Why do people wear lifting straps in the gym?

If you’ve trained in a commercial gym any time over the last 10 years then you’ll have seen the muscle-laden regulars using lifting straps to perform heavy exercises like deadlifts and rows. But what exactly is the purpose of lifting wraps and why do people wear them?

Well, we’re here to bust all the myths about lifting straps, including the proper way to use them, when they’re suitable and when they’re not.

Sound good? Then like those lifters you’re wondering about, let’s strap in.

What are lifting straps?

Lifting straps are a simple but effective fitness accessory that are popular among bodybuilders. Their function is to reduce your dependency on grip strength when performing a lift, which in turn increases activation in the target muscle.

Most commonly, they come in the form of tough fabric wraps that loop around your wrist and secure it to the weight you’re lifting, but other variations include claw straps and figure-of-eight wraps.

A classic pair of lifting straps

How do they work?

Compound lifts rely on muscles from across your body to move the weight. When you use lifting straps, you eliminate grip strength as your weakest link in a lift. We’ve all been in that situation after a set of rows or deadlifts where our forearms are on fire and it feels like we couldn’t hold onto the bar for even a second longer.

Well, wrist wraps exist for that reason. By removing grip strength as a limiting factor, the target muscle is forced to work harder since you can now train until you’ve exhausted the muscle — not just when you’ve exhausted your grip.

What are the benefits of lifting straps?

Deeper target muscle activation

You might be able to row 80kg comfortably, but holding a heavy barbell for an extended period of time is going to burn your forearms out — fast. Lifting straps delay the point at which your grip hits exhaustion, which enables you to pump those last few reps out and fully activate the target muscle with each set.

Quicker grip recovery between sets

On pull days in particular, your forearms and sure to be on fire by the end of the session since so many back-focused exercises activate the forearms. This can inhibit how hard you train in your next set if you’re still carrying some grip fatigue from a previous exercise. Using lifting straps throughout your session reduces how long it takes your forearms to recover and lets you blitz the muscles you actually came to train.

Are there any disadvantages to lifting straps?

Yes — there’s two sides to every coin, and the same is true for lifting straps.

Harder to bail out

While we always advise caution when performing heavy lifts and personal bests, we’re not in denial that people do them anyway. In cases where you’re trying to set a deadlift PB, it’s reassuring that you can drop the weight if the strain becomes too much. Lifting straps make bailouts harder. You’re literally strapped in to the weight, so you need to be smart with when you use straps and make sure you always prioritise lifting safely.

Overreliance on straps

We’ve talked about the benefits of removing grip strength as a limiting factor when lifting, but developing grip strength has its own merits. You don’t want to build one muscle group up so intensely that you neglect another, which is exactly what can happen by being over-reliant on lifting straps.

The old mantra of “all things in moderation” comes to mind. Use lifting straps, sure — but don’t reach a point where you can’t train without them.