I’ve had two problems deadlifting at my full potential. First, my grip strength sucks. I could easily do 10 reps 275 or maybe more but my hands give out after 5 reps because I can’t hold the weight with my hands and my forearms are burning more than any other body part. Second, the callous on my hands is getting quite big and gets pinched between the base of my fingers and the weight, which is very uncomfortable.
Any suggestions? I really don’t want to wear gloves for the callous.
For the callous: suck it up.
For the deadlift I’d use straps - still squeeze the bar as hard as you can, and also do supplemental grip work.
Captains of Crush Grippers, Towel Chins, Pinch Gripping plates, Lever bar wark (this could be done with a 6-8 lb sledgehammer), Farmers Walks with Moderately Heavy/Heavy Weight are all suggestions you could utilize to improve grip strength.
beastskills.com had an article on callouses where you scrape them off with a butter knife. I’ve been cutting mine off with nail clippers after I get out of the shower, as the butter knife technique took for ever. After one trimming, you will be good for at least a week.
Better to sand calluses down so the edges are smooth. That way they don’t catch and get torn. Working out with a torn callus may make a man of you, but it still sucks.
hex dumbbell holds, or just hold the lockout of your last set of deads for time. and the callouses you’ll get used to.
Heres a great link for grip training…
are you doing an alternating grip?
I don’t know what an alternating grip is…
The palms of my hands are facing my body when I grip the barbell.
[quote]LeanCleanLaw wrote:
I don’t know what an alternating grip is…
The palms of my hands are facing my body when I grip the barbell. [/quote]
one hand faces you the other faces away. Alternate which does which between reps. It’s MUCH stronger.
[quote]BigKDawg wrote:
Heres a great link for grip training…
www.grippage.com[/quote]
Thanks for the link!!!
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
LeanCleanLaw wrote:
I don’t know what an alternating grip is…
The palms of my hands are facing my body when I grip the barbell.
one hand faces you the other faces away. Alternate which does which between reps. It’s MUCH stronger.[/quote]
I’m willing to give anything a try!!!
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
LeanCleanLaw wrote:
I don’t know what an alternating grip is…
The palms of my hands are facing my body when I grip the barbell.
one hand faces you the other faces away. Alternate which does which between reps. It’s MUCH stronger.[/quote]
Yeah, just switching to an alternating grip should increase your grip strength/endurance noticeably. The reason it is superior is because, if you use a double overhand grip the bar will roll out of your hands. However, if you use an alternating grip the bar cannot roll, thus allowing you to hold heavier weights or the same weight for more reps.
Also, use chalk.
Some supplementary grip work probably wouldn’t hurt either. Things like timed holds, farmers carries, thick bar work, towel chins, other exercises that develop “support grip strength” will carry over well to things like deadlifts.
Things like COC grippers, plate pinches, towel ringing, etc… are all great grip exercises as well, but develop different kinds of grip strength (crushing grip, pinching grip, wrist strength, etc…) than what you specifically need for deads.
chalk helps me heck of a lot personally.the bar hurts a lot more when its sliding through your fingers instead of when it stays there tight. the first time i used chalk on my deadlifts i could finally not really care about my hands huting and could totally focus on using as much strength as i could on the muscles that i should be using instead of the forearms.
usually with my max deadlifts it will start slipping slowly without chalk and its pretty annoying.
oh and use the alternate grip. or a hook grip but thats too hard for deadlift maxes.
this thread is a real bonus for me, ive been getting really pissed about mygrip failing during deadlifts.
one thing though, should i be changing my grip at every rep?
[quote]LeanCleanLaw wrote:
zephead4747 wrote:
LeanCleanLaw wrote:
I don’t know what an alternating grip is…
The palms of my hands are facing my body when I grip the barbell.
one hand faces you the other faces away. Alternate which does which between reps. It’s MUCH stronger.
I’m willing to give anything a try!!!
[/quote]
Its the standard grip for DL, sand your calouses down, just not too far and use chalk (or powdered rosin).
Timed holds in the power rack in excess of your current 1-RM deadlift (20-50% greater) would be a good way to go to help build tendon/ligament/forearm strength to help you overcome your present roadblock.
[quote]tubbynewb wrote:
this thread is a real bonus for me, ive been getting really pissed about mygrip failing during deadlifts.
one thing though, should i be changing my grip at every rep?[/quote]
Have both hands facing towards you during the warm up sets. For your work sets alternate one of your hands so one is facing away (usually your right hand). Use this grip for the rest of your sets.
[quote]tubbynewb wrote:
this thread is a real bonus for me, ive been getting really pissed about mygrip failing during deadlifts.
one thing though, should i be changing my grip at every rep?[/quote]
I wouldn’t change it every rep, but I do alternate which hand is facing towards me (pronated) and which hand is facing away (supinated) on each working set.