Lifting Straps
Straps that wrap around the wrist and bar to assist grip during heavy pulls.
Updated
Lifting straps help maintain grip when holding heavy weights (deadlifts, rows, shrugs) that exceed grip capacity. They allow training the target muscles without grip being the limiting factor. However, over-reliance can limit grip strength development. Use them strategically for heavy or high-rep sets.
What straps are for
Fabric loops wrapped around the bar to hold it in your hands, so grip stops being the limiting factor. On heavy pulling, grip usually fails before the back and legs do, which means the muscles you intended to train stop being challenged because your fingers gave out first. Straps remove that ceiling. They are a tool for training the target muscle harder, not a shortcut.
How to use them
They earn their place on high-rep rows, shrugs, pulldowns and heavy deadlift back-off sets where grip would otherwise cap the work. Keep at least some pulling each week strapless so grip strength continues to develop, and never use them for a tested one-rep deadlift in a federation that bans them. Figure-eight straps are more secure and less adjustable; standard lasso straps are the general-purpose choice.
Common mistakes
Strapping up for every set of every pull from the first warm-up, which leaves grip permanently untrained and eventually becomes a limitation of its own. Using them to hide a hook grip you never bothered to learn. And relying on them exclusively in training then discovering on a competition platform that your grip is the weakest link in the chain.
Examples
- Cotton or leather material
- Wrap around bar and wrist
- Useful for heavy deadlifts
Compound exercises
Put this into practice with exercises from the library.
Push-Ups With Feet Elevated
Strength · Bodyweight
Push-Ups With Feet On An Exercise Ball
Strength · Exercise Ball
Push Press
Olympic Weightlifting · Barbell
Push Press - Behind the Neck
Olympic Weightlifting · Barbell
Push Up to Side Plank
Strength · Bodyweight
Pushups
Strength · Bodyweight
Pushups (Close and Wide Hand Positions)
Strength · Bodyweight
Quick Leap
Plyometrics · Other
Common questions
What is Lifting Straps?
Straps that wrap around the wrist and bar to assist grip during heavy pulls. Lifting straps help maintain grip when holding heavy weights (deadlifts, rows, shrugs) that exceed grip capacity.
What exercises use a Lifting Straps?
Good options include Push-Ups With Feet Elevated, Push-Ups With Feet On An Exercise Ball, Push Press, Push Press - Behind the Neck, Push Up to Side Plank. Each links to a step-by-step guide with demonstration images.
What are examples of Lifting Straps?
Cotton or leather material; Wrap around bar and wrist; Useful for heavy deadlifts.
Put it into practice
Home Workout Bundle · £19
No-equipment training at three levels, beginner to advanced, with an eight-week progression