Weight Lifting Straps
Weight training is a type of strength training that is used to build the muscles of your body. Apart from providing health benefits by increasing the metabolic rate, it also helps strengthen your body parts with the help of powerful exercises that will make every muscle of your body to workout. Weight training uses some special equipment that will isolate a particular region and help you develop those regions which you want.
If you are someone who is enthusiastic to perform these sessions but your progress stalls due to some reasons, then you have a help ready at hand. Weight lifting straps are one of those accessories that are used during weight training to help you keep going when you are about to give up. It provides you with grip during movements such as pull ups, rows and down lifts. Since these exercises need power, you will be able to lift more and add reps in your workouts if you make use of these straps. If you are injured and are unable to perform complex exercises that involve multiple joints, then it means that you don’t have enough grips. To help increase this and your effective strength, weight lifting straps can be used so that your progress is not hindered.
When you are using heavy equipment during a workout session, your grip can take a huge hit. Exercises like dead lifts and others with the exception of the lower back, all of them make use of the forearms. Hence, during a max strength workout, the muscle groups can be hit and will take a long time to recover. When such a grip fatigue hits your body during strenuous workout, then you will have to take rest for several days. Also, older people who are doing strength training take rest during between their sessions since they need extra recovery time. For all these reasons, a good grip plays an important role in weight training.
Weight lifting straps should be one among the compulsory accessories that are kept in your kit. If you are using these straps, you will notice that a strong, reliable grip helps you to do more number of reps in the pull up or other sets. You can even add a significant amount of weight to your deadlift bar as you increase your grip during your weight training. So, it is better that you use the straps in all the pulling movements that will enhance your grip. Thus, with the help of weight lifting straps, you can increase the frequency of your workouts; you can carry heavier weight during exercises such as deadlifts, rows and pull ups; increase the number of reps during sets of un-weighted pull-ups.
Training your grip is very important while you do heavy weights training. Since it will become weak as the activities increases, you can use these straps for assistance. However, excess usage of help through straps is not recommended since they can hamper your progress in the longer run. Using straps strategically and planning ahead of time on what should be done will come a long way in improving your workout sessions.
Weight lifting straps should be used only when you are recovering from injury in your hands, wrists or fingers. When you are carrying heavy weights, these straps might come of use since your grip can never handle as much as weight as your other body parts like legs or back can. Instead of using alternate grip and risking yourself with dangerous equipment that can harm you, this grip would be a better option. When you are doing high rep sets of pull ups, using straps will increase your count by a few more sets. Heavy dumbbells can be held during calf raises with the help of straps. In addition to all this, you can grow your traps without your workout being affected. Usually, your traps can handle more weight than the grip during heavy shrugs; hence straps can come to your rescue!
Weight lifting straps are made of heavy cotton and are a flat length of about one foot. Having a loop at one end, it is perfectly fine for the strenuous workout that you will be performing. There are various types of straps available and comes from different brands. You can find padded straps that have a neoprene layer between the cloth and the skin. This kind of weight lifting strap is known for comfort with additional cost that is negligible. If you are a trainee, then you might choose Valeo padded straps since there is very little difference between the qualities of various manufacturers of this kind. You can also find leather straps but it is very expensive and it is not justifiable to pay so much for something that has not much difference with a cotton strap. If you are a fashion freak, then you can choose some fancy padded wristbands that have built in straps and hooks. If you are recovering from chronic injuries, then you can use this during workouts.
When you are using weight lifting straps, you will have to place one end of the strap through the hole and the other at the opposite end such that they are mirror images of each other. Keeping your hand on the circle made by the strap, the palms should face the straps such that it lays between your thumb and index finger. Snug the strap around the waist tightly and place your hands on the bar with the strap hanging down. Pull the strap under the bar and roll it over on the top till you can twist the bar such that the straps are tightened.
When you are using weight lifting straps, you should use them in the correct way so that it doesn’t harm you. Taking professional advice from a good trainer is always recommended. Hence, if you have better grip, only then you should use them. If you don’t get a hang of it, then it is better that you don’t use them.