Image credit: Powershotsmag.com
Do you use straps for Deadlifts? Do you wear gloves because your hands hurt? Look at the picture at the top. The guy deadlifts a heavy weight with his bare hands. How come he doesn’t need straps or gloves?
If you grip the bar correctly on Deadlifts, you’ll minimize callus formation, won’t need straps or gloves and can even add a few extra pounds to your max. This post will teach you how to grip the bar correctly on Deadlifts.
Where to Grip The Bar. The shorter the movement, the more weight you can lift. A wide grip — like a snatch grip — forces you to pull the bar higher than a narrow grip does. A wide grip also makes you start from a deeper position.
The most efficient way to Deadlift is with your arms perpendicular to the floor. Narrow your stance so your legs don’t get in the way of your arms. The picture at the top shows the correct way to grip the bar on Deadlifts.
How to Grip The Bar. Use a normal grip — both palms facing your body — as much as you can. This strengthens your grip.
- Bar Close to Fingers. You’ll minimize callus formation by putting the bar close to your fingers instead of in your palm. Lower the weight until you get used to the new grip technique if it feels weird.
- Avoid Gloves. Gloves add inches to the bar which makes grip harder. Let grow calluses, your skin will toughen up.
- Avoid Straps. Deadlifting with straps because you have a weak grip further weakens your grip. Lose the straps. Add grip training if needed.
- Use Chalk. Chalk minimizes callus formation by filling your skin folds. It also keeps your hands dry from sweating. Use chalk if your gym allows, you’ll be able to Deadlift more weight.
- Squeeze The Bar Hard. Put your left hand on your right shoulder. Make a fist with your right hand. Tighten your right fist and feel the tension in your shoulder/biceps. The harder you squeeze the bar, the harder your surrounding muscles work.
The Mixed Grip. When both palms face your body you have 8 fingers on 1 side of the bar and 2 thumbs on the other side. Your thumbs will give out first with heavier weights. The solution is to switch to the mixed grip.
- 1 Palm Facing You, 1 Palm Facing Away. This puts 4 fingers & 1 thumb on both sides of the bar. Both thumbs are supported by 4 fingers. Check the picture at the top for an example of the mixed grip.
- Face Your Dominant Hand Away. Tends to be the strongest position. Use it on your heaviest set. Alternate the supine/pronated hand on each of your submaximal sets to avoid muscle imbalances.
Some lifters use the hook grip for Deadlifts. Benefits: symmetry and your lockout drops by a few inches. The problem however: it hurts. Try it: start light, add weight gradually and maybe you’ll end like this guy.
Mixed grip — Mehdi, you suggest dominant hand facing away. I see (on videos, mostly) primarily guys doing weaker hand facing away, if I’m not mistaken. Which is more common?
@Jacob5
How do you know it’s their weaker hand facing away? I’m right-handed, grip right hand is a lot stronger than left, and I always face right palm away from body on heavy sets.
Mehdi,
You mentioned chalk as a way to deadlift more weight. What about baby powder? This seems to reduce moisture and friction, but what would say about its long-term use?
Hi,
You say, “The most efficient way to Deadlift is with your arms perpendicular to the floor.” However, as noted in Starting Strength and as you’ve mentioned in some other articles (why the shoulder blades must be over the bar when you deadlift), if you have the scapulae over the bar when you deadlift, your arms will be at about an 80 degree angle to the ground and not orthogonal. Also, if your arms are orthogonal to the floor, won’t the bar have a greater chance of hitting your knees on the way up? I’m just a bit curious over the discrepancies.
@Tresbien
Never used baby chalk for grip. I know some use it for shin protection during deadlifts for example. If it works for you, why not.
@elVarouza
Perpendicular when looking from the front.
@ Tresbien
Doesn’t baby powder do the opposite of chalk? Wouldn’t your hand get slippery? I know putting baby powder on your shins would help lessen scrapes!
@Elvarouza
Yes. but if you look from the front, the arms are perpendicular - contrast with the snatch grip where they are at something like 40 degrees.
Interesting about the grip - I’ll try swapping the dominant hand round and see how it goes.
Good article I ripped 4 calluses today deadlifting
Love deadlifts, but from where I’m at anytime I go over 400 lbs, the inside of my hands always hurt. Now just short sets like sets of 4, I’m ok, but it’s something i deal with because I know it’s going to happen. But, I have lost the straps, and now use chalk on anything 315 or more. On my calluses, to keep them from ripping off, I just use small scissors (like what’s on aa swiss army pocket knive) and trim the calluses down. You want to remove the dead skin, but don’t go so deep you start to bleed. I usually give myself a week afterwards before I do them heavy (315>) again.
Rippetoe suggests that most people prefer to supinate the non-dexterous hand.
I, like Medhi, usually supinate my dexterous hand. I haven’t really experimented with the other way around, but I will probably try next session.
Anyways, once you get your grip right(with chalk!), there should be next to no new callouses forming. I rarely notice mine anymore.
The only thing that has caused skin folding for me in the recent past is chinups on a metal knurled bar.
I’ve suppinated my non-dominant hand (e.g. suppinate right hand and I am left handed) because that is what was mentioned in Starting Strength. I think I will experiment with both. Really though, I am doing light weight (285×5 at 205 bodyweight max so far) so I should be able to do double overhand, but I can’t past 250. I need to improve my grip strength.
I’ve been using double overhand lately. Its a pretty good grip strengthener.
“Use a normal grip — both palms facing your body”
Is that I read right?
I was using both palms facing floor/down. Never tried palm facing up.
Grambo: I disagree, in a way. I use mixed grip on the heavy set no matter what, because you *will* be able to pull more with it and therefore should pull as heavy as you can. I use double overhand on all the warmup sets, though.
hemram4u: It’s not clear exactly what you mean by “up” and “down”. If your wrists are straight, your palms face either towards or away from your body. Anyways, you should never have more than one palm facing away from your body..
Isn’t the reason most people wear gloves to prevent callus from forming?
What I do to remove my callus is cutting it away with a sharp Stanley Knife. You can actually cut it off slice by slice. It takes three weeks to grow back on, but you can deadlift painfree and without the risk of ripping your skin! (without the -in my eyes- awkward ‘close to fingers’ grip)
great article mehdi. another option those who are members of a gym that doesn’t allow conventional chalk is LIQUID CHALK. gloves weaken your grip over time so it’s best to just lift raw handed. i have begun using LIQUID CHALK and it’s a great little product. it’s not as cheap as a block chalk but it’s the next best thing if your gym is more of a “club” than a gym. =D
great stuff mehdi. keep ‘em coming.
i can’t find liquid chalk anywhere, but i hear rock climbing places sell it as opposed to a regular sporting goods store.
oops my bad plz ignore my prev comments…..donno what I was thinking…monday morning you know
Nice post. I definitely agree that you should alternate hands when doing the mixed grip. I developed a large muscle imbalance in my traps and upper back always doing it the same way. Now I just have to try and sneak some chalk into my gym. I need to look into the liquid chalk.
You mentioned chalk as a way to deadlift more weight. What about baby powder? This seems to reduce moisture and friction, but what would say about its long-term use?
The whole point of baby powder is to reduce friction.
The whole point of chalk is to increase friction.
If you use babypowder you will have less grip.
If you use chalk you will have more grip.
You dont want to use babypowder.
@ Jimbo,
Makes sense. I am not at 300 pounds yet, so it hasn’t bothered me, but point well noted.
Any of you guys alternate the grip between reps? You know, set the weight back down on the ground after a rep, switch grip, take a breath, another rep, etc.?
I would avoid the mixed grip as it can cause a torsional force on your spine, and no, mixing up the mix grip up isn’t the answer either. Instead I’d use a hook grip instead.
I supinate my non dexterous hand.