Easy methods to Hook Grip a Barbell

As we’ve mentioned earlier than, there are 3 ways to carry onto a barbell when you’re frightened your grip goes to slide. You should use straps; you’ll be able to face your palms in several instructions (blended grip); or you’ll be able to hook your thumb beneath your fingers, a way referred to as hook grip. A hook grip is safer than blended, and it is important for lifts like snatches and cleans the place blended grip is not an possibility. Sure, it hurts. Sure, you will get used to it.

I’m pleased to report that, after six years of coaching and competing in olympic weightlifting (the place hook grip is neither feared nor debated, however merely part of life), I now consider that hook grip will not be almost as painful as it’s reputed to be. And sure, I’m the one who wrote in an earlier article that hook grip “hurts like hell.” That is partly as a result of I’ve gotten used to it, nevertheless it’s additionally partly as a result of I used to do it unsuitable. So listed here are some suggestions for studying how one can get snug with hook grip.

Use a thinner bar

This can be a tip for everybody, however particularly individuals with small fingers (together with most ladies). You may discover a huge number of barbells in most gyms, they usually aren’t all the identical diameter on the deal with. Some are thick and durable; these are arduous to grip, and could also be reserved for squats or bench press, the place that does not matter as a lot. Bars made for deadlifts or for Olympic weightlifting might be thinner, making it simpler to wrap your fingers round.

So be sure that the bar you are making an attempt to hook grip is not a brilliant thick one. You probably have bigger fingers, any regular barbell must be positive—that normally means a 28 millimeter deal with. Deadlift bars are usually slightly thinner at 27 millimeters, and ladies’s Olympic weightlifting bars are the thinnest widespread bar, at 25 millimeters.

For those who’ve had bother making an attempt to hook grip on a daily bar, strive a ladies’s bar and see if you may get the method to click on. I used to suppose I “could not” hook grip a daily bar, however after I discovered to hook grip correctly with a ladies’s bar, I discovered that I used to be in a position to hook a males’s bar with out an excessive amount of bother.

Lay your thumb so it’s parallel to the bar

A typical mistake—and a factor that makes hook grip harm much more than it must—is putting your thumb on the bar incorrectly. Don’t consider your thumb as wrapping beneath the bar; it’s not like a pincer opposing your fingers. You additionally do not need to grip the bar with your thumb, as in case your thumb’s job have been to squeeze the bar. The aim of the thumb, in a hook grip, is to supply a kind of roadblock to cease issues from slipping.

I took some images of myself setting my hook grip on a bar, so you’ll be able to see precisely how I do it. (I am positive each lifter has their very own idiosyncrasies, however mine must be a strong instance to convey the fundamentals.) This is how I set my grip:

1. First I discover my hand placement on the bar (normally by lining up my hand with the knurling or the rings).

2. I press the online of my thumb into the bar, which permits me to achieve my thumb away from my physique, and convey the aspect of my thumb into contact with the bar.

3. After I carry the remainder of my hand again into place, my center finger crosses my thumbnail perpendicularly. (For those who can solely keep in mind one checkpoint for whether or not you are doing it proper, keep in mind this.)

4. I loosely wrap the remainder of my fingers across the bar. I haven’t got to squeeze—the hook locks all the things into place.

Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

The precise positions will rely upon the dimensions and form of your fingers, and chances are you’ll end up greedy the bar barely in a different way for a large grip (snatch grip) versus a more in-depth grip. However be sure that your thumb goes kind of alongside the bar, parallel to its size. (It could assist to consider pointing your thumb towards your pinky.) You do not need to jam your thumb beneath as many fingers as attainable, nor do you have to attempt to wrap it deeply across the bar. For those who get a ache in your thumb knuckle, the place your thumb meets your palm, that is probably what you’re doing unsuitable.

Follow

Will it nonetheless harm? Your first time going heavy, yeah. However you will get used to it extra rapidly than you suppose. For those who commit to creating hook grip work, and utilizing it as typically as attainable, the variation course of solely takes about two weeks. If any ache, bruises, or calluses develop, they need to be delicate, roughly parallel to the size of your thumb, and on the aspect of your thumb quite than in the course of the thumb pad or on the knuckle.

Throughout this time, hook grip all the things that you could. If meaning you are solely hook gripping your deadlift warmups, however as soon as there’s greater than 135 kilos on the bar you’ll be able to’t stand it, that is positive for that day. Subsequent time you do deadlifts, you will in all probability be capable of hook 135 simply positive, and perhaps you need to change again to your outdated grip at 225. You get the concept. Earlier than lengthy, you will be hook gripping all the things. To get extra follow, hook grip each train you’ll be able to (rows, and so forth) only for the sake of follow.

When you’re used to hook grip, the ache will not be a difficulty, however I might be mendacity to say your thumbs will at all times really feel nice. If I am doing an train for a number of reps, I am going to use straps quite than hook grip 10 heavy reps in a row. Some lifters wish to tape their thumbs. This gives slightly compression, so the stress would not harm as a lot, and it additionally prevents the knurling from digging into your pores and skin. You should use common athletic tape when you depart a cutout on your knuckle, nevertheless it’s extra widespread as of late to make use of a stretchy, grippy thumb tape like this over your complete thumb.