Hex Bar Deadlift: Best Grip, Benefits, and Technique

What grip is best for hex bar deadlift?

For the hex bar deadlift, the neutral grip (or hammer grip) is overwhelmingly the best and most biomechanically advantageous choice. This grip, where palms face each other, aligns naturally with the hex bar's design, promoting optimal joint positioning and reducing strain.

Understanding the Hex Bar Deadlift

The hex bar, also known as a trap bar, is a specialized piece of equipment designed to encapsulate the lifter, placing the load directly in line with the body's center of gravity. This design inherently offers several biomechanical advantages over a traditional straight bar deadlift: a more upright torso, reduced spinal shear forces, decreased lower back stress, and often an easier learning curve. These factors contribute to a safer and often more powerful lift, allowing many individuals to handle heavier loads or perform more repetitions, while also shifting some of the emphasis towards the quadriceps.

The Standard Grip: Neutral (Hammer) Grip

The hex bar's unique design features handles positioned to the sides of the lifter, which are typically parallel to each other. This configuration naturally dictates a neutral grip, where your palms face inward, towards each other.

Benefits of the Neutral Grip for Hex Bar Deadlifts:

• Optimal Joint Alignment: This grip keeps the wrists, elbows, and shoulders in a more natural, stacked position, reducing torque and stress on these joints.
• Reduced Bicep Strain: Unlike the mixed grip often used with a straight bar, the neutral grip eliminates the supinated (underhand) position that can place significant shearing force on the bicep tendon, minimizing the risk of bicep tears.
• Improved Posture and Back Safety: By allowing the shoulders to remain externally rotated and in a more stable position, the neutral grip encourages better upper back engagement and helps maintain a neutral spine throughout the lift.
• Enhanced Force Transmission: The natural alignment facilitates a more direct and efficient transfer of force from your hands, through your arms, and into your core, enhancing overall lifting mechanics.

Grip Variations and Considerations

While the neutral grip is the standard and most recommended, understanding other grip types and their limited applicability to the hex bar is important.

• Double Overhand (Pronated) Grip (Not Applicable): This grip, where both palms face away from the body, is standard for straight bar deadlifts, especially for grip strength development. However, the hex bar's parallel handles do not allow for a true double overhand grip in the traditional sense; the standard neutral grip is the closest equivalent to a "double grip" for the hex bar. If one were to try and force a pronated grip on the hex bar, it would be awkward and compromise wrist and shoulder positioning.
• Mixed Grip (Over-Under Grip) (Generally Not Recommended): The mixed grip, with one hand pronated and one hand supinated, is commonly used in straight bar deadlifts to prevent the bar from rotating out of the hands at heavier loads. For the hex bar, however, a mixed grip is largely unnecessary and counterproductive:
  • Awkward Positioning: The hex bar's design makes a mixed grip feel unnatural and can lead to uneven loading and twisting of the torso.
  • Increased Imbalance Risk: Using a mixed grip on a hex bar can encourage rotational forces, potentially creating muscular imbalances and increasing the risk of injury, especially to the spine.
  • No Anti-Rotation Benefit: The hex bar's design already mitigates the bar rotation issue that a mixed grip addresses on a straight bar.
• Lifting Straps (Contextual Use): Lifting straps wrap around the bar and your wrists, essentially taking your grip strength out of the equation.
  • When to Use: Straps are beneficial when your grip strength is the limiting factor for the target muscle groups (e.g., legs, back) or when you want to lift maximal loads for strength or hypertrophy without grip fatigue compromising the set.
  • When to Avoid: Over-reliance on straps can hinder the development of your intrinsic grip strength. For most warm-up sets and lighter working sets, it's advisable to lift without straps to continuously build forearm and hand strength.

Biomechanical Advantages of the Neutral Grip

The neutral grip on a hex bar promotes a more biomechanically efficient and safer lift:

• Reduced Shoulder Impingement Risk: By keeping the humerus (upper arm bone) in a more neutral rotation, it reduces the risk of shoulder impingement that can sometimes occur with internal rotation under load.
• Minimized Wrist Deviation: The parallel handles allow the wrists to remain in a neutral, straight position, preventing excessive flexion or extension which can lead to wrist pain or injury over time.
• Enhanced Latissimus Dorsi Activation: A strong neutral grip helps to engage the lats, which are crucial for stabilizing the spine and maintaining a rigid torso throughout the deadlift.

Optimizing Your Hex Bar Grip Technique

Even with the "best" grip, proper technique is paramount:

• Hand Placement: Grip the center of the handles firmly. Most hex bars offer two sets of handles (high and low); choose the set that allows for your preferred starting height and range of motion.
• Wrist Position: Maintain a neutral wrist position throughout the entire lift. Avoid letting your wrists extend backward or flex forward.
• Forearm Engagement: Actively squeeze the bar, engaging your forearms. This "crushing" grip helps to create tension throughout your entire arm and upper body, contributing to overall stability.
• Shoulder Position: Keep your shoulders pulled back and down, away from your ears. This helps to activate the lats and stabilize the shoulder girdle.

Grip Strength and Progression

While the hex bar's neutral grip is less demanding on grip strength than a straight bar, continually improving your grip strength is beneficial for overall lifting performance and injury prevention. Incorporate exercises like:

• Dead Hangs: Holding onto a pull-up bar for time.
• Farmer's Walks: Carrying heavy dumbbells or kettlebells for distance.
• Plate Pinches: Holding weight plates together with your fingertips.

These exercises will enhance your ability to maintain a strong, secure grip on the hex bar without relying excessively on straps.

Conclusion: Making the Best Grip Choice

For the hex bar deadlift, the neutral grip is unequivocally the superior choice. Its inherent alignment with the hex bar's design promotes optimal joint mechanics, reduces injury risk, and enhances overall lifting performance. While lifting straps can be a valuable tool for pushing heavy loads or when grip fatigue is a limiting factor, prioritize developing natural grip strength. Avoid using a mixed grip on the hex bar, as it offers no biomechanical advantage and can introduce unnecessary risks. By mastering the neutral grip, you unlock the full potential of the hex bar deadlift as a powerful and effective exercise for strength and muscle development.