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wrist straps...
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Complete Muscle
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H
HighIntensity
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take the strap and put the long end through the sewn loop. Now put the noose through your rist. Now when you pull the long end it should tighten the noose. Rap the long end of the strap around the bar two fold. Tighten.
Only use staps for heavy lifts, you want to try and increase your grip.
Only use staps for heavy lifts, you want to try and increase your grip.
Wrist straps are almost USELESS, dont use them more than VERY RARELY, like for a high rep set of still leg deadlifts. I dont even own a pair and I do all the lifts that I often see people use wraps for. My old training partner used to comp0lain about his small forearms while he would bne wrapping those pussy straps around almost every lat pulldown bar he could find! Let your grip develop cause if you use wraps all the time, your grip and forearms will not grow to great heights of size and strength. To use wraps it can be for like a set when there is no way that you could hold onto the bar, NOT for all the hard sets.
Don't start using wrist straps and you'll never need them. I've never used them, and am able to go through everyworkout, including very heavy deadlifts, without any grip problems,and as a result for forearms have gained tons of size from the indirect stimulation.
All you need is a bit of chalk.
All you need is a bit of chalk.
Screwball
New member
Wrist Straps...
Like HighIntensity, CytoMel and Needsize have explained. Don't use wrist straps unless absolutely necessary. Try to use an overhand grip as long as possible to gain grip/forearm strength. Once your overhand grip fails you can use an alternating grip (over/under) for continued work sets. I very rarely use wrist straps. Chalk can go a long way in aiding your grip for heavy sets.
The only time I will use straps is for overload rack pulls and shrugs but this is always after my grip has failed. Another possible exercise is heavy dumbbell walking lunges but like I said only after your grip has failed. Hope this helps!
- Screwball
Like HighIntensity, CytoMel and Needsize have explained. Don't use wrist straps unless absolutely necessary. Try to use an overhand grip as long as possible to gain grip/forearm strength. Once your overhand grip fails you can use an alternating grip (over/under) for continued work sets. I very rarely use wrist straps. Chalk can go a long way in aiding your grip for heavy sets.
The only time I will use straps is for overload rack pulls and shrugs but this is always after my grip has failed. Another possible exercise is heavy dumbbell walking lunges but like I said only after your grip has failed. Hope this helps!
- Screwball
Gladiola
New member
Maybe it's different for women, but this has not been the case for me. My BB brother-in-law told me not to bother training forearms & I ended up with VERY intense pain in my forearms as strength grew everywhere else (particularly back day). I didn't want forearm weakness to impede my strength gains for back - so I started using straps. Besides, personally, I don't care how strong my grip is & don't have any desire for more size in my forearms. Wouldn't bother me if I DID have more size in forearms - but more size & strength in lats is way more important to me right now.needsize said:
I use them for rows, lat pull downs & dead lifts.
Gladiola, I bet if you had of started training forarms when you started training the rest of you, then there wouldn't likely be a disparity between your grip strength and your other muscle groups. But if you don't care about forarm size and strength, then using wraps wouldn't be a big deal. But I think most guys should worry about it as a lot of guys have small forarms compared to their upper arms, and that sort of lack of symmetry really looks bad.
Thanks for the input!
I tried not using them for a long time, but my grip kept giving out.
bignate73
New member
functional strength (funk'shun'uhl strength) n. - shit you can use.
ditch the straps or youll look like a sissy later when you have to use them to hang on to dbells for curls. hehe.
in reality, if you start out without straps, your strength will increase proportionally with your other muscle groups. its humbling when you know you can row a bunch of weight but are determined to ditch your straps cause your forearms suck and you have to drop down. (trust me i know) after a while though, your forearms catch up and you dont give it a second thought.
"if you cant hang on to it, or unrack it, you dont belong lifting it." -nate (heheh)
as for the female that mentioned that her forearms would blow up, come on now. what good is strength in one muscle if your extremities cant hold the weight? in the quest for shape, here or there, we deprive ourselves of our bodies ability to adapt to weaknesses.
ah hell, i guess im more of a functional advocate than most. bodybuilding is about cosmetics but the training should still be functional. what good is it to look powerful but in reality arent?
ditch the straps or youll look like a sissy later when you have to use them to hang on to dbells for curls. hehe.
in reality, if you start out without straps, your strength will increase proportionally with your other muscle groups. its humbling when you know you can row a bunch of weight but are determined to ditch your straps cause your forearms suck and you have to drop down. (trust me i know) after a while though, your forearms catch up and you dont give it a second thought.
"if you cant hang on to it, or unrack it, you dont belong lifting it." -nate (heheh)
as for the female that mentioned that her forearms would blow up, come on now. what good is strength in one muscle if your extremities cant hold the weight? in the quest for shape, here or there, we deprive ourselves of our bodies ability to adapt to weaknesses.
ah hell, i guess im more of a functional advocate than most. bodybuilding is about cosmetics but the training should still be functional. what good is it to look powerful but in reality arent?
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Gladiola
New member
bignate73 said:
I'm the only female on this thread (well, only one labeled as such) & I never said any such thing.
My problem is that I have been lifting for years - but only recently started training forearms independently from other muscles. I was told [by my BB brother-in-law] not to bother with training forearms because they get worked in other movements.
In reality he's right because they are worked ISOMETRICALLY in most movements, but he's wrong b/c they're *only* worked isometrically!
That's kinda like saying "don't bother to work your abs b/c they work isometrically (to stabilize your body & hold you up) all the time."
Isotonic contractions against resistance are what will get us stronger. Hence the strength imbalance I mentioned (that's almost putting a halt to any gains in my back).
I am not afraid of my forearms getting bigger, but it's not my priority. My lats matter more to me now & I'm simply not willing to let the gains in my back be stalled while I wait for my forearms to catch up.
I'm with ya on functional strength.... Having a bod that is aesthetically appealing is nice, but having a bod that can DO a lot of things is wonderful!
That's part of the reason I pay attention to my flexibility too.
Gladiola
New member
Thaibox said:
Very common. I'm the only one at my gym that uses it. They keep my gym spotless until I show up
Yeah, that was my impression. My gym is quite spotless too... I can picture their faces now 
if I were to leave trails of white dust all over the black rubber floor... 
Thaibox
New member
I took my girlfriend to my gym the other day and she said she felt sorry for the poor little guy that cleans the gym after I'm gone.I got pulled over the other day on my way home from the gym. I had chalk dust all over my steering wheel and around my pockets. Two other cop cars showed up and had to test the "white powder" in my gym bag. Then of course they found a glutamine cap here and a zinc tab there. I was there for a while.
Canadian Viking
New member
useless straps
I you have to use straps you have a weakness that you are not willing to work at, use a good glove to keep the wear and tear off the hands but dont add support to anything cause you are just cheating yourself into thinking you can do it on your own.
I you have to use straps you have a weakness that you are not willing to work at, use a good glove to keep the wear and tear off the hands but dont add support to anything cause you are just cheating yourself into thinking you can do it on your own.
MarshallPenniford
New member
Gladiola said:
Actually, direct forearm and ab work is completely unnecessary. Mine are well developed and I never work either. Ditch the belt, ditch the straps. No need to train either.
Complete Muscle
New member
I only use them on like my last set of weighted pull ups... I just can't quite hold on yet on that last set without a bit of help. But I haven't used chalk before, gonna give that a try. And I'm determined to "out grow" those dam straps on ALL sets!
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