Wrist Grips: Understanding Lifting Straps, Wrist Wraps, and Their Proper Use

How Do You Use Wrist Grips?

Wrist grips, encompassing both lifting straps and wrist wraps, are distinct strength training accessories used to either enhance grip during pulling movements or provide stability to the wrist joint during pushing and overhead exercises, respectively. Proper application of each is crucial for maximizing their benefits and ensuring safety.

What Are Wrist Grips?

The term "wrist grips" is often used broadly to refer to two primary types of strength training accessories: lifting straps and wrist wraps. While both are worn around the wrist, they serve fundamentally different biomechanical purposes and are used for different types of exercises. Understanding their distinct functions is key to their effective and safe application.

Types of Wrist Grips

1. Lifting Straps: These are typically made of cotton, nylon, or leather and form a loop around the wrist with a loose end that wraps around the barbell, dumbbell, or pull-up bar. Their primary function is to enhance the lifter's connection to the weight, bypassing grip fatigue and allowing for a stronger focus on the target muscle groups (e.g., back, hamstrings, glutes).
2. Wrist Wraps: Made from sturdy elasticized fabric, wrist wraps are designed to provide support and compression to the wrist joint. They feature a thumb loop and a Velcro closure. Their main purpose is to stabilize the wrist during heavy pushing or overhead movements, preventing excessive extension or flexion that can lead to injury.
3. Grip Pads/Gloves: While sometimes mistakenly grouped with "wrist grips," these are primarily designed to improve comfort, prevent calluses, and offer a slight increase in friction. They do not provide significant grip enhancement like straps or joint support like wraps.

The Biomechanics Behind Wrist Grips

Understanding the mechanical principles behind these tools illuminates their utility:

• Lifting Straps and Grip Augmentation: When performing pulling movements like deadlifts, rows, or pull-ups, the muscles of the forearms (flexors) are often the first to fatigue, limiting the amount of weight or repetitions that can be handled by larger muscle groups (e.g., lats, erector spinae). Lifting straps create a physical loop that effectively binds the hand to the bar, transferring a significant portion of the load from the fingers and forearms directly to the wrist and the strap itself. This allows the lifter to continue the set even when their natural grip would otherwise fail, enabling greater overload of the primary movers.
• Wrist Wraps and Joint Stability: During heavy pressing movements (e.g., bench press, overhead press) or even squats, the wrist joint can be subjected to considerable compressive and shearing forces. The radiocarpal joint (wrist) is a complex structure that requires stability, especially under load. Wrist wraps provide external compression and support, limiting the range of motion, particularly hyperextension. This helps maintain a more neutral and stable wrist position, which is crucial for efficient force transfer through the kinetic chain and for protecting the delicate ligaments and tendons of the wrist.

How to Properly Use Lifting Straps

Lifting straps are typically used for pulling exercises where grip strength is a limiting factor.

1. Preparation:
   • Take one strap and thread one end through the loop to create a closed loop.
   • Place your hand through this loop. The loose end should dangle down your palm, on the side of your thumb.
   • Repeat with the other strap for the other hand.
2. Wrapping the Bar (Overhand Grip Example - Deadlifts, Rows):
   • Approach the bar. With your hand over the bar, bring the loose end of the strap under the bar.
   • Then, wrap the strap over the top of the bar, away from your body.
   • Continue wrapping the strap tightly around the bar until it is fully secure, with minimal slack.
3. Tightening:
   • Once wrapped, rotate the bar (or your hand) to cinch the strap tightly around your wrist. Imagine you are trying to twist the strap further into your wrist. This creates a secure connection between your hand and the bar.
4. Application:
   • Primarily used for heavy deadlifts, shrugs, rows, pull-ups, and any other exercise where grip fatigue limits the performance of the target muscle.

How to Properly Use Wrist Wraps

Wrist wraps are used to provide support during pressing, overhead, and sometimes squatting movements.

1. Preparation:
   • Locate the thumb loop on one end of the wrap.
   • Place your thumb through the loop, with the wrap extending down the back of your hand.
2. Wrapping the Wrist:
   • Start wrapping the strap around your wrist, beginning from the outside of your wrist and moving towards your hand.
   • Overlap each wrap by about half its width. Ensure the wrap covers the wrist joint itself, extending slightly onto the base of the hand and forearm.
3. Adjusting Tightness:
   • The tightness of the wrap depends on the exercise and desired support. For maximal lifts, wrap them very tightly to restrict wrist movement significantly. For general support during moderate weights, a slightly looser wrap may suffice. Ensure they are not so tight as to cut off circulation or cause discomfort.
4. Securing:
   • Once wrapped, secure the end with the Velcro closure.
   • Remove your thumb from the loop after securing the wrap; the thumb loop is only for initial positioning.
5. Application:
   • Commonly used for bench press, overhead press, push press, dips, and heavy squats (to support the wrist position under the bar).

When to Use Wrist Grips

Strategic use of wrist grips is paramount to avoid over-reliance and ensure continued development of natural strength:

• Lifting Straps:
  • Maximal or Near-Maximal Lifts: When performing sets of deadlifts, rows, or shrugs where your back/legs/traps can handle more weight or reps, but your grip is failing.
  • High-Rep Sets: To extend sets on pulling movements beyond natural grip fatigue.
  • Target Muscle Focus: To isolate and fatigue larger muscle groups without the distraction or limitation of grip strength.
  • Rehabilitation: Temporarily during recovery from a hand or forearm injury, under professional guidance.
• Wrist Wraps:
  • Heavy Pressing Movements: When lifting maximal or near-maximal loads in bench press, overhead press, or push press, where wrist stability is compromised.
  • Discomfort: If you experience wrist pain or discomfort during heavy pushing exercises.
  • Squats: For high-bar squatters, wrist wraps can help maintain a stable wrist position under the bar.

Potential Benefits of Using Wrist Grips

When used appropriately, wrist grips can offer several advantages:

• Enhanced Performance: Allows lifters to handle heavier weights or perform more repetitions by eliminating grip or wrist stability as a limiting factor, leading to greater progressive overload for target muscles.
• Improved Muscle Activation: By bypassing grip fatigue or wrist instability, the lifter can better focus on contracting the intended muscle groups, potentially leading to more effective training.
• Injury Prevention: Wrist wraps specifically can help prevent hyperextension or excessive flexion of the wrist joint under heavy loads, safeguarding ligaments and tendons. Straps can reduce acute strain on forearm muscles during very heavy pulling.
• Increased Confidence: The added security provided by straps or wraps can boost a lifter's confidence when attempting challenging lifts.

Potential Drawbacks and Misuse

Despite their benefits, improper or excessive use of wrist grips can lead to downsides:

• Over-reliance (Lifting Straps): Constant use can hinder the natural development of grip strength, forearm muscularity, and hand health. Your grip should be trained independently.
• Reduced Proprioception (Wrist Wraps): Over-reliance on wrist wraps can diminish the body's natural proprioceptive feedback from the wrist joint, potentially reducing its intrinsic stability over time.
• Masking Poor Technique: Both tools can sometimes mask underlying technical flaws. For example, wrist wraps might allow a lifter to compensate for poor bar path in a bench press or an inefficient rack position in a squat.
• Circulation Issues: Wrapping wrist wraps too tightly for extended periods can restrict blood flow, leading to numbness or tingling.
• When NOT to Use: Avoid using straps or wraps during warm-up sets, lighter working sets, or exercises specifically designed to build grip strength (e.g., farmer's carries, plate pinches, direct forearm work). The goal is to build, not bypass, natural strength where possible.

Conclusion: Strategic Application for Enhanced Training

Wrist grips, whether lifting straps or wrist wraps, are valuable tools in a strength athlete's arsenal. They are not crutches but rather specialized aids designed to address specific limitations or enhance performance in particular contexts. By understanding their distinct functions, proper application techniques, and knowing when to use them judiciously, you can leverage these accessories to break through plateaus, safely handle heavier loads, and optimize your training for continued strength and muscle development, all while ensuring the long-term health of your joints and the development of balanced strength.