Rickey Dale Crain gave the following deadlift grip advice in an article he wrote:
The arms are straight, and the bar lies in the fingers, like it is holding a hook. Thumb should be overlapping one or two of the first two fingers.
The bar should “not” be squeezed. Rather, it should just lay in the fingers/hand. Only the thumb should be flexed, or squeezed, not the hands, not the forearm. If this is done incorrectly, most likely, the bar on a very hard pull will slip out of the hands.
Also if the hands are rotated as you grip the bar, it will most likely slip out as the weight pulls down, and pulls the rotated hands back to a straight up and down position. One does not have to have a strong grip to hold onto large amounts of weight. I have a very poor grip and grip strength and have never lost a deadlift, i.e. 716 at 165lbs.
So my question is does anyone have any experience with this approach? Any thoughts in regard to whether you think this would work? Anyone willing to give it a try on max testing day?
I’ve recently lost my grip on a couple of deadlifts for the first time (on a test day) and I am taking a multi-faceted approach to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I’m trying to figure out if this might work.
My problem is I don’t have a meet for 11 weeks, and I really don’t want to lift anything before the meet that I would have any trouble with grip (it would have to be a PR for it to challenge my grip). So it will be very difficult to tell if this is a valid option or not (at least in the near term).
Sounds like he’s describing the hook grip in olympic lifting. It can be painful, especially for extended reps, but it works. I use it for cleans and snatches, but I go mixed grip when deadlifting.
I know theres been some guys on here that use it for their deadlifts.
[quote]theuofh wrote:
Sounds like he’s describing the hook grip in olympic lifting. It can be painful, especially for extended reps, but it works. I use it for cleans and snatches, but I go mixed grip when deadlifting.
I know theres been some guys on here that use it for their deadlifts.[/quote]
That’s not the hook grip being described. The hook grip has the thumb under the fingers.
mrodock,
Most of it seems to make sense, especially as far as ensuring you don’t rotate the grip. If you did flex your forearm too hard then prior to pulling the bar your wrist will likely curl a bit and you obviously can’t hold a heavy deadlift in a flexed wrist position so the bar would tend to roll some.
But I won’t be pulling anything heavy for a bit since I just competed.
As a FYI, ,y grip isn’t that good, but one thing that has really helped my competition grip is using a cheap bar with barely any knurling in training and minimizing chaulk use (only top sets). When I use the bar then on the platform it’s like it’s stuck to my hands.
…something to be said for training with shitty equipment! haha
Focusing in squeezing with my thumb helped by deadlift grip. However, it think this is even more important with endurance grip feats (DLs for reps or farners walks).
I disagree about having any part of you hand “relaxed”. Would you hang on to a rope with relaxed fingers if there was 500 ft of thin air beneath your feet? So why would you conserve this grip on a heavy DL? If nothing else, the harder you squeeze a bar while doing any lift (benchign, squatting, rows, etc.), the tighter your body will be and the more efficiently you will transmit force. I have tried the relaxed fingers/strong thumb approach. Maybe for a guy who pulls like RDC did- more of a grinder than a yanker- this grip is acceptable. But if you use a speed off the floor to get past your week points, it’s easy to pop the bar out of your fingers like that.
The best things I have found to avoid losing a DL on grip are:
-a solidly gripped set-up: really pack it into your hand and squeeze it like you mean to choke it.
-direct grip work: rolling thunder, plate pinches, dead hangs from a chin up bar, static holds, DB head holds, farmer walks
-pulling with a hard to hold bar: using a regualr olympic bar vs. a DL bar; using a squat bar or fat bar if you have access to one; like the guy above said, even just using a shitty bar with light or very worn out knurling will help
-chalk: of course chalk helps; but also think about how you chlak your hands; work the block into your palm, fingers and especially your thumb and the backs of your index and middle fingers
-wrap your wrists tightly with a short wrap: ball up your hand into a fist while wrapping; maybe reserve thsi trick for max gym attempts and meet pulls
RL, I’m going chalk-less for the most part and using crappy bars. Also I worked with a really good puller today and he helped me get the bar more in the palms. Really seemed to feel stable.
Pinto, thanks a lot man! Great list of exercises and I definitely put that idea into play where I squeezed my thumbs really hard (realized I wasn’t doing this at all before), and also squeezed the rest of my fingers. Just felt a million times better.
Crain is right. If you try to grip the bar tight by wrapping your fingures around it you essentially shorten the length of your arms. Watch peoples hands closely when they DL. Some people will actually just hang on with their finger tips. It’s the same as hanging on a chinning bar. As your grip gives out your hand will open up and you can still hang on for quite a long tiime with just your finger tips.
Using a hook grip on a DL will actually shorten your arm length. Yeah it’s only a small amount but it’s similar to wearing a flat shoe for the DL.