Struggling with grip when Weight lifting

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  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    I cannot wear gloves either. They make my grip worse.

    The only thing that helped was more lifting. The more time that goes by the better your grip gets. I also use those dumb giveaway grip balls to work on during the day. Not sure if they helped or not, but my grip is substantially better than it was a couple of years ago.

    Edit: chalk helps too, if your problem is with slip. My hands are dry as it is and don't sweat at all, so I don't use it.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    You could also try a mixed grip (one hand over/one hand under) with deadlifts. This helped me alot.

    More than anything, this helped me with dead lifts.
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    You could also try a mixed grip (one hand over/one hand under) with deadlifts. This helped me alot.

    More than anything, this helped me with dead lifts.

    I use mixed grip most of the time just for this reason. I recommend switching which hands periodically so that you don't become unbalanced.
  • twinmom01
    twinmom01 Posts: 854 Member
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    gloves may cause your hands to slip...

    Chalk is great - you can try tape I know some of the guys in at my Crossfit box will tape their hands when they are going to do heavy weights or doing a ton of pull ups. I know one guy who uses straps but that is mainly because he has a wrist issue...

    Are the dumbells to wide maybe? When I do deadlifts I do them with a barbell but I use the "girly" ones (33lbs) that had a smaller diameter for the grip- if I try and use one of the larger ones for deadlifts I can't pull as much. I have to chalk up A LOT...did deadlifts last night and even though I chalked them good I have a bunch of blisters...

    If you're getting blisters you might just be gripping the bar wrong. Make sure your grip looks like #1 in the previously-mentioned link: http://stronglifts.com/7-ways-increase-deadlift-grip-strength/

    You want the bar to be on the part of your palm closest to the fingers. If you're putting it up on the palm closer to the wrist, when you do the movement the bar can slide down your palm towards your fingers and hurt a lot due to the sliding and pinching motion it causes.

    My hands were pretty torn up from doing Fran Saturday morning...and the bar I use has a crosshatch pattern so rubbing occurs...when one is doing 21 power cleans and 16 deadlifts some rubbing is going to occur, unfortunately...not lifting heavy again until Friday - pleanty of time to callous up :)
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    Deadlifts or power cleans, but, if you don't know how to do them, I would strongly suggest having someone who does teach you. You could also try pullups or just hanging.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Deadlifting will test your grip for sure. If you feel like you could lift a lot more with a better grip then try gloves and if that doesn't work try straps. Otherwise stiff leg deadlifts can work the lower back just as good as regular deads with less weight and stress on the grip.

    I generally switch it up once in a while and do a week with stiff leg deads instead of regular. Your grip will get stronger too.

    ^^ This.

    Deadlifting is THE best exercise for strengthening grip.

    Another vote for deadlifts. My grip strength is bad in my right hand from an old surgery I had in that hand. Deadlifts really push the limits of my grip strength, and I keep getting stronger.
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    Deadlifting will test your grip for sure. If you feel like you could lift a lot more with a better grip then try gloves and if that doesn't work try straps. Otherwise stiff leg deadlifts can work the lower back just as good as regular deads with less weight and stress on the grip.

    I generally switch it up once in a while and do a week with stiff leg deads instead of regular. Your grip will get stronger too.

    ^^ This.

    Deadlifting is THE best exercise for strengthening grip.

    You should try hammer curls and front shoulder raises too, they can help with grip strength.

    Another vote for deadlifts. My grip strength is bad in my right hand from an old surgery I had in that hand. Deadlifts really push the limits of my grip strength, and I keep getting stronger.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Deadlifting will test your grip for sure. If you feel like you could lift a lot more with a better grip then try gloves and if that doesn't work try straps. Otherwise stiff leg deadlifts can work the lower back just as good as regular deads with less weight and stress on the grip.

    I generally switch it up once in a while and do a week with stiff leg deads instead of regular. Your grip will get stronger too.

    ^^ This.

    Deadlifting is THE best exercise for strengthening grip.

    You should try hammer curls and front shoulder raises too, they can help with grip strength.

    Another vote for deadlifts. My grip strength is bad in my right hand from an old surgery I had in that hand. Deadlifts really push the limits of my grip strength, and I keep getting stronger.

    Thanks! I'll look into adding some to my routine.
  • Alexagetsfit
    Alexagetsfit Posts: 313 Member
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    Deadlifting will test your grip for sure. If you feel like you could lift a lot more with a better grip then try gloves and if that doesn't work try straps. Otherwise stiff leg deadlifts can work the lower back just as good as regular deads with less weight and stress on the grip.

    I generally switch it up once in a while and do a week with stiff leg deads instead of regular. Your grip will get stronger too.

    ^^ This.

    Deadlifting is THE best exercise for strengthening grip.

    You should try hammer curls and front shoulder raises too, they can help with grip strength.

    Another vote for deadlifts. My grip strength is bad in my right hand from an old surgery I had in that hand. Deadlifts really push the limits of my grip strength, and I keep getting stronger.

    Thanks! I'll look into adding some to my routine.

    I am DOING deadlifts already. That is one of the exercises where I struggle with grip, as stated before.
  • dzarello
    dzarello Posts: 119 Member
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    Use chalk or change hand grips. Right palm facing out, left palm facing in or vice versa.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    I am DOING deadlifts already. That is one of the exercises where I struggle with grip, as stated before.

    From the link I posted, use chalk and straps, but only strap up on your heaviest sets or your grip will never improve and the straps will become a crutch.

    Obviously once you gain access, but switching to barbell deadlifts will help a lot too as the mixed grip lets you carry quite a bit more weight.

    Keep at it, you'll get there.
  • Kittiedreams
    Kittiedreams Posts: 9
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    I use liquid chalk and gloves for climbing to help with grip, or a grip cloth (Gold range)
    I have found the Gold and Beal liquid chalks to be the most reliable and survive sweat the best.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Deadlifting will test your grip for sure. If you feel like you could lift a lot more with a better grip then try gloves and if that doesn't work try straps. Otherwise stiff leg deadlifts can work the lower back just as good as regular deads with less weight and stress on the grip.

    I generally switch it up once in a while and do a week with stiff leg deads instead of regular. Your grip will get stronger too.

    ^^ This.

    Deadlifting is THE best exercise for strengthening grip.

    You should try hammer curls and front shoulder raises too, they can help with grip strength.

    Another vote for deadlifts. My grip strength is bad in my right hand from an old surgery I had in that hand. Deadlifts really push the limits of my grip strength, and I keep getting stronger.

    Thanks! I'll look into adding some to my routine.

    I am DOING deadlifts already. That is one of the exercises where I struggle with grip, as stated before.

    I hear you, but I'm saying that if you keep doing them you'll get stronger in your grip. Mixed grip (alternating hand position) will help quite a bit.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    Hang from a pullup bar to work your grip (can be done at the end of a workout). If that gets too easy and you can hold it a long time, remove an arm and hang 1 handed. That will trash your grip fast and should strengthen it relatively quickly.

    People that do a lot of work on the pullup bar typically have a very, very strong grip. Everything on the pullup bar should progress really fast. We are decended from monkeys after all, there is a lot of latent genetic ability there in people.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Hang from a pullup bar to work your grip (can be done at the end of a workout). If that gets too easy and you can hold it a long time, remove an arm and hang 1 handed. That will trash your grip fast and should strengthen it relatively quickly.

    People that do a lot of work on the pullup bar typically have a very, very strong grip. Everything on the pullup bar should progress really fast. We are decended from monkeys after all, there is a lot of latent genetic ability there in people.

    This is good advice. I do 20 knees to elbows every other time in the gym and didn't even think this might be helping but it makes perfect sense!
  • Jugie12
    Jugie12 Posts: 282 Member
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    Get yourself a pair of hand grips - the little things you can sit there and squeeze to help strengthen your grip. You can take one anywhere in your bag and work it while you watch tv, walk or work, etc. That way, you're actually working on your grip instead of relying on straps.
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
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    Why no love for the hook grip?

    It will do the job, and stress the bicep tendon a lot less than the mixed grip. Granted the thumb takes a beasting, but I prefer that option, and you can easily tape it.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    Why no love for the hook grip?

    It will do the job, and stress the bicep tendon a lot less than the mixed grip. Granted the thumb takes a beasting, but I prefer that option, and you can easily tape it.

    For me at least, mixed grip can support greater weight.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Gloves knock 20kgs off of my lifts instantly. A mixed grip is far stronger in my experience, with the dominant hand over and weaker hunder under.

    Try straps if you want to lift heavier weight and chalk for grip, if your gym allows it.
  • ttkg
    ttkg Posts: 357 Member
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    I use to have a huge problem with this too, doing deadlifts or weighted lunges etc was torture on my hands and I got NO sympathy from my trainer, lol. I bought gloves that were not overly thick to protect my hands ( still get blisters/calluses but they are no longer being painfully torn off every week) and as my trainer assured me, eventually my grip got SO much better. He still points it out "remember when you couldn't even hold onto this??". I recommend some thin type gloves to help you get through (they do not make your grip stronger though, only time and persistance will do that). I myself have never tried chalk but I have heard that straps create a 'crutch' that you lean on...not too sure though as i haven't used them either.

    Keep at it, it is well worth the effort!!! :flowerforyou:

    PS - and mixed grips, they are a must for my deadlifts!!!

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