Weight Lifting Straps – How to Get the Best Weight Lifting Straps Your Money Can Buy

To begin, let’s all agree that buying weight lifting straps is not brain surgery. But, there are a few things that are totally helpful to remember when trying to find the best straps for you that will meet your needs.

1. Define your own goals.
Do you want to be the next Arnold? Or just lean down and try to look better in that bathing suit that you’ve been afraid to put on for the past year? Being honest about what your goals are when working out in the gym is very important. The muscle-heads will need the heavy-duty, serious weight lifting straps that will enable them to throw a ton of weight around while the beach beauties will simply need another gym fashion accessory so that they can look great.

2. What exercises will you be using your weight lifting straps for?
Some people find that they use their straps for almost every exercise they perform in the gym.

Others, like me, simply use them for the heavier weight exercises that put the most stress on my grip since I try to push more weight than I would normally handle. It’s important to think about which exercises you’ll be using your straps for so that you can make your selection based on need. Pushing or pulling or both?

3. Think about what kind of material you’d like in your straps.
OK. Some people are more into leather than they’d like you to know! But woven cotton and even neoprene weight lifting straps offer their own benefits. Consider which type of material is going to make your workouts better. And, if you’re a sweaty muscle-monkey, then you may want to consider whether you can wash your straps too! They tend to get really dirty and quite stinky too.

4. Are the straps you like simple to use or do they take half your workout just to wrap around the bar and your wrist?
One thing that most people don’t think about is what the straps will be like once they’re in the gym using them. If they are the long strap with the loop at one end version, then you’re probably the type who is planning on Hulking up huge. If you’re really looking for hand protection as opposed to uber heavy lifting ability, then you may be more interested in a simpler hand grip product. Wrapping the extended material around the bar to grip more weight can be cumbersome to certain people. A simple on and off quickly type product, such as a hand grip, may be what the trainer ordered instead!

5. Think about the look you’re going for at the gym too.
Yeah, I know… you’re just going to work out. You don’t care what you look like. Bull. Anyone who is in the gym in the first place, is thinking more about the image that they are projecting than not. And, it’s really OK too. So, remember that when you’re selecting the right weight lifting straps for yourself, think not only about functionality, but about aesthetics too. What do you really hope that your new found straps or grips will say about you? Egotistical callused muscle maniac or considerate baby smooth handed boyfriend with the sensitive touch? Whichever it is, make sure it works for you!

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Using Weight Lifting Straps for a Bigger Back

Article by Mike Hightower

Lats like Jay Cutler. We all want ’em. A big wide lat spread that casts a shadow over the whole gym. Ahhh but how to get it, that is the question.

We all see our favorite bodybuilders walking around with straps dangling from their wrists and we realize that we too must get a set of these bad-boys so that we can look just as cool on back day right?

The problem is that without proper knowledge lifting straps can actually hinder your lat building progress. On the other hand used properly they can make back growth exponential.

The key is in realizing the weakness in lifting straps.

The weakness inherent in all lifting straps is that they allow you to lift more weight than you can hold with your grip.

“But Mike isn’t this a good thing” you say.

Can be. If used correctly. However, if it means that you are now just lifting more weight and still using improper form then you are headed for a world of hurt.

So what is the key?

The key is to use your straps to create better form. In the case of back training straps should allow you to focus all of your attention on your back muscles, and avoid to the use of your arms.

Nitty Gritty Details

The mistake that most beginning and amateur bodybuilders make is to rely on their biceps in their back training. Now a certain amount of bicep recruitment is almost unavoidable. However it should be minimized to the greatest extent possible because when the bicep is bearing the weight, the back is not.

Take wide grip pulldowns for example. Most trainees make the mistaken assumption that the key is to get the wide-grip bar down to their chin. This is not the case. the goal is to get the latissimus dorsi to contract as maximally as possible. And really this can only be done when the trainee is aware of the muscle contracting. This awareness is much harder than when doing a set of concentration curls because the trainee cannot see the back.

What must be done is to spend time doing exercises that create an environment for feeling the latissimus contraction. The bottom line best exercise for this is chin ups. That’s right… chin ups. Not pull-downs, but real grab-the-bar-and-lift-the-body-up chin ups. You see, the line of the body hanging on a bar just happens to be the perfect line to feel those lats in action.

Straps For Focus

Now for the straps that we are talking about.

When doing the chin-up you want the back muscles to be your focus and not your biceps. So slip on the straps, and curl them around your chin up bar [if it is too far off of the ground then grab a bench to attach the straps and then hang free]. Now with straps on, arch you chest as much as possible and lift your body concentrating on pulling your elbows toward your sides. As you focus on your elbows your arms should almost feel loose and unengaged. All tension should be in your lower back and on your lats.

This “elbow focus” is how you will begin to feel those lats working. And it is only possible because you have used straps to take your arms out of the equation as much as possible.

Try it, get some straps and try this elbow focus technique on your next training session. Once you feel it, and not a second sooner, then try the same technique on bent barbell rows and all varieties of other back exercises. With your new found ability to feel the lats working you will enjoy some nice back growth.

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