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This is for people who lift weights. Do you get calluses along the pads of your hand, just below your fingers? You are probably gripping the bar incorrectly. Th

This is for people who lift weights. Do you get calluses along the pads of your hand, just below your fingers? You are probably gripping the bar incorrectly. This also applies to pull-ups/chin-ups grip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OK-S3ZJZxQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OK-S3ZJZxQ. TL;DR: grip the bar across the joint at the bottom of your fingers instead of across the middle of your palm. This doesn't apply to bench pressing (a push), but applies to all moves that involve pulling/lifting the bar.

hbn 4y ago
I get these from deadlifting. I think I intuitively know what he's saying, but I have small hands (for a man of my height), and my grip is pretty weak so I'm already using the thinner 35lb bar. I do mixed grip, left hand over + right hand under, and gripping it the first way adds a bit of friction as the bar tries to rotate out of my hand. I don't know, maybe I'll try this next time I deadlift but I feel like it would just weaken my already weak grip.
- prometheus76 4y ago
  Practice hanging from a pull-up bar for time (i.e. practice hanging from a pull-up bar for longer and longer periods of time, using the grip shown in the video) if you want to build up this type of grip. You can also practice by putting bags of rice or a gallon of milk (or two) into a bag, then holding the handles across your second knuckle for time. Grip is the main way we interact with the world, so it's worth training it. Also, grip strength is the most reliable predictor we have found for life expectancy. (i.e. higher grip strength means higher life expectancy). It could be correlation/causation fallacy, but I have decided to just assume it's worth training it for all the other benefits that having good grip strength brings.
- prometheus76 4y ago
  I forgot to add in my first response to your comment: it's worth learning the hook grip to get that additional "friction" you're looking for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8
  - duckmysick 4y ago
    The linked video is about kitchen knife skills, linked elsewhere in this thread. Is the one you wanted to share?
- prometheus76 4y ago
  And here's one more video that teaches the hook grip for people with small hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKQXkZbPzdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKQXkZbPzdQ
sedeki 4y ago
I recently started lifting weights. I just bought gloves. I like this tip though - thanks.
- prometheus76 4y ago
  I would highly recommend not using gloves. They reduce the feedback you have on the bar and can lead to entrenching bad habits with regard to grip. Chalk and the technique in the video are a time-tested approach.
  - sedeki 4y ago
    I took too much chalk and "ripped" part of my skin under my hands. Where can I read more about the techniques and/or bad habits? Interesting.
- dhd415 4y ago
  In the theme of the OP and by way of response, I've been lifting weights for decades but only in the last couple years realized that gloves were detrimental to lifting. They add a layer of material around the bar that increases its circumference and thereby increases the effort required to grip it for pulling movements. They reduce your tactile connection to the bar which is important for engaging secondary muscles in certain lifts (e.g., lats in the overhead press) as you progress in strength and for very technical lifts such as the clean. The only time hand protection may be beneficial is for movements in which your hand rotates relative to a bar. That is never the case for a (properly performed) barbell exercise but may be the case in certain gymnastic movements on a pullup bar and in that case, you might consider gymnastics grips.
automatic6131 4y ago
Related note, if you lift enough weight - even with this technique - you'll still get callouses. But this is good nonetheless.
dirtyid 4y ago
Good for callus prevention, but probably bad for actual serious "pulling". I remember this video from 10+ years ago, when powerlifters were still doing the alternate grip for DL. Now more or less everyone hooks and depending on hand size, you need bar much lower on pads to have extra finger length wrap around bar for thumb to securely hook. Smaller the hands the lower on palm you need for good hook, every extra mm you get on that thumb counts. Which makes a huge different depending on bar diameter, typically 25-32mm where women bar thinnest, then deadlift bar, men standard, then garbage cheap commercial bars. If you have big hands it might not matter much, but medium/small hands could be pulling 100s of lbs less. That said, it's not dogmatic GOMAD tier of bad advice from Rippetoe, this is pretty good advice to get newbies especially women to start lifting, along with everyone wearing tights now to prevent shin scrapes. Ultimately, if you want to pull weight fast, you have to hook and heavy weight over 100s of reps will roll in hands and form calluses anyway, IMO best to invest in a nice razor pedicure shaver and keep up with hand health.

hbn 4y ago

I get these from deadlifting. I think I intuitively know what he's saying, but I have small hands (for a man of my height), and my grip is pretty weak so I'm already using the thinner 35lb bar. I do mixed grip, left hand over + right hand under, and gripping it the first way adds a bit of friction as the bar tries to rotate out of my hand. I don't know, maybe I'll try this next time I deadlift but I feel like it would just weaken my already weak grip.

prometheus76 4y ago
Practice hanging from a pull-up bar for time (i.e. practice hanging from a pull-up bar for longer and longer periods of time, using the grip shown in the video) if you want to build up this type of grip. You can also practice by putting bags of rice or a gallon of milk (or two) into a bag, then holding the handles across your second knuckle for time. Grip is the main way we interact with the world, so it's worth training it. Also, grip strength is the most reliable predictor we have found for life expectancy. (i.e. higher grip strength means higher life expectancy). It could be correlation/causation fallacy, but I have decided to just assume it's worth training it for all the other benefits that having good grip strength brings.
prometheus76 4y ago
I forgot to add in my first response to your comment: it's worth learning the hook grip to get that additional "friction" you're looking for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8
- duckmysick 4y ago
  The linked video is about kitchen knife skills, linked elsewhere in this thread. Is the one you wanted to share?
prometheus76 4y ago
And here's one more video that teaches the hook grip for people with small hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKQXkZbPzdQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKQXkZbPzdQ

sedeki 4y ago

I recently started lifting weights. I just bought gloves. I like this tip though - thanks.

prometheus76 4y ago
I would highly recommend not using gloves. They reduce the feedback you have on the bar and can lead to entrenching bad habits with regard to grip. Chalk and the technique in the video are a time-tested approach.
- sedeki 4y ago
  I took too much chalk and "ripped" part of my skin under my hands. Where can I read more about the techniques and/or bad habits? Interesting.
dhd415 4y ago
In the theme of the OP and by way of response, I've been lifting weights for decades but only in the last couple years realized that gloves were detrimental to lifting. They add a layer of material around the bar that increases its circumference and thereby increases the effort required to grip it for pulling movements. They reduce your tactile connection to the bar which is important for engaging secondary muscles in certain lifts (e.g., lats in the overhead press) as you progress in strength and for very technical lifts such as the clean. The only time hand protection may be beneficial is for movements in which your hand rotates relative to a bar. That is never the case for a (properly performed) barbell exercise but may be the case in certain gymnastic movements on a pullup bar and in that case, you might consider gymnastics grips.

automatic6131 4y ago

Related note, if you lift enough weight - even with this technique - you'll still get callouses. But this is good nonetheless.

dirtyid 4y ago

Good for callus prevention, but probably bad for actual serious "pulling". I remember this video from 10+ years ago, when powerlifters were still doing the alternate grip for DL. Now more or less everyone hooks and depending on hand size, you need bar much lower on pads to have extra finger length wrap around bar for thumb to securely hook. Smaller the hands the lower on palm you need for good hook, every extra mm you get on that thumb counts. Which makes a huge different depending on bar diameter, typically 25-32mm where women bar thinnest, then deadlift bar, men standard, then garbage cheap commercial bars. If you have big hands it might not matter much, but medium/small hands could be pulling 100s of lbs less. That said, it's not dogmatic GOMAD tier of bad advice from Rippetoe, this is pretty good advice to get newbies especially women to start lifting, along with everyone wearing tights now to prevent shin scrapes. Ultimately, if you want to pull weight fast, you have to hook and heavy weight over 100s of reps will roll in hands and form calluses anyway, IMO best to invest in a nice razor pedicure shaver and keep up with hand health.