Squats and Deadlifts

[Rootabager]

For non weighted pull ups I put my thumb down. When I am doing weighted I put it on top.

[oneeyejak]

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What is the difference between a DL and a rack pull? Why do one and not the other? It seems like the rack pull is just a poor mans version of the DL.

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The idea is to eliminate the first stage of the DL which works the hamstrings the hardest, and focus on the second stage which works the muscles of the lower back the hardest.


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I should have mentioned this as well. A lot people hit deadlilfts on back day. If they've already trained legs hard earlier in the split, they will often do rack pulls instead of deadlifts to remove the emphasis from the hams and glutes.

[oneeyejak]

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I have this problem big time and it's pretty much why I stopped doing dead lifts. After a while I felt like the limiting factor was more my grip than my muscles.

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Use straps! There is no reason in the world to let grip strength limit the amount of weight or number of reps you do on any pulling exercise.

I understand that people want their grip to get stronger so a lot of folks don't use straps. But, if the choices are between my grip failing before I can fully tax the muscles I'm actually training or using straps so my grip doesn't give out prematurely, I'm using straps 100% of the time.

[cbloom]

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I have this problem big time and it's pretty much why I stopped doing dead lifts. After a while I felt like the limiting factor was more my grip than my muscles.

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Use straps! There is no reason in the world to let grip strength limit the amount of weight or number of reps you do on any pulling exercise.

I understand that people want their grip to get stronger so a lot of folks don't use straps. But, if the choices are between my grip failing before I can fully tax the muscles I'm actually training or using straps so my grip doesn't give out prematurely, I'm using straps 100% of the time.

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Yeah, IMHO the most sensible thing is to go with bare grip up to as much weight as possible and then switch to straps.

I've been trying to find a place that sells those little pieces of rubber you put in your palm. Again IMHO that's the best way to help your grip, better than gloves or straps.

[AZK]

OK...so after thinking about this more...what's the difference between a rack pull and romaninan dl/stiff-legged dl... in the later you aren't resetting after every movement and going all the way down, it seems a lot closer to a RP...

[cbloom]

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OK...so after thinking about this more...what's the difference between a rack pull and romaninan dl/stiff-legged dl... in the later you aren't resetting after every movement and going all the way down, it seems a lot closer to a RP...

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You do go pretty deep in an RDL/SLDL - you should go as far down as your flexibility allows, also your legs are straighter and your hips go back way more. It's much more of a hinging at the waist movement, while the rack pull is more straight up, and your knees start bent in a rack pull. Granted there are similarities and they hit similar muscles.

[Blarg]

I'm telling you guys, a month or two of hard gripper work and you won't be worrying about straps anymore. Finding ways to work around a weak grip should be something that doesn't last for very long at all. It's not a tough thing to fix, but some people insist on not fixing it. That's just perverse or lazy, once you're not ignorant anymore about what can be done.

[oneeyejak]

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I'm telling you guys, a month or two of hard gripper work and you won't be worrying about straps anymore. Finding ways to work around a weak grip should be something that doesn't last for very long at all. It's not a tough thing to fix, but some people insist on not fixing it. That's just perverse or lazy, once you're not ignorant anymore about what can be done.


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I personally use straps because I have to. I've had four surgeries on my left arm from the elbow down, and my left hand grip is about 60% of my right hand grip.

That said, I'd still use straps even if I didn't have one bum hand. I'm not sure I see what all the hype about increasing grip strength is about. Its definately not number one on my list of goals. I could see the benefits if I was a powerlifter who couldn't use straps or for when I'm sitting home looking at porn, but thats about it,

[Blarg]

I can't see what the hype about getting strong is if you don't really want to get strong anyway. It just seems perverse to me.

Especially since a strong grip is one of the more immediately useful and transferable things out there. And the investment in time and effort to drastically improve your grip is incredibly small.

If you are physically incapacitated, it's another thing. But I'm guessing most of us aren't dealing with that problem.

It sounds to me like you're doing the sour grapes thing.

[oneeyejak]

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It sounds to me like you're doing the sour grapes thing.

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Then you have bad ears.