left side
have feed it in from the inside out and
then I have opposite aiming wrist straps
now the reason we do these in opposite
manner is because they're gonna fit on
the hand on a right hand and a left hand
and the way to know that I'm doing it
correctly is when the long piece lines
up with the lines in my hand and the
short angle is where my thumb goes so
you can see this lines up perfectly on
this hand the left side I'll pull it
taut lines up perfectly with the left
hand this is our correctly applied wrist
strap now to apply it to the bar to grab
the bar I'm going to open the hand and
put the bar between the strap and the
hand and so the wrap is gonna come up
from the outside in and my hand is gonna
lay on top of the strap and grab the bar
like it normally would
most people will continue to wrap the
strap around the bar over and over and
over again but once it's been wrapped
around once that's all you need because
the the wrap is gonna try to make the
bar roll this way but my hand is gonna
pull the bar this direction and so they
work against each other so one
wrap around the bar is enough now
usually I'll use my offhand to help my
first hand get the strap and then I have
to learn to do it the same way but in a
one-handed manner on the other side and
some of you will like to help your left
hand and then do your right hand by
itself I'm left-handed so I can actually
get the left hand the way I need it and
this is nice and seated in you'll notice
that the strap is up against the top of
my hand not down at the base of my wrist
so then when I set up as I pull I'm
gonna pull both up and back like behind
me to get the bar the straps locked in
tight and I can stand up nice and smooth
right if the strap is loose I'll start
to pull and the bar will jump forward
before it comes up so I want to make
sure I've seeded this in nice and tight
there's no extra space again pull up and
backwards up and back leg press through
the floor stand up with a nice smooth
tight grip so straps help me grip the
bar and not lose control of the bar if
grip is the limiting factor now you've
probably heard us say that a deadlift is
a grip exercise as much as it is a back
or a full body exercise and that's true
however when we start to deadlift or we
do deadlift variations like a rack pull
and grip is the limiting factor I don't
want to have to stop adding weight to
the bar because I can't hold on to the
bar anymore
and we have videos on how to grip a bar
without straps so things like the hook
grip or the alternate grip and those are
great options first
but if grip is still a limiting factor
or if you have a hand injury or you do
high rep deadlifts deadlifts in the 5 or
above range or maybe you're doing a rat
pole that's significantly heavier than
your normal deadlift would be straps are
a great option so that's when I would
use a wrist strap just like a wrist wrap
these can become a crutch so I don't
want to use them all the time
on my deadlifts or my deadlift
variations I just want to add them to
the very heaviest lifts I do I want to
add them to sets that have the most reps
so five reps six reps eight reps those
are very difficult to do with your hands
or if I'm doing a lot of deadlift sets
so if I have five sets or six sets or
seven sets of deadlifts and a workout
that can very much fatigue the hands and
straps would be a great way to make sure
that the grip isn't the limiting factor
on those final sets so you might go
without the straps four sets one two and
three and then add the straps four sets
four five and six so this is why you
straps to improve my grip on a barbell
when grip is the limiting factor
remember I only have to wrap the strap
around once not multiple times get it
seated incorrectly and then make sure
it's set up correctly most people don't
know there's a correct way to set up the
straps so that there's a right handed
version and a left handed version and
that straps before you straps make sure
you know how to grip a deadlift bar
correctly so check out our video on how
to grip hook grip alternate grip
overhand grip
etc right up there
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