I assume it would hurt my grip strength when doing conventional deadlifts, but would it help with hypotrophy? Does it have the potential to help my deadlift without straps?
Current 1RM 425lbs at 190lbs.
If you are training for powerlifting (as indicated by posting in this forum) you should avoid straps for the better part of your workouts and try to get your grip up to par (I remember Andy Bolton wrote an excellent article on grip a while back, just search for it). Heave rack lockouts might be of benefit.
On the other hand a friend of mine who is into powerlifiting used straps for high-rep deadlift work when he was working up to a higher weightclass, and it seemed to work for him.
[quote]guel0013 wrote:
I assume it would hurt my grip strength when doing conventional deadlifts, but would it help with hypotrophy? Does it have the potential to help my deadlift without straps?
Current 1RM 425lbs at 190lbs.[/quote]
Hey, first of all nice pull.
Second, yea it will hurt you grip strength but if you not training for a competition and just want to build muscle then go for it, just do it on the heavier pulls where your grip may start to give out.
Starting to lift with straps takes a lot of the grip work out, but as I said as long as its for your bigger pulls you should be fine. Just try and get some grip training in at the end.
I had to turn to straps because the weight for me was just too heavy, but I try not to use it for all my pulls just the ones where I’m closer to my max and can’t hold the weight. Its a damn nice feeling to be able to lift that weight, only to realize my grip is shit 
Hopefully this helps.
Also this what CT said in one of his IBB vids 
just so you know I’m not completely full of it.
Steve Goggins used strapped pulls in his training occasionally. For him, it allowed him to overload his pull since he could pull more with straps than without.
[quote]guel0013 wrote:
I assume it would hurt my grip strength when doing conventional deadlifts, but would it help with hypotrophy? Does it have the potential to help my deadlift without straps?
Current 1RM 425lbs at 190lbs.[/quote]
Hurt you?, Not really IMHO, as long as you don’t use them every time for everything. If you use straps tomorrow and pull 500# your hands are holding you back 75#. So in this hypothetical situation you would want to work on grip strength, which you could do independent of dead lifting. If by ‘help with hypertrophy’ you mean the straps let you do reps with heavy stuff, then yes it would help. Straps can have a place in a lifters ‘tool box’. Watch the worlds strongest man show, they use straps on the car deadlifts. No one talks shit to them right? IF you are a powerlifter and plan to compete all that matters is holding on to the bar for that one rep! Don’t let you grip hold you back…
Train like you compete then compete like you trained
straps are fine.
yes, you usually wont be able to deadlift as heavy, or for as many reps, without straps.
my advice on the subject would be to deadlift double overhand without chalk, as high as you can while warming up, then bust out the straps for the weight you cant hold onto double overhand without chalk.
that way when it comes meet time, and you have a good bar to pull with, a mixed grip, and chalk, grip (probably) wont be a issue.
but thats just my opinion.
I havent used straps for ages, and dont unless I have really fatigued grip, like last week I hit a new DL PR on the Thursday and my grip was shot for pull ups on the Friday, so I broke out the straps.
A lot of lifters use straps for their competition warm ups, as it saves the grip before they do their competitive attempts.
As stated by previous posters, straps will help but hurt if you rely on them too much.
I only use straps to give my left bicep a break. I get tendonitis in my left bicep due to overuse doing bench press and over/under hand grip for DL’s. I also have learned how to use the hook grip when doing DL’s.
If you are concerned about hypertrophy, then straps are the way to go because your grip will give out. Which brings up the next question, are your goals geared toward powerlifting or bodybuilding?
If PL, do not sacrafice your grip strength and keep grip grip strength relative to your pull weight.
If BB, don’t worry and blast away with straps.
If doing a hybrid approach with BB techniques, but also want to compete in PL comps, do both strap and non-strap DL work but stay consistent and know that you are going to pull more weight with straps than without straps.
Hope this helps.
I did recently deadlift with straps for about a 2 month period, pulling for reps and it seems to have really helped increase my deadlift in the long run. Before, 585 was tough, I recently pulled a relatively fast 615 with more in the tank. I don’t attribute it entirely to lifting with straps, but what they enabled me to do was hit a pretty heavy weight for more reps than I could have without them. I think the higher rep sets built up some strength and that wouldn’t have been possible without straps.
I use straps only because my grip doesn’t limit 1RM attempts and I like to pull 405+ for moderate reps since I am trying to pack on some pounds.
I do have a question for anybody that has experience with this, has anybody ever cut down the length of their straps so you wrap it around the bar less times? Wrapping my straps around the bar so much seems to almost limit my grip sometimes because they start to slip since I can’t get a good grip around the straps. I am thinking about just taking a couple of inches off.
[quote]Super Mario Bros wrote:
I use straps only because my grip doesn’t limit 1RM attempts and I like to pull 405+ for moderate reps since I am trying to pack on some pounds.
I do have a question for anybody that has experience with this, has anybody ever cut down the length of their straps so you wrap it around the bar less times? Wrapping my straps around the bar so much seems to almost limit my grip sometimes because they start to slip since I can’t get a good grip around the straps. I am thinking about just taking a couple of inches off.[/quote]
I don’t know how to explain it, but wrap it around once and let the rest hang free
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
[quote]Super Mario Bros wrote:
I use straps only because my grip doesn’t limit 1RM attempts and I like to pull 405+ for moderate reps since I am trying to pack on some pounds.
I do have a question for anybody that has experience with this, has anybody ever cut down the length of their straps so you wrap it around the bar less times? Wrapping my straps around the bar so much seems to almost limit my grip sometimes because they start to slip since I can’t get a good grip around the straps. I am thinking about just taking a couple of inches off.[/quote]
I don’t know how to explain it, but wrap it around once and let the rest hang free[/quote]
Thanks, I get what you are saying. I will try that for my next deadlift session. Last time I deadlifted I missed 495 for a triple literally because my straps slipped.
I use the straps 90% of the time I pull. i use them when I do bent over rows as well, but I do specific grip work, and don’t use them for much, if anything else.
Jason
[quote]Super Mario Bros wrote:
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
[quote]Super Mario Bros wrote:
I use straps only because my grip doesn’t limit 1RM attempts and I like to pull 405+ for moderate reps since I am trying to pack on some pounds.
I do have a question for anybody that has experience with this, has anybody ever cut down the length of their straps so you wrap it around the bar less times? Wrapping my straps around the bar so much seems to almost limit my grip sometimes because they start to slip since I can’t get a good grip around the straps. I am thinking about just taking a couple of inches off.[/quote]
I don’t know how to explain it, but wrap it around once and let the rest hang free[/quote]
Thanks, I get what you are saying. I will try that for my next deadlift session. Last time I deadlifted I missed 495 for a triple literally because my straps slipped.[/quote]
I also roll the bar to get it even tighter. That’s for double overhand, not sure how to tighten them down with an over-under.
[quote]JPeggEFS wrote:
I use the straps 90% of the time I pull. i use them when I do bent over rows as well, but I do specific grip work, and don’t use them for much, if anything else.
Jason[/quote]
Yep. Heck I even use them for my ‘heavy’ db curls.
[quote]Super Mario Bros wrote:
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
[quote]Super Mario Bros wrote:
I use straps only because my grip doesn’t limit 1RM attempts and I like to pull 405+ for moderate reps since I am trying to pack on some pounds.
I do have a question for anybody that has experience with this, has anybody ever cut down the length of their straps so you wrap it around the bar less times? Wrapping my straps around the bar so much seems to almost limit my grip sometimes because they start to slip since I can’t get a good grip around the straps. I am thinking about just taking a couple of inches off.[/quote]
I don’t know how to explain it, but wrap it around once and let the rest hang free[/quote]
Thanks, I get what you are saying. I will try that for my next deadlift session. Last time I deadlifted I missed 495 for a triple literally because my straps slipped.[/quote]
They should be wrapped in a spiral like you are wrapping the bar with tape.
I only use them on my heaviest attempts.
Personal opinion:
Never use straps when you pull. Use them on other exercises where the load is in your hands, like bb rows, rdls, heavy shrugs, or whatever the hell else you do. Your hands need to be strong but they can be overused very very quickly if you are stupid about your training.
Thats great and fine if you can get 5 billion pounds with straps but if your little pencil wrists cant hold onto 405 for the 3 or 4 seconds its going to take to pick it up, then what the hell are you training for anyway?
i think using straps are fine as long as your not using them ALL the time for every lift…i weigh in around 180lbs and i can pull 520lbs, i use straps when i train up to the competition on my heaviest lifts and i have no problem at all come time for competition…i think it actually helps cuz you dont have to focus on even holding the bar, all you gotta think about is pulling the shit ouf the bar and not have to wworry about the grip…BUT i still believe you have to be confident in your grip and using them sparingly is the best way to do that…but they definitely are an extremely helpful tool on the road to getting bigger and stronger…
IronWarrior