My hands are pretty small. Actually, they are girl-sized.
Now the thing is I’m don’t have a frail structure in general. My clavicles are fairly wide, and my wrists/ankles are average in girth. So my hands are pretty much the only limiting factor when it comes to attaining a respectable level of strength (not that I am anything close to that now).
But as said my hands are very small, which means short fingers. This makes gripping hard. Up until now I’ve done fine in the deadlift with a mixed grip. But as I am moving into 400lbs+ territory(I’m still a beginner so no mockery please :D), my grip is starting to become a limiting factor as I am progressing.
I have never used straps on deadlifting/heavy back work in general, so my grip should kind of followed with the rest of my body if it weren’t for by damn small hands.
I don’t want to be dependent on straps to be able to pull my “true” 1RM deadlift. Anyone else in a similar situation? I guess the only is to try to compensate through training my grip extensively. Any good suggestions on exercises for this?
I had the same problem as you once. I commend you for not wanting to use straps. Straps have there place but too many people get dependent on them. Start doing some gorilla holds, farmer’s walk & he-man holds.
High rep Kroc rows, sans straps. Also, chalk… Make use of it!
I have tiny hands as well. I ripped up a single of 435 fairly easily yesterday and probably could have held it at lockout for 30+ seconds if I wanted to. Small hands don’t have to be a limiting factor.
Chalk does help quite a bit. I can probably pull 100lbs more with chalk than without for singles and for rep work I can just plain old hold on longer, quite a bit longer
[quote]bob_sander87 wrote:
High rep Kroc rows, sans straps. Also, chalk… Make use of it!
I have tiny hands as well. I ripped up a single of 435 fairly easily yesterday and probably could have held it at lockout for 30+ seconds if I wanted to. Small hands don’t have to be a limiting factor.[/quote]
Can’t use chalk, so I usually wrap a sheet of paper around the bar where I grip. Prevents a bit from slipping at least.
[quote]toolshed wrote:
bob_sander87 wrote:
High rep Kroc rows, sans straps. Also, chalk… Make use of it!
I have tiny hands as well. I ripped up a single of 435 fairly easily yesterday and probably could have held it at lockout for 30+ seconds if I wanted to. Small hands don’t have to be a limiting factor.
Can’t use chalk, so I usually wrap a sheet of paper around the bar where I grip. Prevents a bit from slipping at least.[/quote]
I’d look into liquid chalk if I were you. Works quite well and doesn’t make a mess (assuming your gym is really anal about chalk use)
Obviously use a mixed and chalk becomes a necessity. Just sneak a little chalk for the maximal lifts. Other than lots of grip work, you could try tapping your thumbs maybe.
I smallish hands well average really 7 inch or so . let the bar balance in your fingers. could also be the bar you are using is too slick. I found this while working away try a different bar that is harsher but not so harsh as to tear your hands up too much.
One thing that helped me (I have small hands, too) was moving to sumo deads. I was able to hold more weight because my grip was narrower. Then when I moved back to conventional, after getting used to holding heavier weights, I never missed a lift because of my grip.
That’s my hypothesis, anyway. I didn’t really do much grip work at the time.
Heavy rack pulls and holds would probably be a pretty effective grip-builder. Gripping fatter surfaces will help as well - doing pulling movements with a fat bar (I’ve heard good things about Fat Grips) has probably significantly helped a lot of peoples’ grip strength.
[quote]toolshed wrote:
bob_sander87 wrote:
High rep Kroc rows, sans straps. Also, chalk… Make use of it!
I have tiny hands as well. I ripped up a single of 435 fairly easily yesterday and probably could have held it at lockout for 30+ seconds if I wanted to. Small hands don’t have to be a limiting factor.
Can’t use chalk, so I usually wrap a sheet of paper around the bar where I grip. Prevents a bit from slipping at least.[/quote]
Why not? Even the prissy gyms dont mind if you clean up after yourself. Dont ask permission just do it and clean up afterwards; unless you cant for a different reason