Would you say hook grip is improved by improving your grip strength, or improving your tolerance to the pain?
I have never ever had grip issues with a mixed grip deadlift, so curious if now (since im switching to a hook grip) should i train my grip off to the side, or just keep pulling with a hook and get use to the pain.
My hands are too small to do a hook grip, so I have to improve my strength. Having small hands sucks. I know that wasn’t much help but I wanted to rant.
Been wondering this myself. I think you do improve strength aswell as tolerance to the pain. It takes some time getting used to hook grip.
I usually work up to where I can’t use OH-grip anymore, then switch to hook grip.
The answer is yes to both. The harder you can squeeze it the less it will hurt, and the body will adjust to the pain. Its never a pleasant feeling though of course. I have some insanely small hands and it works fine for me. Just make sure you don’t forget to lather your thumb with chalk!
[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
The answer is yes to both. The harder you can squeeze it the less it will hurt, and the body will adjust to the pain. Its never a pleasant feeling though of course. I have some insanely small hands and it works fine for me. Just make sure you don’t forget to lather your thumb with chalk![/quote]
IMO…taping my thunbs helps too.
Everything you guys makes sense. Up until around 80% of 1RM is where i started feeling some discomfort and slipping of the bar.
I think thumb strength is also a key factor. If you think about squeezing your thumb, the other fingers should follow.
Love hook grip now. I used to just concentrate on squeezing my thumb but now I concentrate on squeezing all finger and it almost feels like I’m wearing straps. Don’t use it for 3+ reps though, thats when the straps come in haha.
imo, taping the entire thumb is the way to go.
Most Olympic lifters I see do that and its worked great for me when doing heavy rows and cleans with a hook grip.
Hook grip is a must for small hands. I needed to develop forearm strength to keep the bar from rolling toward me (wrists breaking back). Just tape the thumb and add in rack deads until you exceed your mixed grip limit. Also agree with the previous post about low reps only.
[quote]amayakyrol wrote:
imo, taping the entire thumb is the way to go.
Most Olympic lifters I see do that and its worked great for me when doing heavy rows and cleans with a hook grip.[/quote]
where do you buy your tape
For improving hook grip strength I’ve found it incredibly helpful to use Fat Gripz (or a fat bar if you have one). Several months ago my mixed grip was failing on pulls so I started doing Fat Gripz work and switched to hook grip. My hook grip strength quickly surpassed my mixed grip strength, and now I never have grip troubles even months after not using Fat Gripz for pulls.
Also, tape your thumbs and use plenty of chalk. If you don’t you could end up like I did and have huge blisters forming and bursting in the same training session–it’s a bloody mess and can put you out of heavy pulling for a week or two if it’s bad enough. Right now I’m also taping the pads of my pinkies because for me they are just as susceptible to getting bad blisters as the thumbs.
You just get used to it. I don’t have near the discomfort I had using the grip. It’s kinda of like front squatting, it just doesn’t feel right until you’ve done it for a while, by that point you don’t notice.
It does give me some weird thumb callouses though.
[quote]mg3 wrote:
[quote]amayakyrol wrote:
imo, taping the entire thumb is the way to go.
Most Olympic lifters I see do that and its worked great for me when doing heavy rows and cleans with a hook grip.[/quote]
where do you buy your tape[/quote]
I just use athletic tape that I got at walmart. Something generic I think. Works great for thumbs and wrists.
Just curious but why are you switching to hook grip if you have no grip issues with mixed? Usually, people i see doing hook grip have issues with their mixed grip.
[quote]critietaeta wrote:
Just curious but why are you switching to hook grip if you have no grip issues with mixed? Usually, people i see doing hook grip have issues with their mixed grip.[/quote]
Probably just for bicep safety.
I switched to pulling predominantly with a hook grip when I began experiencing a lean towards the side I’d always had supinated. I’m still stronger with a mixed grip and pull like that in competition but train mostly with a hook grip to keep things ‘even’.
[quote]critietaeta wrote:
Just curious but why are you switching to hook grip if you have no grip issues with mixed? Usually, people i see doing hook grip have issues with their mixed grip.[/quote]
Partially to stay safer, but also because double overhand just FEELS stronger to me, like, i FEEL im in a stronger position with both hands over the bar. Of course ill have to work on my grip strength and pain tolerance, but once i do, im sure i have more potential with hook as it keeps me more symmetric.
I’m no expert so feel free to disregard my advice. But what I do is mixed grip on my conventionals, and then I do a few sets from a slight deficit(standing on a plate) with hook grip, in an attempt to kill 2 birds with one stone by working on both weak points, so eventually I can switch to hook grip all together.
K i just want to bring up this topic again because I have been thinking about it a lot lately…
I started hook gripping because of the article I read on here and i do notice I look imbalanced and I feel crooked.
IE one of my arms seems more foward or something than the other and i pull up crooked etc…
SO i figured since I have been deadlifting with the same mixed grip for like 7 years this could have something to do with it.
Anyway,
Hook gripping feels A-W-F-U-L
So when people say the pain does go away, are we talking like a year of thumb bloodyness, or just a month or two…
keep in mind i suffer from tiny hand syndrome
[quote]Spock81 wrote:
K i just want to bring up this topic again because I have been thinking about it a lot lately…
I started hook gripping because of the article I read on here and i do notice I look imbalanced and I feel crooked.
IE one of my arms seems more foward or something than the other and i pull up crooked etc…
SO i figured since I have been deadlifting with the same mixed grip for like 7 years this could have something to do with it.
Anyway,
Hook gripping feels A-W-F-U-L
So when people say the pain does go away, are we talking like a year of thumb bloodyness, or just a month or two…
keep in mind i suffer from tiny hand syndrome [/quote]
I felt an imbalance too. I switched to the opposite mix grip and plan to use it for a couples years and then keep switching back and forth. I hate the hook grip, lol.