I switched to hook grip the same time I switched to sumo, with mixed grip I felt off balance. Somehow hook grip seems less awkward with sumo than conventional.
I think overall it’s better than mixed for sumo but then again you see success both ways.
What I miss from mixed grip is the irradiating contraction you get from squeezing real hard and every muscle just tenses up.
Still throw in a rep or two of mixed now and then to keep it in my tool box.
I thought hook would weaken my grip strength over time or at least plateau it. My reasoning was that the “hook” takes most of the weight using the bar weight itself to increase security thus limiting the work of the muscles that grip.
Thankfully not so far tho. Am confident in being able to go heavy with mixed grip at any time.
@jbackos give hook a go. Might be worth.
Easy way is to throw in hooks on warm ups. People talking about how it hurts but tbh above 315 feels the same.
Also seems simple enough to grab your thumb with your fingers but theres a lot of nuance to it. Like when I first started I was always crushing a bony prominence in my thumb. Terrible stuff.
Wasn’t until I started turning my hands in slightly and pronating 10 degrees that the hook felt secure.
I get that with mixed grip. You can still squeeze the bar.
You can still do grip work it you use hook grip. I have no grip issues at the moment and I intend to keep it that way. If anything, hook grip might make your thumbs weak. I was doing shrugs with thumbs over the bar (I got that from Ed Coan’s book) and I decided to try with thumbs around the bar. Interestingly, my grip isn’t significantly stronger that way.
That’s exactly what I’m doing - using them with the lighter warmups. I will eventually go back to sumo because my hips can open wiiiiide but not until I master the hook with a max conventional.
You mean with hook? I’ve tried but it throws off my hook. It kind of pulls the bar higher up into my hands where the hook usually holds it a bit lower. Probably cuts an inch off ROM now that I think about it.
Nah mane. Only grip work here is jerking off. Tbh I can hold anything I could even imagine pulling. Might be a crutch but idgaf
Depends how you pull I guess. Cos of setting up the grip I can’t grip and rip the conventional as I’d like. Also jerking the weight messes with my hook. The slow squeeze off the bottom in sumo works well with hook IMO.
To be fair Cailer Woolam pulls 900+ hook and jerks the shit outta that bar.
I stopped jerking the bar and it helped the groove. Some of the advanced guys seem to be jerking becasue they pull the slack out really quickly. Woolam is just a freak.
I think it’d be handy to have that aggression right at the start. Just cos it’s sumo doesn’t mean you have to hang around the floor for 5 seconds or give you license to be anything but explosive.
It’s just being explosive and aggressive without undoing the hook that I can’t quite get yet. Practice I guess…
Agreed. I usually use three hip pumps, with each one lening further back. On the third i pull. Usually takes no more than 1 second and the bar is off the floor.
Cos your fat SHW ass leverages that shit off the floor lel.
Interesting thing I’ve observed with the butt pump is that it can throw off some peoples set up.
They’ll drop their nuts onto the bar (thnx dan green), engage lats/pull the slack out, we’d the hips in close and set their spine in neutral and as upright as possible. This a is great starting position.
Then they proceed to fully extend the knees,stick their butt up in the air and then perform the biggest butt pump ever and end up in a worse position as they initiate.
I try this and can’t get back into anywhere near as good a starting position. Pls no butt pump here lel. Maybe an inch of butt drop.
The pump is for conventional only. For sumo, I arch the back and open the hips until my fingertips touch the bar, then dip/grip/pull.
BTW I’m not a super but between 220 and 242.
So you a dan green looking mf then?
Not that thick but sure trying. I learned sumo from Steve Scialpi who in the mid 90’s was one of only 4 198 lifters to DL 4x bodyweight. At that time only Coan, Walter Thomas, Vince Anello, and Steve Scialpi had achieved that feat. Steve also squatted 750 and benched 402.
He had an interesting approach to the sumo.
Use 35 lb plates, no belt
Start 12 weeks out with 50% 8 x 5
Add 5 - 20 (depending on level) lbs a week until 4 weeks out
Now switch to 45lb plates and wear a belt
4 weeks out 80%-85% for 3 sets of 5
3 weeks out 85% for 3 sets of 3
2 weeks out 90% 3 sets of 2
Deload
Meet
Assistance - pulldowns/chins and abs.
Yeah, I meant hook grip. I suppose it’s going to feel different for everyone, whatever works in the end. You could also just do a lot of volume with hook grip, I use straps for non-comp. dl variations so I don’t beat my thumbs up too much.
The problem is that eventually you could have grip issues (assuming that you get significantly stronger, which is the main objective here) so its probably better to work on it before it becomes a problem. I only do two sets of shrugs anyway, I’m spending an extra 5 minutes in the gym per week.
Interesting. Wonder if it works the other way around using block pulls?
Man I love me some shrugs. Should be able to squeeze them in somewhere.
I use hook for warm up and low reps and straps for higher reps/volume. There’s another option tho. Ever tried taping your thumbs? Protects the skin and let’s you hook into 8+ rep range
A lot of the time can’t be bothered taping up but works well.
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Maybe. The Westside crew does sumo off blocks.
Worth a try.
Try one of Fred Hatfield’s favorites - incline shrugs. Bend over like you’re doing a yates row. Then shrug up and hold. The traps do no pulling in the deadlift. In fact you want your shoulder blades down during the deadlift to keep the pull short. All they do is hold for time.
You could do heavy farmers walks and kill two birds with one stone - trap and conditioning. If you need to do them standing up hold them for time and combine them with grip work.
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I tried taping my thumbs before, the tape kept slipping off and I had to put new tape for each set. I can handle sets of 5 with hook grip no problem and lower reps are no big deal. What sort of tape do you use anyway?
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