Grip is the limiting factor in the Deadlift. If your hands can’t hold the weight, you can’t Deadlift it. A weak grip makes the deadlift harder to perform. A weak grip sends a signal to your back & leg muscles that the weight is too heavy to Deadlift.

If you want to increase your Deadlift, start with your grip. Here are 7 tips to improve your grip on the Deadlift.

1. Grip the Bar Correctly. Grip the bar close to your fingers. This leads to less calluses formation. The Deadlift can tear your skin if you grip the bar in the palm of your hands. Teared skin can take 2 weeks to heal. Don’t neglect this.

2. Squeeze the Bar. Grip the bar as hard as you can:

• The harder you grip the bar, the stronger you are.
• The less the bar moves in your hand the better.

3. Use a Pronated Grip. Deadlift as much as possible with both palms facing you. Perform your warmups using a pronated grip. Try to hold at the top for a few seconds. This will strengthen your grip.

4. Chalk. Chalk minimizes calluses formation from deadlifting. You’ll also avoid sweaty hands so the bar doesn’t slip through your hands.

5. Alternate Grip. Switch to an alternate grip when you can’t hold the bar using a pronated grip. One palm facing you, the other facing away. It doesn’t matter which hand faces you. You can change it up every set.

You can deadlift more with an alternate grip than with a pronated grip. With a pronated grip you have 8 fingers on one side of the bar, 2 thumbs on the other side. With an alternate grip it’s 5 fingers on every side. Your thumbs won’t give out as easily.

6. Lose the Straps. A solution when your grip is weak during the deadlift is to use straps. However this weakens your grip in the long run. Straps are also not allowed in competitions. Build good habits from the start.

7. Train your Grip. And at last, you can always train your grip. Check out The Basics of Grip by David Horne. It’s a great place to start.