I use straps almost every day in the gym. I had standard cotton straps, but the material was bulky, distributed the weight off center in my hands, and was too much effort to get around dumbbells. My gym had a hard hook type strap that I tried and disliked, so I picked up these for cheap. highly recommended
not sure where I’m going with this thread, post anything you guys want about straps besides “don’t use them”
helpful video by thepwnisher:
Nice! I’ve heard Meadows and Zraw mention that most people are using straps wrong, and that it makes a big difference when straps are used correctly. Hopefully this is what they were talking about.
[quote]tworkinhard wrote:
Nice! I’ve heard Meadows and Zraw mention that most people are using straps wrong, and that it makes a big difference when straps are used correctly. Hopefully this is what they were talking about.[/quote]
I think that was more in reference to a good number of gym goers wrapping the straps in an incorrect (less than most efficient) manner around the bar. Both Zraw and myself were guilty of it early on, and luckily came to discover the better approach. When used correctly, straps really can take the added concern of limiting grip strength out of your training.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:When used correctly, straps really can take the added concern of limiting grip strength out of your training.
S[/quote]
Is that why you use them? I use them mostly because when I wear them with lat pulls or other back exercises, I can really focus on my lats more because there’s less of a stimulus to engage my arms. I figure my grip strength is taken care of with deadlifts.
I’m no genius, but proper strap wrapping came natural to me. It was like common sense.
Maybe because I have such a wussy grip (from drawing all day), that I focused on proper wrapping early on.
lol
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:When used correctly, straps really can take the added concern of limiting grip strength out of your training.
S[/quote]
Is that why you use them? I use them mostly because when I wear them with lat pulls or other back exercises, I can really focus on my lats more because there’s less of a stimulus to engage my arms. I figure my grip strength is taken care of with deadlifts.
[/quote]
I repeat that line about limiting factors a lot, but to be honest, it’s just one thing not to worry about when training. I’m pretty natural by now with the ‘pulling with your elbows’ approach. Grip strength was great when I used to deadlift heavy on a regular basis, but in recent years, I moved away from always needing the straps due to the #s I want to throw about. When I’m focused more on maintaining stress on a muscle, I’m not using my 1RM weight, nor do I want to concern myself with a poor grip. It’s not really a necessity, simply something I feel comfortable with I guess.
S
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Maybe because I have such a wussy grip (from drawing all day), that I focused on proper wrapping early on.
lol[/quote]
I don’t know about you ID, but after a training session, I can’t draw worth a damn. I seem to lose all my fine motor skills in my hands.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Maybe because I have such a wussy grip (from drawing all day), that I focused on proper wrapping early on.
lol[/quote]
I don’t know about you ID, but after a training session, I can’t draw worth a damn. I seem to lose all my fine motor skills in my hands.
S[/quote]
My handwriting in my log drastically changes from the beginning to the end of the workout. I can actually look through my log and judge how hard a workout I did by how bad my writing gets by the end of the entry.
Tried this technique with a Meadows inspired back day today… with limited success. I found it hard to “x” the strap across itself with only one hand. When I could use both hands to strap it correctly (for unilateral work), it did feel a bit better than my normal strapping method (wrapping the strap in one direction till it runs out). Re: what Stu said, strapping up for back work is a definite winner. My grip rarely fails on anything, but stapping up allowed me to really focus on getting a good contraction with my lats.
[quote]tworkinhard wrote:
Tried this technique with a Meadows inspired back day today… with limited success. I found it hard to “x” the strap across itself with only one hand. When I could use both hands to strap it correctly (for unilateral work), it did feel a bit better than my normal strapping method (wrapping the strap in one direction till it runs out). Re: what Stu said, strapping up for back work is a definite winner. My grip rarely fails on anything, but stapping up allowed me to really focus on getting a good contraction with my lats. [/quote]
It takes a while to get the hang of doing the straps with one hand. Practice makes perfect. You can see me doing it in the set up for this video.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Maybe because I have such a wussy grip (from drawing all day), that I focused on proper wrapping early on.
lol[/quote]
I don’t know about you ID, but after a training session, I can’t draw worth a damn. I seem to lose all my fine motor skills in my hands.
S[/quote]
LOL
Same here!
I usually can’t talk very well after leg day too. Can’t seem to form a coherent sentence.
I just see them as a training aid. I can lift without straps, wraps, and a belt, but these things make lifting safer and let me better hit what I’d like to hit.
I just use straps because otherwise I can’t train as frequently. Every lift I do, whether it’s Rows, Chins, DB Presses, Squats, whatever, I grip the living shit out of the bar lol. If I don’t use straps on at least my RDL’s and Back exercises, my forearms would be screwed lol. Plus, like Stu said, feel movements WAY more in my back with straps.
I have a crappy cotton pair from Wal-Mart right now. I’d like to get some like in the OP.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]tworkinhard wrote:
Tried this technique with a Meadows inspired back day today… with limited success. I found it hard to “x” the strap across itself with only one hand. When I could use both hands to strap it correctly (for unilateral work), it did feel a bit better than my normal strapping method (wrapping the strap in one direction till it runs out). Re: what Stu said, strapping up for back work is a definite winner. My grip rarely fails on anything, but stapping up allowed me to really focus on getting a good contraction with my lats. [/quote]
It takes a while to get the hang of doing the straps with one hand. Practice makes perfect. You can see me doing it in the set up for this video.
Great vid, I’m gonna try moving my hand from one side to the other when wrapping (like you did in the video). Thanks for the help. Sick pulls btw… LIGHTWEIGHT!!!
I’m looking at the pic at the top and I can’t tell how they work. It looks like a closed loop.
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
I’m looking at the pic at the top and I can’t tell how they work. It looks like a closed loop.[/quote]
[quote]tworkinhard wrote:
Great vid, I’m gonna try moving my hand from one side to the other when wrapping (like you did in the video). Thanks for the help. Sick pulls btw… LIGHTWEIGHT!!!
[/quote]
Thanks man. It’s the one thing I’m good at, haha.
I think you need longer straps for his criss-cross method. When I tried it with the standard cotton straps there was barely enough material to get it crossed.
I’m really liking these loop straps as the setup takes me a couple of seconds only and there’s no fuss using them on DBs or small cable attachments. I may get some longer ones if these don’t cut it on heavy shrugs, but so far so good.
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
I think you need longer straps for his criss-cross method. When I tried it with the standard cotton straps there was barely enough material to get it crossed.
I’m really liking these loop straps as the setup takes me a couple of seconds only and there’s no fuss using them on DBs or small cable attachments. I may get some longer ones if these don’t cut it on heavy shrugs, but so far so good.[/quote]
Where did you buy the loop straps? I may have to invest. Need to add to my arsenal of lifting gadgetry.