I think I saw a picture of a hook grip and tried it. It sucked. I can’t imagine lifting any amount of weight with it. Either I did it wrong or you guys just want to smash thumbs. Explain the hook grip please.
Ooh oooh I know!!! It’s an overhand grip with your thumbs by your fingers, not around the bar. I do all my pulling like that.
[quote]WolBarret wrote:
I think I saw a picture of a hook grip and tried it. It sucked. I can’t imagine lifting any amount of weight with it. Either I did it wrong or you guys just want to smash thumbs. Explain the hook grip please.[/quote]
If your thumb hurt like hell, you were probably doing it right.
I have heard the pain goes away eventually. I am still waiting for that to happen but I havent been using a hook grip for very long.
The hook grip is like what the previous poster said, but the key difference is that your thumb is under your fingers, not just next to your fingers (that is an open grip). I am not an expert (or a user) on the hook grip but they use it in the olympics to increase grip strength over the conventional closed grip.
In powerlifting they go to an alternated grip to increase grip strength, but you can’t do a snatch or clean and jerk with an alternated grip so they had to come up with something to increase grip strength with a pronated grip, and so they use a hook grip.
Apparently it takes a long time to develop a callus on the thumb so it is not very painful, perhaps an OLer can shed more light on that.
[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
I do all my pulling like that. [/quote]
Really? … I find thumb over more satisfying overall.
[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
Ooh oooh I know!!! It’s an overhand grip with your thumbs by your fingers, not around the bar. I do all my pulling like that. [/quote]
Huh? To do the hook grip bring your thumb under the bar, and then wrap your fingers over the bar and over your thumb. Yea, it hurts like a bitch, but you get used to it.
http://www.sini.co.uk/strength/articles/Grips%20Explained.pdf
that has pictures. (I hate posting pics to the forum because I never size them right and it’s a pain in the ass)
I remember when I first tried the hook grip (for cleans), it hurt like hell, and I wondered why anyone would use it. However, I listened to those wiser than me and sort of used it on and off for a couple months (more off than on). Then, one day while doing high-rep cleans (a Crossfit thing), I decided “What the hell, why not use a hook grip?” And bam, it worked like a charm. I haven’t looked back since.
If you doubt the hook grip, try doing a bunch of relatively heavy cleans (say, 30 reps at 135lbs for me). If/when your grip starts to fail (the bar starts rolling down your fingers), switch to the hook grip and bang out a few more. You’ll see why the hook grip is so awesome then.
i see you were doing grace too eh? What an awful thing to do to ones self. But after wards you feel good, not ;o)
Or if you do cleans for HIIT work the hook grip is necessary unless you have ‘griptight’ or use glue on your bar. I replaced glue on my kali sticks and knives with griptight, it’s nicer. chalk is fun too but I can’t sneak chalk into a no chalk gym and a little chunk of UHU glue is easy to use and cleans up good. have fun “breaking in” your thumbs.
-chris
[quote]blooey wrote:
I remember when I first tried the hook grip (for cleans), it hurt like hell, and I wondered why anyone would use it. However, I listened to those wiser than me and sort of used it on and off for a couple months (more off than on). Then, one day while doing high-rep cleans (a Crossfit thing), I decided “What the hell, why not use a hook grip?” And bam, it worked like a charm. I haven’t looked back since.
If you doubt the hook grip, try doing a bunch of relatively heavy cleans (say, 30 reps at 135lbs for me). If/when your grip starts to fail (the bar starts rolling down your fingers), switch to the hook grip and bang out a few more. You’ll see why the hook grip is so awesome then.[/quote]